Saturday on Research

Or: This is a really lazy post!

One of my books is based in mythology, largely Irish. I'm doing research for it and another I haven't started and I thought it'd be fun to talk about what I have, what I used to help write the first draft of my book, and that sort of thing.

Irish Myth book:

What I read before I drafted:

A Dictionary of Fairies by Katharine Briggs

This one was a HUGE help. It was printed in 1976 and I'm actually thinking about buying a copy I found for 15 dollars (includes shipping) because it's just crazy useful and I want a copy and it's out of print so they're kind of expensive.

Bearing in mind that it's about 500 pages, would you guys buy it for 15 dollars??

Oh, this is also known as An Encyclopdia of Fairies if you want to check it out from your library or something.

I very much recommend this one. *nods*

Goodreads link!

Abbey Lubbers, Banshees & Boggarts: An Illustrated Encylcopedia of Fairies by Katharine Briggs

This is basically the simpler, sort of for kids if you either have strange (and awesome) children or want to terrify them for some reason. It has less information but it's easier to read.

And (surprise surprise) I found a copy for a bit less than 6 dollars that I'm probably going to buy because 6 dollars and I want it.

Recommended because it shows more of the storytelling aspect of the mythologies.

Goodreads link!

Banshees by Kelli M. Brucken

This is a kids' non-fiction book but it had some very interesting stories and it was one of the only books I could find strictly about banshees.

(What's with the banshee hate??? I mean, yeah, death omen and all, but people are all over ZOMBIES.)

(You can't get that image out of your head now, huh?)

Anyways, fun. I wouldn't buy it solely for research but it's fine for what it's supposed to be, you know?

Goodreads link!

Things I have now to read:

Field Guide to the Little People by Nancy Arrowsmith

KT got me this one. I'm about a third through it and it's pretty extensive, but the only thing is, the author comes off a bit... she writes as though she honestly believes this/has experienced it and that throws me when I'm reading non-fiction about mythology, you know?

But it's got some good stories and there's a really extensive bibliography so other than the author coming off oddly, it's pretty good. She also  talks about mythologies from other countries than just the Celtic ones and that's cool, too.

Goodreads link!

Ireland: Its Myths and Legends by Kay Retzlaff

The picture of this is large because the book is really big. It's adult non-fiction, but it's one of those ones that are like picture book sized. It's probably because it has amazing pictures.

I've only flipped through it but the pictures are great and it seems interesting if nothing else.

Goodreads link!

A Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend and Folklore by W. B. Yeats and Augusta Gregory

Can I just say how HUGE this book is? It's like 700 pages long. You could kill somebody with this thing. Seriously, if I was being attacked, I'd probably go for this thing. HUGE.

I haven't read this one yet so I don't know how helpful it is. Sorry!

Goodreads link!


Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom by Caitlin & John Matthews

I think I ordered this because I got a bit carried away on my library website but there seem to be a few legends and such that might be interesting.

Goodreads link!







The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog by Patricia Monashan

I haven't read it yet but I think this is like a combination mythology book and travel memoir. Either way it sounds good.

Goodreads link!








Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins by Carol Rose

This is an encyclopedia format book. (Also I hate the word encyclopedia!) I like the look of this one. It seems to have a lot of information about a lot of things and I like that in a research book. This one might go on my Want To Buy List.

Goodreads link!





Circus Book Books:

Wild, Weird, and Wonderful: The American Circus Circa 1901-1927 by Mark Sloan

I got this one a while ago now and it's freaking awesome. It's all black in white (hey, 1901-1927, what do you expect?) and the pictures and stories are amazing. I just wish it'd been about eight times longer because it was so cool to read.

Goodreads link!

Circus Techniques by Hovey Burgess

*shrugs* Figured it couldn't hurt :D

Goodreads link!




The New American Circus by Ernest Albrecht

This one seems to have a lot about the history of circuses. I think this is more on the Circque de Soleil type of circus than the Ringling Bros. type of circus.

Goodreads link!







Circus by Linda Granfield

Kids non-fiction again but there are tons of pictures and it seems to have quite a bit of information so that's neat.

Goodreads link!



