Young Writers Society

1. FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: GOODOLNOAH
2. REVIEW EVENT RECAP
3. TEAM TORTOISE INTERVIEWS: RAVENAKUMA
4. ICY'S READING LOG: JUNE
5. AHOY! POETRY IDEAS AHEAD
6. FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: 22MIDNIGHT
7. LAST SHIP SAILING ROUND III - FIRST MONTH UPDATE
8. A FELLOW READER
9. SHAMELESS PLUGS
10. SUBSCRIBERS

FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: GOODOLNOAH written by Liminality< PM: >

You’ll know this FM for their friendliness, their passion for character-driven stories and their love of sci-fi/fantasy settings. @goodolnoah joined us in February this year, but already they are on their third review star and in the top ten reviewers for June as of me writing this. They were selected as FM for May 29th – June 11th. Recently, I had the chance to chat with them about becoming FM and their inspirations for writing.



goodolnoah: Of course! I'd love to answer some questions!



G: My reaction when I first found out I was FM was pure shock man…

Usually when I wake up after my daily routine I check YWS to see if I have any notifications or the like, when I find my NAME under featured member (along with a bunch of notifications)!

I was very surprised to say the least, and it was an uplifting experience for me. It felt like the work I’ve been doing here over the past months had “paid off” in a way.

It also really helped me feel heard by all my friends at YWS, the congratulations and praise really went a long way!



G: I think I would say I am proud of two achievements. Writing-wise, I just recently finished a WIP story that ended up being around 40,000 words! I’ve been at work on this since around March. I think my biggest YWS-related achievement would be the reviews I’ve done for Ley’s story “The Daughter of War” . I ended up leaving reviews for all 35 (currently) of her chapters!

I would like to say achievements like this go hand-in-hand. Reading @Ley’s and other writing has really helped me motivate and improve my writing!



G: The story is called The Council of Terras. I think a simple logline would be something like…

“A failed clone travels to a desecrated dimension to learn about who he was made in the image of, only to find the origins are safeguarded by a council hiding in the shadows.”

In reality it features dual perspectives from the present and past. The present features the “failed” clone and is all new content to me. The past is a rewrite of the first story I worked on in length. Since the origins of the present characters are inherently tied to the characters of the past, I thought it would be interesting to study how the actions of those in the past affects those in the present.



G: If I had to say anything, I would say that a “fixation on the past” may have inspired me to write this. I feel like the stories I’ve been writing throughout 2023 and 2024 have been a way for me to reconcile with my past writings and move to new and different stories.

Looking to direct inspiration; I get inspired through the media I consume which mostly consists of video games, anime, and TV. Something that I am currently fixated on is the Yakuza (Ryū ga Gotoku) video game series. If I had to explain what the story is like I would say it’s like a testosterone-filled crime thriller. I would say the series of games is the biggest inspiration for this story on it's own.



G: If I had to give any advice to YWSers, it would be to pace yourself and find what works for you. When it comes to writing longer works, there should be no limit or expectation when it comes to word count. A story is only as long as it needs to be! It’s also important to pace yourself with writing. There’s a fine line between motivating yourself and burning yourself out. Be strong, pace yourself, and write on!

I hope that’s some decent advice, lol. Thank you for interviewing me! It’s been really fun and it helped me find some insight and affirmation on my own writing as well as my place in YWS!



If you have yet to congratulate goodolnoah on FM, join us in doing so on their FM thread or on their wall !

REVIEW EVENT RECAPwritten by EllieMae< PM: >

Earlier this month, YWS members participated in a site wide review event, Review 102. The workshop was a skill refresher to follow Review 101, which occurred earlier this year. The first workshop focussed on BBCode basics, AI detection, and review methods. Review 102 expanded on these ideas. We had a discussion where we reflected on what makes good reviews, what we like and don't like, and methods we individually use to leave constructive feedback on our friends works. Let's reflect on this workshop and summarize some of the main takeaways and quotes:

What phrases do you like to use to offer encouragement when you write reviews?

