Miscellaneous

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been watching the news for the last few weeks with a variety of emotions. What’s happening in Ukraine is of course not the only place in the world where atrocities are happening or where refugees are fleeing. I’ve written previous posts about other war, genocide, or refugee situations in the world, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of all the parts of the world which are experiencing them.

But still… it breaks my heart to hear the numbers of women and children fleeing their country, and the men required to stay and fight. That is not the kind of women’s journeys that I enjoy writing about in this blog. So today I’ll focus on the women who are trying to help Ukraine.

A few days ago I read an article (that I can’t find now) about Ukrainian women who are going back into the country after leaving it to help others in various ways. Some are helping with medical needs. Others are helping escort refugees out of the country. Today I found an article about Ukrainian women serving as soldiers or medics or other roles to help defend their country. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/18/ukraine-russia-women-war/ Restaurant and bakery owners like Anna Kozenchenko are doing their part to help their people. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60737248 Even seamstresses are changing what they sew for the war effort, “from wedding dresses to camouflage capes.” https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-60798650 And of course there are female journalists from many countries risking their lives on the front lines or even in the studios. By now, you’ve heard the story of the Russian journalist, Marina Ovsyannikova, who held up a sign on live Russian television to try to spread the truth of what’s happening. Then there are the celebrities leaving Russia in protest, like dancer Olga Smirnova. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-60767490 And hopefully you’ve heard about the women and men in Russia who are risking detainment by protesting their own government in the streets.

These stories encourage me, but I am also afraid for these brave people. If you are comfortable and in your own way, I invite you to join me in prayer. I pray for the soldiers on both sides, for no more deaths and for Russian soldiers to realize what they are doing and peacefully surrender. I pray for refugees to make it to safety. For the truth of the situation to be known and acted upon, and safety for those who are trying to share it. For peace and comfort to the grieving families of soldiers, civilians, journalists, and others who have been killed. For protection for Russians who are peacefully protesting. And I pray for a peace deal that is as good as possible for everyone to come quickly and be the end of it.

Thank you for listening and joining me in prayer. There are many organizations taking donations to help Ukrainian refugees if you would like to help more tangibly.

Hello, friends! Okay, I totally failed to deliver my promise from the last post: an end-of-year newsletter with photos. And there are lots of cool things (like my epic summer road trip that took me as far as Texas!) that would have made it into that post. Hopefully soon I can get that up. It’s still winter, right? That means the Persian New Year, which takes place at the beginning of spring, is almost here, and I can still make that deadline! But that’s not why I’m writing today. My friend Haylie’s new book is coming out!

The big cover reveal event actually took place yesterday, but it’s still pretty fresh, so today’s post will be all about it. If you haven’t read her first published book, scroll back in my posts to March of last year and check it out. It’s awesome! And the sequel is almost here! It officially comes out on April 21, but you get cool stuff if you pre-order it and submit your receipt. Below I’ll have the cover, official book blurb, how to get your own copies, and how to follow Haylie. Read on if you like fun adventurous books!

Callie James crash-lands the World Diver into an alternate dimension. She kind of needed a Seer to help with piloting. Too bad she was busy escaping evil hottie Nate Ormandi to worry about that.

Now she’s stuck on Tremurheim, a mysterious world of tree-vikings and soul-sucking mist monsters.

But somewhere on the planet a Light Core calls to her. Now she just has to find it as part of her quest to unite the multiverse. A quest she’ll complete no matter what stands in her way.

The only local who will help is Toran Rykjiersen, who’s basically a jerk. But he’s also desperate to get his little sister Heike off Tremurheim—even if that means aiding a dangerous “skyfire sorceress” like Callie.

Meanwhile, evil dude Nate must capture the Light Core of the world Ictari. As an undead Shadowmancer, finding Light isn’t his forte, but if he fails, his master will end him the rest of the way. Permanently.

