Books for kids, teens, & those who are young at heart

Tag: Elixir Saved (Page 2 of 9)

ELIXIR SAVED Quiz Answers Revealed: What Element Fuels Your Magic?

Thanks to everyone who took the “What Element Fuels Your Magic” quiz and shared their answers. It was insightful to learn what some of my long-time followers got as answers. I was very pleased to see that many of you thought your results matched up with your personality!

Technically you can take the quiz as many times as you’d like to try and get each of the possible elements, but I realize that can be harder to do than it seems and it’s also time consuming. (Despite switching around his answers, my spouse had a hard time getting anything other than Earth.) So I decided to share the descriptions of all the elements here.

If you have gotten a chance to take the quiz yet, try it out now before you know what the answers are.

And now for the descriptions:

Air Magic

Your magical element is air! You can be described as having your head in the clouds, but that’s only because it’s easy for you to get lost in your own amazing thoughts. The key to harnessing your air magic is practicality and focus, and then the sky is your limit.

Elixir Saved characters with air magic: Devon, Tarq, and Queenie.

Earth Magic

Your magical element is earth! You thrive on having a plan and acting upon it, and you aren’t afraid to showcase your best qualities. The key to mining your earth magic is to let go and trust your instincts, and then you’ll be able to move mountains.

Elixir Saved characters with earth magic: Katora, Hirsten, and Pop.

Fire Magic

Your magical element is fire! Your passions and feelings run deep, which means your emotions can burst out when they become too big, but that means everyone knows where they stand with you. The key to controlling your fire magic is discipline and balance, and then there’s no extinguishing your flame.

Elixir Saved characters with fire magic: Kylene, Zelenka, and Nika.

Water Magic

Your magical element is water! You don’t mind going with the flow. You have a healthy respect for your limits, which tend to be high, and you don’t like to have them tested. The key to capturing your water magic is boundaries and precision, and you’ll be a tidal wave.

Elixir Saved characters with water magic: Bhar, Palafair, and Em.

Now that you’ve seen all the possibilities, I’d love to know if you still think you got the one that best describes you?

About ELIXIR SAVED:

Three lives saved by the Elixir; three lives bound by it.

The Elixir entwines the lives of those it touches. Once upon a time, Kylene, Zelenka, and Devon tasted it and escaped death. None were left without scars. Now, a shocking message from the Ice Queen—one of Mother Nature’s higher beings—sends each survivor on a quest. Kylene travels to the frozen depths of Blanchardwood, Zelenka heads back to the wilds of Faway Forest, and Devon journeys to a reclusive mountain temple. The three paths converge in a war against an ancient and tricky foe. And even the Elixir cannot save everyone. The fate of the world balances on the edge of a sword, and the outcome depends on whether the survivors will sacrifice their second chances.

Escape back into the world of the Great Peninsula in this much-anticipated sequel to the award-winning ELIXIR BOUND. Perfect for fans of the Thrones of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas.

Buy the book on BookshopAmazonKoboIndieBoundBarnes & NobleSmashwordsApple Books, and Book Depository (for international folks).

The Different Strengths of Female Characters: A Study of Anna and Elsa in Frozen 2

Long-time readers of this blog know I’ve been writing about female characters for years and even did a wholes series of “Females in YA” posts. Some topics I’ve covered are unlikable girls, the Bechdel Test, and the feminist world in my first YA fantasy ELIXIR BOUND. One topic in particular I enjoy talking about is the different ways female characters can be strong (see “Females in YA: Part 5 Strong Female Characters”).

Frozen 2, which was the last movie I saw in theaters and is quite popular in my house right now (the whole Frozen franchise really…as evidenced by the requested Frozen Fever cake I made for my 3-year-old’s birthday earlier this month), is a really good example of the different kinds of strengths female characters can have.

Let’s take a look at Elsa. She embodies what a lot of people think about when it comes to strong female characters, à la Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games series or Sarah Connors from the Terminator franchise. I’m talking about the butt-kicking, weapon-wielding type. Elsa is powerful and so full of magic she literally cannot control it. These characters are seen as extraordinary and labeled as strong, often in a way that marks them as different from other female characters. Almost as if implying that women are inherently weak, especially since strong isn’t used nearly as often to describe male characters because it’s assumed of them.

These strong female characters certainly have their weaknesses; they wouldn’t be very interesting characters if they didn’t. Elsa can be distant to the people she loves, she has trouble accepting help, and she fails to recognize her own limitations. A character without such flaws is boring and has nothing to overcome internally.

In general, though, the power of characters like these women is in your face and often of the physical variety, so they get the descriptor of strong. Not to say that they aren’t mentally strong, too, (which they absolutely are), but their most obvious displays of strength are physical. These characters are clearly not to be trifled with. They go on adventures and quests. They face dangers and conquer them. I love these types of strong female characters!

But I also am quick to note that this isn’t the only way a female character can be strong (and this is true for male characters and we definitely need male characters to show different types of strength, but that’s for another post). That’s where Anna comes in.

