Update! How is the Book Publishing Going?

Hello everyone!

I have wonderful and exciting news to tell you all. If you have been following me for a while then you know that I have been working on a novel. In my last post I gave you all a sneak peak at the cover for the book. Tonite I am happy to tell you all that my book is published and on sale! Hurray! I am so excited. You can buy it here at amazon. In about a month you will be to go buy it in your local book stores.

So, about this book of mine. What kind of book is it? It’s a young adult fantasy book that introduces some philosophic ideas without them realizing it.  This basically means that it is a young adult fantasy book that can be enjoyed by adults as well.

As for the interesting names in the book, that will be explained on the website when it is all up and running; at the moment it only has the about the author part up and I will like the website below. I tried to give the characters names that fit with not only their ethnic background, but also with the story and had some meaning behind them.  For example, the main character’s name is usually not used as a name. Koowu is the word for strength in Arabic. While she is not physically strong, she has strength in other areas.

Will there be another book? Yes! Of course! It is already in the works. Fractured Bottles is the first in the “Bottles from Ozymandias” series. The second book does not have a name as of yet, but when it does have one you all will know.

You can also like the series on Facebook. Just click the like button down below!

Check it out! Have a read! Enjoy! It would mean a lot to me.

Love you all! Stay lovely and charming!

 

 

Sneak Preview!

Hallo Schöne Leser!

In my last post on my recipe blog I mentioned that I was in the process of finalizing the cover art for my novel that is coming out. Well, I have good news for you all! Since you all are such wonderful and amazing readers I figured that I would let you all have a little sneak peak at it.

 

Tada! There it is. I think it turned out well. Hopefully there will be a site up for it soon. The facebook page is in the works and I shall let you all know when it’s up and going. I will keep you all posted on how it is going. For now I will leave you all with this lovely description that is going to be up on the online stores for the book.

Enjoy!

Koowu has never been to school and her first experience is Ozymandias Boarding School. Much to the Djinn’s dismay she is to be roommates with a Rakshasi named Rajani who is her exact opposite, loud and hyper. Being they anti-social creature that she is does not lend itself well to making friends. However, she manages to become friends with not only her hyperactive roommate but also the Nephilim (Leopold), a Mujina (Kouti), and two Greek deities (Artemis and Apollon). Just in time too. Several important artifacts from the school have been stolen and the misfit group takes it upon themselves to try and figure out where they have gone. Will the group find the missing artifacts or will they end up disappearing as well?

Rubies! July's Beautiful Red Birthstone!

Hello everyone!

So, it’s July. Lots of things happen in July so I am making my post as early as I can. The 4^th of July is tomorrow, my tribe has our encampment later this month, I have lots of family members with birthdays this month, and for those of you who do not know, my birthday is in July. That means that my birthstone is the Ruby. Today I will be talking about Rubies. So, since I have a lot of stuff to get done in a short amount of time, let’s get this going!

The Ruby is a red stone and is one of four precious gems that are considered birthstones. The other’s being Diamond, Sapphire, and Emerald. The name for this stone comes from the Latin term ruber which means red. It, like Sapphire, is a form of corundum.  The red colour that it has come from the chromium being found in the stone when it is forming. Rubies are usually mined in Asia and the finest rubies have historically been found in Burma, or Myanmar as it is known now.  So, if you have heard of Burmese Rubies, that is where they come from.

So, why are pink forms of corundum called Pink Sapphires and not Pink Rubies? I have often wondered this myself. The truth is, in the a lot of other countries throughout the world pink corundum is classified as a Ruby and not a Sapphire. In the United States corundum must be a certain shade of red before it can be called a Ruby. All other are considered Sapphires. Speaking of colours in Rubies, the most desirable colour of this stone is called a pigeon’s blood ruby. They are very expensive and usually only can be found in the area around Burma. Most Rubies will have what is called a secondary hue. This means that some Rubies will have a slight purpleish shade to them or an orange shade to them. Most of the time it is not notice able, but it can have an effect on the price of a stone. An interesting thing to note is that Rubies look better when set in yellow gold. The reason for this is that the yellow of the gold will neutralize the blue tones in the stone and make the Ruby look more red than it would if you were to set it in another colour of gold.

Now we come to the part that is important to know. Why is it that some people when they go to the Middle East can buy Rubies really cheap and then come home to find out they are worth next to nothing? The answer is simple. A great number of these Rubies are called Glass Filled Rubies or Lead Filled Rubies. Whichever term is used it means the same thing. What happens is that when a Ruby comes out of the ground it will, like all gemstones, have inclusions and these inclusions are filled. The substance to fill these inclusions and make them look more transparent and desirable is Lead Glass. Many times people will not know that there is Lead Glass in the stone. Many times the only way to tell if the Ruby has been filled is to take it to a jeweller who will run a test on it. While they may look pretty, when it comes to setting filled stones is that many times they will crack when they are being set because if any heat is applied to the piece the Lead Glass will react to the heat and cause the stone to break. Sad, but true. Most people do not know that what they are getting is not so great stone. However, if you buy your stones at your local jeweler they will be able to tell you if the Ruby you are buying from them is filled or not. Most jewellers will NOT sell Lead Glass or treated Rubies. They are not valuable and if they break it falls back to the jeweller and they should pay to replace the stone.