As Luminaut and Shadowmancer race to find the Light Cores, the line between hero and villain blurs.

And the quest that Callie holds dear might lead to the very evil she hopes to prevent.

If that sounds like a great adventure to you, here’s how to get your own copy (paperback, hardcover, and digital copies are all available):

Autographed paperback: https://uncommonuniverses.com/product/light-hunter-autographed-paperback/

Autographed hardback: https://uncommonuniverses.com/product/light-hunter-autographed-hardback/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09SNWXK9K/

Other eBook retailers: https://books2read.com/u/mvWOAe

If you pre-order and submit the receipt at the link below, here’s what you’ll get:

Here’s the link to include to submit receipts for ebook preorders to get Light Hunter swag!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfQKtLK-nqc_W4Z84mXx4PWpo9SoR9mYD2o6wANc-hywENq4Q/viewform

I’ve known Haylie since our days working at a middle school in Salem. She’s awesome! If you want to know more about her and her books, here’s her author bio with links to find out more/follow her:

Haylie Hanson writes YA fantasy and science fiction about quirky kids with superpowers finding the courage to embrace their destiny. She has an unhealthy obsession with Star Wars, Stranger Things, and Marvel. Haylie used to teach elementary special education before changing careers, and now crafts brand new worlds in between making snacks for her two tiny spawn. She loves to read any kind of YA fantasy, especially books with characters whose voice can reach out and grab her from page one. When Haylie isn’t writing, she can be found drinking very strong coffee, trying not to kill plants, and dreaming of saltwater hair and summertime beaches.

Instagram: @therealhayliehanson
https://www.instagram.com/therealhayliehanson/
Facebook: @HaylieMachadoHanson
https://www.facebook.com/hayliemachadohanson/

Website: www.hayliemhanson.com

Since my last post, I have watched and prayed and acted where I could in order to help people in Afghanistan where I used to teach. Some of my friends (Afghan nationals who worked at the school there in various capacities) have since made it out of the country to safety, praise God! However, some of them had harrowing or even traumatic experiences with that. Please continue to pray for all their needs. And get involved if you can: some communities have organizations to help settle Afghan refugees, like Salem For Refugees here in Oregon. https://www.salemforrefugees.org/

One group of people from/in Afghanistan that I don’t really know personally but has been on my heart is artists, especially women artists. In a previous post, I highlighted the art of Shamsia Hassani, a graffiti artist and professor at Kabul University. A few years ago, the city I now live in flew her here to paint a beautiful mural that I pass by frequently. I’ve been very worried about her and other artists in Afghanistan since the new regime took power. Recently, she posted a link to this article from The Guardian (copied below) on Facebook. It shows that she is safe. I am very relieved, but also sad for her and her country. I have a strong feeling that she will continue to bring beauty to the world around her, and pray that somehow it will reach Afghanistan, too. Read this article if you are interested in what has become of some of the artists of Afghanistan. Their journeys seem both devastating and hopeful to me.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/oct/23/we-planted-a-seed-the-afghan-artists-who-painted-for-freedom?fbclid=IwAR0EpZ1aRajuV4F89XKN8KeOETruyFdwTZH8OasQQTkNQevK-6j-7Xoowh0

This post will be mainly a link to someone else’s blog. This morning, I felt completely helpless as I watched the news and worried about people I know there. This amazing activist, Humaira, has given us all a way to help. Please read it and take the time to make at least some of the phone calls she suggests. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

https://www.afghancultureunveiled.com/humaira-ghilzai/2021/8/15/stop-the-taliban-from-erasing-afghan-women-and-girls?mc_cid=de47e18bde&mc_eid=ed88fd9581

