Consider My Tomb Raided

We're only two months into the year and I'm already dead. Cause of death: Tomb Raider DLC. Seriously, the new content looks amazing.

I was always horrified of Baba Yaga as a kid because of this folklore book that I had with a story about her in it. I thought she would kidnap me and turn me into her personal slave or something, make me live with her in her creepy chicken/cottage.

Frenzy is Out!

GUYS! FRENZY IS OUT!



In case you missed my previous post about it, Frenzy is a young adult urban fantasy novella with a diverse cast of characters, cute romance, and a healthy helping of paranormal beings, so in celebration of its release I thought I’d share some facts about the book;

1) It's Full of Monsters. From Harpies to Goblins, Faeries to Undine, Werewolves to Reapers, this first glimpse at the Menagerie world is. . .well, it’s a menagerie of paranormal creatures. What else could you want?

2) . . .& Lesbian Romance! Yup, it's an LGBT romance. Again, what else could you want?

3) The main character is a Gnome. I feel pretty good about this one, since I haven't seen anyone else doing it (yet!) and I love elementals.

4) It's Got Pop Culture References. . . Because we all know at this point that I can't write a book without them.

5) It's a standalone Novella! Which means it's short, sweet, and simple. The book works both on its own, or as a prequel to Maelstrom (out later this year), which means you can get attached to the characters knowing you'll see them again in future books, but feel content knowing that you never need to read the other installments unless you really want to, as they each have different main characters and only loosely connected plots.

So, yeah. That's that. This is a fun little sneak peek at an exciting world that will be explored in more depth in Maelstrom and I'm really excited that it's out in the world now.

You can get the book on amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B81HGQ0

Or add it on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28600479-frenzy

FRENZY - Book + Cover Reveal!

So, I've been working on this project as a little aside for a while that I haven't been able to talk about, but it looks like I'm going to finish revisions and move onto copy edits within the next two days, and be able to publish the book within the next two weeks. So I can finally announce it.

And, because I'm just that cool, I'm going to reveal the cover at the same time, and give you all a bit of Souls of Salt & Seawater news!

So, the cover:

And a bit about the book:

If the word Gnome conjures up images of tiny bearded statues hanging around on front lawns, then think again. . .

Eighteen year-old Gnome Evelyn Torres isn't exactly having the day she planned. Sure, her skill and power as an earth elemental are at an all-time high. . .but her life is kind of a mess. Her online date turned out to be of the non-human variety. A man claiming to be the father she's never spoken to has suddenly reached out to her. Oh, and the icing on the sundae? A horde of Goblins has gone into a seriously nasty frenzy - and they're after her.

Monsters tossing debris overhead? Not exactly her idea of a great first date. Being in crush has never been this deadly. . .

Frenzy works both as a standalone novella and as a prequel to the upcoming Maelstrom in an action-packed first glimpse at the Menagerie world that will leave you pining for more. . .

So, yeah. It's set in the Menagerie world, the same universe as Maelstrom and Shadows. It's got cute romance. And family drama. And fashion. Oh, did I mention the horde of angry Goblins?

And, now, the question most of you are probably asking:

Where is SOSAS? Why is this coming out before that?

I announced Souls of Salt and Seawater this summer - before I'd actually started writing the book. I did that because there was a lot of hype surrounding it and a lot of people asking me to complete Alice's story, and I was so enamored with the potential it had that the book kept getting longer and longer, and it became more than just Alice's story - it became this worlds story.

Josmea is a world that I, as a writer, tend to play around in and explore for the next ten to fifteen years of my career. Souls of Salt and Seawater is just a small patch of a wider, richer tapestry I plan to weave - which is why I want to take my time with it and make it the best first impression of this world and these characters that I can.

That said, the book is coming soon. I'm still working on revisions right now, but I'd estimate I'll be done major revisions within the week and then move onto copy-editing. I don't even have a publishing date for Frenzy right now aside from soon, so I'll just say that SOSAS is coming soon after that.

I've announced and pushed back the books release twice now, so I've learnt my lesson about announcing dates before the minute I'm ready to hit publish. As soon as the book is ready, you will all know, because I will be shouting it from the rooftops and sending out free copies like there is no tomorrow.

As for actual pricing, both books will be initially available only on Amazon and Kobo, and they'll be $2.99 each in both marketplaces.

You can find Frenzy on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28600479-frenzy

I'm not afraid of a fucking yeti - I'm just cautious, okay?

