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.