Hello, friends! I haven’t written on here for a while, but I have been writing. I just made it to my word count goal for Camp NaNoWriMo, working on my adventure memoir. I’ve also been working on a novella this year. And I’m still writing for my church blog. I’m going to post a link to my latest blog post for church here for anyone who is interested. I’ll put the same photo here that I did on the church blog to entice you to check out the post, or you can just enjoy the photo and go on with your day. It’s from the hike that I wrote about. If you want to read more of my posts from this year, scroll through the posts on the church blog, and you should be able to find my last few posts spread out among my friends’ posts. Enjoy!

https://www.citysalt.org/blog/2021/07/30cycles-jj

Welcome to the Compass Rose Queen! If you’re new here, this is a place to celebrate the journeys of women. Sometimes those are my journeys (of life or to real places), sometimes they’re journeys of historical women, and sometimes fiction. I have a real treat for you today of that last kind.

My friend Haylie’s book World Diver is coming out on April 20, 2021! I’ve read earlier versions of it, and each time it gets better and better. So I can’t wait to read this one. I’ll have all kinds of information below about the book, about Haylie, and how to order/preorder it. And even how to preorder some cool swag from Haylie. I look forward to taking journeys into the Luminaut Trilogy’s multiverse along with our hero Callie in this first book!

Official book blurb so you know what it’s about:

College, grades, extracurriculars–who cares? Sixteen-year-old slacker Callie James would rather make robot creations and surf waves with her best friend Will. Then she discovers a mysterious glowing rod under the ocean surface, and her entire world turns upside down.

One, her hands start glowing (weird). Two, she can now control people (awkward). Three, she accidentally brings her robotics project to life. Classes were hard enough without her robot Nemo literally eating her homework.

Only the reclusive Dr. Ormandi knows the truth: Callie is a Luminaut (aka a light wizard) and it’s her destiny to reunite the shattered multiverse by collecting all the Light Cores (aka the glowstick of doom) in all the other worlds. To do this, she must repair the World Diver, the fifty-foot tall robot lurking in Dr. Ormandi’s basement hangar.

As Callie learns about her Luminaut powers, Nate crash lands into her life. He’s hot. Funny. Crazy about her. One problem: he’s technically dead. Oh, and he insists uniting the multiverse will destroy everything.

Pursued by murderous interdimensional phantoms and plagued by insecurities, Callie must protect her family and friends, while figuring out who to trust.

And all before a deadly, looming evil snuffs out her Light for good.

Haylie Hanson writes YA fantasy and science fiction about quirky kids with superpowers finding the courage to embrace their destiny. She has an unhealthy obsession with Star Wars, Stranger Things, and Marvel. Haylie used to teach elementary special education before changing careers, and now crafts brand new worlds in between making snacks for her two tiny spawn. She loves to read any kind of YA fantasy, especially books with characters whose voice can reach out and grab her from page one. When Haylie isn’t writing, she can be found drinking very strong coffee, trying not to kill plants, and dreaming of saltwater hair and summertime beaches.

To follow Haylie:

Instagram: @therealhayliehanson
https://www.instagram.com/therealhayliehanson/
Facebook: @HaylieMachadoHanson
https://www.facebook.com/hayliemachadohanson/
Website: http://www.hayliemhanson.com

To order/preorder the book and to get your preorder swag:

Here are the preorder links for World Diver:

• Autographed paperbacks: https://uncommonuniverses.com/product/world-diver-autographed-paperback/
• Autographed hardbacks: https://uncommonuniverses.com/product/world-diver-autographed-hardback/
• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XSBG5HS/
• Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1556135056
• Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/world-diver
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57282837-world-diver

Link for preorder receipt submissions: (to get cool swag)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSepxAtjqosdQ_dU69wbuqM6UE99EsBiDd0X50mq5juc9xIBGA/viewform?gxids=7628

If you read it and enjoy it, feel free to leave a comment on here, or a review on whatever site you got it from. Enjoy the journey with Callie!

Happy 12th Day of Christmas, or Twelfth Night! Today’s gift is two more Christmas-related holidays coming up. Yes, you heard that right. Endless Christmas! And yes, Shakespeare’s play is named after tonight.