In defense of my father, Bigfoot could be real. Mind you, when I say "could" I mean it in the same way I do when I tell you that I *could* probably survive being shot. That I *could* become a bio-engineer someday. Which is to say, probably fucking not, but I like to keep a sense of wonder about me.

Why am I bringing up Bigfoot? Well, because a Sasquatch probably could survive being shot, if one did exist. And because my dad is fucking obsessed with them for some reason.

Seriously, I think I've been forced to sit through more history and science channel specials than a damn junior high teacher. My dad is like, the official unofficial Sasquatch expert. But this week the Bigfoot obsession has been kicked into overdrive - as in, while we're all sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner, he's got the iPad propped up beside his plate watching documentaries about the hunt for the Yeti. Yeah, welcome to my world.

But the thing is, today, I had one of those Reese Witherspoon "I should embrace nature" kind of moments and, in my basicness, went outside to do just that. So, picture this: me, wearing a hoodie, swim trunks, and boat shoes with no socks on, wading through knee-deep snow in the middle of the woods out back.

I swear, I'm not one of those straight boys who walks around in shorts in the winter to prove his masculine and hetero he is. . . namely because I'm not a boy and because I'm miles away from hetero and because masculinity honestly bores me . . but also because I'm really just too lazy to change out of my pajamas even in the winter.

So here I am, half-dressed in the snow, in the middle of the woods, and I just think well, this is fucking creepy. Because I was focused on those stupid Yeti videos and how a Sasquatch could totally tear my limbs off my body and like, eat my heart out of my chest or something, and I wouldn't even be able to run away because I was wearing those stupid boat shoes with no socks, and my feet were slipping all over and oh my god was that a branch breaking? Why am I still standing here????

I swear, I know Yetis don't fucking exist. Where I'm from, a yeti is just another name for a popper with weed and tobacco (which I can pop, but not without crying). So I'm not afraid of a fucking yet - I'm just cautious, okay?

And now, I need to get back to work. Well, after I go and close the curtains, y'know, just in case someone who is totally not a yeti is spying from the woods. . .

Back On the Reality Train

I have no clue what happened in the last few days, but I really let some things slip. Work-wise, things have been fine. I'm making steady progress on . . . things (not all of which I can talk about yet) and feeling really inspired.

But damn, my diet has been in flux. I was on a vegetarian diet for about nine or ten days, but I caved and ate some meatloaf one day and never really got back on that diet. I'll be starting that again tomorrow, and I'm not really worried about maintaining it, just angry I let it slip in the first place.

I've been trying to focus on my health - both mental and physical - this year, and while I feel like it's been a success so far, I also feel like I could be doing more.

I guess the point is I always feel like I could be doing more, even when I'm already doing a lot. But recently I started doing a lot less, since I was stressing out about, well, everyone. Kuma came out for a few days to hang out and I let myself slack off then, too. The important thing is that I'm back on track now and I'm juggling school and work well enough that I should be ready for the upcoming semester and book stuff that I have planned.

I have some things I haven't announced yet that I'm looking forward to talking about and sharing, but I can't do that for a few days - maybe even a week - and it's excruciating. :)

So now, instead of blogging about it, I'm going to go and get back to work!

Why Do I Keep Buying Books?

I know I'm not the only one doing this. You have like twenty-three unread books on your shelves, waiting for you to pick them up. You have a stack of books you're in the middle of on your nightstand the size of your head. And yet, you go to four bookstores in a day. . .

You buy a bunch of books, even though you have zero time to read and a million other books to get to first. It doesn't matter though because pretty spines and pages and ugh, books.

I finally have Emerald Green and The Rising - now the Gathering trilogy and the Ruby Red trilogy are complete on my shelves. I've already read Hex Hall and The Darkest Part of the Forest, but I wanted my own copies. . . I've also heard really good things about Die For me.

The notebook is one of those fancy ones with metal clasps and pretty textured pages that you get at chain bookstores. I actually just bought a new sketchbook a few weeks ago, so I'm using this one as a journal.

And yeah, I went to four bookstores the other day. Two of them were chains - two different Coles outlets in two different malls. The other two were used bookstores. That copy of the Darkest Part of the Forest, which is brand new, was 3 dollars at my favourite used bookstore. The hardcover of Die For Me was seven bucks at another, which is a pretty decent price considering it would be around twenty bucks in a chain store.

