Book Review: Frostfire by Amanda Hocking (spoiler filled review)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be doing a book review. This review is for Frostfire, the first book in the Kanin Chronicles by Amanda Hocking.

This series is a spin-off of the Trylle trilogy, which I just finished reviewing last week.

Let's get into the review!

As I mentioned in the introduction, the Kanin Chronicles is the spin-off of the Trylle trilogy. Instead of following a royal character, we follow 19-year-old Bryn Aven, a tracker from the Kanin tribe, another group of trolls. 

I checked this book out last March, intending to read it during quarantine. I read it in August of last year, which is fairly late compared to when I checked it out, but I was reading a lot of other things during the time before. 

Even though this is a spin-off, it could be read before the Trylle trilogy. I wouldn't read it out of order just because it would annoy me, but it could be, especially if you don't care much about the other series. 

If I remember correctly, Wendy from the previous series made a cameo in this book. It mainly spoils the events that occurred in Ascend I believe, as well as showing Loki as the person Wendy chose in the previous love triangle. 

If you aren't familiar with some of the characters, it might go over your head, but this is largely a separate story on its own that honestly doesn't have much to do with the Trylle, at least at this point in time. Obviously, since they are both troll tribes, they are mentioned, but since they aren't the focus, it isn't a large deal.

However, one of the main side characters is Ember Holmes, which, if you've read the Trylle trilogy, you'll recognize as Finn's little sister, so as far as the connecting of the two series, that's largely where it comes into play.

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Based on how the story is going so far, I'm going to assume that there is going to be a love triangle between Bryn, Ridley, and Konstantin. Personally, I'm on Ridley's side. I like him. Haven't seen a lot of Konstantin yet, but based on what I've seen, he's all right. He's not great. He's not bad. He's still kind of 'evil' at this point, so I don't know where this is going.

I'm hoping Bryn ends up with Ridley, because he genuinely seems to care about her, and I like his personality. He seems like a much better tracker than Finn (especially when it comes to emotions), and I can say I'm on his side more solidly than I was on the side of Wendy and Finn. Ridley seems more mature for his age. 

I liked Bryn. She was interesting and her actions made sense to me. I can't remember getting annoyed much (which is a definite plus). I also liked Ridley. He was an interesting character who cared about Bryn, which, in turn, made me care about him. 

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The plot is once again very simplistic, but it is distinctly different from the Trylle trilogy. Instead of following a troll princess as she tries to navigate her new life while saving the world, we have the story of a tracker who's goal is to become a member of the King's Guard in order to protect the royal family. In this story, her goal is set back as someone from her past is kidnapping changelings. 

We get to see into the life of a tracker, which I thought was very interesting. I like how Amanda Hocking decided to change up the perspective. Instead of focusing on a changeling from another tribe, we get to read about a tracker who, instead of falling in love with a prince/princess, falls in love with her boss, which is a separate forbidden love story from the one Wendy and Finn had in the Trylle trilogy.

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Another thing I really like about this book (and this series in general), is the cover. The Kanin live in a cold place, so it's only fitting that the cover would be covered in snow. The covers for this series are gorgeous. I had seen these books at my library as e-books, but they were never available because the licensing on them had expired, and I thought the covers were beautiful. I thought the covers for the Trylle trilogy were pretty, but these are even prettier.

I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. I really liked the story and the characters. It seems like Amanda Hocking's writing has gotten better since the Trylle trilogy. It isn't the best writing I've read, but it's most definitely better than other writing I've come across.

That's it for this review! I hope you enjoyed it! 

See you Thursday, 

Lexi K🖌

Book Review: Ascend by Amanda Hocking (spoiler filled review)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be doing a book review. This review is for Ascend, the third and final book in the Trylle trilogy by Amanda Hocking. 

Because this is the last book in the series, there will be spoilers for all three books in this review. If you haven't read any of these books and you wish to, I wouldn't recommend reading this post.

Let's get into the review!

Ascend picks up not long after the conclusion of Torn, just after Tove's and Wendy's engagement. Wendy is preparing to fight her father, Oren, the king of the Vittra, another troll tribe who is an enemy to the Trylle.

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This final book was my favorite of the three. I like how the love triangle was resolved. I liked Finn, but he could never fully be himself around Wendy. It felt as if Mia came out of nowhere, but she seems like a good fit for him. 

Finn and Wendy just couldn't be together. Between Trylle society, Finn's attitude, Wendy's status, and Finn's duty, it was never going to work. 

Wendy needed someone who could meet her needs--someone who didn't have many duties. She needed to be with someone who wouldn't break her heart multiple times. She needed someone who could love and care for her without having to keep her relationship a secret. 

I genuinely enjoyed reading the scenes with Wendy and Loki. During that scene toward the end when Oren kills Loki, I could feel Wendy's pain. Honestly, it was heartbreaking, mostly because it was so sudden and unexpected. Luckily, Sara was able to save him.

It was refreshing to read a book where one of the love interests doesn't choose love over duty. It was very interesting to see the opposite happen.