"That's so relatable!"
"Your character development with ____ is amazing"

I also like pointing out when something flowed well, connected well, "sticking power", "clear meaning", "uniqueness"... etc.

Almost every review of mine closes in saying, "Overall, I enjoyed" or "Overall, I thought" and then hopefully a positive comment! :] I like to close on something productive / positive for the author.

What are some ways that you respectfully offer critiques to writers when you review?

I always bring up the point that I am not the author. I do not know the characters, writing style as well as the author and it is ultimately the author's choice to keep or edit what I suggest. I will ask bring up the positive things about the thing that I think should be changed.

Rather than calling stuff "right" / "wrong" I like to say things like "you might try..." or "I think I would do this" or "I think you could bring this to the next level with a little..." by buffering critiques with the phrase "I think" or "maybe try" you make sure the author remembers they have ownership of the piece, and that they get the final call especially on some of these topics that might genuinely be relative from reader to reader. I try to give authors ideas I think could enhance what they already have rather than a bunch of critiques about what I don't like.

What advice would you give to someone who is brand new to reviewing/wants to improve their skills?

Taking the time to actually read someone's writing and leaving just a few small points means so much more than making a perfect review that is long and detailed. Don't overwhelm yourself setting huge expectations. Just a few sentences of thoughtful feedback are more valuable to me than a long review that is just to get more points. Quality means more than the quantity.

Fave advice is - write a review that you would be happy / encouraged to receive!

Honestly, just keep reviewing. You'll get better at is as you go along. it can be scary at first to post your first reviews, but any ywser will be grateful for a review.

There we have it, some wonderful review tips by our very own Review 102 participants! Thank you to everyone who participated in the workshop and thank you to everyone who has been reviewing this month! We are so close to getting that Green Room cleared. Best of luck to everyone writing, reviewing, and participating in any way!

TEAM TORTOISE INTERVIEWS: RAVENAKUMAwritten by Isbah< PM: >

@RavenAkuma is a wonderful member of YWS, whose name you can often spot on the leader boards. They have joined The Great Tortoise Race this year, and Squills has conducted an interview with them about their participation in the race.

Squills: I'm Isbah reporting for Squills, the YWS newsletter. We're writing a column on Team Tortoise. Would it be okay if I asked you a few questions?

RavenAkuma: Sure, no problem!


R: I was recommended this platform by a friend after having trouble with my last ones, and they explained YWS as a place where reviews are part of the deal of being on here, with the points for publishing method. I thought it was really cool so I hopped on and started testing the water. My idea was that I'd be posting a lot, with some decent-length TFR chapters and short stories, so I'd try to review an equal or greater amount to be safe. I started having a lot of fun with it, between all the creative works and everybody being a good sport, so it became a habit!



R: I rely heavily on the YWS'mores method (only I reformat mine to be a little more my style lol). It really helps to have those three focuses in the back of my mind as I read: first impressions and generalized understandings, recommendations, and favorite moments/highlights. Respectively, what makes me go "huh, okay" or "eh..." or "wow!" I don't know who thought of that, but big props to them, haha.

On days where I have a little more trouble getting started, I start actively taking notes as I read the chapter, which helps a lot more than getting all the way through then fishing for quotes like I normally do. But it also hinders that process of "getting into" the piece so I try to avoid it.

More than anything though, I just try to have fun with it! When you start straining to pick apart what works and what doesn't work, you start to lose your passion, then the reviews themselves start to suffer, and you lose the will to do more. One time this happened to me and it even resulted in full-blown writer's block, so that's the main thing: stress and writing -even if it's just reviews- do not mix! So if I find myself struggling to generate a quality review, I'll opt for a comment and maybe come back another day, or I'll take a little break.



R: That's a hard one. I can't really think of any specific reviews worth naming, and I've reviewed so many awesome works that it's hard to single out just a few! I definitely like getting into ongoing or complete books, even though it takes a while to catch up. I love getting wrapped up in one long tale, and I think it helps the writers since later chapters are more likely to get stuck in the Green Room.

