Reading

Thoughts on ON THE PLUS SIDE

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? How were the holidays? Things here were pretty quiet. Dad made a roast beast, asparagus, and smoked mac and cheese. Be jealous. We watched tv. It was nice. But I’m not here to brag about food. It’s the last Wednesday of the month (year!), so that means it’s book review time! I decided to try a little romance this month, something outside my comfort zone. On the Plus Side by Jenny L. Howe was released from St. Martin’s Griffin yesterday (the 26th). As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing.

On the Plus Side follows Everly as she struggles to find herself and to start living instead of existing. When the crew from her favorite reality TV show arrive at her job looking for her, Everly gets thrown right out of her comfort zone in order to help her become her best self. She loves it at first, but after seeing how real reality TV is (or isn’t), she begins to doubt one of her favorite things in the world. But is she strong enough to stand up for herself? And, of course, it wouldn’t be romance without a dude or two tossed in.

The plot. There’s a crappy love triangle and you know right away who the endgame is because one dude is a douche and the other is literally perfect. The whole reality TV aspect is about a show that helps fat people realize they are allowed to exist and be comfortable with themselves and that they are beautiful/fierce/handsome/all of that. There’s family drama and trauma and all the usual things needed to make a nice little book. My biggest issue with the plot is that it’s supposed to be so body positive, but both the potential love interests are muscular gods, which is fine but annoying. There’s a spot where the perfect dude doesn’t want to take off his shirt because he doesn’t have a six pack, which is supposed to be a big sensitive moment, but I guess I’m not sensitive because it was just stupid to me. But overall, the plot was cute enough. Oh, and there are a couple of fairly graphic scenes. That’s fine for me. I just wasn’t expecting them. It was like “oh, hey there, mini pr0n.” So, if you pick up this book and don’t like on-the-page sex, be prepared.

As far as the characters go, Everly is very dramatic and acts like no one has ever felt these feelings before. No one could possibly understand. Anyone who says anything nice to her doesn’t actually mean it. I tried very hard to care about her, but couldn’t really manage it. The rest of the characters were cookie cutter stereotypes that did no growing or changing. Logan is perfect from the get go. It’s not even clear why he’s in love with Everly. Book magic, I guess. The villain is an unrepentant bitch. Everyone else is just there to make Everly look good. So, while the plot was fine, I wasn’t a fan of the characters.

The writing was decent. It made for a pretty quick read. Nothing spectacular. No quotes stood out. But it was smooth and didn’t try to be something it wasn’t. It was just a quick, cute read.

Ultimately, On the Plus Side was just kind of meh. I didn’t hate it, but it’s nothing I’ll ever think about again. I gave it a shot and now I know it’s a thing that exists. That’s about it.

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Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. If you enjoy romances with cookie cutter characters and a cute but standard plot, check it out. If not, you’re not missing anything.

Thoughts on MAGIC BY ANY OTHER NAME

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this delightful Wednesday? Things here are coasting along. I know it’s not the last Wednesday of the month, but this is an extra book review for the month! A while ago, Simone Jung from Books Forward (a marketing and publicity firm) got in touch and offered me access to an ARC for a fantasy book in exchange for a review. The premise was interesting, so I said sure. Magic by Any Other Name by Alison Levy was released yesterday (the 7th) from SparkPress. Let’s get on with the review!

Magic by Any Other Name follows Ivy (aka Georgette) as she and her best friend Mei-Xing run away from Ivy’s emotionally abusive mother and insane family. As she struggles to build her new identity as Georgette, she collects a strange but powerful found-family to help her figure out who she is while she helps them. Werehyenas, vampires, Valkyries, and numerous other magical folk fill the pages of this book. Plus, there’s the human love interest. But before she can settle down, Georgette must confront the darkest parts of her upbringing as a witch as well as work through her trauma.

The plot is standard fantasy fare. Witches enslave “familiars” (any other magical creatures collectively called fae for some reason) by branding them. But one young witch uses the brand to share power with her magical friends. One of her new friends’ family member (wife) was taken by the big bad (fae traffickers) and together they must save her. Things go from bad to worse until finally there’s a happy ending. Wrap it all up in family trauma and that’s the book. Not bad. I enjoyed the plot for what it is.