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One of the things I really like about Wendy is that she accepts responsibility when she makes a mistake, such as when she cheats on Tove with Loki while married to the former. She quickly admits that it wasn't the smartest decision she could've made, which I agree with. 

It's very easy to find books (especially in YA) where the protagonist blames other people for their mistakes, never seemingly taking responsibility for anything. 

I do like that Wendy doesn't act like that. Her character arc reveals growth and maturity. She still doesn't always make the best decisions, but she tries, and, to be honest, that's all most of us do anyway. 

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One of my favorite things about this series is that while it takes place over the course of a few months and probably could be considered fairly unrealistic because of that, there is never a point where Wendy suddenly knows how to do everything. Even at the end where Wendy is fighting Oren, she admits that she's never really been able to control her power.

In a lot of books, you'll read about characters who suddenly find out their true lineage and they can seemingly control their abilities and know everything about it by the end of the book, without truly ever training. 

By the end of this series, Wendy hasn't fully learned to control her power, not because she isn't trying, but because this takes place in a short timeframe and she's never been trained before.

It felt very realistic despite the timeframe being somewhat short as far as the romances go.

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I gave Ascend a 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. It was a nice conclusion to the series. Pretty much everything was wrapped up satisfactorily. It wasn't the best book in the world, nor was it the best series, but the resolution didn't leave me confused or annoyed.

The characters were enjoyable, and all of them grew and matured over the course of the three books. The book isn't without flaws, but no book is perfect. Sure, there are books that feel perfect to other people (mine is the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan), but those are objective.

The Trylle trilogy was an enjoyable YA paranormal romance that is very simplistic, but it's light and fun. It doesn't try too hard to be something it's not, and the story was pretty well-executed, especially considering the fact that the series was originally self-published. The writing wasn't perfect, nor was it the most amazing thing in the world, but it got the job done.

That's it for this review! I hope you enjoyed it! 

Until next time, 

Lexi K🖌

Book Review: Torn by Amanda Hocking (spoilers for Switched)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be doing a book review. This review is for Torn by Amanda Hocking, the second book in the Trylle trilogy.

This review will be mostly spoiler-free for this installment, however, because it is a sequel, there will be spoilers for the first book in this series. If you haven't read the first book and wish to, I wouldn't recommend reading this review.

Let's get into the review!

This book begins right where the last one begins with Rhys and Wendy traveling to her old house so Rhys can meet his blood brother. The plot of these books is really simple, but they're light and fun. This book focuses more on the politics of the Trylle, which was an enjoyable experience. A lot of the politics made sense, even if I didn't agree with them. 

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I did like the introduction of Loki. In the first book, I kind of shipped Wendy and Finn, however it was kind of hard to fully be on board with them, solely because Finn seemed so.....closed off, and not in the "I have a past I don't like talking about, please don't ask me" way. In the "I'm a tracker so I must always act professional, while also coming across as a callous jerk" way. That was just the vibe I got from him. 

For having to always act 'professional,' there were many times in the first two books where Finn just makes situations worse, such as during the school dance in the first book where--despite needing to protect Wendy--he insults her. Yes, Finn. Very professional behavior considering she doesn't want to be around you anymore. 

In this book Finn was a little better. I still liked him as a character, I just didn't think he and Wendy fully fit. I had assumed that Finn was going to be the only love interest in this series, so I tried to climb aboard the shipping train for them. However, once Loki was introduced, that slightly went out the window. Loki seemed to genuinely care about Wendy's well-being, while also just being a nice guy (the second of which Finn only sometimes succeeds in).

There's a non-love triangle love triangle in this book. Technically, there is one, solely because Wendy likes both Finn and Loki, however, due to Finn's duty as a tracker and all that, it's kind of clear that this isn't a true love triangle, just because it seems like only one outcome can come out of it.

When I read this, I wasn't sure to ship Finn or Loki with Wendy, though I leaned more toward Loki. My only problem while reading this book was the name association. Once I see a name associated with a certain character I can't disassociate myself from that character (that was one reason I had to rename one of my characters whose name had been Kalel; I couldn't stop confusing him with Superman). 

Loki was described as having blond hair, which is fine, however because of the association with Norse mythology and Marvel, I couldn't form a detailed picture of him in my head. I picture him as having straight, long blond hair, but I don't know if this was a description given in the book or not.

I like Wendy, especially for a YA paranormal romance protagonist. She was a refreshing character to read about. Sure she was occasionally be annoying, but I wasn't annoyed with her every chapter, which is definitely a good thing in my book. 

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I wouldn't say this one was better than the first, but I wouldn't say it was worse either. They were almost equal to me. I didn't see the big plot twist coming, which was fun and unexpected.

I honestly don't have much to say about this book. It was enjoyable. I ended up giving it a 4 out of 5 stars on my Goodreads. It isn't great, but it isn't awful either. 

That's it for this review! I hope you enjoyed it! 

I'm sorry if this post doesn't read as well as most of my other ones. I read this book pre-COVID (January 2020), so my timeline and remembrance of it is pretty flawed, all things considered, so the thoughts might not be as coherent as they could be.