Two Hundred Years of the American Circus by Tom Ogden

This one I'm really happy I found. It's almost 400 pages long and it just seems like it'll be REALLY helpful.










Okay. This was supposed to be a quick little post and it ended up taking an hour and a half longer than I thought it would. Not so lazy after all, I guess XD

What kind of research, if any, do you do for your books? What are some of your favourite non-fiction books? Leave me answers in the comments while I go collapse of exhaustion.

Peace and cookies,
Laina

Thursday Senses Something is Wrong with this Scene

Sensory details really kill me. Sensory details plot my death better than I plot my WIP (which admitted is not too well considering last week’s post). A fourth grader writes better sensory details than I do.

Have y’all seen the letter from a fourth grader named Flint to Mr. Ramon? You should. This letter makes me smile so much.

"Dear Mr. Ramon,
Thank you for coming to our school and teaching us about weather.
Some day when I become supreme Ultra-Lord of the universe I will not make you a slave, you will live in my 200 story castle where unicorn servants will feed you doughnuts off their horns.
I will personally make you a throne that is half platnum and half solid gold and jewel encrested.
Thank you again for teaching us about meteoroligy, you’re more awesome than a monkey wearing a tuxedo made out bacon riding a cyborg unicorn with a lightsaber for the horn on the tip of a space shuttle closing in on Mars while ingulfed in flames … And in case you didn’t know, that’s pretty dang sweet.
Sincerely, Flint.
P.S. Look on back for drawing."

Text source from here.

Come on. You smiled while you read that, didn’t you? I don’t even need to see the picture to visualize the unicorn, monkeys and tuxedo. Flint is that good, but here is the picture anyways.

Details can be a balancing act. Details can create a clear mental image. Too many can create boredom. I read this one book, and I could not finish it because I felt like it was 99% sensory details. I don’t need to read every single adjective that applies to the object/ person/ setting/ etc. I just need to know enough to visualize it. Your readers will fill in the rest.

Flint gave us enough details to visualize everything without smothering us in detail. I love this letter for more than the use of sensory details. I love this letter because it was a real big reminder to me how we all should use sensory details to take our writing to the next level. They aren't just for old authors from the 1800s who used pretty words. They are for every writer to utilize.

Are sensory details difficult for you? How much is too much? How much is too little? Doesn't this letter make you smile?

In case any of y’all are wondering, my writing break has been amazing for me. I still cry, but mainly for how well everything is coming around again. I really figured out how to make my love interest offer the kind of relationship that I hope all my readers will find in their own lives (though the guys in their real life still might not compare). I can’t really explain him. He’s not perfect or anything. He’s just him which is exactly the way I need to write him. I’m currently grinning like an idiot because of how happy I am to finally get that puzzle piece to fit. Plus all my other characters’ puzzle pieces are fitting together nicely. My MC is also shaping up. She’s difficult to write since she is all sweet and honest while I’ve been told I can be too sarcastic. The plot is shaping up better. I am getting “rid” of a lot of writing, but I’m not too hurt. I won’t finish by July liked I hoped, but I’m not giving up. I’ve started outlining. Afterwards, I’m gonna go back to chapter one and write it the way the story needs to be told. Wish me luck. I know I’m gonna need it. If any of y’all are at a stop sign in your writing, I definitely suggest taking a short break. Right after I decided to take a break, the ideas started to generate again. It doesn’t have to be a long break (maybe just a day if you really need to get back to writing), but a break could be just what you need. It was what I needed.

Wednesday on Writing Advice

Writers can sometimes have a lot to say about writing. The merits of this advice can be arguable. If you're like me, you probably look up to a few (if not many) people in the business of writing, but we should take their writing advice with a grain of salt. No matter where you go, whether you're sitting in Panera, in a high school cafeteria, a college class, or an airplane, people will have something to say about writing. After learning you're a writer, even people who haven't touched a pencil since they were in grade school will have advice on "how you should write." I hate to break it to you, but even the writers you love can't tell you how to write. There's no standardized approach to creative writing. There are probably manuals, but those are more like guidelines than rules. Being a creative writer is like being a pirate, guys-- you have to know the rules, but you usually have to break them too. To help you become the best Captain Jack Sparrows you can be, I have compiled some good and not-so-good writing advice.