That being said, I've had a ton of fun reviewing @Dragonight's book series, "Shadow's Rising." All the dragons, epic action and magic, and touching character growth just always amazes me without fail. I also really enjoy @Ley's "Daughter Of War" and @keeperofgaming's "The Adventures Of Rose Hood" stories; respectively a dramatic mythological tale with powerful characters, and a very unique story with gritty action and lots of fun moments. There's so much more I could list of course but I won't bug you with an essay-long tag list lol. These talented writers never fail to give me something to analyze and talk about in a review, and I have so much fun in the process!



R: Apart from making a matcha latte (or a coffee if I have to lol), not really! I honestly just get to the library (or the couch on an off day), wait for things to slow down and clear out, open YWS, go about notifications and checking in on projects like LSS, then I pick from my list and start reading. Whatever sticks out, I jot down, and as long as I have time and will, I'll keep going.



R: I don't really have any specific goals! I'm just going to review as much as I can, hopefully finish reading through some of the books I'm currently following, and try to encourage all my fellow tortoises!



R: No problem, thank you as well!

ICY'S READING LOG: JUNE written by IcyFlame< PM: >

We're half way through the year (I know, I don't like thinking about it either) and again this month has been filled with a lot of reading! A quick reminder for those that may have forgotten; I set myself the challenge of reading 52 books over 2023. This year, I'm back with an even more challenging task: I'm going to read 60 books in 2024 (that's more than one a week!). I'm using our monthly Squills issue as a bit of accountability, but also to keep you all updated on the best (and worst) of the books I'm reading so far.

(As always, if you're looking to read these books, please make sure to check the ratings and trigger warnings if you need to).

In June, I travelled to Greece, so I've read a lot of holiday books. Then I took a break from reading whilst attending the eras tour but I'm pretty ahead of my goal going into next month. This is great news for me because I typically struggle to read much during Camp NaNo months.

Books read this month: 13
Total book count: 44/60


1. Seven Summers by Paige Toon:
I know you shouldn't, but I definitely sometimes choose a book by it's cover and this one looks lovely on my bookcase. This was well written, the pacing was good and I love any and everything set in Cornwall because it's a beautiful part of the country. The ending felt rushed though, and I found myself not really rooting for our two main characters to end up together which I'm sure was not intended from the writing. 3 stars.

2. Icebreaker by Hannah Grace:
I read the second one of these last month, so had to go back and read the first. This was...fine. I didn't really like our main characters, and the setting was nowhere near as interesting as the other book. If I'd read these in order, I might have liked this one more. 2 stars

3. Powerless by Lauren Roberts:
Just shy of 5 stars because of some weird typos and then randomly calling a character by the wrong name but otherwise I loved this novel! This gave me huge @Shady vibes (which is a massive compliment) and it's thoroughly gotten me back into fantasy which I thought I'd outgrown. 4.5 stars

4. A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole:
I think this book wanted to be the next John Green and maybe teenage me would have loved it, but adult me found it poorly done. The beginning was promising, setting up two children from different countries as best friends and showing them through the years until he leaves but everything after that just fell flat and into a forced grumpy x sunshine trope that just didn't fit. Yes, I still cried at the end, but that says more about my emotional state than the quality of this book. Also, I wish I could unread the epilogue. 2 stars

5. The Teacher by Freida McFadden:
I love how quick and easy reading a Freida McFadden novel is. This one was fast and twisty and dark, and we were so close to four stars until the final twist of the novel. I won't give away spoilers, but the final twist just didn't work for me because of everything we'd learnt about the characters up to this point. Remind me never to set foot inside a school again please. 3.5 stars

6. Mile High by Liz Tomforde:
I actually liked this one more than I was expecting to, and that's because of the characters. They were written in depth, and there's a really big focus on men's mental health, specifically men in sports, that I think isn't spoken about enough and it was a great addition to this book. It didn't need to be nearly as long as it was though, there was a lot of padding out the story. 3.5 stars

7. Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez:
I was not expecting to cry at this book. This was my first Abby Jiminez book and it won't be my last. We've got dual POV, a dating pact, some super complicated family dynamics and a whole lot of wholesomeness. 4 stars