See you Thursday, 

Lexi K🖌

Musings of an Arthritic Artist: A New Milestone

Welcome to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today is going to be a special post. Today marks the day my fiftieth post goes up. I can't believe it's already been this long. 

For this post, I'm going to reminiscing on day one. It's hard to believe that it's already been 5 months since I officially started this blog. 

Let's get into the post!

King, Alexandria. Musings of an Arthritic Artist. 2021.

I can't believe it's already been so long. I feel as if I just started this project, but it's already been 5 months. I'm honestly surprised I haven't run out of blog ideas yet. 

Like I mentioned in the introduction, I'm going to predominantly be remembering the day this all started--the day my first post went up. March 2, 2021.

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I never expected my first post to get as many views as it did within the 24 hours since I had put it up (if you haven't read it, check it out here: What No One Tells You About Arthritis: Introducing Me (opens in new window)). When I initially began writing my blog, I thought I was trying too hard. 

My mother suggested I start a blog. I was excited to. I have been wanting my own blog for nine years now. I've been wanting my own blog since I was nine for one reason: my sister had one, therefore I wanted one. 

I had never given much thought to what it would be about. I'm interested in so many things that I didn't know how to connect them all into one project. Another reason why I didn't give the idea of a blog much thought was because I didn't know if my parents would let me, seeing as I'm still in school, and I don't have much social media. 

However, it wasn't just that. I never felt as if my voice really mattered that much. I knew it did, but the internet is so broad that I thought my blog would just get overshadowed and overlooked.

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When I finally got around to starting my blog, I thought I was putting too much work into it. I had all these ideas. I found a schedule, and began to schedule posts months in advance (in fact I began writing this post 14 and a half hours after my first post went up; feel free to call me crazy, however I am immensely appreciative). 

I thought I was going overboard--I wasn't going to get that many people anyway. I began writing drafts for blog posts a month before I decided to publish one. 

I was working on the personalization and home page setup for almost a week, trying to get it right. I wanted to make it as aesthetically and artistically pleasing as possible, while keeping it true to my personality.

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I didn't expect to get as many views as I did when my first post went up. Even though I had asked my dad and sister to share it on their Facebook feeds so I could get even one view, I was only expecting a max of 9 views in the first 24 hours. 

Five hours after I put up the post, I had 18 views on my blog. I was ecstatic. That was double the amount of views I was expecting to get. It exceeded my expectations.

Then, the number slowly grew over the next eight hours. In 24 hours, I got a total of 41 views on my first post. Within 13, I had gotten almost 5x the amount of views I had expected to get. 

I had gotten 14 views at 11AM--five hours after I published the post. At 1 o'clock, I got 17 views on the blog itself (which could've been the home page or my About Me or My Favorite Things pages). Within 24 hours, I had 54 views on the blog itself.

I don't want to make it seem as if I'm basing my entire blog and happiness on numbers, because I'm not the kind of teenager who bases my self-worth on views or followers. For me it isn't about the views or likes on my sister's (and father's) Facebook feed. It's about the people behind those views and likes. 

It means people were interested enough to click on the link to my post. It means some people liked the content, message, or quality of the post I wrote. Knowing that I got 38 views that weren't from my parents, sister, and myself makes me happy. 

Even now, it's the most viewed post on my blog, but that is one number I don't feel comfortable sharing. 

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I never realized how much of a confidence booster this blog would be. I wouldn't say I have a very low self-esteem, but it's definitely lower than a lot of peoples', mostly due to my perfectionism and fluctuating mental health because of autoimmune disease flares. 

I remember telling my mom and sister that it was crazy because I had barely done anything that day (I had finessed the post the night before), and yet I felt accomplished. I felt productive when I wasn't expecting to. 

By my standards, I was lazy that day. I spent pretty much the entire day on my computer. I watched TV and read eight chapters in the book I was reading (War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi; which I reviewed here: Speculative Fiction Set in Africa: War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi (opens in new window))--which seems like a lot, but I still had 42 left (I wasn't even halfway through).

I watched a hockey game (Battle of Pennsylvania; the Pittsburgh Penguins won 5-2 😁), I played Animal Crossing: New Horizons for half an hour, and began writing this post an hour and half before my bedtime. 

I spent most of that day being a spectator. I didn't draw, I barely wrote, I didn't take any photos, and I barely read.

I think that the main reason why I felt so accomplished was because I knew that even though I was only speaking to a small group, that was the only group that mattered at the time. Maybe some people weren't very interested and decided my blog wasn't for them, and that's okay. 

But I like to think that even though the only people who were reading my post were most likely people who know my dad or sister, I was still (hopefully) enlightening others, no matter how minuscule the group was. I definitely wasn't expecting a comment on my first post. That was a pleasant surprise.

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My family always tells me I sell myself short--that I should give myself more credit. Maybe I should. When I started my blog, I knew that I had to have a post that introduced me.