"If a young writer can refrain from writing, he shouldn't hesitate to do so," --André Gide.

I have a couple problems with this.

1. I resent the assumption that all writers are male. Come on, really? 
2. I understand it isn't easy to write, but I hate that so much of the advice from "great" writers is like this. It's cynical, sour, and kind of silly. You're not going to convince me not to write just because you crafted a witty statement about how hard the life of a writer is. If someone loves writing, you should have enough respect to assume they understand the drawbacks to the profession and are willing to deal with those problems. 

"It is by sitting down to write each morning that one becomes a writer. Those who do not remain amateurs," --Gerard Brenan.

Although it may not be everyone's cup of tea, I think this is great advice. Even when I'm stuck on my big work in progress, I will always try to work on a short story, write some poetry, or just write about whatever pops into my head. When all else fails, I'll go read for a while, and then come back to whatever writing or editing I was doing. I think that Brenan's advice is basically true. to become good at something, you have to practice. If you want writing to be your profession, you have to dedicate time to it, even when you don't feel like it. 

"I would recommend the cultivation of extreme indifference to both praise and blame because praise will lead you to vanity and blame to self-pity, and both are bad for writers," --John Berryman.

I definitely like this one. Personally, I think I'm probably the harshest critic of my own work that I've encountered (so far), but I know praise can completely go to my head. If you like something I've written, I automatically love you. I know it's a flawed way to think, but I try to control it. I know I don't take criticism very well either. I tend to take it very personally, even when it was meant to be constructive. When someone says, "I don't think your plot makes sense," I hear, "You are a horrible, talentless person." When you're so emotionally invested in what you do, it's hard not to take things personally. I mean, my writing is me, but I have to remember that other people don't look at it that way. I think anyone, whether they're a writer or not, can benefit from learning a healthy way to cope with praise and criticism. We need to depend on our own confidence, not on opinions of others.

"Read, read, read. Read everything-- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like the carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out the window."

Reading, apart from actually writing, is one of the most important parts of who I am as a person and as a writer (are those the same thing? I'm not sure). I think my style of writing is a mixture of all the things I've read, as well as my own experiences. That's how you get a "voice" as a writer-- you observe things, and then you explain them in a way no one else can. I think younger writers have to be careful not to imitate the authors they love, though. That's why you should try to read a variety of things. It can prevent you from accidentally creating copies of your favorite books. I disagree about the bad writing. I think you should keep your bad writing. There might be a line or a great metaphor in there that you can use later. If anything, when you finally write something you're proud of, the reminder of your not-so-great work will keep success from going to your head.

"Everyone who does not need to be a writer, who thinks he can do something else, ought to do something else," --  Georges Simenon.

Jesus. Can we stop with the whole "you don't want to be a writer" conspiracy? It's getting really old. Don't let anyone tell you that you don't care enough or aren't tough enough to be a writer. If you write, you can be and are a writer. You can have other interests. Your writing will benefit if you experience different things. Ugh. Advice like this drives me crazy. I need to be a writer--I could be something else, but I don't want to, and a quotation isn't going to convince me otherwise. Sorry, Georges.

"Unless you think you can do better than Tolstoy, we don't need you," -- James Michener.

I need to write. I don't care if I'm not as good as Tolstoy, and neither should you. Why? Because we aren't freaking Tolstoy, that's why. I'm not Tolstoy, I didn't experience what he did in his life, I have different influences, and I have a completely different perspective than he did. My writing isn't as good as his was, but that's honestly kind of irrelevant. Writing isn't some stupid competition to see if you can be the nest Tolstoy, or the next Rowling. If you're the next anything, we don't need you. We need people who are the first of themselves. 

"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than write for the public and have no self," -- Cyril Connolly.

 This is one of my favorite quotations of all time. If you know what you write was written to please other people, you're never going to be happy with your work. I think you have to do it for yourself for it to be worthwhile. Don't try to write something you think is marketable. If it's good, there will be a market for it somewhere. 

"There is no advice to give young poets," --Pablo Neruda.

Well, OK. Not much to say about this one. 