If you come across a Ruby that you have your doubts about, ask the person that you are buying it from if they are willing to have a jeweller take a look at it before you purchase it. If they say they do not want a jeweller to examine it, I would not purchase it. The reason being is that if they know their stones are genuine and not Lead Glass filled they will have no reason to be offended if you are simply wanting to double check. If they know their stones are NOT genuine they will usually act defensive about it and will not even want to do business with you. People that are proud of their products will want you to be as happy with the product as they are and will do whatever it takes to make you happy. So, if in doubt ask. It is always better to be safe than sorry. Especially when it comes to expensive gemstones.

Well, I hope that you all found this informative and interesting! If you have any questions for me about Rubies feel free to ask! Also, if you are wondering what the alternate genuine birthstone is for July it is the Carnelian stone. It comes in colours ranging from orange to dark reddish-brown. It may also be called Sard, or Red Onyx.

Have a wonderful and safe Independence Day to all of my American readers and a big Thank You to all of our troops that are stationed around the world! My father was in the military, as well as numerous cousins and other relations of mine, and I know how hard you all work to keep us back here at home safe. We appreciate all that you have done and continue to do for us!

Update on How Things are Where I Live, or Why I Haven't Posted in a While

Hello World!

So, as most of you probably know/remember, or if you are new here/have forgotten I live in Oklahoma. That is the reason for me not updating in a while. Those of you who sent me messages asking about how I was and if all was well, thank you. I am pretty sure that I have replied to you all by now. If not, consider this post my reply.

I do not live in either the Oklahoma City or Tulsa metropolises which is where a great deal of the bad damage was. I live in north central Oklahoma. We did have a few tornados around where I live, but none that hit where I am at. The extent of the “damage” that my house and area got was that the streets flooded and we got some leaves blown out of our trees. The rivers around where I live were up which is a good thing since we have been in the middle of a drought and it makes growing our vegetables and fruit hard when the rivers are low.

While I was not directly affected by the tornados in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa area tornados, I had a couple of family members and some very dear friends of mine that were. I nearly got caught in the storms that produced the EF5 tornado that hit Moore area really hard on May 20^th. In fact, if I had left any later than when I had, I would probably not be here since I was traveling at the time. If you saw pictures of the Warren Theatre in Moore, I was actually in that part of the theatre only a couple days before watching a movie with about 20 of my friends. Of those same friends 1 does not have a house anymore, 3 have homes that they cannot live in at the moment because of the damage to their property, and about 10 of them have minor damage to their homes/flats. One of my friends and a cousin of mine are nurses and were put on call. My cousin was sent out to help with little kids affected by the storms. Another cousin of mine is in the Army National Guard and was helping out down there as well. For those of you who do not know, I volunteer with the American Red Cross when it was needed. For those of you who did know this and were wondering why I was not down there helping, here is the reason: there were so many people down in the area helping that the Red Cross and other organizations were asking people that were wanting to volunteer to not go down to the affected areas because there were already too many people. Also, the meteorologists were predicting more violent storms and they wanted to make sure that not all of their volunteers were in one area if another tornado hit in another area. One of tornados that hit the Tulsa metropolis were about a mile away from my big brother’s house and close to some of my other cousins’ and my aunts’ houses. However, the only damage that they got were some tree limbs down and some shingles got ripped off.

So, all is well, or a well as it will be until everything is back to being all shiny and new looking again. Hopefully I will be able to get back on my schedule. For those of you who are reading this on my fashion and beauty blog, I was doing a series of monthly posts on the birthstone of the month. Since June is a pearl I do not feel the need to repost the same thing over again. Instead, I will post a link back to it down at the bottom. For those of you who are reading this on my recipe blog, I will be back to posting recipes again soon! My friends that are from various countries in the world that do not know much about the weather where I live, tornados and bad storms are fairly commonplace in Oklahoma. However, ones that are this devastating and horrific are not. It is very rare that we get ones that are this awful that cause this much damage.

Those of us here appreciate all the help and prayers that the world has been sending us!
Lots of love and happiness!

Blog Post About Pearls, June's Birthstone, is Right Here!

Emeralds! May's Birthstone

Hello everyone!

I have been getting ready to go on vacation in a couple of weeks, so please bear with me. I am slightly frazzled at the moment. That being said, I have a new, and hopefully informative post for you all. I will be posting these, theoretically, at the first of each month since they are going to be about birthstones. I will possibly continue the posts afterwards with information about other gemstones, but for now, just gemstones. That way you will all get at least one post a month. Hope you all enjoy them! It gives me a way to use the stuff that I have learned in my classes and at work.