8. The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes:
This one was actually recommended by a Squills reader (thank you!) and sold to me as a kind of YA Criminal Minds. It definitely delivered on that description though it did require a bit of suspended disbelief when it came to the teenager's specialist skills. I'll for sure pick up the rest of the books in the series though because this was an easy read, with some good twists. 3.5 stars

9. The Right Move by Liz Tomforde:
Another easy read that was just too many pages. I'll likely finish this series at some point as it's a good one to get me out of a slump, but I'm not hooked on it. 3.5 stars

10. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson:
Ahead of the BBC adaptation of this book coming out, I decided I'd better get reading this series. The format was tricky to get into at first but Pip is an excellent MC and I'm really excited to see this on my screen! 4 stars

11. Powerful by Lauren Roberts:
This one is technically a novella but GoodReads counts it, so I am too! This was hard going into because I knew the character's fate thanks to reading Powerless earlier in the month. I loved the main character, but knowing the ending coupled with the fact the book was so short made it hard to connect with her, and it didn't end up being as good as I'd hoped. 3 stars

12. The Housemaid is watching by Frieda McFadden:
I was worried about reading this one as it seems a lot of the internet really hated it, but this was a good progression of Millie's story for me. It felt realistic enough that I could buy into how this whole thing is happening to her yet again, and had me doubting just about every character. The only shortcoming for me was the husband's story, and why he didn't include her. There's such a focus on her high blood pressure and then (SPOILER) it never comes to anything. 4 stars

13. Hopeless by Elsie Silver:
For completeness, I had to read the last one in the series after reading the others in May. The writing in this one was actually the best in the whole series in my opinion, and the plot was more of a slow burn which I prefer. The tropes, however, were not for me. Really not. 2.5 stars


So there you have it, YWS, a round up of my reads for June. Let me know if you check any of them out, and if there are any I should add to my list for next month; I'm always happy to give specific recommendations too. I look forward to updating you in July! Perhaps I'll even pick up a pirate themed book for LSS!

AHOY! POETRY IDEAS AHEADwritten by Liminality< PM: >

June and July are busy writing months, with reviewing events, RP Month and Camp NaNo happening. But if you have it in mind to squeeze in a couple of lines or stanzas this month, this article is for you! Here are some tips and ideas on writing and revising poems. They are largely based on what my poetry process has been like for the past six months or so. As a nod to LSS, I’ve organised these poetry-writing ideas according to four sailing-adjacent categories.

Taking Stock

Before you set sail on your poetry draft, try some pre-writing. This can include making lists, making a collage of images to inspire you or describing the kind of poem you would like to see on the page in abstract. You may not end up using all the ideas you jot down, but the practice of writing them down may help you ease yourself into drafting the poem.

After you’ve drafted your poem, you may want to revise or refine what you’ve written. Here are some ideas on how to do that.

Sailing Away

• If you feel your idea needs to be explored a little more, you might want to try writing a few different versions of the poem, or even a few different versions of a particular line. This can help you find new and interesting ways the narrative, images or tone could develop and give you more options when it comes to the ‘final’ piece.
  
• You could also try going through your unfinished drafts for another poem that seems to match this one and splicing the two together.
  
• Another thing you could try is the ‘Game of Opposites’. I got this idea from a book called ‘A Book of Surrealist Games’ by Alastair Brotchie (warning: some sections of the book contain mature content). The gist is you take a line and then try to write the opposite of that line, where the concept of ‘opposite’ can go as your heart desires. You can see family friendly examples by YWSers in this Writing Activities thread . From there, you can generate interesting contrasts and juxtapositions you might want to add to your poem for effect.

Navigation

If you instead would like to clarify your idea or make the central images or lines shine, you might try some of these other tips.

• Look over your poem and search for recurring patterns. That is an idea from Robert Lee Brewer’s article here . What I would say in addition would be that once you have found the recurring patterns, you might decide to trim or rework parts of the poem that stray too far from the pattern, so you can make the whole piece more unified. Or, if you think your poem is getting too repetitive, you might pick parts that you might want to change by adding or removing syllables or rhymes.
  
