S.J.Glatzhofer

Dear Luna, Two thousand and twenty-three is on the horizon, and I can’t believe another year has come to an end.  You might be wondering what I thought about 2022 and to be honest, I don’t think it’s been the best year in my career but yet I do still believe this year has been important as a stepping stone to understanding who I am and what I want. Making me look forward to 2023 and to coming back home to really begin my journey into becoming a published author. To celebrate 2022 I thought to go through my favourite memories of each month. January  It seems so far away that I hardly remember what my favourite memory of this month was, and therefore, I think I must go with cutting my hair. What a perfect way to begin the new year with a new look. It set the pace for the rest of the year that it was about trying new things and to be honest, I have tried a few new things this year. February Of course, I had to choose Carnaval for this month. In the south o...

Reading has always been some sort of love language for me. It’s one of the areas that helped me overcome my speaking problems as it gave me a chance to see how words were spelt and pronounced. As 2022 comes to an end, I now have a chance to look back at all the books I have read this year which is more than the many book reviews I have written.  In this blog, I will go through my top seven books I read this year, with a mini-review. It was originally five, but I just couldn't choose… oh well.😅😅 The genre of these will be a mixture of fantasy and romance, and they are in no order. The Skin Of The Sea by Natasha Bowen This novel revolves around simidele who is a Mami Wata, a water spirit who passes the souls that have drowned in the sea. Bowen was inspired by the little mermaid and the Yoruba mythology, and after someone told her that mermaids could not be black she knew she had to prove them wrong. The main reason why I enjoyed this novel is that I have always loved legends and my...

Dear Luna, There is something that you need to know, and that is, my sister has a fantastic voice. No, I am not saying that because she is my sister, and no matter all the fights we had (trust me they were brutal, we did karate so there were definitely some bruises) I will always care for her and think she has an amazing voice. I am saying her singing voice is fantastic because it simply is.  My sister has been singing ever since I could remember. She sang so much as we grew up, that I hated sleeping in silence as I felt like I could hear every little tick. Instead, when she still lived in the house I tried to make sure I would fall asleep when she was still up and singing as it was the only way I could find slumber. My dad would tell my sister, 'Sarah is about to sleep, so maybe stop.' And I would always respond to Jennifer, telling her to carry on singing as I was so used to it, I would be lost without it.  My sister sang so much that when she left for university, I had to p...

Dear Luna, As you might already know, my time in Laos has come to an end, and in my eyes, this week has gone a lot quicker than my time in Hanoi. During my stay in Vietnam, I had the chance to try many different dishes that all tasted wonderful, and could not wait to fall more in love with food when I was in this country. However, I have come to a conclusion, and I've realised in this country, a lot more of the food was meaty. Don't get me wrong, most of the restaurants had veggiertrian options, but they were very limited, and sometimes challenging. Luckily for me, I do still eat fish, and if I couldn't have veggies, the was always fish.  Nevertheless, I still enjoyed trying the different types of dishes that they had here, and on my first night, I ate veggies and tofu, Tom Yum Noodles.  When the dish arrived, it did not look as I expected. For starters, there were no noodles, but I can assure you, that this was my dish and this was how it was meant to look. It was more of ...

Dear Luna, My time in Bangkok has come to an end, and I am finally in Chiang Mai after a nine-hour night drive. And there is one thing I know for sure, is that I definitely would love to go back to Bangkok, but this time, I wouldn't mind staying more in the centre where the nightlife is.  Although Bangkok is filled with many fabulous memories, with the floating market, the Grand Palace, and riding around with the TukTuk, there is one memory that was formed from Bangkok that I will not forget any time soon. I'll give you a hint of what this memory could be, which is something that many women face from time to time.  Now, I must say, riding the TukTuk, listening to music with the wind blowing through my hair, and sailing across the floating market, swapping money for food really made me realise how I will never be in this position again --- being twenty-three and travelling and exploring. Yet, once in a while, I am reminded that I am still the same person...

