Tag: books

2021 Reading in Review

This is what I wrote about my 2020 reading:

2020 was an odd year for reading. I usually read on average a book or two a week. This year I went through phases were I didn’t read for ages then I read five books in a week.

If I thought 2020 was odd, it had nothing on 2021. I read thirteen books this year–three of which were re-reads of Patricia Briggs novels. I think the last ‘new’ book I read was in June–the latest Phryne Fisher mystery.

I just couldn’t get into the mood to read new things. My goal was to read 48 books in 2021. A goal I quite obviously failed.

I think I read well over a hundred different fanfictions in various fandoms. So technically I did hit my goal, I suppose.

Of the few books I read this year, Bounce by Becca Seymour is probably my favourite.

The review I wrote for it:

I adored this book. Despite being forewarned, I wasn’t quite emotionally prepared for some of depths of human emotion that were delved into here. A lot of authors tend not to want to touch tougher subjects. They were handled beautifully and brilliantly in Bounce. It’s a wonderful romance between two loveable characters who’ve suffered through traumatic events of one variety or the other. The trigger warnings at the start of the book should definitely be paid attention to.

Here’s hoping next year is a better year for reading.

What about you?

What were some of your favourite reads this year?

10 Books on my TBR

ebook and books II

I have an incredibly long TBR on my kindle. Books I’ve bought that have languished unread for months (or years in a couple cases.) So here’s a least of ten, in no particular order, that I’ve bumped up in the hopes I’ll read them this month (or next, if I’m honest.)

  1. The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai
  2. Get It Right by Skye Kilean
  3. The Plot is Murder by V.M. Burns
  4. Deep Fried Trouble by Tyora Moody
  5. Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon
  6. Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
  7. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
  8. Furiously Happy by Jenny Trout
  9. I’m Fine and Neither Are You by Camille Pagán
  10. The Psychopath by Mary Turner Thomson

Books I re-read in the past year.

woman in striped trousers reading book
Photo by Sam Lion on Pexels.com

Both last year and this year thus far, I’ve honestly found it hard to read ‘new’ books at times. I wanted/needed the comfort of stories where I already knew the conclusion.

Granted, I’m autistic and often find comfort in re-reading stories.

Here are the books I’ve re-read at least once in the past year and a half.

  • Persuasion by Jane Austen
  • The Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries series by Kerry Greenwood
  • The first four books in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs

There are a few other ones that I’ve re-read. And actually, I think I re-read the Miss Fisher series at least twice. I’ve even watched the TV adaptation and the movie a few times.

Last year was a cosy mystery sort of year.

Didn’t we all need something cosy? It can’t just be me.

Favourite Reads of 2020

2020 was an odd year for reading. I usually read on average a book or two a week. This year I went through phases were I didn’t read for ages then I read five books in a week. So I thought I’d share a few of my favourites from the past twelve months.

They are in no particular order. (Well, technically I’ve put them in alphabetical order)

  • A Match Made for Thanksgiving by Jackie Lau
  • Demons Do It Better by Louisa Masters
  • Finding Joy by Adriana Herrera
  • Knit One, Girl Two by Shira Glassman
  • Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole
  • Rafe by Rebekah Weatherspooon
  • The Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries series by Kerry Greenwood – No lie, I read the entire series about three times this year.
  • Thicker Than Water by Becca Seymour

What about you?

What were some of your favourite reads this year?

What’s your writing kryptonite?

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I think every author has a kryptonite. An aspect of writing that is difficult for them. Or, at least, I DEFINITELY do.

I thought I’d share my kryptonite with you.

  1. Editing, in general. We hates it, precious. I mean, I love my editor (love you Liv!) but I hate editing.
  2. Commas.
  3. Commas.
  4. Commas.
  5. Forgetting a word and changing an entire paragraph to compensate so I can use another one.

What about you? What’s your kryptonite?

Character Exploration

What secondary characters do I wish I could explore?

giphy-downsized (7)

(Me to my muse.)

This is a dangerous topic to discuss. My muse has a habit of running away with me when I’m supposed to be focus on a specific story. But, I thought it would be fun to talk about the various secondary characters in all of my books that I wish I could’ve explored further or written something for.

I picked just three either individuals or couples. There were a few others but if I give my muse too much temptation, I might get myself into trouble.

1. Silus/Zeb

The first one who came to mind was Silus and Zeb from The Sin Bin. Remi’s cousin and Scottie’s little brother who develop a romance in The Lion Tamer. I’ve always wanted to write their romance, but things just didn’t work out there. Maybe one day.

2. Jesse

The second person who came to mind was Jesse from Found You.

Here’s the intro you get to Jesse in the book:

Jesse had lived in Key West for almost twenty-three years. He’d arrived on Dusk’s seventh birthday, having drifted ashore in a banged-up life raft, looking like a cross between Santa Claus and a starved pirate. The man had claimed to have no memory of where or when his boat had sunk or what his last name was. No one knew his true age or name, though he appeared now to be in his late sixties. A jack of all trades who had done stayed on the island, doing odd jobs to make ends meet.

I have ALWAYS wanted to delve deeply into the mysterious past of Jesse and what led up to him getting shipwrecked in Key West. Maybe one day.

3. Remi/Sara

A couple we see in The Sin Bin books. I’ve written a flash fiction for them at one point. But I think it would be brilliant to dip into their backgrounds. Remi and Sara both have some interesting family dramas to cope with. We only get the slightly hint about them in the series and again in Forged in Flood.

Honorable Mentions: Ahmed from The Misguided Confession, Dr. Gen from The Caretaker, and Bishan’s siblings in The Grasmere Trilogy.

My Editing Process

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I’m pretty sure my editor doesn’t think I have a process.

(She might be right. Love you, Liv!)

So…here’s what usually happens for me throughout editing.

  • It starts while I’m writing. I generally send each finished chapter to two of my betas. I find it helps me with keeping tracking of things, though that’s not always successful either.
  • Finish the book! (Yay! Collapse in a heap. Throw confetti. Have a nap.)
  • Do a round of edits.
  • Send to my last beta who works magic for me.
  • Do another round of edits.
  • Do a third round with Grammarly.
  • Submit my book to my publisher after whining endlessly about writing a synopsis.
  • Multiple rounds of edits with my editor and publisher.
  • So many rounds.
  • All the edits.