• Another idea would be to read your draft, looking for separate poems within your larger poem. I have found this especially helpful for list poems when you realise each individual item just works better as its own one-liner, or if you tend to let your thoughts drift a lot while drafting. If you think a larger poem does indeed work better as multiple separate poems, then you can give the individual ideas you have written down more of the reader’s attention by actually separating them out.
  
• Try rewriting with intent. This means re-reading all the material you’ve created and using that to clarify the idea of your poem. For instance, you might have started off just improvising lines about a rose, but on a re-read you find yourself reinterpreting a poem about aging out of what you’ve written. Take that idea and reshape the poem to fit it, and see how you feel about the resulting piece.

Finally . . . Seagulls!

Reading your poem aloud to yourself is a good idea! I don’t do this nearly as often as I should because I have flatmates, but even if you can whisper the lines to yourself, I think you can uncover a lot of interesting things about the way your poem sounds and figure out any changes you’d like to make based on that.

Happy poeting!

FEATURED MEMBER INTERVIEW: 22MIDNIGHT

written by NadyaStatham < PM: >

This user is known for her amazing reviews, her positive vibes and her presence in the RP forums. @22Midnight joined YWS at the end of March this year and has already earned her second review star. She was chosen as FM for May 13 - 27th. Recently, I had an interview with her about her time as a FM and her writing process.

Content Warning: the discussion of the plot of the RP 'Hooked Desperation' later on in the interview mentions mature and potentially unsettling topics. In the YWS rating system these would be rated between 16+ and 18+ with a Violence and Mature tag. If you would prefer not to read about these, skip the section from "The forums are indeed a fun place to be . . ." to "to the last question . . ."

Now on to the interview!



22Midnight: Yeah sure I'd love to




M: I was super excited and surprised because I'd only been on YWS for a very short time, and I wasn't expecting it to happen so quickly.



M: I honestly don't know XD! But if I really had to guess I think it might be all the reviews I did and also joining in with Napo and starting my own RP with my brother.



M: Oof that's hard to chose, I think the forums there's a lot of fun things to do there.



M: The RPs a bit of a touchy subject about people known as the "hook blades" that rape, assassinate and sometimes kidnap, and after both the main characters Daniel gets close to getting caught, and after Lara witnessed first hand of how it felt to be a victim to the Hook blades, they then decided that it needs to end before more countries get taken over by them.

I do have a more in depth a little bit more in depth explanation of what the plot is in the RP, but not to much don't want to give it all away.

as for the other questions I can't remember why we started writing it, I think we where very young and where playing some weird games and thought of this kind of story except the story's changed a lot like really A LOT since then.

to the last question me and my brother just like writing together and we've been working on many different drafts for this for a while and thought it would just be nice to share our newest still in progress draft of it on YWS since we don't really have anybody else to read it to at home.



M: My favorite work to read at the moment is Reflecting Hearts by @ariah347 and it's a really nice story so far that's slow paced but also got some good laughs in it, I am currently still reading it because I'm review as well I like it because its got a lot of great parts in it but also some parts that need improvement.

And I've done a lot of reviews on it already so it's hard for me to chose which one I like better but If I really have to I'd say this one Reflecting Hearts - Ch. 5.1 - Dark Reflections But honestly if I am not happy with the review, I shouldn't even be posting it.



M: This question may have an interesting answer, my dad actually writes stories in his spare time when his not busy with us and work, and when I was a lot younger he used to put me into bed and read me whatever he'd written, they where always child friendly and I loved them, so I guess I wanted to write stories like he did so I could read my stories to him as well, and like me and my brother he's not a published author he just does it because he enjoys it!



M: Really the only advice I have is to just write whatever comes to mind, don't feel like you have to make it perfect because first drafts are never going to be perfect that's why there called first drafts, so just have fun writing with out any limits, because if you limit yourself it can get hard to find inspiration for that very strict plot that you've possibly put together, because writing is to allow your imagination to create something from the images that are formed in your head and it's to help readers imagine what you where seeing, and maybe that image isn't always perfect and that's okay, because it doesn't always have to be.