Today is the last official “day of Christmas,” while tomorrow is a related holiday, called Epiphany, or Tres Reyes in many Spanish-speaking countries and communities. Epiphany celebrates the story of the Magi (also known as the Three Kings) visiting the baby Jesus. You can read about it in the Bible book of Matthew chapter 2. It’s called Epiphany, which means “revelation,” because it celebrates when Jesus was “revealed” to the gentile (non-Jewish) world.

Tonight is a special night in many countries as Epiphany festivities begin, and include things like children leaving out their shoes to be filled with gifts or goodies by the Three Kings. Sound familiar? In Germany, some children leave out their shoes at night on December 5 for St. Nicholas to fill them overnight, in time for the saint’s official day on the 6th. Funny that these traditions are exactly a month apart! Anyway, December 25 is definitely not the only day to get presents!

Some Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Epiphany a bit later due to following the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian one. This also means that their Christmas day is coming up, on January 7. Most people who celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas and Epiphany following the Gregorian one will take down their Christmas decorations tonight or tomorrow, but I plan to leave mine up until Eastern Orthodox Christmas day is over. I’ll take any excuse I can get to stretch out Christmas a bit longer this year! Actually, from what I’ve found online, there’s a tradition in some places that if you don’t take down your decorations by tonight, then you have to wait until the next holiday, Candlemas. Candlemas is on February 2, and celebrates when Mary took Jesus to be purified at the temple, according to Jewish law. You can read about it in the Bible book of Luke chapter 2.

Know what else is cool about Candlemas? It, along with Epiphany and Christmas, have been celebrated since many, many centuries ago. And there’s a primary document about it from a female pilgrim in the 4th century. No, not the kind of “pilgrims” we think of here in the USA (Puritans on the Mayflower eating turkey, etc.), but a person who traveled to a place considered holy in their religion. Etheria (also spelled Egeria, Eucheria, and Aetheria) was a Spanish nun who traveled to the Middle East in most likely the late 300s, and wrote about her experiences there, including celebrating Candlemas with Christians in the area. So cool that a woman traveled there in those early times, and wrote about it! (And I’m excited to wrap up this 12 Days of Christmas series with a woman’s journey!) Here are some of the places I found information for today’s post.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Peregrinatio-Etheriae

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Candlemas#ref287671

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Epiphany

For today’s prayer, let us pray for unity. I know we all have different views of what that should look like, and that’s okay. But let’s pray for God to guide us all, so we can be in unity about the things that are important in our communities and our world. Thank you.

Thank you for joining me in this 12 Day journey of stretching out Christmas. I’ve tried to spread some encouragement, inspiration, and some laughter (which we all need in these dark times). You’ve all blessed me with your comments, whether left on here or sent to me in private messages. I don’t blog very often, so this 12-day blitz was a stretching experience for me. But I enjoyed it, and I hope you did, too. Good night, and Merry Christmas! And happy Epiphany/Three Kings Day tomorrow!

Confession: I’m struggling today. Struggling to stay positive. Struggling to stay sane in all this chaos and pressure coming from all sides making every little decision into a Major Moral Dilemma. And less emotional but still important: I’ve been struggling to think of any new “Christmas gifts” to give you as we nearly wrap up our journey through the 12 Days of Christmas together. ((Yeah, no, I did not actually have an outline when on Christmas Day I decided to do a 12-day blog series!) But I just thought of two things I want to give you.

One, the assurance that you’re not alone. Well, okay, you might be alone, due to the lockdowns and all. But you’re not alone in your wrestling with emotions. If you are struggling, please reach out to someone for help. Whether it’s a counselor, a doctor, a mentor, a recovery group sponsor, a teacher, or a friend or relative who understands you, please reach out. They can hopefully help point you in a direction, like helping you find someone else who can help you more specifically with what you’re struggling with. And remember, you’re not alone.