I don't know what the deal is in my city with all these great brand new books popping up in the used stores, but I think some teens out there must have really cool relatives who are buying them cool books for holidays, and they're pawing them to the bookshops to get cash. Which they probably spend on weed, since this is Saint John. Which means I get to find a bunch of cool books for good prices. To be honest, I'll take books over weed any day. You can convince one of your friends to light you up - you can't just convince someone to hand you a good paranormal romance for cheap, though. #booklogic.

One of the things I love about used bookshops is seeing all the love on the books, too, in the cracks in the spines and the folds in the corners of the pages. I like feeling the echo of another reader on a book while I'm reading it.

The thing is if I buy any more books, I'm gonna need to get new shelves. I never thought I'd fill all these up, because my room has shelves built into the walls, but here we are. I need a new shelf. My dad has one out in his double-garage that he said he'd give me, because obviously not getting more books in not an option for me. I'm like a dragon, hoarding gold, but the gold is actually trashy romance novels and I'm a big nerd.

I have to wait until he's done adding an extra shelf to it, though, because one of the original three broke off. But once that's done, I'll be on my way to total world domination, obviously.

Lessons & Reminders

A lesson that I've already learned but that the world seems determined to remind me of today, is that the world is filled with people who will take one look at you and assume they know the whole story. There are people who are determined to misunderstand or mishear you, and it doesn't matter what you say or how you say it, because they've already made up their minds about you and who they think you are based off of a single encounter, or a first impression, or a misread statement. There are people who will belittle and dehumanize you because your voice is scary to them or because they don't like what you're saying. There are a million reasons people, especially strangers, will use to be cruel.

Because it's easy to be cruel. It's hard to be kind.

And yet-

There are people out there who will take the hard road. Who will, even knowing that it will be a steep climb and a cold journey, still take the time to learn your soul. People who will grab onto you and keep their hold through every type of storm you can imagine.

And today has been hard. Because I'm thinking about how scared I am for the future and I'm thinking about the negative words people have thrown at me lately and I'm thinking about how much I miss my grandmother, and why is life so harsh on us? So what I'm reminding myself today is that there are so many amazing people in my life, there are so many gifts and tiny moments of light and love that I've been given.

So how selfish and idiotic and downright petty would I have to be to compare the good and the bad and somehow let myself believe, even for a second, that the bad wins?

So here's my challenge to you, for today, for this week, for this year: tell the people you love that you love them. Tell your reflection that you love yourself, too. Take solace in the silent moments you spend alone and in every comforting movement and smile that fill the ones you spend with others.

Look at the cruel people of this broken, ugly, idiot world, and love them. It's the only true power you have.

Editing, Pizza, and Frostbite

I spent most of the day wasting my damn time. I don't know how I let myself waste like, 4 whole hours lying around, but I did. I got a drive down to the gas station early in the morning to buy a bunch of snacks, but had to walk back. Still, I figured if I'm going veggie, I deserve some damn salsa. . . that didn't make the forty minute walk home through the snow any more fun, though. By the time I got home I was basically coated in a layer of ice.

Okay, not actually - but I might as well have been. Also, it was a creepy walk. Not only is it just generally spooky to be walking through a road in the middle of the woods, it's even worse to do it while crows fly around above you, cawing and staring. Crows are creepy birds. I mean, cute, but kind of demonic.

My parents bought pizza tonight and actually remembered to get me a vegetarian one, which was really nice of them - and it's fucking perfect:

You wish you had this pizza. . .

Aside from that I'm just working on SOSAS. I really like this book, and I'm enjoying editing it, but I'm also ready for it to be done. I love high fantasy in theory, but in execution I can only take it in bits and pieces - especially when I'm the one writing it. Drafting was great - drafting has always been my favourite part of the process - but now I'm at a point where I've spent so much time in Josmea, expanding on things and trying to form this world and figure out what makes it tick.

I know I'll be coming back to it in the future, but I'll be writing a lot of urban fantasy, paranormals, and sci-fi stuff between now and then, and I'm really glad for it.

I don't have much to talk about today, and my posts have been short lately because my focus has been on school and writing, but I'll be writing some more substantial posts in the near-future! For now I'm going to drown you all in music, though:

Something Meatless

So. The vegetarian thing is still going. I'm losing bits of my sanity every time someone in the house cooks meat, but I haven't cracked yet.

I woke up at twelve am and it's four in the morning now, so I should start working for a while, because I have a bunch of homework to do today as well, and I want to get my daily editing out of the way.

But first I have to go make something to eat. Something meatless. Ugh.