After all, I couldn't just call this blog Musings of an Arthritic Artist and not explain anything. When I wrote the post, I was satisfied, but also nervous. I've never had a blog before (I've barely even had social media), so I didn't know what it would be like. 

Besides that, I didn't think my story was that interesting, so I didn't expect many views. I know that most people don't know kids can get arthritis, but at the same time, I still wasn't all that confident about it. 

Maybe it's because my life is exactly that--my life. It's a life I've known essentially since I was born. It isn't surprising to me, because I live it. Every day. I don't know a life without arthritis. As it is, I barely know a life without pain. 

My sister made me see a different perspective. It was the evening of the day my first post went up. I was talking to her and asking if it was too informative. I was worried it sounded like a lecture, but my sister (being my sister), helped me see it differently.

Sometimes, I forget that not everyone sees my life the way I do, seeing as they don't know me, they don't know about juvenile arthritis, or they don't know my story. It's so easy to think (even briefly) that everyone sees life the way you do, but it isn't true.

I've grown up around people who know me and juvenile arthritis because I'm homeschooled. I essentially don't have any friends besides my sister (though no one could ever replace her). 

I've only been involved in three instances where someone is ignorant about invisible disabilities (which I discussed in this post: My Experience Being Invisibly Disabled (opens in new window)), so I forget that a lot of people just don't know about juvenile arthritis until I read articles, cruise Pinterest, or watch YouTube videos.

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I'd like to thank everyone who has ever visited my blog. I'd like to thank the few email subscribers I have. I'm incredibly grateful for all of you. 

After all, what's a blog without readers? Thank you to my readers in Portugal, the Philippines, and India. Thank you to every other reader from every other country on my map. 

It's been incredibly enjoyable to see how many countries I have documented where people have read my blog. I love sharing the locations with my family. 

It's been a wonderful journey seeing my Blogger map fill up with countries I've never been able to remember the locations of. Maybe I'll start remembering where they are now since I have a picture in my head. 

I am immensely grateful to the people who shared my post on their Facebook feeds that first day: my sister (thank you, Sammie--you are the best sister I could ever ask for🎶💙), my father (I love you, daddy [read as #1 father] 🏆🚁), and my Uncle Martin who lives in England (I enjoy being related to you, blood or not🏉[that's a rugby football, by the way]). 

Last, but most definitely not least, I wish to thank my mother. I love you, mom.👗🐘 This has turned out to be a more brilliant idea than I initially thought it would be. The ideas you have had have been amazing and incredibly beneficial, along with the idea for the blog's name. I wouldn't have started this if it wasn't for you.

That's it for this post! I hope you enjoyed it! 

Until next time,

Lexi K🖌

Book Review: Switched by Amanda Hocking (spoiler-free review)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be doing a book review. This review is for Switched by Amanda Hocking, the first book in the Trylle Trilogy.

I won a giveaway of this book through Goodreads in December 2019, but I got my copy the day after New Years'. The premise itself was promising, so I entered and I won.

Let's get into the review!

I'm going to quickly begin with a small introduction about this book that in no way affects my opinion or rating. Firstly, this book was self-published as an e-book in 2010, two years before Amanda Hocking got a deal with St. Martin's Press to make this a printed book. 

Secondly, I entered a Goodreads giveaway to try to win this book. I had previously seen it on my library's site and had found the premise interesting, so when I saw it as a giveaway, I immediately entered. 

I won the giveaway and was only expecting to win this book because it was the book listed and there were no other details to suggest otherwise. 

Upon opening the package from the mail, I was surprised to find not just one, but three books. It turns out I actually won the whole trilogy. This of course is a plus, but my rating and enjoyment wasn't directly affected by this.

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This book follows seventeen (nearly eighteen) year old, Wendy Everly. The story begins with a flashback scene eleven years in the past wherein her mother tried to kill her. 

Her mother was transferred to a mental hospital and she was raised by her aunt. She doesn't fit in at any school she goes to, instead getting expelled pretty quickly and frequently. 

She repeatedly feels as if she's being watched by Finn Holmes, a mysterious guy who goes to her new school. Not long after speaking to him, her life changes, and she finds out things she never knew. Things that may have explained why her mother was always mad that she wasn't a boy and why she never called Wendy her daughter.

This is a paranormal romance trilogy, but not the kind with the standard vampire or werewolf. Wendy soon finds out she's a Changeling. 

Her real home is the world of the Trylle, where trolls live. However, they aren't trolls like we know. They have darker hair, darker eyes, and are stunningly beautiful. Wendy is the daughter of the Trylle queen, making her royalty.

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Wendy, the main character, is somewhat annoying at times, but overall I was very interested in her journey. There were some instances where I didn't understand her reasoning behind her actions, but this wasn't every page, nor even every chapter.

Finn was sometimes likable, sometimes not. He's kind of hit or miss. Though it is a minuscule detail, I enjoyed the reasoning behind why her name is Wendy. Her fake older brother named her Wendy after the character in Peter Pan, because her "mother" refused to name her. 

