Interview with Kate Willis

Hey y'all! I am so excited to share with y'all an interview I did with Kate Willis in honor of her re-releasing her first book! I'm not used to doing interviews, but this was so much fun! 

You can buy The Treasure Hunt on Amazon. Or add it on Goodreads.

Awesome sibling interaction, a believable plot, and fun adventure. This book is full to the brim with fun. Even though it's geared towards middle schoolers, I really enjoyed this at 20. I am pretty sure if it had been around when I was a kid I would have worn out a copy. 

ENTER HERE

Five Videos To Make You Smile

I thought it might be fun to share some of the videos I've been watching lately. All of these are super clean and fun but I would like to note for 4 and 5 I do not recommend other videos by these people. 

1. Quarantine Life by Matthew West.
I listened to this on repeat for an hour, it was just. so. fun.

2. This cover of Clean.
An amazing worship song performed by the worship team from a church where I work.

3. This cover of JJ Hellers Hand to Hold. <3
A beautiful cover preformed by four sisters.

4. Explaining the Pandemic to my Past Self

5. Disney Character in Quarantine Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
Hilarious retentions of classic Disney songs with lyrics about the quarantine.
(Just a note, these videos do portray some of the "creepier" Disney characters, so if your sensitive (Or just don't like them like me) you might want to skip parts 2&3)

Drop me a comment of which of these you liked if you checked them out!

When Normal is Taken Away

What do you do when so much of what you thought was normal is taken away? In March I was plopped into a world that somehow existed without work, church, libraries, and the ability to go out without wearing a mask.

I went from being out at least three days a week, to being home every single day. 

I went from never really paying attention to the news, to suddenly I was hearing it all the time. 

I went from being with friends every week to not being able to see any of them.

My world felt like it was turning inside out like I'm sure many of y'all can relate to. When that happened I was faced with a question that has bugged me nonstop for the last two months. 

When normal is gone, what am I clinging to? 

Because honestly, I cling to normalcy to much. That sense of comfort you get from just having consistent work, or getting to go to church. That familiar peace from getting to hang out with friends you feel comfortable with. That feeling of all being right in the world. 

Suddenly all that was gone, and I knew I had been clinging to it way too hard. I found myself getting way to upset over each new restriction placed, and trying to cling to things like books and movies to pull myself through. Only nothing is actually giving me refuge. 

I realized not too long into this whole pandemic that the only place I ever found safety, and a never-changing sense of normal was in God. 

In the midst of unstocked stores, grim news, people going crazy, and a world that is falling apart, God is a sure and steady anchor. He is the one thing in this world that will never change, and I'd say that makes him a perfect place to look for a sense of normal. 

So right now, the world still kind of feels upside down, but I've found that in the shelter of His Wings, I can learn to trust that normal is simply being with Him. 

Cover Reveal for The Treasure Hunt

I am excited to announce that Kate Willis's first book, The Treasure Hunt, is getting a new cover! Here it is!

The Synopsis: 

They were silent a moment each thinking of the strange clue and even stranger signature. Anna was first to speak. "It seems like some sort of treasure hunt."

A boring summer vacation turns into an exciting adventure when Anna and her brother David discover a mysterious note. Soon they are hunting for clues, solving puzzles, and cracking codes--all on their own farm!

It's releasing May 25'th, so go ahead and add it on Goodreads!

My review from 2017:

I love kids' books. There is just something refreshing about leaving the problems you might face in normal fiction and going into the nice, simple life of children's fiction.

This was a cute book and felt extremely realistic. I wish it had been around when I was about ten because I have a feeling I would have worn out a copy back then. I was always looking for kids books that could have happened in real life, but never really found any. But now I have. This makes me very happy.
This is perfect for younger kids, though as I've just proven, it can be enjoyed by older readers too.

Have you read this yet? What about Kate Willis's other books?

April Highlights

It was a pretty slow month, but it was good none the less. I enjoyed all the time I got to spend at home.

Our family celebrated Passover and Easter alone. We normally have people join us, but we had fun just our family. We had church online, took a long walk down to a tunnel, and cracked a whole lot of confetti eggs over each other's heads. ;)

I've been exchanging videos with the kids I babysit. I've been able to share videos of the puppies with them and seeing their little faces has been awesome!

We worked a lot at our food pantry. They have a lack of volunteers right now, so my family's been helping out.

As I already said, our dog Belle had seven puppies. They are three and a half weeks old now, walking, eating real food, and trying to escape 90% of the time. ;) My puppy, Ranger (Pictured far right below), has been super cuddly this week. <3

My Bible study group has finished it's study on Act's via Zoom meetings. This was my first year with Bible Study Fellowship and it was the best study I've ever been a part of. I'm looking forward to next year's study.

Since this month is Camp NaNo I worked on re-writing my book Battle for Kelar. I was majorly behind almost the whole month and didn't manage to catch up to the last week. And then it was only because of a lot of days sprinting with my friend Micaiah. But, I made it with 25,000 words and really enjoyed getting to write that much.

My siblings and I went stargazing late into one night. We laughed, and talked, and almost fell asleep out on our lawn. It was awesome to have some time together because the next day my brother left for New York to work at the Samaritan's Purse hospital there.

My sister Rose and I painted shirts together. It was a fun quarantine project, and now we've got matching t-shirts.

I read fairly slowly this month, which felt good. I enjoyed reading slower. I got to buddy read Becoming Nikki with my friend Kate. <3 

Ember's End was my favorite new read of the month, and The Number of Love was my favorite re-read. 

A Thousand Summers Fifth out of Ten

10 Random Things About Me Victoria Lynn

Memes I'm Laughing Over The Destiny of One

Easter posts: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Stories by Firefly

Formatting Time and The Stationery Tag Once Upon the Ordinary

How was your month? Did you do any fun craft projects?