There’s a running joke in the Frozen franchise about how Anna is ordinary. When she calls herself ordinary in the first Frozen movie, Hans (her love interest at the time) agrees by saying, “That’s right, she is.” When Anna shoots him a wounded look, he adds, “In–in the best possible way.” In Frozen 2, Olaf recounts the events of the first movie and describes the sisters by saying, “One born with magical powers, the other powerless.”

Anna is also openly affectionate, is not afraid to be silly, and is all too aware of her powerlessness. She has her moments of physical strength (justifiably punching Hans in the first Frozen movie after he’s betrayed her and Elsa), but I don’t think she would be described as a strong female character in the way Elsa (or Katniss or Sarah Connors) is.

Warning about Frozen 2 spoilers….

Yet one of the biggest examples of an act of strength in the entire Frozen franchise is performed by Anna in Frozen 2. Having come to the realization that her sister has sacrificed herself for the truth and clutching Olaf as he flurries away to his death, Anna lies on a dark cave floor and just wants to give up. In the song “The Next Right Thing,” she sings:

I’ve seen dark before, but not like this
This is cold, this is empty, this is numb
The life I knew is over, the lights are out
Hello, darkness, I’m ready to succumb

By the end of the song, Anna has found the strength within herself to make her way out the cave and has vowed to save her kingdom and the enchanted forest. Despite facing the darkest moments of her life and personally being done with it all, she gets up and moves forward (not on…there’s really no moving on from something like that). Then, despite the heartache and depression and physical fatigue, she proceeds to anger the Earth Giants so they throw boulders at her as they chase her to the dam that she is trying to get them to destroy. Now that’s a show of strength!

I’m not trying to take sides on whose strength is better. None of Anna’s strengths diminish Elsa’s, and vice versa. The point is that there are many different ways for characters (and people) to show strength and to be powerful. Let’s not limit our characters–male or female–to one type.

This is something I thought a lot about when working on the characters in the Elixir books. I wanted there to be strong female characters in every sense of the word. So if you enjoy stories about sisters and strong female characters (and ice palaces!), I encourage you to check out the award-winning YA fantasy ELIXIR BOUND and its standalone sequel ELIXIR SAVED.

ELIXIR SAVED Personality Quiz: What Element Fuels Your Magic

I’ve always loved those BuzzFeed personality quizzes: Which Disney Princess Are You, What YA Dystopian Novel Would You Live In, What Fantasy Character Fits Your Personality. They remind me of my adolescents days when I would take the quizzes in Seventeen Magazine (when a physical magazine would actually come to your mailbox…I’m old!).

So I decided to make one for my latest YA fantasy ELIXIR SAVED. It was a lot of fun to make, and even more fun to take. (Can you tell all my marketing efforts for this book have been about doing things that I enjoy? If you haven’t seen my launch video with ELIXIR SAVED’s birth story, definitely check that out.)

One aspect of the worldbuilding I expanded upon from ELIXIR BOUND to ELIXIR SAVED was the magic. In book 1, we know some characters can use magic and others don’t. But as far as where magic comes from or what governs how it can be used, there’s not much there. What we do know is that Katora has inherited the magic of guardianship of the Elixir from her father and Hirsten has inherited his mapmaking magic from his father. We also know the higher beings use magic a lot more than humans and demicks, the mortal beings.

In book 2, I expanded upon how the magic in the world of the Great Peninsula works. One of the old theories is that magic comes from the elements, but that belief has fallen out of fashion in the time where the Elixir stories take place. Turns out, this is true. Each human or demick has one element that fuels their magic, though many mortal beings don’t tap into their magic at all. And higher beings can tap into all four elements as a source of magic.

The magic is fueled by the elements, but the magic itself isn’t necessarily tied to being able to manipulate a certain element Avatar-style (I only watched the series Avatar: The Last Airbender in the last couple of months and loved it!). So someone who gets their magic form the element water doesn’t use their magic to manipulate water…it’s simply the source of it. Each person’s magic is usually tied to being able to do one thing (like making maps move and hold memories), though, again, the higher beings aren’t restricted by this.

Which brings me to the quiz (finally!). You can find out what element fuels your magic, but what you do with that magic is only limited by your imagination. It also shows you what Elixir characters share that same element. It’s only 7 questions, and there are no wrong answers…the best kind of quiz!

B.T.W. I’m pretty consistently earth magic (no surprise that matches Katora’s element). I’d love to hear what your results are. Oh and if anyone is reading any of my book, I’d love pictures of them in the wild, so please tag me when you share.

Happy Book Birthday to ELIXIR SAVED by Katie L. Carroll

Today’s the day…ELIXIR SAVED is out in the world! It’s been quite the journey with this book. It took me a very long time to write (here’s a post I wrote back in 2017 “Why Is It Taking Me So Long To Write The Second Elixir Book?”) and was more work than I anticipated, even though I knew it was going to be a hard book to write.

I’m really proud of it, though. I think it reflects how much I’ve grown as a person and a writer since those long ago days when I wrote ELIXIR BOUND. Most importantly, I think it gives the character based on my sister Kylene the journey I wanted for her, the story I couldn’t give her in the first Elixir book because I wasn’t ready yet. And it has a gorgeous cover thanks to the very talented Susan Tait Porcaro, who has turned from a colleague to a friend.