Things That Need To Stop

A List:

1. Random racist people popping up in my Tumblr inbox to tell me they should get away with saying blatantly anti-Native stuff.
2. My brother coming home with little to no warning. (I like my brother: I like him better from a distance.)
3. My Mom cooking Chicken and then doing her best to convince me to eat it even though I told her before I took a nap this morning that I was going vegetarian.
4. My jaw randomly hurting every time I open or close my mouth.
5. Poverty.
6. Sobriety.
7. The world, maybe?

I don't know. As you can see, I'm agitated as hell tonight. I think I might punch somebody.

I feel a lot better than I did before sleeping, at least, but I'm still generally pissed at the world. That was my mental illness acting up. This is actual, rational emotion. So I don't know why the things that annoy me decided to collaborate and make this the day I go to the pen, but they did.

I'm going to focus on working on SOSAS and lock myself in my room so I don't have to deal with my family, since avoiding human interaction for the next few hours seems like my best bet.

I do have a few errands I might have to go into the city for tomorrow morning after everyone wakes up, though, and that troubles me. I mean, I can definitely handle going out and dealing with the real world. I don't really want to, but I can.

So that's where I'm at right now: annoyed and trying not to be a bitch and wishing things were different, even though that's pointless because I can't change them.

Rome Was Not Built in A Day

Things take time. I know that. It takes hard work and it takes patience. I'm not good at patience.

I keep having to remind myself, Rome wasn't built in a day, but it really doesn't help. I want these things to be done, I want Shadows and SOSAS to be done and out, and I want other projects I'm working on to be done and out. I want to be able to share these things and talk more about them because I can't because I'm not ready to release them yet or because they're in the early stages and everything is subject to change. . .

And it's mornings like this, when I've already been up all night working and I'm still not done and I still feel like I haven't done enough, when I'm on coffee number who-knows and my brain is fried and my fingers shake even when I hold my hands still, that I feel that the most.

I have this urge, this restless energy beneath my skin that turns me frantic and won't let me sleep. I have to resist the urge to keep going until I drop. I know that's not healthy and I know it's just another thing I have to work on, but it's an all-consuming sort of thing.

I don't know. I know these books are good. I also know they're not done. I know the editing process is a temperamental beast and I know that my schedule is packed full.

The funny thing is, the wait isn't even that long. I have things that I know will be ready to publish within a month or two, and I still don't want to wait and it still feels like forever.

No patience.

So I just have to wait and settle down and finish them, but, you know - mental illness. Caffeine overdose. Workaholic. Unhealthy coping methods.

The thing is, I have to take it one thing at a time. One choice at a time. One decision at a time. I'm still learning how to do that.

So that's where I'm at today: accomplishing things but still feeling like those things aren't enough. Being exhausted but unable to sleep. Feeling conflicted about what I want and how I want to get it. For now I think it's enough to let myself rest a little and remember that Rome. wasn't. built. in. a. day.

But it was built, eventually. So I'll do what the Romans did, and go stone by stone.

Reading Recap - 2016 #1

I don't know if this feature will stick (if it does it probably will be monthly as opposed to weekly in the future) but I'm thinking I'll start linking reviews here. My book review blog on Tumblr is http://golden-tomes.tumblr.com/ (an aside: I'll be adding a 'where can you find me?' type page to this blog soon to make finding me elsewhere easier) but it takes me a while to cross post reviews there, so instead I'll link them here first.

So, without further ado, here are the books I finished this week, along with links to their reviews:

 Gilded Review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/602433525

 Say You're Mine Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1489792540

 Darkness Falls Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/726088599

 Storm Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/736041826

Into The Storm

My goals for today are this:

1. Finish an assignment.
2. Finish a round of edits.
3. Finish reading Storm by Amanda Sun.

Here's the thing: I love the Paper God's trilogy. I love Amanda Sun's writing. I do not love doing things that aren't writing or browsing the internet. I have such a lack of motivation lately it's not even funny: and it's not that I'm not excited about my goals or I don't wanna accomplish things. It's just that my bed is super comfy and it's a lot more fun to sit under the covers and get stoned and browse the web and listen to pop music than it is to sit down and actually get some work done.

But I love this series and characters, and I need to be ready to read Heir to the Sky, so I'm going to just sit down today and read this damn book. If I don't finish it, that's fine, but I only have a third of the book left, so it doesn't feel like too much.

So those are my goals today, and if I don't accomplish them, then fine, but I really want to. The thing is, even when I do work lately, it's school work, since that has to take priority since I really, really would like to graduate this year.

