Welcome!

Welcome to Iwrite. A little bit about myself first: I am Mariana Llanos, author of Tristan Wolf. I  write since I was very young. What did I write about? Mostly poems about things around me. As I grew older I started writing short stories and also school plays. I even remember writing a new chapter for the Star Wars movies (that would be very useful now!) One thing I enjoyed a lot  was to adapt classic plays (Hamlet, Faust, Romeo and Juliet) and turn them into comical skits to perform at school.
As I grew older I kept on writing but decided to try to be an actress and studied drama. I have also done some arts and crafts, specially with papier mache, my favorite medium. For the past 8 years I've worked at a preschool. I've found another creative outlet in working with those kids and teaching them how to be creative through different arts. Currently I'm teaching them music and art.
Just a couple of years ago I decided to resume my writing. I created Tristan Wolf and I'm trying to become a full time writer...which would be my second full time job since I'm also a full time mom of three smart children.
Well, in the meantime and while I make  some dreams come true, here I offer you my blog that I hope to fill with experiences, thoughts, ideas, interviews and  lots of entertainment.
Truly yours,
Mariana Llanos

REVIEW: MOTLEY WINGS

by Galina Granovsky

 

“Motley Wings” is an interesting tale that 

takes readers to the world of butterflies. Lily, a pretty, young, white-winged butterfly is preparing herself to go to the ball that Prince Apollo organizes every year. She wants to look her best but her bright white wings get accidentally stained. Her friend Stripy Bee offers to help and paints her wings with beautiful colors that truly make her stand out. At the ball she is noticed by the Prince, not only for her beautifully colored wings but for her modesty and honesty. Prince Apollo himself invites her to join him and his following to their annual trip to the Hare Cabbage Gardens. Lily will have a great adventure as she meets new friends and gets closer to the Prince.

I read this book with my boys. I enjoyed it but it wasn’t their‘cup of tea’. Maybe they just don’t like reading about pretty butterflies in a fairy-tale style story; they go for more boyish adventures. Oh, well. Their loss. I do think that there are very interesting elements on this book: I especially liked the metamorphosis chapter and their flight over the lake and I even liked the moths’ part, but, in my opinion, the story ended too abruptly and there were some situations left in the hanging.

“Motley Wings” has been translated into English from Russian, and although it reads pretty well, it needs a little tune up here and there for some typos and minor oddities. They are easily fixable though and do not affect the story but they could be a distraction for the readers(I should know that pretty well! As I was writing this post, a friend messaged me to tell me that on my previous post I had written "on the park" instead of "at the park"... not once, but several times.Darn it!)
I'm pleased that I got to know this author’s work, new to the English language book market. She is a writer with a prolific imagination able to transport her readers to a world of beauty and fantasy.

Mariana Llanos

Author Galina Granovsky lives in Russia close to the Black Sea with her husband and her cat. She has published several children's stories and adult novels in her language. Some of them are being translated into English.



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*I received a complimentary PDF of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

REVIEW: An Evening with Grandpa

by Diana Matlin

An Evening with Grandpa is a nicely crafted story within a story. It starts when Annie is “forced” to spend an evening with her grandfather, who she thinks is boring and will never play with her. But that evening, Grandpa agrees to play chess and teach her how to play it through a story. Grandpa and Annie take us to Chess Kingdom, where Queens and Kings do what they do best: fight. They’ll introduce us to Pawnie, a determined little pawn who wants to be a princess.

I  liked the fact that Pawnie is a girl doing what girls in stories usually don’t do: going on the battlefield.  I believe this story will empower girls to try on other roles that are not traditional for girls and it will get both, boys and girls, interested in the game of chess.

In my opinion, though, the White and Black Queens motivation for helping their husbands win the battle could've been more substantial. A dress and a fancy party sound superfluous and stereotyping. But that's probably just my feminist side talking.

I read it to my 6 years old and I can tell that he lived the story. And how not since it's interesting and engaging from the beginning. It explains the moves of the game of chess in a creative way. Annie and Grandpa’s conversations are easy to read, familiar and very relatable. It feels like we could heard them talking.

An Evening with Grandpa is a very good read that will entertain and teach. I also love that I can relate to it, since my grandfather taught me how to play chess. Now I wish we could've read this book together.

Mariana Llanos

For a trailer watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYY7Xdhuv7g&feature=youtu.be

Author Diana Matlin lives in New jersey with her husband and three kids. In her free time she loves to read, travel and spend time with the family.

*This blog is associated with the Amazon Affiliate Program

 *I received a free PDF copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.