Emily Rachelle Writes

The screenshots in this post are blurry, I know. I got a new laptop recently and haven't figured out how to fix the screenshot settings yet. Sorry, readers! There are also some images with off-color boxes blocking out text — I censored some of the images for privacy. I recently received an email regarding a service called  Paperless Post . Friends of mine have used this service before; basically, it's an economical and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional stationary. Or it's very fancy ecards. Whatever you want to call it. How it works: Choose your design, make it your own, manage your event. Whether you're hosting a baby shower or birthday party, whether you're sending save the dates or inviting friends to be in your wedding party, Paperless Post has a beautiful and classy digital design for you. And they've given me 1000 "coins" to try out the experience and share it with you all, my lovely readers!

The Federal Communications Commission and internet service providers want to repeal the 2015 Net Neutrality rules, allowing ISPs to potentially control or limit your internet access. I, along with many other bloggers, self-published ebook authors, and Netflix (to name a few folks) want to protect the free internet. Join us! Save the open internet! Read a basic brief on the Net Neutrality debate from Mashable. My Open Letter to the FCC To the decision makers at the Federal Communications Commission who want to repeal the 2015 rules of Net Neutrality, I am a college student set to graduate in less than a year. I'll be entering the field of public relations and wedding planning, but I already have an established presence online. I have a blog that's been running for almost seven years and three self-published books. I wouldn't have any of this—my blog, my books, my college career—without a free internet. I started and still run my blog on Blogger, which, though owned...

Remember Grammarly? I've worked with them a little in the past here on this blog. This week featured International Literacy Day, and to celebrate, Grammarly designed an infographic about literacy. I thought you, my lovely readers, might be interested in their results.

I find all the news and opinions on the recent AshleyMadison.com hack intriguing. As a future journalist, I figured I'd throw my thoughts into the ring. For those who don't know, the basic story here:  a website called AshleyMadison.com was hacked earlier this summer. AshleyMadison.com is a site advertised and known for facilitating marital affairs, but its purpose is just discreet hook-ups. The hackers, who call themselves Impact Team, posted some users' information and some of the website's source code to prove the hack was legitimate. Then they threatened to release the names, addresses, emails, credit card information, and sexual preferences of the 35-40 millions users if the parent company, Avid Life Media, didn't shut the site down completely and immediately. ALM did not post a warning to its users on the site and did not shut the site down. So this week, the hackers made good on their promise and released all the details of all those users on the world wide...

As promised last week, here is my impromptu Warby Parker glasses modeling session! Feel free to comment below with your thoughts, my lovely readers. :)

Hello, my lovely readers! How are you this fine summer morning? Ready for school yet? :) I start in mid-August, and I'm super excited to get started on this next scene in my life! Recently I was approached online by Brian Magida on the marketing team for a glasses company called Warby Parker . This is a high fashion glasses designer, with shapes and colors that really bring only one word to my mind: hipster. Honestly, the majority of their frames aren't really my style, so I almost said no to their request for a blog post. But then I found out about some of their charity work/partners and their Home Try-On program, and figured, why not? Then I discovered, while working on this post, that the company (a) was started by readers, (b) was named after characters from their favorite author's works, and (c) sells books alongside their glasses in their physical stores. How cool is that?! So today I'll tell you about their newest collections and charity work. Once my five fr...

I use Grammarly to check plagiarism because a future author failing high school English class doesn't look good to publishers - or book buyers! Introduction When I first received an email from a Grammarly representative offering to sponsor a review, I decided to try their free test service on the website first.  I copied and pasted the first scene from the rough draft of Beila and the Griffin .  It took only a few seconds for them to give me my score of 54 out of 100 - which matches my vague idea of where my first drafts generally stand.  Apparently, I had 10 spelling issues, 1 commonly confused word, 2 incorrect uses of prepositions, 1 comparison problem, 1 confused modifier, 8 wrong uses of punctuation within a sentence, and 8 problems with my writing style.  The areas I passed?  Original vs. plagiarized text, ignored words, closing punctuation, formal punctuation, and vocabulary use (score! I'm proud of that one :] ) For a story I haven't looked at sinc...