Dear Luna, Since being born, Christmas has always been held during the cold winter days. During this time, even when I woulld stand in the slither of sunlight, coldness would sprinkle all over me and the forst decorated the scene as if it's own Christmas painting; all of it, is magically. However, as you have guessed it, this year it will be slightly different, Christmas will be celebrated in warmer weather, even though it is winter.  Celebrating this event within the heat has always been on my bucket list because I thought it would always be nice to try something different and be able to say I celebrated Christmas in a country over twenty degree weather. However, now being here, I believe nosgiga has hit and perhaps the feeling of homesickness is closer by than I realise. Who would have thought, it would be Christmas away from family that made me experince what many people felt during univeristy. But I guess it makes sense, one of the main points of Christmas is spending it with f...

Even though I am no longer a young adult, I still asked my parents for this YA novel for my 23rd birthday, and thankfully, I was given it. The Gilded Ones is the first book of the Deathless series (there are only two books out, there might be a third one coming out next year). This is Namina Forna’s debut novel, and as a first novel, it is really good. And by the end of the year, I have read the first two novels of this series.   The novel is about Deka who lives in the Northern Provinces of Otera. Every girl when they turn sixteen who lives in Otera has to go through the Ritual of Purity, where they see if the blood of the girl is pure, and if it is not, they are killed. On the day of the ritual, Deka’s blood is gold, and she knows what waits. Until, one day, a woman offers her to stay where she will die, or come with her and fight with a group of girls who are just like her. Deka accepts the life of an Alaki who is immortal and has rare gifts. But on this journey that Deka g...

The last time I wrote an  about me  post was the 18th of November 2020 and a lot has changed within the two years, one month, and four days. During that time, we were in the chaotic life of Covid and the third lockdown was nearly going to scar, not only England but many other places around the world. It meant most people could not spend Christmas or New Year's Eve with their family. For me, I had finished university a few months prior and the graduation I was meant to have was pushed back six months, and then finally a year.  I must admit, I do kind of miss this era of Corona as I was able to simply wake up every day and write. Even though I do slightly miss it, I am happy that I am now able to travel, which I am currently doing around southeast Asia and Australia.  But let me re-introduce myself. My name is Sarah Glatzhofer, and I am currently 23 but in five months I will be 24 years of age, nearing my mid-twenties; I know, scary.  I have written fi...

Dear Luna, When I was younger, I saw his carton picture in a history book at school, showing the fear that people had when it came to electricity. The sky was filled with thousands of spider-webbed wires going from the electricity pole to all of the buildings around them. Here, I am in the capital of Laos and this cartoon has come to life. When arriving here, all I could do is peer out of the car window, staring with amazement at all of this. I understand why many people were trembling with living in a world that looked like it was being taken over, because seeing this in real life, gives an allure of dystopian.  Even though this city gives this sort of vibe, the warmth here compared to Hanoi, Vietnam is one that I am enjoying so much. Our days are spent in shorts and t-shirts, whilst back at home, our family is all stuck wearing wooly jumpers. And away from the wires that scar the blue sky, are the temples that bless this capital with beauty. In the 1800s, ...

Dear Luna,  As you already know, my time in Hanoi has come to an end and if you have read my recent blog, you will know that Hanoi was rather chaotic and I am kind of happy that I am gone and we are now in Vientiane, Laos. And although I did panic slightly when crossing over the road with the million scooters and cars driving and not following the traffic lights, I did enjoy the food that I ate and I wanted to share with you all what I ate (well, what I remembered I ate) and where it was.  On our first night there, my cousin and I adventured out of our apartment and down the road where the loudness lived. There we found many restaurants and street food, calling at the people to see if they wanted to eat at theirs. We sat outside of La Place (I believe that is what it's called), here we were able to see the view of the Archdiocese of Ha Noi, a church that had the 19th -century Gothic Revival style. There were many people taking pictures outside of this church as the...