of blades and thorns

the official blog of author grace a. johnson

Review: Oh, The Fallen by Abigail Kay Harris

Grace A. Johnson

May 31, 2021
2 min

Review: Oh, The Fallen by Abigail Kay Harris

This is a hard book to write a review for. Why? Because in only fifty-one pages, I’ve been to war and back and had my heart ripped from my chest. How am I supposed to put that kind of experience into words? I don’t typically read war stories or tearjerkers. Mostly because, deep within the walls of my crusty exterior, I’m actually a softie. Like, one whose eyes moisten upon occasion. Hard to believe, I know, but still true. So Oh, The Fallen was different for me…and yet, in a

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Grace A. Johnson

May 31, 2021
4 min

Author Interview: Abigail Kay Harris

Finally! Another author interview!! It's been just over a month since the last one, and it's high time I have another author on! So, without further ado, let me hand the mic over to Miss Abigail Kay Harris!! (Oh, and stay tuned for my review of her latest release, Oh, The Fallen, at noon today!) GJ: What first inspired you to write? AH: The love I had for writing. It grew into wanting to give others a story and the joy of a story that grabs the readers’ attention as I got fro

36 views4 comments

Grace A. Johnson

May 28, 2021
3 min

Cover Reveal: Ignite by Jenna Terese

Usually, it takes me fifteen minutes to get a post together. Upload my pics and graphics. Copy and paste imperative information. Schedule a day or week or month ahead. Sit there and look cute. (Unless it's a long post, in which cause it'll probably take me anywhere between two hours and two weeks to write.) Not so with this post. I have had a time, let me tell you, and I nearly missed the cutoff to share with you one of the most GORGEOUS book covers in the history of book cov

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What If...God Searches for the Broken Ones?

Grace A. Johnson

May 26, 2021
3 min

What If...God Searches for the Broken Ones?

Just the other day, my family and I went on our first beach trip since 2019. (#thankscovid) The beach, despite the jellyfish and sharks and toddler-wrangling involved, is one of my favorite places to be. And one of my favorite things to do at the beach is gather seashells. #beachcomber I had three unofficial shell goals (shoals for short): Find a whole sand dollar (uncompleted, unfortunately) Find an unbroken lightning whelk shell (took me a while, but I did find one!) Colle

58 views8 comments

Coming Soon: Oh, The Fallen by Abigail Kay Harris

Grace A. Johnson

May 24, 2021
2 min

Coming Soon: Oh, The Fallen by Abigail Kay Harris

Today is the day, my lovelies. Today marks a week until the release of Oh, The Fallen by Abigail Kay Harris. Maybe you've heard about this book - I hope you have - or maybe you haven't. Whatever the case, it is my honor and my duty to share with you the details of this heart-wrenching story. Shall we begin? Oh, The Fallen releases May 31st, 2021 (Memorial Day, actually), and is available for preorder on Amazon! It's the prequel to Oh, The Lamented, which releases on Veteran's

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Guest Post: Pride and Prejudice Review by Esther Jackson

Grace A. Johnson

May 24, 2021
3 min

Guest Post: Pride and Prejudice Review by Esther Jackson

Well, hello there! Have I got a treat for you! My friend Esther from The Lost Review of Odd Book is appearing on Gabbing with Grace to share with you her review of one of my all-time favorites, Pride and Prejudice! I hope y'all enjoy! Be sure to subscribe to her blog for more fun reviews! Do you ever tell someone they can choose what you do a fuller review on and have immediate regrets thinking they'll probably choose a book you've half forgotten? (for I never fully forget a

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Review: Winning the Gentleman by Kristi Ann Hunter

Grace A. Johnson

May 22, 2021
6 min

Review: Winning the Gentleman by Kristi Ann Hunter

*Warnings* #1 This is a long review, so pull up a chair and grab a bowl of popcorn. You’ll be here awhile. #2 When I read a review, I want substantial information. So I will not skimp on the details. Which may mean some spoilers, so watch out. Stars: 4 Synopsis: Aaron Whitworth needs a jockey. Sophia Fitzroy needs a job. It ought to be a perfect fit...but a bit of deception and a whole lot of trouble argue otherwise. Favorite Quote: “It’s grass. You can’t eat it. Might as wel

43 views14 comments

Grace A. Johnson

May 17, 2021
11 min

April Mini Reviews

When You Found Me: Princes of Allura Novella Collection– Anna Augustine When You Found Me is such a sweet, tender, and beautiful collection of novellas inspired by the biblical accounts of Esther, Ruth, and Jael! I was convinced by all the lovely Goodreads reviews by my friends (and friends of my friends; you know how social media works), and I was not disappointed! Admittedly, the three princes’ of Allura’s stories have their faults. There were several typos and errors, but

38 views3 comments

Grace A. Johnson

May 16, 2021
6 min

The American Crisis - Thomas Paine

I stumbled upon this article from the Revolutionary War by hearing the first part of it read out loud. Y'all, Thomas Paine's article struck a chord in me, and I knew I just had to share! Now, this thing is extremely long and most of it is focused on the war, so I've divided it into the most interesting sections. Or, rather, the parts that truly resonate with America's position today. So, without further ado, I hope y'all enjoy! Oh, and stay tuned for an extra treat at the end

37 views5 comments

Grace A. Johnson

May 15, 2021
2 min

Short Story Writing Prompt Contest!