I guess I'll be staying on my grind for the a while to come. . .

Drinking My Hot Chocolate & Minding My Own Damn Business

🌙🌙🌙

Shadowhunters doesn't premier until the twelfth, and that is killing me. I keep seeing these fantastic edits and screen shots and promo pics on Tumblr, and I have no idea how other fans are getting these/where they're finding them, but they're just making me more anxious to watch. And then when I do get to watch, I'll only get the one episode, and then I'll be waiting another week.

This show might kill me. Hell, waiting the last few days for it might kill me. Rereading the books would certainly kill me, so I won't even go near those. (God knows if I crack open City of Bones one more time, that paperback is gonna snap in half or something.)

So I'll keep drinking my hot chocolate and minding my own damn business. Kuma is going home later today, so until then we're sitting around on the internet. Once she leaves, I'll probably stay up and get work done. I haven't done much while she's been here, aside from finishing up the new edition of Midnight City. I also have school work to do - like, 13 assignments - in the next eight or nine days. I have a schedule worked out so it will only take me four days, as long as I don't fuck around and waste my time, so I'l going to start those tonight too.

It's nice to be getting back to work, even though it has been a fun few days. Last night I had an old friend who I haven't talked to since September come out for an hour or so and we all just sat around laughing our asses off and having a good time. Kuma's been here for about five days, and both she and Winter were here for three or four days before that.

Things have been hectic. But at least my seasonal at Bath and Body Works is over - not that I didn't like it, because it was cool for the most part. But it was a lot of anxiety-inducing situations and long days that were hard to cope with, though I knew that before I even went in for my interview.

The point is, there's less on my plate not. Which is good.

I always tend to bite off more than I can chew or give myself a really challenging work load, but I can't help myself. If something is too easy, it's excruciating. If it's too much of a challenge, it's still going to be hard, but at least it's more entertaining.

It's also really, really fucking satisfying to check something off of your list. Like yesterday, pressing publish on the new edition of Things We Saw at Midnight was such a relief - I've been wanting to sit down and tackle that for a month and a half now, and it's finally done.

Now it's just onto the next one.

Coping Methods

Carly Slay Jepsen is Your Friend

It's been months since Emotion came out and I'm still jamming the hell out to it non-stop . . . I love Carly Rae Jepsen because she's the only Canadian pop star who's still relevant without being a douche. I mean, Avril Lavigne is . . . is she even still making music, after the nightmare that was Hello Kitty?

And Justin Bieber has been pumping out jam after jam, sure, but he's kind of an ass. Carly is the only one who's still talented and not being an awful human being (although I guess Justin's been cleaning his act up lately . . . )

The point is, I love this album, and you should too. Kuma and I have been blasting it all morning. My parents are coming home from a trip to see my aunt today, and we're waiting for them, cleaning, and drinking (yes, at 1 in the afternoon - it's as disgusting as it sounds) and generally having a good time.

Being the wonderful human being I am, I just wanted to post some of these songs in case some of you hadn't heard 'em yet. Enjoy!

Things we saw in red. . .

So. Remember how I said I was working on a revised edition of Things We Saw at Midnight a few days ago? And then again earlier today? And remember how I said it was killing me? Well it isn't anymore BECAUSE IT'S DONE AND I PUBLISHED IT!

It might take a while to go through on Amazon, and I'm not updating the Wattpad edition until tomorrow, it's ready to read immediately on Smashwords for free: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/584827

And it's also got a new cover:

Like it? This is going to be the cover for the paperback edition, too, which is coming soon! I'll be having a few giveaways of it eventually, too, so keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime you can grab a free copy for your ereader and enjoy the scares!

Revise and Revise and Revise and Revise

2016 is about editing, clearly. Because it seems like that's all I do now: wake up, coffee, edit book, coffee, edit book, coffee, edit book, sleep, coffee, edit book.

Because I'm actually editing two books. Okay, okay, I know, I said one at a time the other day. And I'm still sticking to that rule, and that book is still Sosas, and everything is on track. But I'm also doing a bit of editing on Things We Saw at Midnight every day for this revised edition, which is actually moving along.

I was right about it being mostly copy-editing, but one fun thing I did is get a new cover. It's not too different. In fact, it uses the same stock image and font - but it's definitely my favourite over the old design.

I won't be sharing until I've already hit published on the revised book (which should be sometime within the next five days, I'll post about it when it's done!) but I can't wait to share it, because it's like candy for the eyes.