There were quite a few characters I liked. None of them are on my list of favorites, but they were still intriguing to read about. The cast was very varied personality-wise, which was nice. It's surprising how there are so many books that have characters who are practically indistinguishable, and I'm glad that in this book I could tell who was talking at what moment.

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I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars on my Goodreads. The story was very simple, but it was interesting and I was engaged enough in the characters for me to continue reading it. It wasn't the best book I've ever read, but it's definitely not the worst.

I enjoyed it, and I'm glad I own the whole trilogy. It made it easier to read it, plus the trilogy looks nice in a completed collection. 

The covers also complement each other, and the colors used are beautiful. They look very paranormal YA, which I like. The decoration around the title on the cover is also gorgeous.

That's it for this review! I hope you enjoyed it! 

See you Thursday, 

Lexi K🖌

AR Point System: The Disparity Between Novels

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today is going to be an interesting post. Recently, my sister was using the AR (accelerated reader) site to check a few books, and she noticed something that immediately grabbed my attention. 

That would be none other than the disparity between novels regarding the point system. That's what I will be discussing today. 

Because I don't want to judge books and their vocabularies and difficulties without knowing anything about them, I will only be using works that I have read or know a lot about as examples. 

Let's get into the post!

King, Alexandria. Musings of an Arthritic Artist. 2021.

My mother and I have used AR for years to look up books to check their reading levels for my homeschooling. On AR they also have a points system. This is a system usually used by schools. 

I have personally never used the points system (my mother and I have never seen a point). In mine and my sister's opinions, there's a small flaw in their system, particularly in the way they handle points.

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When it comes to schools, it isn't uncommon to find students who don't like to read, so they seem to award students who read bigger books with more points. The reason I find this problematic is because the points system seems to be based on page count rather than vocabulary difficulty and content. 

For example, Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer (the fifth book in the Twilight Saga that was released in 2020) has a total award of 37 points. 

At first glance, this seems fine. Midnight Sun is 658 pages long. It's a big book. The AR reading level is a 5.4 (for those unfamiliar with how this system works, this means that it is written at the reading comprehension/vocabulary level of a fifth grader in their fourth month of school). Pride and Prejudice, while having 279 pages and an AR level of a 12.0 (twelfth grade, zero months of school), has an award of 27 points, an entire 10 points less than Midnight Sun. 

I'm not saying students shouldn't be awarded for reading Midnight Sun. They definitely should. It helps to encourage reading, no matter what the book is. However, the language in Pride and Prejudice is much harder to understand than the language in Midnight Sun. 

I have read both of these books and enjoyed both of them, but in my opinion, this is problematic. A lot of students and people in general will DNF (did not finish) Pride and Prejudice because they can't understand the vocabulary used. 

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Another thing that baffles me are the points given for Romeo and Juliet and some of William Shakespeare's other works in comparison to some others. Now, I haven't technically finished one of his plays (I started reading Romeo and Juliet last year and I think I was on Act 3 of 5), though I would say I'm fairly knowledgeable (or at least semi-experienced) in this field, seeing as how my older sister majored in English in college with a concentration in Shakespeare. 

I know that students and people struggle to get through his plays because they are written in Shakespearean English, and why Romeo and Juliet is only awarded 5 points is beyond me. 

I originally assumed this was an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, maybe even a version translated into Modern English, but no, it's one of the Folger Library editions, which (as my sister says) are the best versions of Shakespeare's plays to read. 

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I also cannot fathom how Midnight Sun has more points than The Iliad, as well as The Odyssey. This isn't just me ranking on the Twilight Saga either. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is worth 44 points. I loved Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when I first read it a few years back. 

This book is 870 pages long (to date, it is the longest book I've ever read), however I can guarantee that the level of difficulty for The Iliad and The Odyssey are higher and more complicated and maybe even confusing. The Iliad and The Odyssey are each awarded 25 and 24 points, respectively. 

I have not actually read The Iliad, nor have I read The Odyssey. However, I think I'm fairly knowledgeable in these poems seeing as I've researched Greek mythology for years just because I wanted to. I've read passages from them, and the language (as far as difficulty) is far superior than that of Midnight Sun and Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix. 

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I don't know why the AR points system seems to be based on a book's thickness rather than its difficulty in vocabulary and content, but I guess that's just another mystery of the world that I'll never be able to figure out. 

That's it for this post! I hope you enjoyed it! 

Until next time, 

Lexi K🖌

A World Without Color: My Experience Becoming Temporarily Colorblind

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be talking about something that was pretty traumatic to me as a child. 

I'm going to be talking about the time I nearly went colorblind. I'm just going to get straight into it. 

Let's get into the post!

King, Alexandria. Musings of an Arthritic Artist. 2021.

When this happened, I was on chemotherapy. The year was either 2010 or 2011. I was about 7 or 8, I think. All of this happened within a decently short period of time, however it felt like forever when I was a child. Let's get into the actual story.