M: It's been wonderful answering all the questions Nadya!

If you haven’t congratulated this awesome member yet, feel free to do so in this thread or on her wall

LAST SHIP SAILING ROUND III - FIRST MONTH UPDATEwritten by Spearmint < PM: >

LSS Round III started on May 27th, 2024, and the ships have already written over 338,884 collective words. That's over 6.77 NaNo novels, and it's more than the total word count of all the ships before Tsunami in LSS Round II. Suffice it to say that this round has been full of RPing enthusiasm!

Now that it's been a month since the start of LSS, I thought I'd take the opportunity to give blurbs for each of the ships' stories and interview some LSSers.

Eight ships signed up for LSS: Before the Wave Breaks (crewed by @Carina, @SilverNight, @urbanhart, and @soundofmind), Sailing With Strangers (crewed by @TheMythMaster, @LadyMysterio, @Omni, @APoltergeist, and @KocoCoko), Voyage of the Starry Seas (crewed by @WeepingWisteria, @KateHardy, @Ley, @herbalhour, and @Spearmint), Dungeons and Detectives (crewed by @Plume, @RavenAkuma, @yoshi, @RangerofIthilien, and @Tambo), Once Upon A Time (crewed by @EllieMae, @JazzElectrobass, @LuminescentAnt, @Inferno, and @AmayaStatham), Above A Red Moon (crewed by @ScarlettFire, @RazorSharpPencil, and @22Midnight), Everywhere in a Toy Store (crewed by @OrabellaAvenue and @LucidNightmare), and Total Party Kill (crewed by @Griffinkeeper, @Snoink, @Book, @TheGolux, and @Ichthys).

Each ship has a unique, exciting story to share! Here are blurbs (some of which are paraphrased from their roleplay's introductory post) for each of them:

Before the Wave Breaks
Features: vibrant worldbuilding, three-dimensional characters, and magic intertwined with politics and underground dealings.
Welcome to Ruddlan.
Over the past twenty years, Ruddlan exploded from a small river town to a trade center for every kingdom. People are constantly coming in and out of her doors; for business, pleasure, or just passing through. In the past five years, Ruddlan's become best known for the Griffin Games, which it hosts annually as a series of fights between mystical griffins - climaxing at a faceoff between the two finalists.
And here, we find ourselves at another turn of the season. Within a week, citizens of Ruddlan will be hosting a week-long festival welcoming in the summer. The world-renowned Griffin Games will kick off at the end of the festival. You don't want to miss it!
With warmth and cheer, Ruddlan welcomes you for the sunniest time of year.

Sailing With Strangers
Features: swashbuckling adventures on the high seas, clever pirates, and three primordial forces humming in the background.
You are a scallywag of some sort, under the rule of one of the Five Pirate Lords, those who are beneath the supreme reign of the Pirate Queen. At the decennial Pirate Creed, the ceremonious occasion where the Pirate Monarch recruits a new Keeper of the Creed, you meet Captain Saratoga, who hires you to help crew his smuggling ship.
You are with him, and the rest of the crew, when you find yourself at the wrong place at the wrong time. In the middle of the Pirate Creed, the Pirate Queen is murdered, and all the while you were underneath the place where it happened.
You now find yourself on the run from the very folks you once called family, stuck with a group of strangers who all could be suspect for the murder you were framed for.
Perhaps the only way to freedom is to join the hunt. Are you up for the bounty, pirate?

Voyage of the Starry Seas
Features: a quest to discover the truth of the world, complex character relationships and gayness, and chaotic dreams.
For thousands of years, all recorded humans lived on the Twelve Ships of the Zodiacs, looking to the stars for guidance and power. But when the leader Pisces finds something strange in the deep, the ships are forced to question if they’re really alone, or if the abandoned lands of the Earth aren't as they seem.
Now, it's up to one group to discover the truth about humanity. Are there potential allies past the horizon or only enemies in store?

