Dear Teen Me–Feature 5

About this Feature:

Dear Teen Me (Edited by E. Kristen Anderson & Miranda Kenneally) includes advice from over 70 authors and I’m thrilled to be part of the blog tour. My tour stop date is Tuesday October 30th, and on that date I’ll be posting a review, hosting a giveaway and sharing my own Dear Teen Me letter. In the meantime, I was inspired by the book and decided to invite friends, fellow bloggers, and authors to write their own letter. Through out the month of October I’ll be be posting them here. I still have space for anyone else who would like to participate-just contact me through email or by leaving a comment on this post.

Today I welcome one of my favourite bloggers and Blog Squad cohorts Christa-

Dear 16 year old me,

Hello from the future! I managed to track down the TARDIS and convince the Doctor to deliver this letter from 24 year old you. I know you don't know what a TARDIS or the Doctor is but remember those words. They will be of vital importance later on.

I hope I've caught you at a good time. Maybe you're reading this in Ms. Jones' English class while you're supposed to be reading Catcher in the Rye but are bored because you already finished it weeks ago. Maybe you're in between psychotic customers while working the returns desk at Wal Mart. Or maybe your hiding in that hollowed out spot in the back of your closet while your parents scream bloody murder at one another. For both of our sakes, I hope it's the first option.
That's right, all those moments stick with you well into the future. You carry them with you wherever you go and as much as you may hate them now, that's ok. They've made you who you are today and that person, is pretty awesome.

There are so many things I could talk about in this letter. I could talk about how much you're going to love university or all the amazing places you're going to visit, or tell you about how one day you're going to be lucky enough work in publishing and pursuing your dreams of being a published author. But I'm not going to talk about all those things because I'm you after all and at this point there's something much more important to address.

And that's this. Your dad is an alcoholic. You probably already know (or at least suspect) this but I wanted to be clear. I'm sorry to say that he is going to continue to drink, and it will become so much more than just finding him passed out around the house. It will come to a point where you won't even know who this strange man is any more and wonder what happened to the kind, loving man who was once your hero. I don't want to overwhelm you with all the details, but I NEED you to hear this one piece of advice. Do not listen to anyone who tells you the opposite.
Are you listening?

Nothing - and I mean nothing - that happens to your dad is your fault. You are in no way responsible for any of his actions. Asking you to not only cope with but accept what's going on, is something that should never be asked of a child and if you find you need to step away and put some distance between you and the situation THAT IS OK. I can not stress that enough. Only you know how much you can take, and it's important that you listen to yourself.
Your dad was a great man. You're going to lose a lot of your earlier memories of him, but hang on to what you can. Please don't rip up all his pictures when you're angry. I regret that decision all the time. At the same time however you are perfectly right to be angry at everything he put you, your mom and your brother through. It's even alright if you feel sad and angry at the same time. Eventually the anger dulls at little and you will find peace. As a bonus you also maintain a fabulous relationship with your mom and brother to this day, so there is always that to be thankful for.

Your teenage years are not an easy trip, so be prepared. I hate to tell you this but things are going to get worse for a little while. But the good news is that around the time you turn 19 everything is going to change. Life is going to get SO MUCH BETTER. You have no idea. And not for any one reason either. But you will be happy I promise. I am proud to tell you that not once in the past five years have I ever felt the need to hide in the closet, I currently love my job and I have hundreds (seriously, hundreds) of books that I can read anytime I want.

And seriously remember what I said about the Doctor.
24 year old you

Thank you so much Christa for sharing and for being so open and honest. Big hugs to you.

Visit Christa’s Blog! – Hooked on Books!

Feature and Follow Friday

The Feature and Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read where we answer a book related question and follow links to visit other blogs and read their answers too. It's been a while since I participated but I really liked the questions this week.

This week's question from Reading and Writing Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Fiction:

Q: Jumping Genres: Ever pick up a book from a genre you usually don’t like and LOVE it? 

Tell us about it and why you picked it up in the first place.

I enjoy poetry and have a few anthologies of my favourites, but I've never been particularly fond of novels in verse. I tend to lose interest after the first few chapters. 

I picked up Love and Leftovers based on the cover:

And I loved it. The story had the right combination of  heart break and dreamy boys. But ultimately it was the language and the authors way with words that hooked me.

Have you read it?

#Daily Book Pic- A Bookish Photo Project

I love twitter and this is one of the reasons, while scrolling through my feed I came across a tweet and a link to a post by Book Riot about the #Daily Book Pic!
For the month of July we are invited to post to Twitter/Pinterest a daily book themed photo-I'll be posting to Facebook too. Here is a list of prompts:

I am so excited about participating! Hope you will too! Watch my twitter/facebook feed for the photos and I'll be posting a summary post at the end of the month as well!

Mondays Bite- Twilight re-Read Along Chapters 1-5

I am so excited about this re-read along, I loved Twilight and I read it every year!

To link up your answers, go to Lisa's blog HERE!
For more info or to sign up and join us go HERE!





My  Discussion Answers for Ch. 1-5

Chapter 1: First Sight

Chapter 2: Open Book

Chapter 3: Phenomenon

Chapter 4: Invitations

Chapter 5: Blood Type

Q. Have you ever had to start over in a new place, like Bella did in Forks? This new place could be a school, job, or town... just something with a new setting. How easy or difficult was this for you?


 I think the biggest change I ever made echoes Bella's. I left my mom in Canada when I was 14 and went to live with my Dad (who I barely knew) in North Carolina. The transition was very challenging but I loved my high school. It was such a different learning and social experience than high school in Canada. I couldn't believe that on Friday nights everyone was at the school basketball games. I made some great friends, but alas there was no Edward to keep me there so I only stayed a year.


Q. Do you picture the actors from the movie as the characters in the book while you are reading?

NO. Not at all. I watch the movies, I like them because the essence of Meyer's story is there but I think with the exception of Jacob everyone has done a terrible job- I liked the first Victoria too. Robert Pattison is not my Edward, and though I like Kristen Stewart, she plays Bella in such a depressing way- not how I pictured her.

Q. What are your first thoughts on meeting Edward in Bella’s Biology class? At first he was annoyed by her presence, but then after a week away he returns & finds him self very interested in her. Do you think this helped or hindered the storyline?

It definitely made him hotter. :) What is it with guys who ignore us? It adds to the mood of the story and certainly made me read faster- I wanted to know why he was so "repulsed" by her.


Q. Out of the secondary characters Bella meets at school, who is your favorite and why? (I am referring to the humans, not the vampires in this question)

That's a hard answer as I don't pay as much attention to them as the vamps. But I'd have to say Mike. I love the fact that he's crazy for Bella and just can't have her.

Q. There is a lot of dialogue between Edward and Bella in these first few chapters that I feel played a major role in developing their relationship. What are some of your favorite quotes? or moments?

"I said it would be better if we weren’t friends, not that I didn’t want to be"


"I decided as long as I was going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly"


"Don’t be offended, but you seem to be one of those people who just attract accidents like a magnet. So… try not to fall into the ocean or get run over or anything, all right?"


I'm having a hard time pacing myself through the book and not just plowing through like I usually do.....

You'd never know that I've read my copy like a million times as it's still in pristine condition-I'm crazy like that- how many of you have underlined or highlighted copies of twilight?