L.M. Schukraft's Blog, page 2

Flying Broomsticks and Buns made a 2018 survey! {Blog Share!}

Good Morning!




I’m sharing another blog from Erica Robyn Reads! She has been such a fan of the Crooked Halos series and I can’t say enough how much I appreciate that she’s a fan! She filled out this long End of Year Survey and Flying Broomsticks and Buns is her answer for the book that Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most Fun To Read !

My goal to make readers laugh from my characters antics has been achieved!

My Top 10 Mystery Series

I’ve followed a ton of series in my lifetime as an avid reader. The list is long and the love for these series is real. I stalk Fantastic Fiction looking regularly for their next releases.  I re-read the older books as I wait for the next one. I’m invested and I care for these stories. I hope to write my series and grow a fan base like these authors some day!

I also love sharing the authors and their series with others to gain more fans and reach people that might not have seen these books or given them a try yet.

Here is my list of my Top 10 Mystery Series:

Kim Harrison – Rachel Morgan/ The Hollows series
Laurell K. Hamilton – Anita Blake series
Victoria Laurie – Psychic Eye series
Blaize Clement – Dixie Hemingway series
Janet Evanovich – Stephanie Plum series
Linda O’Johnston – Kendra Ballantyne, Pet Sitter Mysteries
Adele Abbott – Witch P. I. Series
Laurien Berenson – Melanie Travis series
Ellen Byerrum – Crimes of Fashion series
Victoria Laurie – Ghost Hunter series

Honorable mentions to Laurell K. Hamilton’s Merry Gentry Series and to Kate White for her Bailey Wiggins series.

I’ll delve into why I like these series in future posts

Happy Author Dance – My books made a list of Best Books 2018 {Blog Share!}

When I saw Dead Princess Walking and Flying Broomsticks and Buns made Erica Robyn Reads Best Books That I Read in 2018, I just had to share her blog here! She read 115 books last year and 57 (!!) of those books she gave 5 stars! That’s amazing to have that many five star reads in a year. To make her list and be in the company of other bestselling authors makes this author ecstatic! My inner writing muse is dancing in joy!

Check out her list, the blog, the reviews, my books… Maybe you’ll add a few to your TBR! How many of the books on her list have you read?

Posted by Erica Metcalf

 

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Sunday, December 30, 2018

[List] Best Books That I Read In 2018

2018 was a great year for reading for me! I was so convinced that it was going to be a bad year for reading with how much I had going on, but I read a total of fifty-seven (updated 12/31) five star reads!

I think one thing that really helped was me finally being okay with DNFing. This has definitely helped me to move on from books that aren’t a hit with me so I can focus on books that I love.

Let’s dive into my list!

Best Books That I Read In 2018

Below is my list of books that I read in 2018, all of which I gave five star ratings. This list is simply organized in the order of the date that I read them.

Gun Kiss by Khaled Talib
Assassin Marked by Michael C. Sahd
The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor
The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson
Collected Halloween Horror Shorts: Trick ‘r Treat by Kevin J. Kennedy & Various Others
Space Dumplins by Craig Thompson
The Last Straw (Pigeon-Blood Red Book 2) by Ed Duncan
Force of Nature (Aaron Falk #2) by Jane Harper
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
Tales of the Lost by Richard Howard
The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy #1) by Katherine Arden
Soul Siphon by T.L. Branson
Collected Easter Horror Shorts by Kevin J. Kennedy & Others
Soul Render by T.L. Branson
The Summer the World Ended by Matthew S. Cox
The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan
Voltron Legendary Defender Vol. 2: Pilgrimage by Tim Hedrick, Mitch Iverson, Jung Gwan, Rubine
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara
There’s a Bear on My Chair by Ross Collins
Strange Tales in Fiction and Fact by Richard Howard
The Infinet (Trivial Game, #1) by John Akers
Ethan and the Key by Dennis Canfield
Mask Beneath Her Face by Rafael Chandler
I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt, Cyd Moore (Illustrator)
The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
Dead Ends: How to Survive the Afterlife Book 3 by Tony Moyle
War of the Damned by Martin Ferguson
No Man’s Land by Hervey Copeland
Backseat In The Dark by Milton Dewar
Sweet Little Lies by Caz Frear
Dead Princess Walking by L.M. Schukraft
New Hampshire Book of the Dead:: Graveyard Legends and Lore by Roxie J. Zwicker
Soul Shade (Soul Stones #2) by T.L. Branson
Vicious by V.E. Schwab
Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody by Michael Rex
Night Night, Groot by Brendan Deneen, Cale Atkinson
Bone Soup by Cambria Evans
Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You by Lin-Manuel Miranda & Jonny Sun
The Creeps by Fran Krause
Don’t Push the Button! by Bill Cotter
Supernova (Amulet #8) by Kazu Kibuishi
Flying Broomsticks and Buns (The Crooked Halos Series #.05) by L.M. Schukraft
Star Wars: Are You Scared, Darth Vader? by Adam Rex
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Cabin in the Woods: The Official Movie Novelization by Tim Lebbon
A Little Tea Book: All the Essentials from Leaf to Cup by Sebastian Beckwith, Caroline Paul, Wendy MacNaughton (Illustrations)
The Broken Girls by Simone St. James
Collected Christmas Horror Shorts 2 by Kevin J. Kennedy
Weight Of Ashes by Rook Winter
Twelve Slays of Christmas by Jacqueline Frost
Krampus: The Yule Lord by Brom
The Stark Divide by J. Scott Coatsworth
Christmas Eve, 1914 by Charles Olivier
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