I decided to roll with the idea of book birthdays and give ELIXIR SAVED its very own birth story. This video was fun (and embarrassing) to make, but I hope it shows how much I love writing and my books, even when they’re difficult…much like having kids. Plus I got to wear the dress I got (pre-pandemic) for book events.

I’m trying to be positive in this release post because I want to send my book baby out into the world with good energy. But I can’t say it’s been easy to release a book during a pandemic. I rely on hand-selling at events to help get the word out and reach new readers. I’m also missing out on an unknown number of opportunities for both Elixir books that may have arisen as a result of ELIXIR BOUND winning an award last year. I’m also aware of the privilege I have of getting to this at all.

There are the usual release day nerves and jitters there, too. This book is long–maybe too long–despite my efforts to trim it as much as possible. Things have been so hectic this year, I ended up doing most of the final edits on my own, so I’m nervous about what I may have missed. After working so long on a book, it’s hard to have any perspective. Way to sell you all on buying the book, right? *insert awkward laughter*

So if I haven’t totally scared you away by now, here are the details on what the book is about and where you can buy it. Thanks so much to each and every one of you for being a part of my author journey!

ELIXIR SAVED by Katie L. Carroll

Three lives saved by the Elixir; three lives bound by it.

The Elixir entwines the lives of those it touches. Once upon a time, Kylene, Zelenka, and Devon tasted it and escaped death. None were left without scars. Now, a shocking message from the Ice Queen—one of Mother Nature’s higher beings—sends each survivor on a quest. Kylene travels to the frozen depths of Blanchardwood, Zelenka heads back to the wilds of Faway Forest, and Devon journeys to a reclusive mountain temple. The three paths converge in a war against an ancient and tricky foe. And even the Elixir cannot save everyone. The fate of the world balances on the edge of a sword, and the outcome depends on whether the survivors will sacrifice their second chances.

Escape back into the world of the Great Peninsula in this much-anticipated sequel to the award-winning ELIXIR BOUND. Perfect for fans of the Thrones of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas.

Buy the book on BookshopAmazon, KoboIndieBound, Barnes & Noble, SmashwordsApple Books, and Book Depository (for international folks).

Celebrating Book Birthdays and Baby Birthdays All Week Long

With ELIXIR SAVED releasing tomorrow and three family birthdays this week, it’s all about books and birthdays on the blog (say that three times fast!). Stop by tomorrow for the official ELIXIR SAVED launch video…where I may have taken the idea of a book birthday a little too far.

On Wednesday, I’ll be on author Kai Strand’s blog talking about my biggest challenge in writing book 2 (I cheated a little on this one and wrote about two things that challenged me). Then here on Friday, I have an author interview with Estelle Laure, whose book MAYHEM shares a book birthday with ELIXIR SAVED.

First kiddo, a.k.a. The Boy

There will more fun on the blog the rest of July. Next week, you can take a quiz (don’t worry, it’s only 7 questions and there are no wrong answers) to find out what element fuels your magic. And then some posts about the process of writing ELIXIR SAVED. If you have any questions about the writing process or any of my books, drop them in the comments and I’ll answer them here on the blog.

Second kiddo, a.k.a. The Prince

Today, though, is all about birth stories. I’ve shared here on the blog the exciting birth stories of my first two kiddos, one of whom was born during a hurricane (check out “A Beautiful Life Is Born”) and the other who was almost born in the car (check out “The Precipitous Birth of Baby Boy #2”). When I went looking for a post about the third kiddo’s birth story, I realized I never wrote it up (such is the way of parenthood after the first couple of kids), all I found was a post called “Summer 2017 in Pictures – All About Adjusting” with me saying his birth story will get up on the blog eventually.

Third kiddo, a.k.a. The Gentleman

The Gentleman (kiddo #3) came in an equally exciting way as the other two. The only reason we made it in time to the hospital was because we knew from the very quick birth of kiddo #2 to head there at the very first sign of labor. We still never made it to labor and delivery, and he was born in one of the tiny triage rooms before my doctor made it to the hospital. This was despite the several warnings my husband and I gave them about how our previous baby was born in one of those same triage rooms and maybe they should go ahead and send me to labor and delivery. It all worked out in the end, and that’s the important thing.

Baby Katie

Turns out my own birth story was rather exciting as well. My dad worked for the local newspaper at the time and wrote about it in his column. My parents didn’t have health insurance, so when my mom went into labor at about 9:00 p.m., she decided to try and labor at home until midnight to avoid the extra night’s charge. The hospital was down the road from our house, so they almost decided to walk but got a ride from my aunt at the last minute. My mom was admitted at 12:01 a.m. (with my dad double-checking the time on the paperwork) and I was born at 1:03 a.m. I guess quick births run in the family!

Anyone else have an exciting birth story? See you all tomorrow where I embarrass myself on video and share ELIXIR SAVED’s birth story!

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