I'm going to stop blogging right now and get back to writing, but since I said I would blog more this year I'm trying to, you know, do that.

I'll leave you this time with a song AND some male model eye-candy!

And:

Steven Chevrin

So there you have it. As always, I'm more active on Tumblr at In The Violet Hour, as in dozens of posts a day active, so follow me there for more frequent updates! (And a lot of pictures of half-naked male models.)

I like you a lot, so I do what you want~

I've been listening to a lot of Lana Del Rey lately. I mean, I always listen to a lot of Lana Del Rey, but I've largely been ignoring the existence of Music To Watch Boys To so now I'm making up for it by watching it on repeat. To be clear, I think Lana Del Rey has really racist tendencies towards First Nations people and Mexicans, and needs a damn wake up call, but problematic tendencies aside, her music is fucking incredible.

Aside from that I've been working a bunch - but not as much as I could have, because it was Christmas, and then New Years, and a lot of crazy stuff happened, and it didn't leave much time for writing. . .

Mostly, I've been taking selfies. Wouldn't you, though, if you had these eyebrows?

Okay, I swear I'm not actually this vain (or am I?) but I'm trying to write more blog posts this year, and catalogue more memories, and photos count as memories. I'm actually kind of obsessed with taking photos of things, be they meals, people, objects, rooms, views, myself - whatever - that are in my life, because I have this fear that I'll get old and not remember anything about my life/youth and be sad and lonely, but that won't happen if I have photos of it all.

Except, it might still, because I could forget about the photos, too. Who knows? What I do know is that alzheimer's runs in my family, and my Grandmother can't remember what she said five minutes ago or what she had for breakfast, and it worries me. So.

More blog posts. And more selfies.

In other news, I'm getting ready to revise Things We Saw at Midnight and release the second edition. It's going to have a tighter copy-editing, obviously, but I'll also probably change/tighten a few scenes and maybe even add others in? I'm not sure how much I want to change, but not many people have read it, so I don't feel too bad toying around with it. Plus, the idea of an ever-changing book that each reader has different memories of does sound very Midnight City.

On the topic of books, I have a new rule where I'm only allowed to work on one at a time, until it's published - so no drafting one while editing two or editing more than one at a time. Which means that as is, I'm only focused on editing Sosas and putting that out. After that, it's Mirror, I Am, - which I'm co-writing with Winter Rose - and then Shadows, and it's sequels.

I really want to release at least four or five books this year, so I have to get on the fast track and really dedicate myself - but I am dealing with school on top of that.

Right now, though, the stress isn't bad. Kuma (in case you don't know, Kuma is my illustrious and creative bestie, and I'll be mentioning her a lot, so, you know, remember who she is!) is staying with me right now, and we're getting groceries later today before spending hours playing video games, watching movies, and drawing. My brother and his girlfriend are coming over sometime, too, but that won't be until this evening.

The key to not feeling guilty about this day of fun? I already got my work for the day done. I'll probably get another patch of editing in later, but for now I'm happy with my work today.

In working on my newest projects I've been rereading Rachel Aaron's 2K to 10K again and again. It's the best writing advice book I've ever read, but it focuses on thought-training and productivity strategy. It's really helpful, and has revolutionized the way I write and edit. This is how I've drafted manuscripts in eleven and fourteen days - drafting your entire novel in such a short time feels like fucking flying. Once you read this book, you won't go back. I'm not even getting paid to plug it - that's just how much I like it.

Which means I'll probably like her fiction books, too - right? I have another 100 book reading challenge this year, and this time I really want to finish it. I did in 2014, but in 2015 I only got 70 something. So, yeah, I'll be checking out some Rachel Aaron novels.

But the focus is mainly on writing this year. Winter came to my house on boxing day and stayed for two days, and we spent half that time brainstorming and outlining Mirror, I am, building up our mythology and characters. I have a Pinterest Board for my half of the book, and you should definitely check that out! In case you didn't know, I fucking love Pinterest, and I have boards for a lot of my projects, so you should follow me there!

But yeah, Mirror, I am is gonna be fun. Tansy and Arie each have very unique, distinct voices, yet their stories are both about loss and searching for answers and finding your power. There's a lot of magic in this book, but the focus is on the people using it and the hearts beating in their chests. It's very human. I'm excited to share it.

But I can't. Yet. So, here, have a quote instead:

So, yeah. There's a new tab for it at the top of the blog, and the page has Goodreads links so you can add it to your shelves and follow Winter!

And I'll leave you with this: