Weekly Check-in #50

What I've Been Writing:

Defectors and Queens - I'm pretty sure I don't love this title. But I'm gonna keep calling it this until something better comes along. I definitely love the story more than the title right now. I'm feeling all the romance in it. Word Count = 100,000. Chapters Completed = 33.

What I've Been Reading:

Hey, hey! I finished my tandem read of Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn. It had been an okay series for me up to this point. I wasn't seeing why it had quite the fandom it did, but there were some good parts. After Empire of Storms, however, I decided wow, it's an amazing series. The end of that book finally just pulled all the other stories together and made me glad I went through that whole journey to get to that point. Brilliant.  

And then Rites of the Starling came in this week, so I had to drop everything and read that.  More brilliance! I knew what was coming, but it still hit hard when I read the last cliffhanger paragraph. Need Book 3 as soon as it comes out, though I'm not sure I'll ever be emotionally ready to endure it. 

Until then, I'm working my way through Kingdom of Ash.

What I've Been Stacking on My Shelves:

I got three new releases this week. It was very bloody!  There's Blood Bound (that came from Book of the Month Club), Bloodsinger, and Rites of the Starling (Green blood, anyone?)

Weekly Check-In #49

 What I’ve Been Writing:

Defectors and Queens - It was a productive writing week for me in Book 2 of the True Heir Duology.  We fought off some new monsters, got a little bloody and muddy, found a lost person, had a fun, steamy shower and—eek—experienced a first kiss. The first 30 chapters are fleshed out, and a total of 93,000 words have been written. 

What I’ve Been Reading:

I’m still working my way through tandem reading Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn. EoS is more exciting for me so I have to push my way through the ToD chapters, and then I have to make myself slow down so I can more fully savor the EoS chapters.  Manon and Dorian scenes are definitely my favorites. 

What I’ve Been Stacking on my Shelves:

Got five newbies added to the collection this week! 

1. Hollow by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti 
2. Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout 
3. When Life Happened (signed) by Jewell E. Ann
4. Terms and Conditionsc by Lauren Asher
5. Starside by Alex Aster

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.