To read my reviews for any of these books, feel free to check out my Review Archive page.

Thanks for checking out this list!
Do you see any of your favorites on this list?

Posted by Erica Metcalf

Dead Princess Walking made it to a Top 10 list! {Blog Share!}

I’m doing a couple of happy author dances! My books made a few lists for blogger Erica Robyn Reads. She created a list of her Top 10 Favorite Books Published in 2018 and Dead Princess Walking made her list!!

Considering she read over a 100 books in 2018, 57 of which were 5 star reads for her, to make her Top 10 Favorite Books Published in 2018 is quite the feat! If I could re-blog her blog, I would but we’re on different platforms. You can find her blog post here! I’ve copied her blog below. Please check out her blog for a plethora of reviews (including a few of my books)!

Posted by Erica Metcalf
[image error]Tuesday, January 1, 2019



[Top 10 Tuesday] My Favorite Books Published In 2018

2018 was an amazing year for new releases! There were so many that I wanted to read, but unfortunately didn’t have the time to get to. But even so, there were many books in 2018 that I absolutely adored!

Let’s dive in!

My Top 10 Favorite Books Published In 2018
Top 10 Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.
 
Here are my top ten favorite releases of 2018 in no specific order:

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor
Force of Nature (Aaron Falk #2) by Jane Harper
Soul Render by T.L. Branson
The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
Dead Ends: How to Survive the Afterlife Book 3 by Tony Moyle
War of the Damned by Martin Ferguson
Sweet Little Lies by Caz Frear
Dead Princess Walking by L.M. Schukraft
Collected Christmas Horror Shorts 2 by Kevin J. Kennedy
Weight Of Ashes by Rook Winter

Honorable Mentions:


The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara
Voltron Legendary Defender Vol. 2: Pilgrimage by Tim Hedrick,  Mitch Iverson, Jung Gwan (Artist), Rubine (Artist)
Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You by Lin-Manuel Miranda & Jonny Sun
Flying Broomsticks and Buns (The Crooked Halos Series #.05) by L.M. Schukraft
A Little Tea Book: All the Essentials from Leaf to Cup by Sebastian Beckwith, Caroline Paul, Wendy MacNaughton (Illustrations)
The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

To read my reviews for any of the books above, feel free to check out my Review Archive page.

If you would like to see my list featuring the fifty-four five star reads I had in 2018, feel free to check out: [List] Best Books That I Read In 2018.

 
Thanks for reading!
What were your favorite books published in 2018? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below.



Posted by Erica Metcalf

My Top 10 Johanna Lindsey – Historical Romances

My all time favorite historical romance author is Johanna Lindsey. I was an instant fan after reading Once a Princess. I think future generations are missing out on this amazing author who has published over 50 books throughout the years. She has followed families in her series through generations and I follow each and every single one of them. Her Anderson and Mallory family series are amazing!

***After reading some reviews on Goodreads for one of her books, I do want to preface these stories may have some triggers for victims of assault. I don’t condone these actions in any shape, way, or form in real life. These tales do describe kidnapping, hostage situations, and various forms of depravity that was and has been part of those times in history. So this is my trigger warning. If any of those potential subjects are triggers for you, than I highly do not recommend these stories for you. BTW, people can be brutal in their reviews!! Yeeoouch!! 

Here is my top ten list of Johanna Lindsey Historical Romances – I highly recommend every single one of these books! 5 stars for all of them.

1) Cardinia Romance: The story that caught my fandom for life! This story has a wonderful love-hate premise that has you laughing while watching the two main characters fight their attraction to each other. Another strong female lead to admire and root for!






