The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme
LOOKING FORWARD TO AUGUST
Clicking off my to do list this week. I posted some flash fiction to youtube and started plotting my novels in progress. I got inspired after listening to how Tesla's, Elon Musk works an average 80 hours a week and has his office purposefully near the work floor so everyone can see him. Readers what inspired you to work harder? Or what goals have you made recently?
Readers, please comment at the bottom of this post.
CURRENTLY
Reading:Intermission by Elyssa Friedland, I have lost my Way, by Gayle Forman, Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward, Dear Mr. Knightley By Katherine Reay, See What I have Done by Sarah Schmidt
Listening: "I'll be Gone in the Dark" (Podcast) The story behind the publication of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, by Michelle McNamara, a masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme
LOOKING FORWARD TO AUGUST
Not a whole lot happened this week. I went to Taylor Falls and went to Wild Mountain.
Readers, if you want to comment on where you discover books please do so at the bottom of this post.
CURRENTLY
Reading: The Creeping by Alexandra Sirowry, After by Anna Todd, The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchinson, I love Dick by Chris Kraus, If on a winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino, Atheists Who Kneel and Pray by Tarryn Fisher, The Bedlam Stacks (Magical Realism) by Natasha Fisher, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street , also by Natasha Fisher.
Listening:The One and Only by Emily Giffin , Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Watching: Marchella (Uk thriller on Netflix) The Wave (a Norwegian movie)
ON THE BLOG
What Happened:
Not a whole lot
Up Coming:
Saturday:Weekend Warriors
Sunday:Sunday Post
Readers if you want to comment, please do so below.
Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Sign up on the website:Wewriwa.com and share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday.
No one likes it when their family life changes. This is particularly hard for the Radtke's. A troublesome girl named Tracey enters their lives and the children are an endless journey to make sure this girl doesn't get into any further trouble or cause their parents to lose their fostering license. These are snippets from my second novella in the series, "Oh Tracey."
This week
You’d think by the fourth hello that she’d get the fact that the caller hung up.
I gathered that Tracey came from a complicated family after reading a file that my mother, Roseann, mistakenly left on the counter. Her grandmother raised her after her mother was sought as an unfit parent. Her mother was still in and out of her life. Surely, Tracey’s grandmother must have came from a generation that didn’t use phones as a weapon to verbally abuse people. I take that back, her grandmother probably didn’t even have a phone when she was Tracey’s age.
Tracey got up and climbed up the stairs to the attic. She came back down and walked over to where her charger was plugged into the wall, unplugged it, she tossed it into her huge burlap sack with a few other cords, hanging over the side like hanging vines from a potted plant. I nodded at her from my place at the couch.
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme
LOOKING FORWARD TO August
So I came across this booktuber who was talking about Book Discovery so I decided to talk about where I find the books I read. I discover books on Goodreads, on the NY Times bestseller list. I read books that my friends are reading. I have a friend in Ohio and we often Buddy Read. You'll be surprised how many people do not read and if they do, they only read things like the newspaper or some blurb on facebook. I wanted to also mention that a lot of the books I discover are on Youtube. These are some of my favorite booktubers
Bookables
BooksandLala
All d books (reviews a lot of literary works, like books on the Booker Prize list)
PolyReader( reviews a lot of Australian books)
Eric Carl Anderson (literary works and more)
Rincey Reads (reviews a lot of Diverse Works)
Tech Wiser ( Gives a lot of tips about how to read ebooks and where to find them)
Kendra Winchester (gave me the inspiration to write this post on Book Discovery)
Literary Prints (Recommends a lot of Japanese novels)
Heffa (Very Down to Earth when she reviews books)
Alex’s Fiction Addiction (Gives a lot of British and European thriller recommendations
Books and Pieces (Gives a lot of British thriller Recs)
Read by Jess (One of the funniest Book reviewers)
Wilde Reads (If you're in the mood for serious book reviews)
Ariel Bissett (Young Leader in booktube, reviews books across every genre)
So this is my list if you’re interested, check these Reviewers out, you won’t be disappointed.
Readers, if you want to comment on where you discover books please do so at the bottom of this post.
CURRENTLY
Reading: Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall, Final Girls by Riley Sager, Emma in the Night by Wendy Park, Creative Quest (nonfiction), Try Not to Breathe, by Holly Seddon,
Listening: Hagseed by Margaret Atwood (somewhat similar to Shawshank Redemption)
Watching: The Four (Voice competition) so glad that My fav British R&B singer James Graham pulled through.
ON THE BLOG
What Happened:
Not a whole lot
Up Coming:
Saturday:Weekend Warriors
Sunday:Sunday Post
Readers if you want to comment, please do so below.
I'm currently working on a series of short stories which I am self publishing. I would call them humorous, contemporary fiction, but I have some other story ideas which I guess would be speculative fiction and a couple of sci-fi story ideas. I also have an idea for a fantasy novel, so yeah - mixed genres is definitely where I'm at.