"If I had to give writer's advice, I'd say don't listen to writers talking about writing or themselves,"

    -- Lillian Hellman.

I guess you can disregard the previous advice, then. Maybe she's right, though-- it might be best not to take any advice at all. Maybe some of the advice you've heard has helped you, and that's great, but don't shackle yourself to a certain way of writing just because someone said that was the way to write. And never, ever, ever, listen to people who tell you to stop writing. Prove them wrong. 

Sincerely,

Caroline

p.s. Have you bought a Ray Bradbury book yet like I told you too? 

More writing by me.

Thursday with Tears, Hope and Therapy

I hate where my current WIP is right now. I want to cry. I just can’t seem to get a handle on any of this right now. Nothing is going right. My internal dialogue is crummy. My characters are inconsistent. Three of my characters are BASICALLY THE SAME. The plots are spiraling out of control. I have no idea how I’m going to get from point A to point Z. I really wished I planned this out instead of pantsed it. I can look at a page and just not have a word to say.

I know that sounds super melodramatic, but I just wish it was better.

I love my story. When I started everything was going so well. The conflict was there. My characters’ voices were really pulling though. I would even cry in some of my scenes because I was even surprised what my characters decide.

Now I can’t find any of that.

I’m in The Middle. I’ve heard a ton of people talk about how horrible the middle is, but I didn’t really get it until right now.

I want to finish my story. I want to be proud of my story. I want to write something amazing.

I just can’t get myself to write this story.

There is another story that wants to push their way into my heart. I shouldn't say things like that right? I just can't help it.

It’s killing me inside since this new story is so heartbreaking. I haven’t even gotten inside my characters’ heads yet, but the premise already makes me want to cry (for them not because it sucks so much that even ice cream couldn't help me like my current WIP). My two MC’s motivations are so strong. It’s a harder book. There are a lot of sad things that happen, but I feel like it is a story that needs to be told. I once read that one day we are all going to die, and our ideas will die with us. We need to tell the stories that we need to tell before then. This is one of those stories.

Sounds pretty magical right? Finding the story that you think needs to be written, but it might just be another SNI. It seems like the brightest star in my mind, but the thing about stars is most of them are already burnt out.

I was read relationship advice saying

"If you can’t choose between two people, choose the second person because if you truly loved the first person you never would have noticed the second person."

I don’t think this applies to writers. We can’t always choose the second idea because there will always be that second idea. If we keep falling for the second idea, we will never write The Idea. The Idea is our writing soulmate.

In Natasha Bedingfield’s song Soulmate, she sings,

“Here we are again, circles never end
How do I find the perfect fit
There's enough for everyone
But I'm still waiting in line”

I think that’s the writer’s circle of life. We are all trying to find that perfect story. I mean look at all the published authors out there. They found their perfect story, but why can’t I?

My current WIP might be my writing soulmate. It might, or it might not. I need to finish it. I can NOT give up. I will not let myself even if it’s horrible. It is horrible, but it’s just the first draft. I think I’m gonna just take the week off from writing and just relax. I’ve set a word count for myself to make sure I actually write, but I think that’s been taking the adventure out of writing. The rest of the week will just be for me to get back on track (plan and stuff without the pressure of finishing my word count). Back to loving this idea 100% because love can make anything horrible turn into something amazing.

For now, I’m saving my SNI idea away and seeing how my current WIP turns out.

It might be The Idea.
It might be my writing soulmate.
It might.

I know this wasn’t advice or anything. This was kinda like my therapy to help me decide what to do, but I hope someone reads this and understands.

You will find The Idea.

I have no doubt.

Wednesday is a Hero-Worshipper

"Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”
--John Green


John Green is good at putting words to things I find hard to express, but as soon as I read the things he writes, I immediately recognize the sentiment or idea expressed as something it seems I've always felt. I mean, that's why I want to be a writer. I want to put words to things that are hared to express. The point, though, of this quote I've included is that it describes perfectly my feelings for Ray Bradbury's works. I'll be watching the news and think, "If only they had read Fahrenheit 451, maybe that wouldn't have happened." I find it extremely hard to hold civil conversations with people who don't like Ray Bradbury. Trust me, I'm not joking. I adore Ray Bradbury's style, but I also think his books are important because they use the fantastic--magic, in other words--to critique our own not particularly magical society. His messages are really timeless. The societal criticism in Fahrenheit 451 of shallowness, recklessness, and selfish living is still just as relevant today. There are still people trying to tell us we should not read certain books or say certain words or marry certain people. There are still many people who are unable to see beyond the borders of their own country, or even the walls of their own living room. Books are as important today as they were when Bradbury sat in a basement and typed the entirety of Fahrenheit 451 in eight days using a typewriter that took change like a parking meter. 