The characters ranged from fleshed out and interesting to stereotypes. I wanted more out of Kazimiera. She was on the flatter end of the spectrum, as was Mei-Xing. Georgette and Ishak were the fleshiest, so to speak. I wasn’t particularly a fan of Ishak. The whole point of the book is emotional growth, but Ishak keeps playing on Georgette’s guilt instead of trusting her to help him because she wants to. It’s super annoying. He does it all the way through and no one calls him out on it. Yes, she’s a witch. Yes, her kind are generally dicks. But she’s proven her loyalty to the fae time and time again. Stop being an asshat.

I don’t generally talk about book structure unless it’s glaringly flawed, so guess what! It’s not great. Every chapter is from a different POV. Usually, it switches between three characters, but there are at least nine POVs that get at least a chapter. It’s too many to keep track of, especially when they show up once and that’s it. It’s also unnecessary. The prologue being from the aunt’s perspective could have just as easily been in Ivy’s perspective. The aunt didn’t play a role at all in the book. And the guy who just shows up to die. His chapter was useless. Nico’s chapters were okay, but not exactly necessary either. Same with Neil. There should be like five POVs, tops. Any more and it gets super hard for the average reader to follow.

Me to half these POVs.

The writing itself was nice. There was a lot going on, but the pacing was pretty good. It dragged in the beginning, but got better.

Ultimately, I enjoyed Magic by Any Other Name for what it is. A found-family fantasy story. If there’s another one, I’ll give it a shot. It’s called book one, so I’m guessing it’s supposed to be a series, but it’s an okay stand-alone.

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Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. There’s room for improvement, but if you enjoy fantasy and found-family stories, it’s not bad.

Thoughts on MURDER UNCORKED

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Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this gloomy Wednesday? I’m a little sad because I found out Sakurai Atsushi (the singer from Buck-Tick) died about a week ago, but otherwise things are fine. Anyway, no time to mope. It’s the last Wednesday of October! That means it’s review time. I stuck with the cozy mystery genre for this month, mostly because I was too lazy to look for anything else. Murder Uncorked is the first novel (though there is a short story prequel) in a new series by Maddie Day and was released from Kensington Books yesterday (the 24th). As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it.

Murder Uncorked follows Cece Barton as she moves to be closer to family and tries to settle in a small California wine country town. She’s kind of a suspect when a guy she’s been arguing with via email about business matters ends up dead. She’s only met him once, but she feels the need to clear her name. Toss in every cozy mystery stereotype (enthusiastic supporter of shenanigans, inept and exasperated detective, mysterious love interest, etc.) and you’ve got yourself a story.

If I’m being honest, the plot is super thin here. The obvious killer is the killer. There’s no real hiding it. The bank robbery thing that’s thrown in there to muddy things up is extremely awkward and not set up at all. It comes out of left field and just feels random and unnecessary. It made me cringe. Besides that, the plot is pretty standard and not all that entertaining.

Also, the pacing is rough. This is most obvious in the dialogue with the completely random and jarring changes of topic. All of these characters blurt things out like it’s a natural thing, and in real life, a few conversations might go that way, but not in books. The dialogue needs to flow naturally and convey information in a smooth manner. Just like the rest of the book should. But everything here is choppy and annoying and jars me out of the story.

The characters were all flat and did nothing to break free of their stereotypes. The attempted growth between Cece and her daughter is the most interesting thing in the book and it’s just emotional blackmail. I mean, seriously. Cece calls up her basically estranged grown ass daughter and is all like “I almost got killed because I keep putting myself in stupid situations. Feel bad for me and love me again.” And the daughter falls for it. There’s no actual growth despite what the story says. You can’t just put emotional blackmail in a book and call it character development. It’s gross. And none of the other characters are any better.

I have nothing nice to say about the writing either. A lot of the problems came from the poor quality of the writing. I don’t know if this book was just rushed to publication or what, but it really needed more edits.

Ultimately, Murder Uncorked was not worth reading. I know Maddie Day has another series, but I have zero desire to check it out. Hopefully it’s better than this one.