Happy Fourth of July!  Today seemed like a great day to talk about freedom-related topics, yes? A couple of weeks ago, an organization called FEE was brought to my attention.   FEE , standing for The Foundation for Economic Education , was founded "to inspire, educate and connect future leaders with the economic, ethical and legal principles of a free society."  For more information about FEE and its history, stop by their website .  It's definitely worth your time. One way FEE is carrying out their mission today is through what they call the Blinking Lights Project .  I encourage you to stop by that page on their website - the story is brief but absolutely amazing.  Why "blinking lights"?  Well...

Good morning, my lovely readers!  Today I'd like to share a website with you: Slavery Footprint .  This interactive website is a place for people to learn about and begin to fight against modern slavery ( human trafficking ).  When you first enter the website, you can either learn about modern slavery and then take a survey or go directly to the survey. The survey is eleven questions long, starting with demographics - location, gender, age - then getting into the specifics of your lifestyle and material possessions.  Topics include food, medicine cabinet, and kids.  Several questions have the option to "fine tune" your answers for more accurate results.

Read about Vintage Mail Maker and how it works here . For my first letter, I chose old typewriter font, simple retro envelope, and simple retro paper.  My message is a poem by Christina Rosetti:

As part of a homeschool family, getting ready for and finding colleges is a somewhat different path for me than for public schoolers.  Public high schools have guidance counselors and information about tests, colleges, financial aid, and who knows what else.  Homeschoolers, on the other hand, have to seek out this information on their own.  That's why I'm so thankful for two college help sites, one of which is www.cappex.com .

I've mentioned before that I'm good real-life friends with Kathryn at Singing Through the Rain .  A while back she was contacted by someone from Vintage Mail Maker about being the first to work with them as a blogger affiliate.  After writing several posts, she ran out of ideas to blog about them - so she suggested I contact them and offer a new blogging outlet!  The man I corresponded with was very happy to offer two printed letters for free for a review.

One thing you, my lovely readers, may not be aware of - or may be confused about - is that I wear glasses.  Most of the images on my blog show me wearing my lovely Vera Bradley glasses, although my main photo (see me in the green dress in the right sidebar?) was taken while I was wearing contacts. My entire family actually wears glasses, contacts, or a combination.  That adds up to a good deal of money in eye doctor appointments, prescriptions, and new glasses - lens and frames - and contacts.  So when Firmoo , an international online glasses company, approached me about a review and giveaway, of course I said yes!

Today brings our second annual blog bash to an end, my lovely readers.  We had a lot of fun.  There were plenty of great gifts, a few wonderful guest bloggers, and several new author interviews.  Plus, your numbers, lovely readers, actually doubled!  So to all my new lovely readers, welcome to my blog!  Here's the link list of all guest posts, my posts, and author interviews during the party, in case you missed anything. You Should Try NaNo If... {guest post} Eggless Banana Muffins Review Rachel Coker Interview Holiday Break To-Do: Watch These 5 Classic "Going to College" Films {guest post} Cidney Swanson Interview Daring and I {guest post} 4 All Humanity Jewelry Review What Christmas Means for Me {guest post} Christmas in Apple Ridge Book Review One Word 365 Worst Photos of 2012 Gail Carson Levine Interview Connection Book Review Stephanie Morril Interview Maple Syrup Candy Fail + Candy Kick Caramel Recipe Interrupted Book Review Jill William...

 I'm a teenager.  I know firsthand that teenagers, especially as we get older, have responsibilities and lifestyles that are different than an adult's, while we often have the maturity level and understanding of many adults.  Therefore, I love to read advice articles written for adults, especially Christianity-related.  However, it often frustrates me when such articles have titles that sound promising - I think Ooh, I could really use help with that right now! I wonder what they suggest? - and then I read the article and realize that it's specific to a certain full-time job or part of adult life that doesn't relate to me.