Unless you have been living under a very, very, very large rock ( a meteor, maybe?), you probably have heard the news of Bradbury's recent death. I feel a little silly for being sad. I never met him; never spoke to him. I just read his books, but his voice is so clear in what he writes that sometimes, it feels as if he's talking directly to you as you read. His death does not mean that he will be forgotten, but we have to make sure of this, not just complacently expect other people to keep his writing preserved. At the end of Fahrenheit 451, Montag and his band of outcasts head into the wilderness, carrying nothing except the books they have memorized inside their minds. They have been denied their right to read, but despite this, they carry their favorite stories inside of them. As J.K. Rowling says, "The stories we love best do live within us," so even though arguably (and I am more than willing to argue this) the most iconic sci-fi writer of the past ninety years is dead, his words have not lost any significance. 


Maybe after reading my drivel up to this point, you can understand I worship Bradbury a bit. I am personally offended when someone insults the style of Fahrenheit 451 or Jim's attitude in Something Wicked This Way Comes.  I love those books. I love Clarisse, and Jim, and Will. I love a bunch of people who have never existed. I don't think I'm the only one. However, the recent Twilight fan fiction turned bestseller, Fifty Shades of Gray, has sold more copies than Bradbury sold in his entire life. Please, feel free to read that again. I'm not trying to be a literature snob, though I'll admit I am, but honestly, does that seem OK to you? An Emmy, a Pulitzer, but supposedly less people have read his fiction than the number who've purchased a published version of Twilight fan fiction. 


Brothers John and Hank Green (an Edgar winning author and his brother), are the infamous vlogbrothers, and they recently brought this somewhat frightening issue to their viewers' attention. In order to encourage people to purchase and read Bradbury's work, they are reading Fahrenheit 451 for their summer book club. I don't want people to forget the things he has written, nor do I want his books to simply become "classroom" books. Reading in school is great, but some of the best reading is accomplished when you choose to do it. John and Hank are trying to get Fahrenheit 451 to sell more copies on Amazon than the book that shall not be named. I encourage you to join them. Go buy some Ray Bradbury. Ask your parents first. Or not. 


What books have stayed with you? What authors, dead or alive, have inspired your writing?


“Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you're there.

It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away. The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said. The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.” --Ray Bradbury


Sincerely,


Caroline

Saturday on Naming Characters

Or: I’m Still a Bit High on Sudafed

(Note from present Saturday - this was written about a week ago, but I'm mostly not going to edit it for humour's sake.)

I had a major allergy issue today, sneezed about eight million times, couldn’t breathe and my eyes went wonky from the sinus pressure and reading was weird. So I took a Sudafed (Extra Strength Cold and Sinus – I don’t think it’s actually sold in the US because it has pseudoephedrine which has to be behind the counter there I’m pretty sure but let’s just say it’s reeeeeeally strong and reeeeeeally effective) ended up spending several hours reading magazines and watching Mythbusters because decongestants knock me on my BUTT.

(Also they make me chatty. ALSO my 8th grade Health teacher told us that if you take Sudafed, you can be disqualified from professional sports like the Olympic because it shows up on a drug test. I have no idea if this is true but I thought it was funny because my doctor had told me to take Sudafed once when I had an ear infection. It made me totally loopy back then, too. My mom found that hilarious.)

Anyways, I finished my revision of Spyder (waiting on feedback for that – patiently, of course) and did a round on Berserk (added six thousand words!! Still needs work but I think the plot working better) and I don’t need to order any more books for work because I get July and August off from the library so I ordered a bunch of research books.