Once a Princess
(Cardinia’s Royalty #1)

by

Johanna Lindsey




Once Upon A Time…In a rustic Mississippi tavern, a beautiful exiled princess was forced to dance for the pleasure of others unaware of her regal birthright…and infuriated by a magnificent golden-eyed devil who crossed an ocean to possess her. From A Far Off Land… A bold and brazen prince came to America to claim his promised bride. But the spirited vixen spurned his affections while inflaming his royal blood with passion’s fire…impelling virile Stefan Barany to take in sensuous and searing conquest the love Tatiana vowed never to yield



2) Viking Romance: This whirlwind drama captures you with the character’s struggle and all that she loses and how she falls in love with the son of the Viking that stole her from her home and killed her family. It sounds brutal and it can be to your heart but I loved the spirit of Brenna and how she never gave up! These leading ladies are strong, willful, stubborn, ingenious, and wonderful leads for romances!!!








Fires Of Winter





(Haardrad Family #1)

by

Johanna Lindsey



Lovely and Dauntless,abducted by invaders from across the sea, Lady Brenna vowed vengeance–swearing no Viking brute would be her master…no barbarian would enslave her noble Celtic heart.

Fires Of Winter

Yet Garrick Haardrad, the proud and powerful son of a ruthless Viking chieftain, claims her with a primitive abandon that leaves her breathless,igniting fires of passion that blaze through the cold Nordic nights and forge the unbreakable bonds of fiery, eternal love.





3) Pirates – Regency England Romance – This romance was my second book to read by Johanna Lindsey. It solidified my love of her books and I’ve followed this family through out brothers, sisters, nieces, step-children, friends, and a little bit of gypsy ancestry to make it that much more fun!!











Gentle Rogue
(Malory Family #3)

by

Johanna Lindsey



Heartsick and desperate to return home to America, Georgina Anderson boards the Maiden Anne disguised as a cabin boy, never dreaming she’ll be forced into intimate servitude at the whim of the ship’s irrepressible captain, James Mallory.The black sheep of a proud and tempestuous family, the handsome ex-pirate once swore no woman alive could entice him into matrimony. But on the high seas his resolve will be weakened by an unrestrained passion and by the high-spirited beauty whose love of freedom and adventure rivals his own.



4) Sherring Cross Book 1 – I love these characters. Their love-hate relationship has you laughing at their antics as it blossoms into the kind of love that has you tearing up at the end.











Man of My Dreams
(Sherring Cross #1)

by

Johanna Lindsey

Wildly unpredictable, the most desirable beauty in the land, Megan Penworthy has set her amorous sights on Ambrose St. James, a man she has never met but has every intention of marrying. And no other suitor will satisfy her especially not the common, if uncommonly handsome, horse breeder, Devlin Jefferys.

Posing as lowborn Jefferys to escape a potentially fatal confrontation, Sir Ambrose is enthralled by the brazen, duke-hunting redhead. Without revealing his true identity, he vows to seduce and tame her, thereby foiling Megan’s plans to marry the man of her dreams. But the notorious rogue never imagined the enchanting schemer would turn out to be the only woman he would ever dream of marrying.

5) Sherring Cross #2 – one of my fav-fav-fav-favorites!!!










Love Me Forever
(Sherring Cross #2)

by

Johanna Lindsey

Still mourning her mother’s death, Kimberly Richards is incensed by the determination of her father, the Earl of Amburough, to marry her off as quickly as possible—just to please the jealous lover he plans to wed. And since Kimberly harbors a deep-seated dislike of gold-diggers and the whole distasteful state of affairs, the feisty young heiress already despises the “worthy suitor” she encounters at Sherring Cross Estate: Lachlan MacGregor, the dashing, newly impoverished Laird of Clan MacGregor.

A tryst with the handsome, haughty Lachlan seems dubious at best—especially since the rogue has designs on the married Duchess of Wrothston. But strange turns and outrageous circumstances promise to lead a woefully mismatched pair to a wildly unexpected destination—where a hard, resisting heart can open to the true glories of love.

6) One off Historical –  A lusty tale of desperation and revenge!











Prisoner of My Desire

by

Johanna Lindsey




Spirited Rowena Belleme must produce an heir–or incur the dangerous wrath of a ruthless stepbrother, who stands to forfeit his ill-gotten wealth. And the magnificent Warrick deChaville is the perfect choice to sire her child–though it means imprisoning the handsome knight…and forcing him to bend to her amorous whims.SLAVE OF PASSIONVowing to resist but betrayed by his own virility, noble Warrick is intoxicated by Rowena’s sapphire eyes and voluptuous beauty. Yet all the while he plans a fitting revenge–eagerly awaiting the time when his sensuous captor becomes his helpless captive … and is made to suffer the same rapturous torment and exquisite ecstasy that he himself has endured.




7)  Russian Prince – Secret Fire – these female leads have had it rough in these books but it’s all captivating and I have re-read this story a number of times. It’s a case of mistaken identity and an entitled Prince taking what he shouldn’t have. Definitely a top ten!!











Secret Fire

by

Johanna Lindsey




He’s caught only a glimpse of her from the window of his carriage, but the young Russian prince knew he had to have her. Within minutes, Lady Katherine St. John was dragged from the London street like a common waif and carries off to a sumptuous town house…
















8) Arabian nights – Captive Bride – there seems to be a theme here, lol. It wasn’t intentional but all these female leads have such spirit and spunk and still wind up falling in love. I’m a sucker for love-hate romances!











Captive Bride

by

Johanna Lindsey

The irresistible call of adventure brings lovely Christina Wakefield to the alluring Arabian desert. But fate imprisons her after she encounters Sheik Abu, the strikingly handsome though arrogant adventurer, whom she had known in England as Philip Caxton.

Once Christina had rejected Philip’s fervent offer of marriage. But now she is to be his slave — desperate for the freedoms denied her…yet weakened by her heart’s blazing desire to willingly explore her virile captor’s most sensuous cravings

9) Shefford’s Knight – Book One – Defy Not thy Heart – another headstrong female lead that fights for her castle and won’t let her fate be decided by a lecherous old man.











Defy Not the Heart
(Shefford’s Knights #1)

by

Johanna Lindsey




Reina seethes with rage over her fate: taken captive by the knight Ranulf — a golden giant of a man — who has pledged to deliver her to the nuptial bed of the despised Lord Rothwell. She will never accept such bondage — and Reina offers herself to her kidnapped instead, offering to make Ranulf a great lord…if he agrees to wed her.But the brave knight desires much more than a marriage of convenience from this proud, headstrong lady who treats him with scorn yet makes his blood run hotter than liquid fire. She must come to him of her own free will — or Ranulf will take her. For the passion that consumes them both cannot long be denied — even though gravest peril surely awaits them on the heart’s trail to a destines and turbulent love.


10) Another Knight Romance – When Love Awaits – strong female, couple thrown together, a love that has to grow – all things that make for a historical read I want to curl up with!











When Love Awaits

by

Johanna Lindsey

Once Lady Leonie cursed ‘the Black Wolf’ – handsome Rolfe d’Ambert, the mercenary Lord of Kempston – for his bloody deeds and cruelty to the local peasants. Now she must marry the magnificent blackguard to bring peace to the land.

Young, innocent, and possessing a rare and exquisite beauty, Leonie would be a prize for any man – yet Rolfe seeks the match solely for revenge. But her sensuous kiss ignites within him the fiery need to claim her – and an irresistible desire to unite their warring hearts in glorious love.

 

 

There’s my top 10 list of Historical Romances by Johanna Lindsey. I had a really hard time narrowing it down to just 10 choices. I hope this brought back memories for those that have read the stories, intrigued those that haven’t and maybe got a few added to your TBR’s . Seeing the reviews really threw me off. I was so surprised to see how many woman were not happy with the themes. I get it. I understand rape culture and how it could be seen as part of the problem but I’ve only seen these stories as twists on the simpering females that were sold and bargained for power plays throughout history. These leads do what they can to fight for themselves, their families, and defy the patriarchal society they were born in so they can make a life for themselves and find love while doing so. She follows what happened to females in those times – what is still happening in parts of the world. In the end, these are stories; fictional tales of struggle, love-hate, drama, and characters that are forced to grow and change. They are written beautifully and I still re-read them!!

My TOP 10 Paranormal Authors

Top 10 lists are flooding blogs, twitter, Instagram and just about every bit of social media you can think of. The lists range from top ten books to top ten YouTube videos.

Something I haven’t seen yet is a list of authors from a particular genre. I’m such a picky reader, I thought I might have trouble coming up with my top 10 paranormal authors but when I didn’t limit it to one’s I still read, the list expanded greatly!!

So in no particular order, starting from 10, here’s my top 10 paranormal authors:

10) L. J. Smith – The Secret Circle series (pre-being made for TV) – I loved the original series and have re-read it often. I also loved her Vampire Diaries (also before it was mauled and mangled by TV) and her Night of the Solstice and Heart of Valor duo. All of these books are great fantasy/paranormal stories! You can find Night of the Solstice here!

9) Katie McAlister – Asling Grey series – and many others. Katie’s series are filled with unique characters, humor, magic, dragon shapeshifters, mages, talking dog demon, vampires, and so much more! If you like humor mixed with your paranormal sexiness, then definitely add her books to your tbr lists!