What is the hardest thing about writing?
For me, it’s been finding the time. I’ve got young children and a demanding job, and I never seemed to have the time. So I decided I had to make the time. I made a decision last year to get up at 5.00 am every morning before work to write. Now I get up at 4.45 am, seven days a week. Since I’ve managed to establish that routine, the writing hasn’t been particularly difficult. It’s been slow, and that’s something I’ve struggled with, but you just have to keep chipping away, doing a little something every day.
Is there any marketing technique you used that had an immediate impact on your sales figures?
The best thing I have done so far has been making the first book in my short story series, The Golden Cockroach, permafree at all the major ebook stores. I started to get downloads from people finding it through organic search. The next book in the series is available for free if people sign up to my mailing list. So the platform is there, and now the best thing I can do is write more stories. Permafree? That's a new term for me. I found a site that goes in depth with how Amazon does Permafree books vs. Smashwords and other book sellers. http://www.sidehustlenation.com/permafree-on-amazon-how-and-why-to-give-your-book-away-plus-my-results/
I also had a chance to read your short story, Square Pegs.
"Through a crack in the curtains, he could see the front door to the adjoining flat was wide open. He detested the gang of troubled young people who lived there."
Something about this excerpt reminded me of "A Man called Ove." An ill tempered, retiree Ove spends his time reinforcing block association rules.
Do you ever get Writer’s Block, and do you have any tips for getting through it?
I haven’t encountered writer’s block as yet. Here’s hoping I won’t. I think people often get stuck in the mucky middle of things, unsure of where their story is going. Writing a good outline before you start helps with that.
Write an outline, eh? Man, I'm such a pantzer. I'm afraid if I write an outline, I'll be stuck in a little box and I'm claustrophobic!! I'm sure it works for some people though.
Where do you see publishing going in the future?
I see continued growth for indie publishing for a long time yet. I think there’ll always be a place for traditional publishing, but I think the market share is going to shrink. I think there’ll be continued growth on mobile platforms, especially as mobile penetration increases in developing countries. I think there are big opportunities in audio book publishing and foreign language translations, and when we get colour e-ink screens, coupled with long battery life and affordable pricing, I think many more people will be tempted to purchase a dedicated e-reader.
Colour e-ink screens, long battery life... We were lucky if we got to play Mario typing in keyboard class back in the day. My eleven year old niece says everyone in her classroom has access to a chromebook, just think about that! I think the future looks rosy, but it’s always going to be a challenge to stand out from the crowd
What is your favourite quote?
I’m not much of a quote person. The one that always springs to mind when I get asked this question is “Even a stopped clock tells the right time, twice a day”, from the movie Withnail and I, mostly because it was sampled on an album I spent many happy hours listening to in the nineties; Orbital 2 by Orbital. It’s been stuck in my head ever since.
***A clip (above)of Best Moments from Withnail and I
That's all the time we have today folks. I wish we had more time to chat, Reynolds. Me too. Readers, if you have any questions for J.B. Reynolds let him know in the contacts below. His short story Riding Shot Gun is also available free, just visit his blog and tell him where to send it.
Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Sign up on the website:Wewriwa.com and share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday.
No one likes it when their family life changes. This is particularly hard for the Radtke's. A troublesome girl named Tracey enters their lives and the children are an endless journey to make sure this girl doesn't get into any further trouble or cause their parents to lose their fostering license. These are snippets from my second novella in the series, "Oh Tracey."
Last week
Sunday
Tracey had a Red Bull drink on the window sill. I couldn’t drink Red Bulls. They made me feel as though my heart was beating out of my chest. She yelled on the phone to who I assumed was her boyfriend.
“Damn you to hell. Don’t ever call me and if you do I’m not going to answer. My phone will be off. I don’t want to ever see you again. Hello? Hello?
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme
LOOKING FORWARD TO JULY
I'm looking forward to seeing Mission Impossible, Fall Out. I heard Tom Cruise got injured in this one, which will only make it that more suspenseful to watch. Overall this week has went along swimmingly. We made our way to the Deer Park in Wisconsin last Sunday. As the name implies, there's lots of deer to pet and farm animals roaming about. There was this fantastic art park nearby and we explored that. This month I've read one thriller after another, devouring books that have to do with Nut jobs. This helped me keep my mind off the Minnesota heat.(check out the books below) A philosopher once said that we like to see the flaws in others in order to make ourselves feel good.
That's all for now folks.
Readers, please comment at the bottom of this post and check out https://literarybookgifts.com/This is a fantastic site for buying gifts for classic book lovers. If you're a fan of Fitzgerald, Whitman or Poe or know someone who is-maybe get them a gift. It never impresses someone more than knowing their favorite author.
