All posts tagged: Roth

Seek the Traitor’s Son by Veronica Roth

Seek the Traitor’s Son by Veronica Roth

There is a moment early in Seek the Traitor’s Son by Veronica Roth where Elegy Ahn Rosyk, a soldier of the small, quarantined nation of Cedre, kneels on a salt flat with her husband’s fingers laced through hers and prepares to hear a prophecy she did not ask for. The Cenobium looms behind her. Somewhere across the white expanse, her enemy waits to hear the same words. The setup is operatic. The execution, though, is what makes this book worth your evening: Roth keeps it grounded in small textures, mismatched socks rolled into boots, a husband’s calloused thumb, the dry sting of salt on cuticles. This is Book 1 of The Burning Empire duology, and it announces itself with confidence. Roth has called it a romantic dystopian fantasy, and that description is accurate, but it is also a quiet meditation on chosen lives, inheritance, and what it costs to be told who you are supposed to love. The Premise, Without Spoiling Anything Elegy belongs to Cedre, a society that has sealed itself off from the …

7 Simple Habits People With Incredible Inner Strength Practice When Stress Hits | Deborah Roth

7 Simple Habits People With Incredible Inner Strength Practice When Stress Hits | Deborah Roth

Have you learned how to relax after a long, stressful day working? Tedious commute, seeing less of your kids, having less control over your schedule, plus likely a ton of new stressors you probably never considered.  Whether the stressors are directly connected to work or not, you can still feel anxiety, fatigue, and overwhelm. Even the most positive souls with incredible inner strength grapple with stress levels they’ve never dealt with before.  Research has shown that when highly stressed people focus on relaxation, their stress levels reduce and continue to stay lower. Maybe you’re already an avid meditator or have become a regular runner to cope better. Really, you can’t ever go wrong ramping up your self-care practices, whether it’s cleaning up your diet or exchanging foot massages with your partner. But you also need to have a handful of quick-fix ideas in your back pocket. Here are 7 simple habits people with incredible inner strength practice when stress hits: 1. People with incredible inner strength practice aromatherapy Your sense of smell is directly connected …

5 Simple Habits People With Exceptional Inner Strength Practice When Life Feels Sad | Deborah Roth

5 Simple Habits People With Exceptional Inner Strength Practice When Life Feels Sad | Deborah Roth

How are you navigating life? We’re all in uncharted waters right now. It’s safe to say that absolutely no one in the world is truly unaffected by global events anymore. No matter where you live, what your religion, gender, or age is, whether you’re rich or poor, single or married, we’re all scrambling to find ways to stay grounded and positive in this new reality. Practicing mindfulness techniques can help you achieve inner peace. I encountered the notion of mindfulness years ago when someone gave me a copy of Thich Nhat Hanh’s classic manual on meditation, The Miracle of Mindfulness. He offers an easy-but-profound message about the importance of bringing your attention to ordinary daily actions.  “What?!” you say. When you’re surrounded by fear, uncertainty, and chaos, why would you want to be fully present to all of that? The answer lies in choosing what you’re mindful of. In any given moment, you can turn on your T.V., open your emails, or pull up any social media platform and spiral into panic mode based on …

There Are 4 Major Phases In A Woman’s Life And Each One Changes Her In A Radically Different Way | Deborah Roth

There Are 4 Major Phases In A Woman’s Life And Each One Changes Her In A Radically Different Way | Deborah Roth

It’s not often that the scientific community and the spiritual community agree on the same criteria to define a concept, but that’s what happens when describing the different phases of a woman’s life. Medical establishments relate the stages of a woman’s reproductive cycle, beginning with menstruation and ending with menopause. In contrast, women’s spirituality uses the terms Maiden, Mother, Wise Woman, and Crone, which are connected with your menstrual cycle. The face of the maiden approaching menarche is of childlike innocence; the Mother (associated with the child-birthing years) embodies the nurturing aspect; the Crone (whose rite is menopause) represents wisdom. However, research has suggested that within these archetypes, women are celebrated by focusing on them primarily as nurturers, which relies on limiting stereotypes and can be less inclusive by tying empowerment primarily to procreation. Doctor of Divinity, D.J. Conway, said the Maiden/Mother/Crone model is outdated. So, feminist scholars and theologians introduced a new phase between the mothering years and old age. Some call this stage, The Queen. There are four major phases in a woman’s …

5 Simple Habits People With Incredible Inner Strength Practice When Life Feels Crazy | Deborah Roth

5 Simple Habits People With Incredible Inner Strength Practice When Life Feels Crazy | Deborah Roth

When life feels crazy, the tug between savoring the moment and knowing you have to keep learning and moving forward is tricky. You need clear goals, but if life is too stressful, you barely keep your focus. It’s a paradox, especially if you believe in letting go and trusting the universe. How do you savor the moment, while still keeping your dreams alive? You have to start where you are, unless you want to live in a land of ifs and maybes.  Working toward your goals is like aiming a bow and arrow. You’ve got to line up both sights: the one at the tip of the arrow (the future) and the one closer to your eyes (the now). If you want to hit your mark, both sights must be aligned. While you are firm in your stance to follow through, you give your goals a context and a larger intention, and the arrow hits its mark. How are you going to know when you’ve reached your destination if you don’t have a clear picture …

6 Things Husbands Want In A Marriage (Even If They Never Say It Out Loud) | Deborah Roth

6 Things Husbands Want In A Marriage (Even If They Never Say It Out Loud) | Deborah Roth

When it comes to knowing how to be a better spouse, there are plenty of ways women can become even better partners.  While some men, though certainly not all, may struggle to express what they wish their wives would do more of to make for a harmonious union, we’ve done the work for you, sussing out the habits husbands secretly value in a marriage. To the boyfriends, husbands, and partners reading this, remember it goes both ways. Often, what men want, women want too. So, you should be encouraged to give these non-physical “things” to her as well, especially if you want a day-to-day relationship that’s calmer and more fulfilling on the whole. Here are the seven things husbands secretly value in a marriage, even if they never say it out loud: 1. Husbands value when they are nurtured Yes, women might have a biological edge on this one with their higher doses of estrogen and oxytocin, often called the “mothering” hormone. A group of female scientists at UCLA labeled this trait “tend and befriend” …

Veronica Roth announces new books set in the world of DIVERGENT. Sort of.

Veronica Roth announces new books set in the world of DIVERGENT. Sort of.

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. This weekend at BookCon, Veronica Roth announced two new books set in her Divergent universe, beginning with the publication of The Sixth Faction this fall. These books are not sequels, prequels or “interquels,” but rather set in an alternative universe in which Tris Prior, the series’ protagonist, experiences an alternate history from the original series.  This is not the first time Roth has dipped back into her blockbuster series. More than a decade ago, Roth released Four, a collection of stories about the earlier life of Tobias (Tris Prior’s love interest in the Divergent series). While that book came out just one year after the final book in the Divergent series, The Sixth Faction comes a full dozen years later. Roth has continued to publish regularly in the intervening years, with several new series and a handful of standalone works. But none of them have approached the success of Divergent, and the sputtering out of the filmed version …

Tim Roth Talks Turning Down Role Of Snape In Harry Potter Movies

Tim Roth Talks Turning Down Role Of Snape In Harry Potter Movies

As part of a new interview with VT, the Reservoir Dogs actor sat down with co-star Rebecca Ferguson to promote the new Peaky Blinders film, when the topic of conversation somehow turned to Harry Potter. Spurred on by Rebecca, Tim reluctantly admitted: “I was almost in it.” “They asked me to be in it,” he elaborated, before explaining why he ultimately chose not to pursue the role. “I initially said yes and then I thought ‘No, I’ll just [always] be Snape, that’ll be it’.” Obviously, that role very famously went to Alan Rickman who played the creepy-but-complex Hogwarts professor in all eight of the Harry Potter films between 2001 and 2011, becoming synonymous with Snape for many generations. It was previously reported that Tim had auditioned to play Snape, but ended up choosing to star in The Planet Of The Apes instead – which was filming at the same time – after deeming it too much to appear in both. Alan was on author JK Rowling’s original “wishlist of actors” given to the film’s producers …