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My mother had taken me to my annual eye appointment. My optometrist had run some tests. In order to check color blindness, she had Ishihara color plates, which are used to test for color blindness. The plates look like this:

Ishihara plate 11 with the number 6

 

Ishihara plate 1 with the number 12

What you're supposed to do is look at the plates (she had a small book) and trace the numbers with your finger. If your color perception is pretty much perfect, you can see the numbers and trace them. I had excelled at this quite a few times, but this time was different. I remember this as if it was yesterday. I had looked at the book and the colors, but when I looked at it, I couldn't see the numbers. The colors themselves were a bit faded. 

I didn't understand what was happening. I traced where I thought the number was, but pretty much every time, I got it wrong. At the end of the appointment, we were told I was going colorblind.

The dosage of medication I was taking at the time was too strong and was making me go colorblind, which I will mention more in a future section. 

After that appointment, I began to really realize my vision. For a little while before, I had noticed my vision was a little off. Colors were a bit faded and I couldn't see them as well. I was only about 7 or 8, so I didn't think much of it. It wasn't until after the appointment that I really began noticing and slightly panicking. 

If I remember correctly, my vision had begun to turn slightly monochromatic. The colors had started to fade. It was as if all the color in the world was slowly being sucked away by a vacuum. It sounds like something out of a children's chapter book, picture book, or TV, but that's how my vision had begun to change. I think it was red-green colorblindness that I was developing. There were patches of gray where color should've been.

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As for the medication thing: I had originally thought when this happened (and my mother did too) that the methotrexate I was taking was causing my colorblindness, but upon researching farther, I have now realized (and concluded) that it was the naproxen I was taking that was causing my colorblindness. 

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There are a lot of things you don't think about until they happen to you or someone you know. That's just how crazy and unpredictable life is. It doesn't even have to be medical related, but in my case it is. I had never given much thought to colorblindness as a child. I don't even know if I knew fully what it was until it began affecting me. 

It's crazy the things you don't think about until they come crashing into your life like an asteroid. 

After this, I developed a fear. It isn't as severe as my other one is (the one about fearing never being able to use my hands again if I overwork them), but it's definitely present. After my vision cleared, and returned to normal, I began to fear becoming colorblind again, especially completely colorblind. I love color. When it comes to my art, color is normally the first thing I rely on. Without color, my art sometimes feels incomplete and unfinished. 

Seeing the world the way I did was a terrifying experience I never want to have to deal with again. It's a feeling that is difficult to explain. 

Nowadays, my vision is pretty good. It isn't perfect since I wear glasses, but I now see colors normally and am no longer colorblind or partially colorblind.

That's it for this post! I hope you enjoyed it! 

See you Thursday, 

Lexi K🖌

Things That Annoy Me As a Writer

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be talking about the things that annoy me as a writer. 

I have been a writer for about 4-5 years now, so I have found many things that annoy me. To clarify, these are not things that people say or even the way my mind thinks. This is about the main writing platform I use, and how much its spell check annoys me.

Let's get into the post!

King, Alexandria. Musings of an Arthritic Artist. 2021.

I think one of the things that annoys me the most is the spell check for some of the writing programs. As far as writing platforms, the only two I’ve really used are Google Docs and Microsoft Word. 

I use both of those programs to write fiction and academic things, however most of my files are fiction writing. I tend to write a lot of first person present things, and for some reason, Google Docs likes to correct my words.

A lot of fiction writers use and even recommend Google Docs, so why first person present words don’t register in their algorithm is beyond me and can be incredibly annoying. 

When I make up fantasy words, this is fine. It’s not a valid word. However, I absolutely hate when actual words are corrected. Fairly recently I had written the word “assuages” and they wanted to correct it to “assured/assures.” They do not have the same meaning at all. 

Assuage means to "make an unpleasant feeling less intense," while assure means to "tell someone something positively or confidently to dispel any doubts they may have." 

The former is along the lines of the words "alleviate," "relieve," "ease," and "soothe," while the latter is along the lines of "convince," "promise," "persuade," and "guarantee." Explain to me how these words mean the same thing. It also wants to change the word "sparred" into "spared," even though this is a word still in use. 

It always wants to correct my present-tense verbs to past-tense verbs, however "say" is never highlighted. In one sentence, it wants to correct "every one" into "everyone" even though they mean two separate things. 

It wants to change "I tense" to "I am tense," because that makes sense. It also wants to change "nods" to "mods." This sentence is about a character in a fantasy setting nodding. I don't understand what mods have to do with this. 

Also "limp" wants to be changed to "limb," because the sentence, "I limb toward the market" totally makes sense. It also wants to change "coercing" to "forcing". No, Google Docs. Please don't change my vocabulary. 

It also wants to change my sentence from, "They'll scar," to "They'll be scared." I'm sorry, what? Also, it wants to change "sighs" to "signs." I love writing disabled characters, but this character doesn't know sign language, nor are they deaf.

It also wants to change the sentence, "You're a good person who had something terrible happen to them" to "You're a good person who had something terrible happened to them." As far as I know, they're both correct grammatically, but the first one makes more sense. 