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Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. One and a half, really. One because it got published so someone likes it and a half because I finished reading it. But unless you’re a fan of the author, I don’t recommend wasting your time with it.

Writerly/Readerly Updates

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! What’s everyone up to this wonderful Wednesday? Dad and I are going to Garland. There’s a place out there that does leatherwork on vehicles, so we’re getting some work done on the van. I’m sure I’ll share pictures whenever everything is finished. But that’s for another day. Today, I figured I’ll ramble about the few writerly/readerly things going on. It’s really nothing much, so this will probably be a short post.

Writerly things:

1. I’ve slowly been working on the new Untitled Cozy Mystery novel. When I do write, the words come easy enough, but actually making myself open the file and write is the hard part. Right now, I’m using slushing for PseudoPod as an excuse to avoid writing, but that’ll be done soon enough. I tried writing on my phone the other night. It worked a little. I’ve never done it before, so I’m trying to figure out the app as I go. It was only 224 words and they need fleshed out, but at least it was something.

2. I read through the part of the UCM novel written thus far and I actually like it. It was very much one of those “what happens next… oh shit, I have to write it” moments. I don’t get that feeling, so it was weird and creepy. It also makes it more daunting because what if I screw it up or no one else likes it? But yeah. I like it so far.

Readerly things:

1. I got a free book. I didn’t even have to ask for it. Someone from Books Forward (a marketing/publicity firm for authors) reached out to me asking if I would be interested in reviewing a book. This sometimes happens through NetGalley, but apparently she just randomly came across my blog, liked it enough to get in touch, and I guess she read enough to see that the book she’s flogging is in genres that I like. So, yay free book! It’s called Magic by Any Other Name by Alison Levy and the review will go up on November 8th. But also yay for people actually looking at my blog!

2. My desire to read for fun is currently waning. I finished Carrie and haven’t even started my next fun book. Granted, I’m reading two review books at the moment (completely different genres so I won’t get anything confused). I just don’t feel like throwing in a third book again. Oh well.

That’s about it. Nothing exciting. Any updates from you? As always, feel free to share your thoughts or questions here or on my social media pages!

September Books

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? This summer is never-ending. I like the heat, but even I’m tired of triple digits. Plus, I feel anxious for no real reason, so there’s this sense of impending doom lingering over me. That’s how I am! So, instead of rambling about anything remotely personal, I thought I’d share my book list for September. It’s not much, but I like it.

1. Murder in an Italian Village by Michael Falco. This is my September review book, so you’ll get to hear my thoughts on it on the 27th. I’ll say this, it’s extremely dense. So many words and factoids. I have thoughts already. Not sure if that’s good or bad.

2. Carrie by Stephen King. Danielle and I have started a kind of informal book club thing, so we decided to rotate through craft books, masters of their craft (originally started as just Stephen King because she hasn’t read much by him, but we thought it might get boring so we decided to include authors who are most well known in their genres, like Agatha Christie, Anne Rice, etc.), and randomness (just whatever we want to read). Last month she chose a craft book, this month I chose Carrie, next month she’ll choose a random book, then I’ll choose a craft book, and so on. I figured we should start at the beginning with King and it’s been a long time since I read this one, so yeah.

3. The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 4) by Rick Riordan. A new book in the series is coming out, so I decided to reread the first five. That’s all. I’ll probably start book 5, but won’t finish it until October.

4. Alicia Alonso: Prima Ballerina by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand. I do those stupid Kindle Challenges where you collect virtual bookmarks as you complete reading challenges and one of the challenges this season is to read something from their Hispanic and Latino Voices section. The challenge is over on the 30th, so I chose one of the short books to squeeze in. If they’d have revealed this particular challenge earlier, I would’ve read Mexican Gothic.

What are you planning to read this month? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts and comments and questions here or on my social media pages!

Thoughts on THE SUNSET YEARS OF AGNES SHARP

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing on this lovely Wednesday? It’s the last Wednesday of August, so you know what that means. Book review time! This month, I opted for a cozyish mystery. The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann was released on the 29th by Soho Press. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing.

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp follows Agnes (duh) and her housemates as they try to solve a series of murders while keeping the police from looking too closely at the death of their friend. Sunset Hall is a place where elderly people go to have companionship without pity in their declining years. Their eclectic backgrounds make for an interesting group of sleuths. Throw a newbie and a grandson into the mix and things can get dramatic. Can Agnes and her friends solve the murders? Iffy memories and stiff joints don’t help, but they’re determined.

The plot started off strong. It’s pretty standard stuff: multiple murders, inept police, nosy people. There are even two sets of twins to confuse things. It’s also fairly predictable, which is fine. But as the story progresses, it becomes choppy and jarring. I understand the why, but it doesn’t make it any easier to read. The beginning flows nice and is pretty linear, but the end jumps around and timelines overlap and it’s just not cleanly done, so it gets confusing. It all comes together in the end. I just feel like the ride could’ve been smoother.

The POV changed a lot without warning. I’m sure usually a fan of jumping characters mid-chapter, but it was handled pretty well in this book. There were a couple of times where I knew the POV had changed, but I wasn’t sure whose it was until a paragraph or so in. That was annoying. But I enjoyed getting closer to the characters (including Hettie the tortoise), so a little confusion here and there was okay.

I loved the characters. Most of them have backgrounds like police detective (Agnes) or military (Marshall) or some kind of spy (Edwina) or possible gangster (Bernadette) or whatever. They may be old, but if you’re a criminal, they aren’t the right senior citizens to mess with. They’re well written and mostly fleshed out. And they have very distinct personalities, so they’re fun to read about. The only one I was hoping for more out of was the baddie. It’s really hard to flesh out a character like that without spoiling things, though.

The writing was nice. It was a pretty quick read that I had no trouble picking back up after I put it down for the day. I had no trouble putting it down either. Take from that what you will.

Ultimately, I thought The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp was fun. It’s probably not something I’ll remember a year from now, but I enjoyed it while reading it.

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Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. If you’re into murder mysteries and like older characters, check it out. If not, give it a miss.

Thoughts on THE WITCH HITCH

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Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this last Wednesday of July? Things here are mostly okay. But it’s book review time, so let’s get to that! This month, in a panic since the other book I’d chosen moved up a week, I decided on something that seemed relatively quick and cute. The Witch Hitch by Elizabeth Bass was released on the 25th by Kensington Books. I didn’t realize it was the second in a series until I was halfway through, so remember that I’m coming at it without having read the first book. Anyway, as usual, I must thank Kensington Books and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do it!

The Witch Hitch follows Bailey Tomlin as she prepares for her upcoming wedding. All she has to do is pick a dress. Easy, right? Not so much. And the wedding preparations are only complicated even more when her birth mother shows up. What a witch! Throw in a blast from the past (1930 to be exact), a pompous parrot, and a wicked witch of the aether and the wedding jitters just explode.

Like I said, I went into this not knowing it was a sequel. It reads just fine on its own. The only reason I discovered it was a sequel was because I glanced at the “also by…” section. I’m not even sure if the events of the first book come up here or if it’s one of those series that are only connected by the setting. The whole wicked witch in the aether thing could’ve come from book one, but it’s explained in a way so it doesn’t really matter if you’ve read book one or not.

As far as the plot goes, it was convoluted. There’s a wedding. The groom’s ex is still in the picture and she’s insane. The bride’s birth mother shows up and informs the bride that that entire side of the family are witches. A new love interest is pulled from 1930. An evil witch with no body is causing mayhem. And that’s just part of the drama. There’s too much going on and nothing really has room to breathe in this book. It’s very clunky. The romance part feels forced and unnatural. All of the relationships feel that way, actually. With everything going on, there isn’t time for feelings to build naturally in the story, so instead of a growing attraction to Seton (or warming to Esme and the cousins, or gradual detachment from Wes, etc.), we get random bounces of emotion that make no sense.

The characters are all cute, if somewhat flat. None of them do anything surprising or out of the box. They’re all very much the cookie cutter stereotypes they’re meant. There’s nothing wrong with that. It makes for a quick and cute read, but it also means that I’m not particularly invested in what happens to them. I couldn’t even remember most of their names while I was writing this if I’m being honest. But all the expected roles were there, so it wasn’t a bad story.

There wasn’t anything noteworthy about the writing. It was cute and quick despite the plot being clunky. Not a bad little read in the end.

Ultimately, I enjoyed The Witch Hitch for what it was, but have zero desire to search for other books in the series. It’s just not my cup of tea.

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Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. If you like cheesy romances and don’t mind a cluttered plot, check it out. But you’re not missing much if you skip it.

Thoughts on SAVE THE CAT! WRITES A YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

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Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely, toasty day? I ended up with two books to review this month because this one decided to release a week early, so it’s impromptu book review time! It’s a craft book. I don’t know why I chose a craft book, but I did. Mostly because it’s been a while since I read one, I guess. Anyway, Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel by Jessica Brody was released on July 18th (Dad’s birthday! Happy belated birthday, old man!) from Ten Speed Press. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing.

Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel expands on Blake Snyder’s screenwriting guide (Save the Cat!) and tweaks it to make it more easily applicable to YA novels. Along with the expected beat sheets, the author also includes guides to what she calls the ten Save the Cat! story genres. There’s also a chapter dedicated to writing a series and one about creating loglines and synopses when you’re preparing for publication/the agent hunt/whatever you decide to use them for.

The original Save the Cat! is pretty much the only craft book that I remember with fondness. Most I’m either meh about or hate with a passion. This particular craft book is better than most of the ones I’ve read, but I couldn’t get into it when the genres came up (and they’re most of the book). First, the good. I liked the beat sheet. It explains where events usually go and how plotlines merge and diverge and how to make your own beat sheet either before writing, during it, or between drafts. Plus, you can tweak it as needed if your story feels off. It’s a great tool. I also liked that the author discusses how to apply everything to a series and a synopsis. That was all actually very helpful.

My biggest problem with this book was the breakdown of genres. Instead of using traditional genres (fantasy, sci-fi, etc.), the author tries to categorize stories by their essence (rites of passage, buddy love, etc.). That’s cool. I like the idea. But there’s far too much overlap for these genres to be distinct from each other. How do I know? Because a lot of the same books are used as examples in multiple genres. It’s confusing. The author says that’s okay and that many people will disagree as to what books go into which genre, like it’s not a big deal. It’s fine for debates. But she also says each genre needs to include certain things. If my book crosses multiple genres, how do I know what to include? It’s confusing. Especially for newbie writers who might think a craft book is writing law and don’t realize they can break the rules. It’s just too messy for my liking.

The other problem I have with the book is definitely a me thing. I don’t like it when writers use their own work as examples in craft books. It just feels like they’re trying to get me to buy their stuff and they never delve as deeply into their own stuff, like they don’t want to give away spoilers. Meanwhile, they’ve just spoiled every other book they used as examples. This author does it sparingly until the chapter on series which is all about one of her series in the example. It’s annoying to me, but I know most readers don’t care.

As far as the writing goes, it’s a craft book. Starts out a little preachy, but that fades away pretty quickly. Otherwise, it’s long and very repetitive as most craft books are.

Ultimately, I found some useful things in Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel. It was one of the better craft books I’ve read. Apparently there’s also one about writing novels in general, so I might look that one up.

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Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. Craft books are either pretty good (4), meh(2), or bad (0) to me. This one leaned toward pretty good. If you’re writing a YA novel and you’re stuck, it’s worth having around.

More Book Talk

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? I’m sure it’s lovely somewhere. Here, it’s hot and humid and generally blah. But the cicadas are doing their screeching thing, so that’s nice. Anyway, today I’m here to ramble about the last “Ask me about…” thingie. Unless someone picks another number before July 4th (feel free). So far, we’ve covered 13 (you can find the prompt list there), 31, 41, and 54. Today, we’re doing number 7: Ask me about my favorite book.

I think you all know my reading tastes by now. Anything Stephen King or Neil Gaiman. I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Rainbow Rowell. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. Rick Riordan. Stuff about gods and demons. I’m not picky about genre, though I do lean towards fantasy or horror or cozy mysteries. Adult, YA, MG. I don’t particularly care about the target age range. As long as I enjoy it, that’s all that matters. But if you’ve been reading my blog, you know this, so I think I’ll approach this question in a different way and tell you a little about my favorite book that I’ve written so far.

None of my novels have been published (not for a lack of trying), but I do have a couple that are query ready, one that’s ready for revisions, and a handful of others that are at least partially written. Out of all of those, I’m particularly attached to one tentatively titled A Taste of Cyn: A Dreamscapes Novel. It’s a darker version of a cozy mystery with paranormal elements (vampires). And it has been rejected… a LOT, but I keep sending it out. Any personal rejections it’s received boil down to “We love the characters and idea, but have no idea how to market it.” I’m gathering that’s code for “it crosses some weird ass genres and we don’t know what to sell it as.” Which I thought might be a problem when I started writing it. Then again, it might just suck and no one wants to say that (I wish they would). But I still love it.

Here’s the blurb I’ve been using when querying:

Love bites and stalkers suck.

Lucynda “Cyn” Moseman wants nothing more than a quiet life running Dreamscapes, the first and only host club in Dallas. Unfortunately, Cyn’s life is anything but normal.

When she was eighteen, Cyn used college as an excuse to flee from Marfa, an awkward relationship, and her dysfunctional family. It’s been twelve years since she left, and she rarely looks back.

Three years ago, Cyn opened Dreamscapes, and now, the cozy nest she’s built around herself is being torn apart. Someone is picking off her customers and draining them of blood. With a staff consisting primarily of vampires, Cyn fears the worst.

Dragged into the middle of a murder investigation despite wanting nothing to do with it, Cyn’s life is spiraling out of control. Throw in a detective she may or may not have feelings for, the unexpected arrival of her clingy ex, and a box of hair appearing on her doorstep, and Cyn tells herself things can’t get worse.

She’s wrong.

I like it. I guess that’s what really matters. The second book in the series is actually plotted and partially written. It has more beasties than just vampires. I like it too, but stopped working on it after so many rejections. Maybe I’ll get back to it. Or maybe I’ll start working on the slightly more traditional cozy mystery that’s been banging around my head. It has ghosts, but I don’t think that’s too far out of the genre to make it unsellable. I mean, they have ones with talking dogs and others with witches now, so why not ghosts?

Anyway, that’s my current favorite book that I’ve written. I’m sure that’ll change. As always, feel free to leave your thoughts and questions here or on my social media pages!

March Is Here

~ shawnaborman ~ 13 Comments

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are okay. There’s some old lady neighbor drama going on, but things will eventually work out. Other than that, there’s not much going on. It’s late as I’m writing this because I procrastinated, so it’ll probably be a short post again. I haven’t made a goals post in a while, so I think I’m going to do that. These are just March goals. I’m not planning too far ahead because I’ve been really bad about keeping goals anyway, so what’s the point? Fingers crossed I can at least keep up with this stuff.

1. Write 4,000 words a week. Since the beginning of the year, I’ve met this goal five weeks out of eight. I need to buckle down and stick with it, but I’m lazy and haven’t really found the desire to keep up with it. It’s a me thing. I know. I’m enjoying the story and know where it’s going. When I do force myself to write, it’s not particularly hard and the distractions are minimal. So, it’s not that I need to switch projects. I just need to focus and find the reason I write again.

2. Read at least two books. I’ve already read seven this year, so I don’t foresee any problems meeting this goal. And only one of those was a book of poetry, so no… I’m not reading super short things and counting them. Though I do have a couple of novellas lined up for this year. But I also have a couple of 500+ page novels on my shelf. My reading varies. A lot.

3. Submit DS1 to another publisher. It’s been a couple of months since my last kindly worded rejection, so I should probably get it back out there. I still have a couple of places I want to try before I decide whether or not to trunk this one too.

4. Keep up with my miscellaneous stuff. Write blog posts. Post on my author profiles. Order groceries as needed. Try not to forget little things that pop up. Text people. The usual stuff that I do between mindless games and crossword puzzles.

That’s all, really. I was going to include socializing more, but I honestly just don’t want to. I’d rather listen to loud music. Don’t get me wrong. I love my peoples. But I prefer hermitting right now. Anyway, what are your goals for March? As always, feel free to share your comments and questions here or on my social media pages!