Research books for writing are the BEST, for the record. I ordered a TON of Celtic mythology books, a couple magic books my friend Mires recommended, a bunch of circus books and a gymnastic memoir. The Celtic mythology and magic books are for a book that I’ve written but could do with a bit more world-building. The circus books and gymnastic memoir are for a book I haven’t written yet.

But I just might start it soon. I want to read my research books first (possibly outside with my feet in a kiddie pool with an umbrella over me because I burn like whoa). But… well, we’ll see.

Anyways, the point of this post was naming characters. (See? Sudafed makes me chatty.) There have been a couple of posts about this on this blog before (by Zoe and me and KT) but whatevs.

Sometimes, it takes me a really long time to name a main character. If they have the wrong name it can really throw me off. I’m half convinced my Genie book failed because her name didn’t suit her (also the plot kind of sucked). (Also most of the book kind of sucked.)

With this not-yet-a-book (which is why I am ONLY talking about names and absolutely nothing else #superstitious), there was another character who had a name first. Two, actually. A stage name, a stage persona, even, then a name that’s his real name, which let me in on the fact that his stage persona? Was not who he really was. Which made me really curious about who he really was. (Also, he had a nickname pretty earlier that the MC gives him which told me more about both of them.)

The MC was a bit hard to name. I knew pretty earlier that her name might be a bit unconventional. Then I was actually reading a Jezebel article about how Jessica Simpson named her daughter Maxwell Drew Johnson (which, how cute is that name?). The comments on the article, I think, mentioned that it was a pretty common thing for surnames to be given to both boys and girls, especially in the South. (If I’m wrong – it’s not my fault. Blame the internet.)

So I found a list of surnames that people use as first names and boom, Sawyer stuck to the character in my head. Sawyer Grace, to be exact. (And if you hate it, please don’t tell me!) Her brother has decided to be Rhett, from Garrett. They’re twins so I might actually make his middle name start with an S because… that’d be neat. I need to figure out their last name, though.

There’s another character I need to name and one of the tricks I do is I use the top 1000 list from Behind the Name from the year the character was born. I have this tic where I won’t set a book in the current year because… well, something might happen. Basically, I need the year finished before I set a book in it. Right now, all my books are set in 2010. This book will be 2011, so I’m counting back from that for character birth years.

I like the top 1000 list because everybody won’t be Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Jessica, Ashley and Sarah (top 3 names for boys and girls in 1993), but I feel it also lends some authenticity to the book. Like it’s reasonable for these people to be named what they are. (But I might be a bit batty. But it works for me!)

For surnames, I have a list of last names in a word document that I found somewhere internet that’s good for naming side characters who just need a quick name, but this website seems like it’d be really good for finding last names that fit well no matter what you’re looking for and I’ll probably use it.

There’s some advice out there about the heritage of names and such. I’ve said it myself, even. And while that’s true to some extent, I think especially if your characters are younger, it’s not necessarily true that if your grandparents are, say, German, you will have a German name. With baby naming books and the internet, I think a lot of people just choose names they like for their kids and a lot of people aren’t from just one place. So that would not be something to stress out about in my opinion.

But, on the other hand, that might help you. I have an Irish-mythology based book and a lot of the names are Irish in that. It’s also set in a predominately Irish city so that fits well and it makes it easier to name characters. Basically, your mileage will vary.

My last trick for naming characters – I bug KT. Seriously, she’s named… well, a lot of my characters XD Or inspired their names, at least. One character in my Irish book, she flat-out named, first and last name. (It was a deal between us. She got to name a character in the book I was writing if she finished revising HER book and let me read it. It was quite effective and she chose a great name.)

I’m not GREAT at naming characters. Last names especially. But these are the things I do to name characters and maybe this will help you guys!

What are your tips and tricks for naming characters? (Also, wow this is long. Sudafed, man. Now I’m going to sleep, I think. Or at least to lie very still for the rest of the night. I still haven’t named that one character, but I’ll tackle that tomorrow when I’m not so woozy.)

(Present Saturday here again - I've been revising and actually forgot about the character (Sudafed doesn't help my memory) but I still want to hear your tricks and tips! Leave them in the comments below.)

Peace and cookies,
Laina