So, this year’s big colour is emerald green. Well, the emerald is May’s birthstone. Emeralds are a type of beryl which puts them in the same mineral class as March’s birthstone, Aquamarine, and the beautiful pale pink Morganite stone. It is very pretty and can be found in numerous jewelry settings. You can get find them set in all colours of gold. However, most jewellers will tell you that the most common and beautiful setting for an emerald is in yellow gold. In terms of the cut, most emeralds are cut in what is called and emerald cut. They are available in other cuts, but the emerald cut brings out the beauty of the emerald and is a good stable cut for the stone.

A question that I get asked a lot is where do emeralds come from? Well, that depends on what time period you are living in. If you were to live in ancient times you would most likely get your emeralds from places like Austria, Egypt, and India. However, in today’s world you can find emeralds just about anywhere if you know where and how to look for them. Most emeralds come from Colombia and Zambia though. Colombia has the most emeralds, however those that are mined are softer than those mined in Zambia.

Speaking of emerald softness, all emeralds have inclusions in them. When buying emeralds be wary of buying one that has none. Chances are, if it has no inclusions it is either a synthetic emerald or an emerald green cubic zirconia. A synthetic emerald is grown in a lab. Really, there is nothing wrong with lab grown emeralds apart from they are not brought out of a lab. That being said. If a jeweller tells you that the emerald has no inclusions always ask! I cannot stress this enough. The store that I work for has both kinds and all of us know which is which. If in doubt of it, ask. Most jewellers will have no qualms about telling you anything and everything you want to know about the stone you are interested in. If they do not want to tell you, you may be better off buying somewhere else. Also, do emeralds are one of the stones that you do not want to buy online. Not only do you run the chance of not getting a real emerald, but the shipping may damage the already fragile stone. You have no idea how many people we get coming into the store asking us to replace cracked emeralds.

What colours do emeralds come in exactly? While most emeralds are a beautiful medium green, it is not uncommon to find some that are little more blue or a little more yellow. They are still emerald, but it is the medium green that people want. If you get too blue you end up with different species of beryl such as aquamarine and maxie. If you go to yellow you end up with Golden beryl and heliodor. So, what makes an emerald green as opposed to another colour of beryl? Emeralds contain small amounts of vanadium or chromium. Chromium being the most common. Yes, chromium is the chemical that was causing all those problems if you have seen the film “Erin Brockovich” or know anything about the case that Erin Brockovich worked on in real life. That being said, the type of chromium in that case was hexavalent chromium and that is NOT found in emeralds. Hexavalent chromium is chromium in the sixth state of oxidization. Unless you are going to be ingesting large amounts of emeralds you will be fine wearing it. It will not harm you to wear an emerald.

Emeralds, as mentioned above, have inclusions in them. Most emeralds have a lot of inclusions in them. As such, most emeralds look more opaque than clear. However, you can buy very clear emeralds if you want to dish out that kind of money. The clearer the emerald, the more money it is. The good news is that most lapidarists will oil the emeralds to give it a more clear look to it. The most common type of oil used is cedar oil. You can ask your local jeweller about the oiling of emeralds if you so wish. Most jewellers will be able to tell you if the emerald you are wanting to purchase has been oiled or not. However, not all emeralds are oiled. Some may be treated with synthetic oils. In the US the FTC requires that when an emerald is sold the person buying it must know about it. There is a downside to this though. A company may buy and emerald to set in a piece of jewellery and know that the emerald has been oiled. When that company goes to sell to your local jeweller the salesperson may not  know if that emerald has been oiled when they are selling to your local jeweller. So, if you jeweller tells you that they are not sure if the emerald was oiled during its time at the lapidary they very well may be telling the truth. Nonetheless, most emeralds are in fact oiled and as a good rule of thumb it is safe to assume that the emerald you are interest in and all other emeralds in your local jewellery store are in fact oiled.

Another question that I get asked frequently is how does one take care of an emerald. Since emeralds are so fragile with all of their inclusion it is better to have your emerald set in a piece of jewellery that does not get banged around. Pendants, brooches, earrings, and hair pins are all good choices. Rings and bracelets tend to take more abuse since people use their hands for various things throughout the day. So, if you want a ring or bracelet you may consider purchasing a lab created emerald instead as they hold up better since they do not have very many, if any inclusions and are harder than mined emeralds. Do not put them in harsh chemicals. Always take them off before working with chemicals of any kind just to be on the safe side. If you wish to clean them, use water to gently rinse them off and then dry them with a soft cloth. It is better to take your emeralds to the jeweller to have them cleaned professionally. Most jewellers do not charge for cleaning. If they do it is usually not that much. Also, just because your emerald has been oiled at the lapidary does not mean that it needs to be oiled again. If your jeweller thinks it needs it they will tell you. In which case, if your jeweller is a trained lapidarist they will do it themselves, or they will have a lapidarists come in to do it. On occasion, they will either take it to the lapidarist or send it to them. As with most jewellery care, if in doubt ask your local jeweller.

I hope this has helped you and that you have found it interesting! Until next time!