Weekly Check-in #48

 What I Wrote This Week:

Defectors and Queens - I got some words on the page! This is good. Words can be fixed and prettied up. But the absence of words just means no progress. I'm good with this progress. So far, I have completed the first 24 chapters.  And word count is at 80,000. 

What I Read This Week:

I finally finished Assassin's Blade. Hooray! But whew, I never thought I was going to get through this book. It wasn't bad. I just...I don't know why I dragged my way through it.  But we got 'er done.  And then I sped through Queen of Shadows like it was a novella, even though it's easily three times the length of Assassin's Blade.  To say the least, this series is finally gaining my interest. And now, my daughter has asked me to tandem read the next two books in the series together because apparently, they happen at the same time. This is going to be my first attempt to read two intertwined stories at once. I have already marked the chapters so that I know when to switch back and forth between stories, but I foresee it taking me quite a bit of time to finish them because they're both massive.  Pray for me!

What I Bought This Week:

This is the first week in quite a while that I actually read more books than I bought. Shock!  Anyway, I got a signed special edition of The Traitor Queen because I'm a massive Danielle Jensen fan now. And I love it. Hope you enjoy World Theatre Day. See you again next week. 

Weekly Check-in #47

 What I've Been Writing:

Defectors and Queens - You'll never guess what! I actually wrote MORE words than I deleted this week.  I know, shocking. But I think this story is actually moving forward again! And I'm beginning to really enjoy my main man, too. After the flashy, cocky flair of my Book One guy, I was worried my dark, brooding, tortured Book Two boy would just come across as boring. But I gotta admit, his dry sarcasm is selling me. I love him. I love progress. I love this duology. This was a good week. Word Count - 72,000.

What I've Been Reading:

So my first must-read of the year arrived at my house on Wednesday, meaning I was forced--yes, forced--to set aside The Assassin's Blade and plow my way through Love Song by Elle Kennedy. It has all the feels: Laughter, steamy angst, heartbreak, redemption, family drama, ghost stories, everything. I stayed up late reading last night and then woke at 4:30 this morning so I could finish it before I had to get ready for work.  And it was worth it. Love, love, love me a good Elle Kennedy book, and OGM, did y'all see the trailer yesterday for the Off Campus series coming out May 13 on Amazon Prime? That line: "You looking for someone?"  Why, yes. Yes, I am. Eek. I cannot wait for it.  So excited. 

What I've Been Stacking on My Shelves:

Got some goodies to show off this week.  Last May, I ordered the Lunar Chronicles book series by Marissa Meyer from the Bookish Box, and they came in yesterday. (I'm still too afraid to take the plastic off them yet, but I'm sure I will...someday. LOL). Then, of course, Love Song came in. The cover of Mayhem and the Mortal sold me, so I got a copy of that too. And finally, after months of seeing bookstagram posts about Given by Elayna Gallea, I broke down and got that as well. So I would say this week rated the triple-star of greatness in my shelfish world.

Weekly Check-in #46

 What I've Been Writing:

Defectors and Queens - I'm still trying to catch up with altering the first chapters so they'll fit with all the changes I made in Book One. And instead of going up in word count, I just went down again. I usually copy and paste the scenes I delete, then email them to myself, you know, just in case I ever want them back again someday. And so far, I've sent myself eleven different emails of chapters or scenes that I've taken out of this story. I think that's a record. Here's hoping that next week is steps forward instead of steps back. Current word count = 61,200.

What I've Been Reading: 

I finished reading Heir of Fire, and yes, I finally met Rowan, and yeah, he's...huh. I didn't think he'd be so mean and abusive at the beginning. But he has no problems whatsoever with just hauling off and hitting the MC in the face whenever she sasses him. Was not expecting that. Or how he tells her she's worthless and cowardly and that the world would've been better off if she'd just died with the rest of her slaughtered family. Not cool. For me, it made the part where he finally offers his life into service to her not as...magical, I guess.  But I did enjoy reading this book more than the one before it. I flew through it much faster, anyway, and ooh, Manon. I do love watching her story arc bloom from heartless witch into... something more. So now I'm looking forward to her meeting Dorian. But ooh, poor Dorian. Hurting for him right now. I was all ready to jump right into the next book after that until...my teenager learned I still haven't read the prequel yet. So now, I'm trying to work my way through Assassin's Blade so I can get back to the current action. Overall, the series is picking up in interest for me now, which is good!

