of blades and thorns

the official blog of author grace a. johnson

PAH Anniversary Week (Day 8: Themed Merch)

Grace A. Johnson

Oct 29, 2020
6 min

PAH Anniversary Week (Day 8: Themed Merch)

So, for one, I have absolutely no concept of time. For some odd reason, I woke up thinking that there was a day in between Wednesday and Thursday (🤨), and so I was adamant that today was not Thursday already and that I had another day to prepare for the long-awaited anniversary of Prisoner at Heart. Yeah. There is no day in between Wednesday and Thursday. It's Thursday. And so....HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRISONER AT HEART! Secondly, y'all will notice that since my day were all mixed

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PAH Anniversary Week (Day 7: Behind-the-Scenes Thought Process)

Grace A. Johnson

Oct 28, 2020
6 min

PAH Anniversary Week (Day 7: Behind-the-Scenes Thought Process)

Well, life did not permit me to get Tuesday's post up on time...so I've done some rearranging and I'll be sharing yesterday's post today and today's post either tomorrow or Thursday, which works out great, because I actually didn't have a plan for today's post. Anyway, today, we're really going "behind the scenes." Y'all remember those deleted scenes and alternate chapters I shared Monday? Well, I didn't just churn those out one right after the other, and then immediately scr

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PAH Anniversary Week (Day 5: Name of the Week)

Grace A. Johnson

Oct 26, 2020
5 min

PAH Anniversary Week (Day 5: Name of the Week)

Well, Monday is always (all right, almost always) my Name of the Week day. And since I'm in the middle of sharing the exclusive behind-the-scenes of Prisoner at Heart in honor of its ONE YEAR anniversary on Thursday, I'll be giving y'all the scoop on one of the many names in Prisoner at Heart. Except--wait! I've already done both Elliot and Crimson's name, as well as Rina, Xavier, Maverick, and Collin. Aside from a few minor characters, who else has a name I could do? The boo

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PAH Anniversary Week (Day 4: Deleted Scenes)

Grace A. Johnson

Oct 25, 2020
18 min

PAH Anniversary Week (Day 4: Deleted Scenes)

Not every story is perfect. Not every first line draws you in. Not every character or scene turns out just right. Sometimes you have to make changes. Sometimes you have to start all over. And then sometimes, you get the epic opportunity to share everything that went wrong and never made it into your finished work! Today, I'm sharing three different things--a SALE, deleted scenes, and alternate chapters. First things first, today marks the only week that Prisoner at Heart will

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PAH Anniversary Week (Day 3: Story Soundtrack)

Grace A. Johnson

Oct 24, 2020
5 min

PAH Anniversary Week (Day 3: Story Soundtrack)

Now, for the musical inspiration behind Prisoner at Heart! One thing that I had a lot of fun putting together during both Held Captive and Prisoner at Heart was the soundtrack. I listen to music a lot when I write, and whenever I stumble upon a song that sounds like a character or a certain scene, I copy the lyrics to a document. Well, since I can't share the lyrics without copyright issues, and copying/pasting the links to YouTube videos is too much work, I'm going to be sha

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PAH Anniversary Week (Day 2: Behind-the-Scenes Pics)

Grace A. Johnson

Oct 23, 2020
4 min

PAH Anniversary Week (Day 2: Behind-the-Scenes Pics)

Whoop whoop! This is probably my favorite part of my anniversary celebration--the pictures behind the words! Yesterday, I shared the "designs behind the quotes," but today, I bring to you nearly 200 pictures that have inspired characters and scenes in Prisoner at Heart and have become the aesthetics for the overall story. Check them all out on my Prisoner at Heart Pinterest board! Now, I know not everyone is partial to Pinterest, so I'd like to share what I can right here (wi

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Prisoner at Heart 1st Anniversary Week! (Day 1: Quote Graphics)

Grace A. Johnson

Oct 22, 2020
3 min

Prisoner at Heart 1st Anniversary Week! (Day 1: Quote Graphics)

So, um, right off the bat, you may have noticed that I misspelled "anniversary." My apologies. Hopefully, after you bemoaned my mistake, you realized that IT'S HERE! The day is finally here! Today marks the beginning of a week-long celebration of my second (and latest) novel's 1st anniversary. Every day from now until October 29th, I'll be sharing behind-the-scenes pictures, inspirational songs, and even some never-before-seen deleted scenes from Prisoner at Heart! Keep up wi