Dungeons and Detectives
Features: supernatural happenings, strangers to reluctant allies, and ghosts and other mysterious entities.
There is a particular house on a particular block. In this particular place, an elderly resident has died within the past month, and now neighbors have been reporting the sight of eerie occurrences. A photographer from the local paper, a paranormal investigator, siblings chasing their ghost-hunting mother, and a chronically-traveling historian converge on this house at the same time. What is that small figure lurking in the corners? And what exactly is there to find in this house?
It's time to find out what's really lurking in the dark...

Once Upon A Time
Features: familiar and new characters from a land of fairytales, a rhyming prophecy, and quests in a magical world.
Once upon a time... in a land far, far away... fairytales and magic are real. In the Grimm Kingdom, fairytale creatures and characters exist together, peacefully, until an evil curse strikes the land. All fairytale life will end unless four chosen individuals from different backgrounds come together, each contributing a magical item that holds the power to save the entire fairytale species. And so here begins our story, a story of friendship, courage, battles, quests, and heroes!

Above A Red Moon
Features: Star Wars shenanigans, a mysterious summoning by the Force, and a well-established world for you to let your unique characters loose in. (That's right! This ghost ship is accepting!)
In a galaxy far, far away, where a powerful, dark Empire rules with an iron hand, you are one of the few who have escaped its clutches. Whether a jedi, a padawan or a force sensitive, you're being hunted. You've heard the rumours, seen the signs. It's hard to ignore the Empire when it's actively bringing the entire galaxy to heel.
But then you hear the Force Calling, and it's calling you to New Nystao, Wayland, a city on a small planet on the edges of Mandalorian space.
Will you heed the Call?

Everywhere in a Toy Store
Features: flying pigs with a complicated legal system, multidimensional travel, and delightful creativity and humor.
What if you mix a girl who can travel through dimensions with an abandoned doll that has nothing left in his own world? Surely nothing bad will happen; and they certainly won't get trapped in a bunch of different dimensions floating through the cosmos while trying half the time to survive while the other half looking for something the girl doesn't even know whether it exists or not...

Total Party Kill
Features: a D&D-like setting, a murderous goose, and a falsely-accused jackalope who also happens to be a labor organizer.
A couple of witches run across a sign post: Adventurers Wanted! Earn a ridiculous amount of gold while saving the world from terrible enemies! Gryphons need not apply. All skill levels and backgrounds (excluding gryphons) are accepted!
And somehow (another adventuring party getting blown up by a series of accidents but also mostly the bard may have something to do with it), they get tangled up in the supposedly-lucrative opportunity, along with an old drunk who may be the Lee Roy Jenkins who went missing years ago, and the heir of the Florescu family.

And now, for the interviews with LSSers! Let's see how the competition has been going from the perspective of the writers.



soundofmind: It has been lovely. Currently my life-work-writing balance is skewed in favor of writing. It's fine. I'm normal. (I love writing). Highlights? Writing

KateHardy: Amazing! Its been a lot of fun and the crew has been incredible! Well there was this one where we planned out a short meeting post, which escalated into an insane 5000 words. There have also been I think three characters now added purely randomly. And the latest moment was when we decided to write a dream into the story and concocted the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in a RP post.

EllieMae: So far, LSS Round III has been amazing for me and it has been a great experience. I have gotten to know some of my fellow YWS-ers better from working as a team and it has been my favorite roleplay I have done yet. My crew is doing an entirely poetry based RP so it has been super fun! My highlights have been seeing my amazing teammates work so hard and power through to help us meet word count!

herbalhour: this round has been very fun, & has definitely improved my rping skills! a few highlights are: the amount of gay we have >:3, the apology post (no ukeleles) and ummm @WeepingWisteria's 10/10 hearing



s: I think this LSS has been my favorite of all three I've been in so far. I found the key to enabling the deep brainrotting of writing together: just get a group of people to rp with months before the competition where you all do a massive ridiculous rp and get super involved and invested in each others ocs and bring those same ocs into a new and better story. LMAO It was a happy accident. I found a group of people who will be as insane and obsessed as me. A true treasure

K: This round feels a lot more...together? If that makes sense. Maybe I'm just following other roleplays more, but it feels like people are encouraging each other more and the atmosphere is not ooh when will this team drop out, its more like omg they haven't posted someone go remind them, we all need to make it.
The wordcounts have also been utterly insane. Last round was a big step up from round one, but this is on another parallel universe from round two.