What I've Been Stacking on My Shelves:

I got four books this week. I ordered a signed copy of Mistakes Were Made by Lucy Score from her website. And eek...she signed it TO LINDA!!! Then, I got the new release The Wings That Bind. My monthly Allurial subscription came in with Summoned to the Wilds. And I'd been hearing a lot about The Ascended, so I got that with some Amazon credit I had. The spine was all scuffed, so I thought it would be okay to try some DIY sprayed edges on it, which turned out...okay, I guess, but not that great. It's acceptable enough that I'll show you what I did, but I definitely like buying already sprayed edges more than trying to make my own. 

And that's been my week!

Weekly Check-in #45

What I've Been Writing:

Defectors and Queens: After making so many developmental changes to book one of my True Heir Duology, I am now altering what I have so far of book two's manuscript to match it. So this week has been all about deleting chapters one and two and then writing an entirely new chapter one. Then, the old chapter five is now chapter two with some revisions, and that's about as far as I've gotten. The whole thing is currently at 62,000 words.

What I've Been Reading: 

I don't know why Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas took me so long to gag my way through, but golly. I had to force myself to keep going. Maybe it was because I saw some spoilers on social media and knew the MC's endgame love interest wouldn't even be introduced until the next book. That's probably it. I finally hit an interested grove in the last eighth (maybe the last tenth) of the story, though, so yay! I know my kiddo wants me to read The Assassin's Blade next, but dude! I'm ready to meet me some Rowan already, so I'll probably head into Heir of Fire next. 

What's Being Stocked on my Shelf:

This week was very pink with my book haul. I received When He Was Wicked, Dire Bound, and Twilight. This Twilight edition is the first novel I've owned where I can change the picture on the edges by shifting them around. Very cool. Nice trophy piece. 

Weekly Check-in #44

 What I've Been Writing:

Impostors and Thieves - My time has been so consumed with fixing up this story that I didn't even pause to give an update last week, sorry!  But chapters have moves, scenes created, scenes erased, and focus switched a bit, but I have gotten through the changes! This story is at 146K right now.

Here's a sneak peek of a new scene I added to the manuscript:

 “I told you I can’t get you free until after I’m on the throne. And this girl right here is the proof I need to get there.”

I nod along with his lie, ready to tell these bloodsuckers anything to get them to leave me alone.

Hear that, assholes? I’m proof, so ha! Fangs off.

What I've Been Reading:

No reading done. I've been all about the writing.

What I've been Shelving:

A couple of books arrived at my house these past two weeks. I now have a 3D-vdged version of Court of Wings and Ruin.  And Heir of Illusion showed up. 

Weekly Check-in #43

Hey! Last week was so crazy-busy (at the day job AND at home--getting ready for my kiddo's birthday party, where she invited all her friends to OUR house. Yes, picture fourteen teenagers in your living room, eating tacos, making homemade iced coffees, and watching Dirty Dancing together. It was quite an experience.) that I didn't get anything posted, sorry.

 What I've Been Writing:

So I got some feedback on Impostors and Thieves that made me put aside Book 2 (because it'll change) and do an overhaul on Book 1 in the hopes of making it more marketable. I've been deleting chapters, adding new chapters, moving chapters from later in the story and others to earlier in the story, just all kinds of changes. I have almost all the major moving finished. Then, I'll go through it again (and probably again and again a few more times) to work on the sentence level next! It's at 146,000 words right now.

What I've Been Reading:

So in the past two weeks, I've read three books. I finished off the Meledition series by Danielle Jensen with Hidden Huntress and Warrior Witch. And then my sixteen-year-old (yes, she's sixteen now!) commanded me to start the Throne of Glass series. I really wasn't in the mood to commit myself to an eight-book series just now, but the girl spoke, so I obeyed. Which means I finished Book One, Throne of Glass, this week. And, oh yes, and the child also said I must read them in HER order, so I was not allowed to begin with The Assassin's Blade. But I've heard it can go either way, so that part really didn't matter to me. And it made my kid happy, so I'm happy!

