Making the Cut

Making the Cut

by Sophie Wiggins

🌟🌟🌟

Published July 28, 2025, by The Book Guild

Thank you @NetGalley for the eARC for my honest review.

The cover and synopses of this book drew me in right away. My daughter just got on point and is going into her final year of competitive dance, so I thought it would be a great relatable experience. The book is about a single mom who struggles after putting her two-year-old into ballet and being sucked into the world of dance: the costs, the joys, the drama, the tears, the competition... the pain. All for small rewards (if you are lucky). As the book progresses, it also highlights the price you pay when you are good: pettiness, parent drama/fights, marital problems, studio hierarchy, etc., and the emotional toll it takes on even the most sane of people.

I am a dance mom and had no idea what that world entailed until I was in it, and I have had many, many arguments with our studio and dance friends' parents about what is 'the norm' in the dance world. For anyone going into this blind, I 100% recommend the first 1/2 of this book as it absolutely highlights the costs, the feelings of guilt to not do something for your child, the sacrifices, and more than anything, the joy when they find happiness. The author did an amazing job at capturing the truth behind the performance, right down to the costs of the 'swag' dancers get from their own studio. In essence, every opportunity has a price tag, no matter how talented the dancer is. Every parent should question it and not allow their child to think they are going to be granted special privileges because of money.

It took a while for me to get into the different POV's from Lydia talking about her daughter to remembering her own crisis, and I'm still unsure how it all ties together. As these scenes unfolded, I would guess the author was trying to show that everyone has trauma and that every trauma can make someone do things they normally wouldn't--or that the character was capable of the extreme actions she took in the end because of the past trauma triggering her during the trauma her daughter went through. To be honest, I think the book was better without the flashbacks from Lydia.

All in all, I rate this as 3* because I really enjoyed the truth in Lydia's perspective as a dance mom, but I do think that the character development and overall plot can be worked on. The storyline turns very dark after the halfway mark, and I would recommend anyone who is triggered to tread carefully; however, it does reflect that no matter what we go through as a dance parent, the dancer is likely enduring their own issues--especially if they are good and dancing on a competitive level. The author was able to show that a parent's job is to safeguard their child and showcased that good can come out of separating yourself from a toxic environment.

I'd still recommend the first half to first-time dance parents--it's all true!!

Casting Power (Cast from Power, Book One)

Casting Power

by Sasha Leigh

You can't deny who you are if it's who you are meant to be.

Noreena Fallyn has spent her whole life hiding her magical abilities, even from herself, by having her mother bind her form using her so-called 'gifts'. All she wants is to be normal. She wants friends, family, a career without having magic in her life. It consumes you like an addiction. If you start to use, you can't stop until your every motion revolves around that next hit. She's seen it.

When her mother decrees that Nora has until graduation to remain bound, Nora knows that time is running out. She immerses herself in figuring out ways to detach the 'her' from 'her magic', so much so that she doesn't see what is happening all around her. And by the time tragedy strikes, it's too late.

Thrust into a new world where magic makes you who you are, can Nora find a way to keep the normalcy she craves? Or is she destined to show everyone why she hates her power so much? Why her power scares her, and why, if they were smart, they would leave her alone. But the people in her new world aren't smart. They are even less ready for the truth that her mother had tried to hide for so long: she is the most powerful of them all.

Casting Power, the first novel in Cast from Power, is now available for free preview on Wattpad.com! If you aren't on Wattpad, try it out and discover brand a fantastic platform for sharing and discovering brand new novels from amazing immerging and well-established authors.

... And I Am Back!!!

I will keep this short and to the point, but I am back at in the writing game, and it feels great. I tried over the last three years to get into Twisted Fate, but unfortunately for everyone who's been waiting for Fate's Revenge to come out, I was whacked upside the head with life. First, I put aside everything and started a new job. Within this post, I worked hard to obtain my CAIB designation, which I was able to obtain in just eight-and-a-half months while this usually takes two years for all four exams. Not only did I finish quicker than most, I earned the top mark for 2017 within my region, and I find out this month (hopefully) if I have earned the top Canadian mark for 2017.

​That is the fun stuff. Unfortunately, it hasn't all been sunshine and rainbows. In January of 2015, I moved across provinces to continue work as a claims adjuster; however, in October of 2015, everyone within my division was laid off. At that point, I didn't know if I should move back or stay, and what I should do if I did stay as I didn't think I really wanted to continue as an adjuster due to the long hours and the stress related to the job. My daughter was doing fantastic in the new school system, but I didn't want to take the time away from her on evenings and weekends, so I went and wrote the exam for a general insurance license, and a week level obtained my level two general insurance license. At this point, I started to work as an agent for a direct writer, but again I did not enjoy this. So I moved to a brokerage . . . It has been a lot of work, learning the different aspects of the new role and increasing my education, but I feel like I finally know what it is I like to do with my days, and it leaves time on evenings and weekends for not only my daughter (who is now nine-years-old!), but for writing.

​Again, this was sidelined, though. In the summer of 2016 my grandfather passed away and then in April of 2017, my father passed away during the time that my daughter and I were moving to be closer to my job yet again. To say that I tried to fill my time with anything but thinking​ would be an understatement. Now, within the past few months, my mum has been getting worse and worse. We travelled home for Christmas and she seemed to be in great spirits, but the medication she was on made her quite . . . loopy is the only word that comes to mind. We spent two weeks and finally it was time to come home. A few weeks later, we had to go back as she was hospitalized and a lot of scary diagnoses were made. That said, she is home again and tests are continuing, and there is nothing to do but wait - hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Cliché, I know, but it is true nonetheless.

​So while we were home and spending hours in the hospital, I started to reread the books in the Twisted Fate series. Not only did I remember what I loved about the story, I remembered how lost I became in my writing, and how much that can help during trying times. For anyone that has been waiting for the next installment, I apologize for the delay. I hope you can bear with me a little longer while I become reacquainted with the world of writing, and I promise that Fate's Revenge is soon to come.

​Cheers!

​Sasha Leigh

The Write Time: 5 Ways to Find out What Works Best for You

One of the biggest things I see being discussed is setting a daily word count. What does this mean? You set yourself a minimum word count (never a maximum) to meet each day - even weekends and vacation - and that's what you strive to meet. I read an interesting post recently where a man actually rewarded himself for each day that he met his minimum word count by putting a toonie into a jar and saving it. After a few months, you've got a couple hundred dollars, and you spend it on something fun. I repeat, fun. Once more - do not pay a single bill with this money. It is your reward.

So when do you write? Do you know the time that best suites your needs? How? Do you know which way is your road to being as productive as possible? Or do you do it wherever you can, whenever you can? I'm a little bit of both. Working full-time and being a single mother . . . well, if I wasn't prepared to snap up a moment of quiet, I'd have never written a word, never mind a novel and these posts. I would be a pain to be around - I seriously get grumpy when characters start yelling at me to stop ignoring them. So whether you are a busy parent, having to work to pay the bills, or so free you can stare at clouds all day, this is my top five tips for where writing can be successful.