E: This is my first LSS



s: Writing more (and more) and crafting a really fun, well-written story :^)

K: Hmm well Tsunami of course, but honestly this round has been so much I'm just looking forward to seeing our story develop, we've barely scratched the surface of it right now.

E: For the rest of this round of LSS, I am really looking forward to seeing what happens in our roleplay and how we will tie everything together in the end. I am excited to continue to get to know my team and participate in some of the roleplay month events too!!

Thank you all for your responses! Feel free to cheer on the LSS ships in their OOC threads !

A FELLOW READER

written by NadyaStatham < PM: >

Hey there! I’m Nadya. I’ve started this to share book recommendations with you. Whether you're in a reading slump or looking to get started on your "to read" pile (or perhaps add just one more book to it ), I hope my suggestions will inspire you to read more.

My reading goal for 2024 is 24 books of which I have read 13 already.
This month I’ve read 5.

I wrote a book review on two of the five. I hope you enjoy it and give them a read ^^

~ Remember, a Reader Doesn’t Just Read; They Explore and Conquer.

~~~

Bookworm - Katana Collins
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Start: 07/06/2024
End: 07/06/2024



Why did I choose to read it?
For starters, I’m a bookworm. Surprise! That’s actually the reason I chose to read this book. The title was a real eye catcher. It has about 180 pages so this was a quick read for me.


Short Summary
The book is about a bookworm named Harper who is an introvert, wild heart, and is going to take a gap year before starting university. She has an extrovert boyfriend named Adam who is also a bookworm and totally not shy to hide it. Adam’s father is not a fan of Harper and said some mean stuff causing them to break up. Seven years later they meet again and get a second chance at their old love.

But what happens if Harper sees Jasmine, hang around Adam a lot? What if she thinks Adam doesn’t like her anymore?

Must-Read?
I’d say yes, if you like romance, young-adult, fast paced books and if you’re okay with 18+ language use and some mature scenes. I really liked the plot along with the characters, in the end I was sitting at the edge of my seat reading the epilogue. Amazing book written from the perspective of Harper.

I have to admit, “The Bro Code by Elizabet Seibert” was better, but this was a nice little read.

Other
Ah, one more thing, if you’re a Star Wars fan there are a whole lot of Star Wars jokes (puns) in there, because both of them are fans. I haven’t seen Star Wars, which made it a little difficult for me to understand them. I do know baby yoda though, (if that counts).




Bah, Humbug! - Heather Horrocks
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Start: 11/06/2024
End: 11/06/2024



Why did I choose to read it?
I chose to read this book, because it’s the middle of Sunny June and I wanted a good Chilly Christmas vibe.

Short Summary
This book is about a woman named Lexi Anderson who is just divorced and lives with her two children named Steven & Trista. She’s a TV Hostess who always longed for the warmth of family. Every night Lexi reads one of the detective stories written by Kyle Miller for her children. As they moved to a new town they ended up living next to The Kyle Miller. Lexi’s first meeting with Kyle was him breaking the snowman she made with her kids, because he thought that was the perfect place for the villain to hide the murder weapon. Can Lexi fall in love again even though she’s afraid to get close again? And can Kyle face his childhood shadows and open up?

Must-Read?
Maybe not must, must, but definitely a nice little tale for a cosy afternoon. If you like lighthearted romantic, funny and fast-paced books of about 75 pages then this is your read for today. Nice writing style along with amazing dialogues written from both the perspectives of Kyle as Lexi.




That was it! If you have a book recommendation for me or want me to convince you to read a particular book, feel free to drop by my wall and let me know!

A fellow reader,
Nadya

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