What I've Been Putting on my Shelves:

My husband's Christmas present to me, The Throne of Glass series, came in last week, as did:

• To Sir Phillip, With Love
• The Things We Leave Unfinished (signed!)
• Half City (from Allurial Book Box Sub)
• Metal Slinger and
• Story of my Life.

Then this week, I received The Night Prince. 

Weekly Check-in #42

 What I've been Writing:

Defectors and Queens - This week, I gutted half of Chapter 3, reworked the end, then completely removed all of Chapter 9 and gave it a new one. I'm liking the changes I've made. So now we have 16 completed chapters and 63,000 words written. YAY! Progress.

What I've Been Reading:

Wow! I love snow days. It gives a girl like me loads of reading time. I was in my element, let me tell you. There was hot chocolate. There was a cozy blanket. There were books. Here's what I read since last Friday.

Stolen Songbird: So remember how I went off last week about how those stories where the captive falls for their captor mess up my head? Well, I opened this book about trolls that I was all curious about, and the girl gets freaking kidnapped immediately and forced under this mountain thing so she can marry the troll prince!  UGH. I swear, these books are after me now that I called them out. But this one ended up being fine. It was great, actually. I loved it. The guy didn't want to marry her either and was being forced into it as well, so it turned out to be more of a captive/captive kind of situation...kind of. Anyway, good book. I had to order the next two in the series so I can find out what happens next. 

To Cage a Wild Bird: The troll book was going to be my new favorite book of the year, but then I read this one, and yep. Now, this one's my favorite of 2026. If you read Silver Elite and enjoyed it, I think this one is your cup of tea, too. Similar vibes, similar greatness! I loved it as well.

Rings of Fate: Lots of cute, fun times. Not a cozy romantasy but I probably wouldn't classify it as dark either. It was like: if cozy and dark had a baby together, this is the cute, fun story that would emerge! And score one for skillet weapons! That part made my Tangled-movie-loving heart happy.

Enigma: Now we're talking darker fantasy. Enigma was very gothic. Very academic. Very unique. Lots of mention of doing frisky things in blood, though I don't think they ever actually do. It gave me dangerous, haunting vibes, though, and ended my week with good reads all around.  

What I've Been Buying:

I had a bunch of credit on my Amazon account, so I got four new paperbacks: Hidden Huntress and Warrior Witch (so I can finish up my Stolen Songbird series collection), and then The Ballad of Never After and A Curse for True Love (because I got book one for this series when I went on my Book Crawl in November and needed to get the rest of the series), and finally the new special edition release for Her Soul for Revenge came in! 

And that's been my shelfish week. I bid you a happy National Croissant Day!

Weekly Check-in #41

What I've Been Writing:

This week, I did a lot of reading over what I already wrote in Defectors and Queens, adding and deleting, smoothing out passages, so I haven't added a whole lot of new scenes. The manuscript is at 58,000 words now.

What I've Been Reading:

I finished reading Vengeance of the Pirate Queen and had to immediately hop into another Tricia Levenseller book.  

I was eager for What Fury Brings because I'm one of those people who can enjoy both YA and adult, or hop around from one steamy, spicy level to the next without batting an eyelash. As long as I'm loving the romance, I'm invested. (And I'm starting to learn this is not a common trait for all readers) So when I find an author who'll hop around like that too, I get excited. I really did love What Fury Brings. I couldn't put it down, and I got invested. Plus, the society with gender-reversed roles was shocking and eye-opening. But there's just something about those Stockholm syndrome stories that messes me up, man. I don't want to root for the couple when one of them has basically no freedom at all, and yet I start rooting for them, and it just...it makes me want to rant and get all judgey about things, which is not my normal default mode. It makes me feel wrong in my own body, and my brain isn't okay afterward. But still...engrossing, captivating story! Very thought-provoking.

It messed me up enough, however, that I kept being all ranty and judgey when I started reading a new book, and I could not for the life of me like the heroine. I mean, this self-serving, control-seeking, social-jumping murderer had no redeeming qualities at all, so I put that one aside and started a new story. We'll see if the next book shakes me out of my funky state.