The other gift is a fun nerdy thing that I love. And in honor of my favorite author’s birthday yesterday, I give you: Tolkien’s Father Christmas letters. I have a tiny little book of them, but I think you can buy bigger editions that have more of the letters in them. Every year for many years, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote letters to his children, posing as Father Christmas. In them, Father Christmas and his assistant the North Polar Bear have hilarious adventures. You can read one of them and check out the letters here:

Read J. R. R. Tolkien’s “Letter From Father Christmas” To His Young Children

For today’s prayer, please join me in praying for the country of Niger. No, not Nigeria, although it’s close by. What they’re going through right now puts my problems in perspective.

Happy 10th Day of Christmas! Can you believe Christmas is almost over? Yeah, I know a lot of you have long since taken down your decorations, but I’m quite enjoying this extension of the holiday season that my Catholic friends and family have known about all along. Thanks for joining me for my 12 Days of Christmas series!

It’s time for another funny video. We need to laugh about the craziness that’s happening. Because if we don’t, well, I’m sure you’ve all experienced what happens when we don’t laugh at it (yeah, I cry a ton!). So here is another YouTuber’s song parody, this time mashing up the 12 Days of Christmas song with this year of Covid ruling our lives in one way or another. Yup, I watch a lot of YouTube. But that’s because I don’t subscribe to any streaming services and only get 2-4 channels from the TV antenna, depending on the day’s weather. I’ve got to watch something fun while I stand at the counter washing dishes! (Actually, there are some really cool things on YouTube, including free lessons on writing fantasy/sci-fi by Brandon Sanderson that are fantastic)

Anyway, this video is from Chris Mann, and it’s not completely kid-appropriate (don’t worry, swear words are literally erased on the blackboard as well as bleeped out), so watch at your own risk. But it is hilarious.

For today’s prayer, please join me in praying for the nation of Yemen. They have been going through a lot for a long time, and are still facing hard times. Thank you.

For today’s gift to you on this 9th day of Christmas, I want to share a resource that was shared with me last year. After seeing Frozen II, I said something on Facebook about appreciating the song “The Next Right Thing.” Yes, I know; it’s a song from a kids’ movie. But it struck a chord with me. For a variety of reasons, sometimes we are at a loss for what to do. We get overwhelmed. Stuck. Scared. Depressed. Fatigued.

A friend of mine told me about a podcast that discusses this. I had never really jumped on the podcast bandwagon. Mainly because I didn’t actually know how to access them. I thought you had to pay money or subscribe to services for them. But many podcasts are available for free on the author’s website.

Emily P. Freeman’s podcast, aptly named “The Next Right Thing,” was around before the Frozen song came to be, although I may not have ever discovered it if it weren’t for the song. I have listened to several of the podcasts and receive her newsletter. They are encouraging, inspiring, and practical in their lessons on how to overcome what she calls “decision fatigue.” I actually haven’t listened to any for several months, but I have thought of her wisdom several times during this pandemic. When I feel “frozen” in place (sorry, couldn’t help it) by moral dilemmas we’re all facing right now, I think of the song and the podcast, and I think to myself, “What is the next thing I can do?” Most of the time it’s something very mundane, like washing the dishes. But that simple action gets me un-stuck, and moves me forward to the bigger things I need to do.

Here is a link to Ms. Freeman’s website. You can listen to her podcast for free by clicking on the “Listen here on my website” button. Enjoy! I will probably start listening to them again myself, as well. Goodness knows I need to. These are tough times.

The Next Right Thing Podcast

For today’s prayer, please consider praying for the Uighur people in China. They are being held in detention camps in an attempt to suppress their culture, and worse. Please hear me correctly- I love the country of China in general and the people there, and I do not want anyone thinking badly of everyday Chinese people for this (like the antagonistic treatment Asian-Americans have been receiving here due to the Coronavirus). But I do not condone what the government is doing to this people group. It is horrifying. Thank you for joining me in prayer for this.