Do y'all remember that worldbuilding linkup I did a few months back? You don't? Oh, well, never mind then. Anyway, someone mentioned that I should do it again, but next time with prompts. Well, that prompted me to think about - you guessed it - a writing prompt contest. So, without further ado, let's get into the basics, rules, prompts, and submission form! The Basics Choose a prompt from the list below. Write a story between 800 and 3,000 words. Submit it through this form,

232 views21 comments

Grace A. Johnson

May 10, 2021
5 min

Review: Never Miss by Melissa Koslin

*Warnings* #1 This is a long review, so pull up a chair and grab a bowl of popcorn. You’ll be here awhile. #2 When I read a review, I want substantial information. So I will not skimp on the details. Which may mean some spoilers, so watch out. Stars: 3 Synopsis: When Kadance Tolle, an ex-CIA sniper, saves Dr. Lyndon Vaile’s life, she gets pulled into a plot to wipe out billions of people—and back into her old life. Will they make it out alive? Favorite Quote: “‘If you do some

29 views2 comments

Grace A. Johnson

May 8, 2021
1 min

I Need Your Help!

I'm back! Y'all didn't think you'd see me again so soon! Hope y'all are enjoying the scavenger hunt! Let me know if there are any complications, okay? Anyway, I need y'all's help with something. Lord willing, I'll be going to tech school this coming school year to get my TCC as a small business marketing manager. Suffice it to say that's got me thinking a lot about my author brand and image and all that fancy marketing stuff. I mean, it's a bit too late for me to establish a

60 views3 comments

Grace A. Johnson

May 8, 2021
16 min

BAD Sneak Peek #5

To be honest, I was darn-tooting that this would be my sixth sneak peek, but it ain’t. You can, however, go back and read peeks 1-4 here, here, here, and here! Or you can just read my summary of them. In May of 2020, I shared my first-ever sneak peek of BAD. At the time, I was 12 chapters and 40k through. I shared a tentative synopsis, my favorite (and only) quote at the time, and my theme song for the story, “Storm” by Lifehouse. Come August, I was 71k and 21 chapters in, an

65 views7 comments

Grace A. Johnson

May 7, 2021
1 min

Summer Blog Scavenger Hunt (Final Stop)

Guess what? You've made it to the end of the loop!! Congratulations for making it this far! (Granted, the loop has only seven stops, so it's not that big of a deal, and you probably finished the hunt in thirty minutes, but still. I count it a success on your part, so give yourself a hang!) Now it's time to register to try and win some amazing prizes! Just enter your info in the Rafflecopter form below. Rafflecopter will register your email or use the email you use to login to

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Grace A. Johnson

May 7, 2021
6 min

Summer Blog Scavenger Hunt (Stop #1)

Y'all will not believe this. Okay, maybe you will. I've prepared you beforehand for this amazing development, plus there's this picture above the words you're reading that probably says it all. I'm hosting my first ever blog scavenger hunt. Not only that, but I have six other AMAZING bloggers/writers joining me--including Issabelle and Katherine Perry of Teen Writers' Nook and Kristianne from Whimsical Wanderings! So, before we jump in, I want to outline how a blog scavenger

121 views20 comments

Grace A. Johnson

May 3, 2021
2 min

May Updates

April was a very unproductive month. I take that back. I wrote reviews, designed book covers, interviewed two fantastic authors, wrote another article for Kingdom Pen, was interviewed TWICE, wrote over 3k for my blog serial Reign, got a start on Daylight, and whipped up an article for my local newspaper. But I only wrote about 3,500 words in Bound and Determined. In comparison to my usual 14k (and my friends’ 4k in two days), that’s pretty sad. However, I am resolved to do be

56 views9 comments

Grace A. Johnson

May 1, 2021
5 min

The Sunshine Blogger Award

As per usual, I was unofficially nominated for this fun award by Maya Joelle @ When Through the Woods. Since I fit the generic requirements stated at the end of her post, I do not categorize this tag as a stolen one. Not this time, at least! Maya repeated the questions given to her by the blogger who tagged her, so those will be the ones I answer as well. Then I’ll give my nominees new questions! Anyway, let’s get into it! The Rules: 1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and

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