What I've Been Stacking on My Shelves:

Got my two new Off-Campus books this week!! Hooray for The Score and The Mistake. Then, the final monthly subscription book I purchased from Bookish Box came in. Go, The Enchanted Greenhouse. And my obsession with Danielle Jensen continues, so I ordered the first book in her Malediction series called Stolen Songbird. It's about TROLLS, ya'all. That's a first for me. Kinda intrigued by it.

And that's been my week. Happy National Handwriting Day to you. See you next Friday. 

Weekly Check-in #40

Happy International Hot and Spicy Food Day!

What I've Been Writing:

In Defectors and Queens, I reached the scene I've been all anxious and excited to write and, yay, words flowed. My muse started to kick in, and when that happens, I usually jot down scenes on anything I have available around me, so I spent last evening filling up the notes app on my phone, which means, double yay, I've hit that happy writing high. Hopefully, it keeps up and, double hopefully, I have time to actually write down what's pouring out of my head. The story's at 55K right now. I'd say that's got to be a 1/3 of the way finished, if not more. 

(I Easter-Egg hid part of my favorite line I wrote this week in the picture below. Fingers crossed that the image appears for you!)

What I've Been Reading:

It was a good reading week for me, too. I finished up Lauren Roberts's Powerless series with Fearless. And I do believe I am, in fact, dead inside, because I did not bawl the way my kid did. But at least I was able to guess which scene got to her so deeply. Go me...ish! Then my magic TBR jar picked Daughter of the Pirate King for me to read next. And, wowsers, that's my favorite book of the year so far. So what if I've only read four... That's my favorite right now, okay? Then I breezed through Book Two in the series: Daughter of the Siren Queen, which I also loved. Now, I'm reading Book Three.

What I've Been Buying: 

I preordered way too many books this week. I'm going to get myself in trouble if I don't cut that out. But only one arrived, and that was Book of the Month Club's version of Rings of Fate. I was supposed to get some new Elle Kennedy books too, but they're running late, so I will no longer praise Amazon for their always speedy delivery. They're just okay now. But that's okay. I'll still use them. 

And that's been my exciting reading, writing, book-buying week.

Weekly Check-in #39

Oh goodness, I've been out of touch for a while. Let's see what I've done in the past three weeks.

What I've Been Writing: 

I've been writing on Defectors and Queens, and you know...I'm wondering if the titles Day Robber and Night Giver wouldn't be a better fit for this duology after all. But alas, I'll keep calling it Defectors and Queens for the time being. I'm almost to a good part that I've been planning in my head for a while, so I'm excited about that. A real shocker. Hopefully, I can capture it as well as it's been playing out in my brain. I've completed the first nine chapters (actually, it's ten chapters, but I only wrote a page or so on chapter nine because I'll come back to that later when I decide how PG13 or rated R I want this story to be, ergo we'll just say nine chapters right now) and I have 45,000 words written.

What I've Been Reading:

I finished out the year with starting the Powerless series because my fifteen-year-old said I just have to read it. I'm currently working my way through Book 3. Lyds says a scene in Fearless made her bawl more than she's ever cried before, but I don't think I've reached the part yet! I hope not, anyway, otherwise I'm just dead inside because I haven't even gotten very sad yet.

What I've been Buying: 

This week's book haul consists of five stories:

• The Walmart special edition of Powerless.
• The Fairyloot edition of To Cage a Wild Bird (Because Lydia's friend told me it was AMAZING!)
• Newest special edition of Origin by Jennifer L. Armentrout.
• New release: Dragon Cursed by Elise Kova. And...
• A Vow in Vengeance, which came from my Allurial Subscription. (I had to get the story with tarot card references this month so it could be shelved with my other tarot card stories and the cool bookend of a guy in a top hat who's holding out a card.)

Other books I've gotten in the past three weeks are: A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (It has 3D-decorated, sprayed edges!), Apprentice to the Villain, Accomplice to the Villain (both Barnes and Noble exclusives), Broken Throne, The Everlasting, King's Cage, War Storm, Leather and Lark, and Romancing Mr. Bridgerton.