It wants to change the sentence, "My leg will never be the same" to "My legs will never be the same," which changes the entire meaning of the sentence. It wants to change, "What was I like?" to "What did I like?" which again changes the meaning of the sentence. 

"We'll duel in my father's arena" wants to be changed to "Will duel in my father's arena." It suggests that "mar" be changed to "mark." It wants to correct "Forget I asked" to "Forget what I asked," which (once again) changes the meaning and tone of the sentence.

In another story, "I'm sorry won't cut it" has the suggestion of "I'm sorry I won't cut it." It wants to change "peplos" to "people." It wants to change "y'all" to "ya."

In a hockey related story I was writing, it wants to change "I'm checked hard into the boards" into "I checked hard into the boards."

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Google Docs needs to do something to fix their algorithm if they want their spell check to be consistent and correct. Upon a look at my personal dictionary, it seems as if the words "hear," "overcame," "killed," "glares," "says," "asks," and "fear" weren't in their algorithm.

I decided to go through my personal dictionary to look for standard words. It had quite a few words that I made up for fantasy projects (Google Docs was perfectly valid in wanting to correct them), but there were a few standard words in there, such as "asks," "says," and "could've."

For some strange reason, Google Docs wants to change "asks" to "asos," which is usually one of two things. It's an acronym for something involving the National Weather Service and a fashion retailer. So, technically, it isn't even a valid word. It wants to correct "says" into "days." However, the most baffling (and annoying) suggestion is could've.

Most spell checkers will want to correct contractions, which I have no problem with. Contractions are very frowned upon (and can get you docked points) in an academic/scholarly setting such as college/university, so many writing platforms will want to correct these. Therefore, I have no problem with how Google Docs wants to correct it, however, it's the way they want to correct it.

As children learn in elementary school, "could have" translates to "could've," "would have" translates to "would've," "could not" translates to "couldn't," and "would not" translates to "wouldn't." There are plenty of contractions but if I tried to list them all, we'd be here all day. The most baffling thing is that Google Docs wants to correct "could've" to "would have."

Excuse me?  If this were a correct suggestion, it should've been "could have," not "would have." This is not a proper translation of a broken down, split up contraction.

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Despite all this, I would still recommend Google Docs for writers. It allows you to be able to edit your work anywhere, even if you're using a public computer at a library or on a tablet or phone, which is one of the many reasons I enjoy using it.

It's the main thing writers use it for. It's the major pro that outweighs the con. You can access and edit your work anywhere. I used to use Microsoft Word for anything, but when you travel a lot, it gets very difficult when you want to write or edit a passage, but you don't have that passage accessible to you. It's easier than having to use a USB drive all the time (though they are still very useful).

That's it for this post! I hope you enjoyed it! 

Until next time, 

Lexi K🖌

Sisters' Day Appreciation Post

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today is going to be a special post. Sunday, August 1 was Sisters Day, so today is going to be a special post. 

This post is for my fantastic sister. I did two posts similar to this months ago. I did one for Mother's Day and Father's Day. 

Those are two of the biggest annual days, but there is another that my sister and I have lightly celebrated for about six years (when we remember, of course). That day is none other than Sisters Day. 

We don't normally give each other gifts on Sisters Day, but this year I've decided to give her a gift, and what better gift is there than writing a post talking about how spectacular she is?

King, Alexandria. Musings of an Arthritic Artist. 2021.

My sister is my confidante. She's both the most annoying person in my life and the best person in my life (that of course is not meant to offend my amazing parents). She can make me mad, she can even make me cry, but she knows exactly how to make me laugh and smile.

As a child, I never envisioned I would be as close with my sister as I am now, especially due to our age gap. I grew up wanting to be exactly like her (like most younger siblings do), and I knew that I felt decently close to her, but I never knew if she felt the same way. 

She has always been there for me, even as annoying as she may be sometimes. When I couldn't walk as a child, she would give me piggyback rides, so much that her back probably was very sore after. 

We used to fight a lot. Over stupid things. 

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To be honest, I was a horrible younger sister when I was a child. In complete honesty, I was pretty abusive, even though it's normal for a child to sometimes start hitting people at a certain age. I would smack her with a set of golf clubs I had. 

They were taken away once so I couldn't hit her again and put on top of our old fridge. This didn't faze me at the time. I climbed onto the kitchen counter when no one was around, and pulled down my golf clubs.

I continued smacking my sister with them, until my parents took them away a second time and put them where I couldn't reach them. I haven't seen them since; I think they're in my old garage. 

I was a cruel sister. I got jealous easily (like a lot of kids do), and was honestly quite a brat. I'm not surprised that my sister would get so annoyed with me and try to avoid me, and I don't blame her.

Even when I was 9, I was a bit of a jerk, but that story is a bit too personal to share. Let's just say I butchered a song by one of her favorite bands (Matchbox Twenty) where I put my own cruel lyrics to it and tormented her at night by singing it to her. I was a very cruel child, yet she still loved and put up with me. I'll never fully understand why.