CURRENTLY
Reading: Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall, Final Girls by Riley Sager, Emma in the Night by Wendy Park, Creative Quest (nonfiction), Try Not to Breathe, by Holly Seddon,
Listening: Shopaholic and Sister by Sophie Kinsella, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, By Katarina Bivald, A Desireable Residence by Madeline Wickham aka Sophie Kinsella, Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddie Dawson (You'll love the tone in this novel)
Watching: Samuel Jackson Movies
ON THE BLOG
What Happened:
Saturday:Weekend Warriors post
Up Coming:
Saturday:Weekend Warriors
Sunday:Sunday Post
Readers if you want to comment, please do so below.
Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Sign up on the website:Wewriwa.com and share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday.
No one likes it when their family life changes. This is particularly hard for the Radtke's. A troublesome girl named Tracey enters their lives and the children are an endless journey to make sure this girl doesn't get into any further trouble or cause their parents to lose their fostering license. These are snippets from my second novella in the series, "Oh Tracey."
Last week
He then took off the mask, "But in all seriousness the owner at Shinders said he saw Tracey at the mall a couple of times with a trench coat on. The owner is an interesting one."
“Why’s that?”
“Oh, he just was selling more than hobby stuff, if you know what I mean.” He made a gulping sound and cupped his hands, pretending to sip something down. "He gave me this," he motioned to large black plastic bag he held in his hand, and inside was a small purse. He said I should give it to Tracey, because he saw her leave it on a bench one day at the mall. I think it’s a clue."
This week
Sunday
Tracey had a Red Bull drink on the window sill. I couldn’t drink Red Bulls. They made me feel as though my heart was beating out of my chest. She yelled on the phone to who I assumed was her boyfriend.
“Damn you to hell. Don’t ever call me and if you do I’m not going to answer. My phone will be off. I don’t want to ever see you again. Hello? Hello? Readers, please comment below.
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme
LOOKING FORWARD TO july
Had lots of fun this week. I went to see The Twins (baseball). And went to the Raspberry festival in Hopkins and saw DJ Tom Barnard from KQRS running with the Bulls-if you have no idea what that means-basically runners have to get to the finish line as fast as possible, but have to avoid getting the red flags hanging on their backs taken by one of the fast and relentless official bull runners and roller derby bulls.
Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the weekly hop for everyone who loves to write! Sign up on the website:Wewriwa.com and share an 8 to 10 sentence snippet of your writing on Sunday.
No one likes it when their family life changes. This is particularly hard for the Radtke's. A troublesome girl named Tracey enters their lives and the children are an endless journey to make sure this girl doesn't get into any further trouble or cause their parents to lose their fostering license. These are snippets from my second novella in the series, "Oh Tracey."
Last week
The doll’s eyes seemed to be plastered open. They peered in every direction.
“Yeah, right,” I said. I took him aside, “You find out anything?” It was hard to look at Zion seriously with the mask on.
“I found out something but it wolfed away,” he said. “Get it? Cause I’m a wolf?”
“Not funny,” I said.
This week
He then took off the mask, "But in all seriousness the owner at Shinders said he saw Tracey at the mall a couple of times with a trench coat on. The owner is an interesting one."
“Why’s that?”
“Oh, he just was selling more than hobby stuff, if you know what I mean.” He made a gulping sound and cupped his hands, pretending to sip something down. "He gave me this," he motioned to large black plastic bag he held in his hand, and inside was a small purse. He said I should give it to Tracey, because he saw her leave it on a bench one day at the mall. I think it’s a clue."
Readers, I'll have to do some serious drafting to keep this story going. Please be patient with me in the next weeks and please comment below.
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme
LOOKING FORWARD TO june
This week I've written a first draft, query letter for my first novel, Oh Brother. It's my goal this year to publish and I really think it will happen. I've also been researching Montessori schools for my lil' one. I really like the philosophy behind Montessori's and this idea of teaching kids through routine and life skills at an early age whether that's though a four-year-old setting the table or scooping ingredients together for lunch prep.
My lil' one and I have been so busy this summer and it's been so much fun. I got together with a group of women through meetup.com at Treasure Park-there's a picture to the right. This was a huge playground made of entire wood. It's supposed to represent a huge pirate ship. There's little hiding spots below the structure like the underbelly of a ship make you feel claustrophobic at times. They'll be tearing down the playground soon-probably to replace wood chip mulch with a rubber matting so I'm glad I got a chance to the park before it happens.
We also went to Good Times park in Eagan and then to a community rec center in Eagan that was sorta similar to McDonald's playground.
Earlier this month I put my kayaking skills to use as promised on Lake Calhoun (aka Bde Maka Ska-it's new name ) so that was real fun. I went out with a group of five women-some of which paddle boarded.
Thanks for stopping by, please be sure to check out what I'm reading and maybe even leave a comment.
CURRENTLY
Reading: The Unseen World by Liz Moore, I Let you Go by Clare Mackintosh, Nine Continents by Xiaoulu Guo, Bombay Blues by Tanuja Desau Hidier,
Listening: How to Stop Time by Matt Haig, Shopaholic to the Stars by Sophie Kinsella
Watching: Nothing, too busy to watch anything right now.
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/dir-dy6qd-3bf049c