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Grace A. Johnson

Oct 19, 2020
7 min

He Will Move Mountains

As y'all can see, I haven't written a Name of the Week for this week. And I'm not. Partly because I have no idea what name to do--and mostly because I have something even better that I want to share. I would've liked to have posted this earlier, but time did not permit. I'll try to be brief so that you can get on with your day (or night), and I'll try not to be sappy and pitiful. But I realized something yesterday, and I wanted y'all to know. I have never thought that I was o

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Review: The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer

Grace A. Johnson

Oct 18, 2020
9 min

Review: The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer

Georgette Heyer. That's new, isn't it? I usually stick to Christian romances, don't I? The ones written after 2009, most of the time. In fact, this is the first Georgian romance I've ever read, let alone blogged about. So here we go. The tale of how I came to want to read Ms. Heyer is indeed a long one, and since I have all the time in the world (not), I'll share it with y'all. It all started with Jane Austen. And, no, I don't mean reading Jane Austen (unfortunately, I don't

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Grace A. Johnson

Oct 14, 2020
1 min

Check This Out!

So...I'm sure y'all are looking forward to the all goodies I'll be sharing starting the 22nd and ending the 29th--something new every single day--but today, I have something even better to share! A friend of mine, the amazing Jenna Terese, is debuting her new Redbubble collection TODAY! Not only is this just all around fantastic, she's also a terrific designer! Check out her new collection of "Writer Humor" themed shirts, notebooks, mugs, and more! She's got a host of other d

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Grace A. Johnson

Oct 12, 2020
2 min

Name of the Week: Julius

Well, someone forgot to, em, write their Name of the Week post sometime this weekend, so someone is posting it a little bit late this week. And someone may have picked just a random name since, y'know, she didn't have time to search through all of the many names (I'm seriously running out, y'all...I need suggestions) and pick a fun one. Anyway. Julius is, currently, that secondary character that no one really knows all that much about, personality-wise. At least, at the momen

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Grace A. Johnson

Oct 9, 2020
1 min

The CATastrophic Cat Blog

Hey, howdy, hi! Today, I'm throwing all convention to the wind and introducing to y'all the amazing--and catastrophic--online home of moi's beloved crazy cat lady--pardon me, sister. Here, on The CATastrophic Cat Blog, my sister shares fun facts about cats, compare/contrasts cat breeds, and gives you the dope on the breed of the month! It all started out when my mother and I claimed that she needed a place to share her love for and knowledge of cats (and I said she sorely nee

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Grace A. Johnson

Oct 7, 2020
2 min

Cover Reveal!

And, no, I (unfortunately) do not mean "cover reveal for Bound and Determined," although that will come. Eventually. Hopefully. Lord willing. Ahem. Nay, my good fellows, my readers and followers, my family and friends--I mean "cover reveal for The Nature of a Lady," which is a historical romance by Roseanna M. White and is sure to be a lovely treat! Y'all know I adore Mrs. White and her detectable stories, and of course this particular one should be no different--but do you k

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Name of the Week: Shadow Road (Reviews, Interviews, and More)

Grace A. Johnson

Oct 5, 2020
15 min

Name of the Week: Shadow Road (Reviews, Interviews, and More)

Wait! What? Shadow Road? But that's not a name, is it? Of course it isn't! Because today, I'm dispensing of all "name origins" and "character this" and bringing to you a book review and a interview with writer A. E. Pennymaker--the author of Shadow Road. Before we dive into all of the treats that I have for y'all, let's take a peek at this wonderful indie fantasy and its equally wonderful author, Anna. Brenorra Warring's father is going crazy. That's the only conclusion Bren

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Grace A. Johnson

Oct 2, 2020
7 min

What Are We? (What is Church? Part 3)

In examining the scriptures and the history of both the “early church” and the word church these last two weeks, we’ve discovered a lot, haven’t we? We’ve learned that “church” is actually the English form of the Greek word Circe, who was, in Ancient Greek mythology, the goddess of pharmekia, sorcery with drugs. We’ve learned that every time our Bibles say “church,” it really means “congregation.” We’ve learned that, due to the people Paul was writing to and the atmosphere th

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of blades and thorns

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