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My sister and I weren't very close growing up. We loved each other, and I loved watching my sister compete in marching band and winterguard, but I still felt distant from her. She's eight years, ten months older than me, which means that when I was 6, my sister was a sophomore in high school. About a week after my 9th birthday, she graduated. Just before I turned 13, she was already graduating from college and had already earned her Bachelor's degree. 

She was already so far ahead in her life, while it seemed as if I was barely beginning mine. I remember being a child and dreading the day she'd move away. I knew it had to be soon. These are thoughts I was having at around 8 years old. I didn't want my sister to leave when I barely knew her.

The only thing that I would've been excited for had she moved away was that I wanted her room. As a child, I had already laid claim to it. I had told her that when she moved out, I wanted her room. I told my mother that as well.

After I began fearing that my sister would move away and leave me at around 8, I tried to make a deal with her. I made her promise to not move out until I turned 18. She agreed. 

At the time, I was happy. I was satisfied. I knew she wouldn't leave, so I didn't think much of it. A few years later, she brought it up, telling my mom that she couldn't move away until I was 18 because she made me a promise.

To be honest, I was shocked. When the years began to pass by, I remembered that deal but I doubted she would keep her word. I had resigned myself to the fact that she had agreed with me at the time just to make me stop whining. I thought she just wanted me to shut up and let her work. She didn't. 

I didn't expect her to keep her word. 

My 18th birthday occurred two months ago. My sister is still here. She has a job and she's pretty busy, but she's here. She kept her promise. And to that I say, "There, Sammie. I'm 18. You can move out now 😁."

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Growing up, I bashed pretty much everything my sister liked. She loved dinosaurs, I hated dinosaurs. She loved sharks, I hated sharks. She loved science fiction movies, I hated science fiction movies. She loved superheroes, I hated superheroes.

Then, 2016-2017 came. Since my sister didn't know what she wanted to do for Graduate school, my mom gave her a gap year. She gave me a gap year the same year, telling me and my sister that she wanted us to spend time together that year. 

I started sleeping in her room. That year was a perpetual sleepover. It got annoying (mostly because it was her room, so I had little freedom on what possessions I could have in there), but it was fun. 

She wanted to start watching the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movies. She invited me to watch Iron Man, and I complained but begrudgingly did so. After that, whenever she asked me if I wanted to watch Iron Man 2, I always said no. 

I think a few weeks to a month had passed by before I asked her if we could watch it. If I remember properly, I was curious about it and just wanted to watch a movie with my sister, even if it had to be a superhero movie.

It was fun. From that moment on, we began binging the MCU. We went in timeline order, even watching Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D episodes before certain movies. 

We binged it until we caught up. At the time we started, the MCU only went up to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; Spider-Man Homecoming hadn't been released yet. 

I loved it. I fell in love with Marvel movies and even superhero movies as a whole. My sister got to give me an "I told you so" look because when we started, she said I'd enjoy it and that it'd be fun. At the time, I didn't believe her. She was right. 

I don't think I would be as invested in the MCU and even the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) if my sister and I hadn't watched them. They are genuinely good movies, but I now have that emotional connection. 

I truly believe that the reason we are so close now is because I opened myself up to watching the movies she loved (she also forced me into it). I truly believe it's Marvel's fault the two of us are so close now, because otherwise, we did things we always did. 

We played board games, video games (which I lost; I always lost back then), and card games. The one thing I hadn't done was watched a lot of the movies she liked willingly. I had seen the Tobey Maguire Spiderman movies. 

I had seen some of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (the first season) because my sister had checked out season one from the library a couple years before. The only difference was that whenever she asked me if I wanted to watch the movies she liked, I'd say no, while she'd repeatedly watch the movies I liked, usually with no complaint. 

We bonded over those movies, and all the other activities we did. The two of us were older and more mature, so we were able to connect and relate more. It definitely wasn't easy gaining our relationship (we argued a lot), but I think all our hard work has paid off. 

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If you asked me as a child who my best friend was, I'd say my sister, for two reasons. One, I'd say that it's because I don't have any other friends, and two, because I want to be just like her. 

Now, if you asked me the same question, the answer would be the same, but the reasoning would be different. I'd say that my sister is my best friend because she's usually the first person I go to for certain things. She's my best friend because she's my sister, and she's a pretty good one at that.

We definitely have a better relationship than we used to. We don't argue as much because I've learned to just deal with her. She sometimes says the most random things, solely to make me laugh. She's honestly quite bizarre, but it keeps me from being too serious. She's annoying and she can be mean, but I wouldn't trade her for the world. 

I know my sister probably isn't reading this when it's published, or even when it's sent to her email. She'll be too busy making money by reading and writing about comics, but I'll give a message to her anyway because she's bound to read it eventually, even if it takes her three months. Or six.

Thank you, Sammie. Thank you for making me a promise even though I was a brat. Thank you for those piggyback rides and late-night pep talks. Thank you for the road trip shenanigans and laughs, but most of all, thank you for being my sister. I love you! Happy Sisters' Day! 

That's it for this post! I hope you enjoyed it! 

See you Thursday, 

Lexi K🖌