How to acquire mad blog design skillz

You may have noticed that I changed my blog layout again. I tend to do that every couple of months or so. You see, I’m always trying to make it look easier on the eyes–mine and yours. And, yes, I do get bored with my blog layout A LOT.

Now, a web designer I am not, though that is definitely on my top 3 of things I want to be, right below published author and just above skilled seamstress. I don’t know how to design a blog or website from scratch, but I understand enough about html and I use what little knowledge I have to make a few tweaks here and there. See, you don’t need to be a web design wiz in order to come up with a nice and original-looking blog.

In this post, I’m going to let you in on my mad blog designing secrets by taking you through the process of how I ended up with this new blog design all by my-“non web designer”-self. *beam*

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Mini Giveaway: $25 Amazon Gift Card up for grabs (An Offering to the Giveaway Gods)

I’ve blogged about my luck in giveaways several times and I know I’ve been saying I should host my own giveaway soon. I’ve been putting it off for a while because I wanted to give away something big but then I couldn’t really afford the big I had in mind. Ever since I jumped ship, or rather, threw myself overboard and got on my own little rowboat of dreams, I’ve been trying to minimize my spending since I no longer have a spiffy corporate job. It ain’t easy when you’re a fledgling freelancer, folks, and I get by with a little help from my friends. [intro Beatles song]

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FREE for One Day Only: Sykosa, Part I: Junior Year by Justin Ordoñez

“Sykosa makes for some compelling reading. Older teens and adults alike will enjoy Ordoñez ‘s tale for its humor, realism and relatable protagonist.” — Kirkus Indie Review

Sykosa (that’s “sy”-as-in-“my” ko-sa) is a junior in high school. She belongs to an exclusive clique of girls called the “Queens.” The leader is her best friend Niko. Their friendship has been strained lately because Tom—Sykosa’s first boyfriend—has gotten all serious about making her his pretty Prom princess. That is if he ever gets around to asking her. Before Prom, there’s a party at Niko’s cottage where parental supervision will be nil. He wants to have sex. She doesn’t. He sometimes acts like that doesn’t matter.It matters.

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Book Review: Tell A Thousand Lies by Rasana Atreya

Tell A Thousand Lies by Rasana Atreya is about the fates of two sisters, fraternal twins Pullamma and Lata. Dark and awkward Pullamma only wants to be a wife. She has two other sisters so she knows that there isn’t a lot of dowry for them all, but she still hopes. Fair and pretty Lata only dreams of becoming a doctor. Her grandmother doesn’t understand and arranges a wedding alliance for her. By some twist of fate, Pullamma ends up becoming the Goddess of their village and secretly married, while Lata ends up in a forced marriage after rebelling against her grandmother and getting pregnant. This novel is a realistic portrayal of the culture, traditions, and life in a small Indian village. Read more about this book on Goodreads.

I enjoyed this book. It was quite easy to read and carried on in a very good pace. It was also so rich in culture and very realistic, so I found it quite captivating. I liked the simplicity of the writing because for me it fit in perfectly with the richness and depth of the entire book. It complemented how colorful the story was. The author was able to give life to the characters and described the setting and events beautifully. The story felt very real and I felt for all the characters.

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Book Review: Farsighted by Emlyn Chand

I got this book from Amazon when it was free for a brief period. I saw a link about it on Twitter and since I’m a sucker for free books, I downloaded it. I wasn’t able to get to it for weeks though. I finally gave it a go since I’ve been reading about it everywhere on my newsfeeds.

Farsighted by Emlyn Chand is about Alex, blind since birth and deemed an outcast by his peers. He has no friends until a nice new girl comes to town. Simmi sincerely wants to be friends with Alex and things starts to look up. Unfortunately for Alex, he also discovers a new ability. He has “visions” of the future and sometimes it gets him in awkward situations. No matter how hard he tries, Alex can’t escape his new ability, especially when he starts seeing visions of Simmi in danger. Alex gains the help of new friends and discovers more about his new sight. This book is about his journey to change the events in his visions. — Check out Farsighted on Goodreads.

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Thicker than water: The House of Order by John Paul Jaramillo

I like short stories, especially the ones that don’t really follow a certain formula or end with a sound resolution because these are the ones that can make you think and speculate about the story or the characters. Good short stories leave me dwelling on them long after I’ve read them. Most of the stories in The House of Order are no exception.

The House of Order, the first collection of composite stories by John Paul Jaramillo, presents a stark vision of American childhood and family, set in Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico. Manito Ortiz sorts family truth from legend as broken as the steel industry and the rusting vehicles that line Spruce Street. The only access to his lost family’s story is his uncle, the unreliable Neto Ortiz.

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Guest Post: Ramblings of an Online Worker

Today’s guest post is by an old friend and classmate! Shy was my classmate in high school and we haven’t seen each other since. Thank God for Facebook because that’s where I found out that she’s been a freelancer for a while now, so I asked her to share her story. Yay! Thanks, Shy!

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Hello, passionate readers of Lei’s blog. I’m very happy that Lei invited me here; it’s nice to write for a good friend and classmate in high school. Yes, Lei and I were high school classmates and we shared some good memories together. We actually haven’t seen each other yet since we graduated (that’s like oh so many years ago, you guess..) but I’m glad we’re able to reconnect through this amazing world where we both thrive in – the Internet. Like Lei, I am a freelancer who struggles to make things happen online. Lei requested me to share my story of how I ended up as an online worker and I feel lucky to be sharing this with all of you.

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Guest Post: 5 Freelancing Tips by Elise from Sugar Coated

Hey, everyone!  This is a guest post from one of the bloggers I follow–Elise from Sugar Coated.  I just found her adorable blog by accident a few months ago.  Blog hopping does have its awesome rewards!  I was ecstatic when I learned she’s a freelance writer and I asked her a while back if she could do a guest post on my blog.  She graciously agreed!  Yay!  Thanks, Elise! :)  Guys, do check out her blog after you read this post. Enjoy! :)

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Hello, sweet readers! I’m Elise from Sugar Coated, and it’s truly a pleasure to meet you guys. The lovely Lei invited me over to share a little bit about myself, and some freelancing tips :).

I started blogging about three years ago, simply out of curiosity. I’ve always loved English and writing, but hadn’t really done any writing on a consistent basis. I live in the South, in a tiny town where most people wear crocs and don’t know what Blogger is. In other words, I had no blogging mentors. The blogs I first discovered: Cup of Jo, and Cupcakes and Cashmere inspired me enough to start my own blogging adventure.

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High School Life, Oh High School Life: Sykosa by Justin Ordonez

About the book
YA fiction for the 18+ crowd. Sykosa is a sixteen-year-old girl trying to reclaim her identity after an act of violence shatters her life and the lives of her friends. Set at her best friend Niko’s cottage, for what will be a weekend of unsupervised badness, Sykosa will have to finally confront the major players and issues from this event, as well as decide if she wants to lose her virginity to Tom, her first boyfriend, and the boy who saved her from danger.

I think this is the first YA book I’ve read that has very mature content.  I normally steer clear from books that talk about really serious stuff unless the cover or blurb were interesting enough to reel me in.  Also, when it comes to YA fiction, I tend to go for the adventure or fantasy genre because I prefer the fast-paced, light and easy reading of these books.  I decided to read Sykosa because I figured I have to review “serious” books once in a while. YES, this is still all about my reading/writing goals. It’s all about me, me, me.  HAH.  I sound like I’m in high school.  Like Sykosa.  No, not really.

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