8) Kim Harrison – Rachel Morgan/The Hollows series – book one – Dead Witch Walking. One of my all time favorite series and I just learned there will be another book released called American Demon – I think. I have to do more research on it. This series has 13 main books in the series and a number of short stories and novellas, along with 2 graphic novels and a prequel. This is another alternative history story that after a genetically modified tomato virus wipes out most of mankind, Vampires, Elves, Werewolves, and other fairytale creatures come out of the woodworks to help save mankind. The main character is a witch who partners up with a living vamp and a pixie, after she quits her job. Lots of humor, action, suspense, mystery, drama, and sexual tension is mixed in with the magic and paranormal basis of this series!!

7) Laurell K. Hamilton – Anita Blake series – book one – Guilty Pleasures. This series has almost 30 books in it!! The first nine are amazing. The later ones get a little more erotic, if you like it hot, sexy, a little kinky, then you will love the later books. This series has narcomancers (animators), vampires, werewolves, magic, and zombies. It’s an alternative history series where Vampires are given rights under U.S. law. Anita Blake is a regional Vampire Executioner. Her special skills help protect her from the vampires and solve crimes that the human police can’t figure out.

6) Casey Daniels – Pepper Martin series – this is a ghost mystery series. The main character, Pepper Martin, hits her head on a gravestone and wakes up being begged by ghosts to help them finish one last thing. The series starts with Don of the Dead and has 9 more to keep your paranormal habit well fed.

5) Victoria Laurie – Abby Cooper – Psychic Eye series – book one – Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye, and her Ghost Hunter series. I’ve followed this author for years. Written by a true-life psychic, I enjoy the humor and paranormal aspects of these mysteries. Her supporting characters are just as much fun. There are 15 books in the Psychic Eye series and her Ghost Hunter Series has 10 books in it. The first book is ‘What’s a Ghoul to do?” If you haven’t checked these out, I highly recommend them! Fast, fun reads that I’ve read many times over

Dead Princess Walking Review by 2turnthepage!! It’s in her top 5 reads of 2018!

I know I shared this months ago on my Facebook Author Page but it somehow wasn’t shared here! What a great time to share another review of Dead Princess Walking!

2turnthepage agreed to review Dead Princess Walking after I reached out to her. Her review can be found HERE!

I’ve copied her review below for those that don’t like to clink links but please do check out her blog!! Find out why she’s put Dead Princess Walking in her top 5 reads of 2018!!

Sunday, September 16, 2018
Snow White is a…..What?!!!

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This is an ARC that was given to me by L.M. Shukraft to read for an honest review.

Dead Princess Walking is a different take on Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Whatever you knew about fairy tales, will be changed with this story. It does help for you to know some of the fairy tales, especially Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.  This will be written as a series. Snow White and her friends go on a quest to help save the Magic Kingdom. They have 7 quests to go on.

I loved the new elements to this story. Especially the story behind Snow White, and what she really is. The Characters are pretty cool, most of them are not what you think they should be. There’s Princess Snow White(main character) who finds out what she really is, and learns about her past. She was originally going to run away from the Evil Queen on her own, but somehow Hunter the Huntsman joins her. There is a little flirting, and you hope in the long run they get married. Hunter is great eye candy, so to speak.

She also befriends a bunch of pixies, the head of them, Binks, is such a hoot. I love the language he uses, he’s not afraid to say what he thinks. Then there are the cave goblins. Definitely interesting creatures along the way.

The world building is amazing, you almost hope it gets turned into a movie or tv show, so you can see it.

I’m really hoping this gets turned into a series, I love reading series. And this has been one of the best books I’ve read this year. I’m putting it in my top 3 right now.

It’s just a really fun read and I even laughed out loud a few times, always a plus in my book.

I will keep you posted when this becomes available.

10 Blogs on ways an author can get distracted – BLOG TEN!

TEN:

TIME!!!

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Last but my biggest distraction is time! Finding the time to write, focusing and not getting lost in a game or TV show or debate on Facebook. Setting aside time in the morning to write or late at night after my son has gone to bed is crucial for me stay on track and reach a daily writing goal. Setting goals really helps stay on track too. Picking a certain number of days to have a certain number of words written helps keep your time management in check.

This is an overwhelming thing for me to manage. I sat down to write this blog thinking I could type it out and 13 others in a half hour. With all my distractions, I’m staring at two hours having gone by, an empty cracker sleeve, and this one blog isn’t finished yet. I even planned ahead and got all the images first and made a list of 10 things that distracts writers. But, I’ve gotten up about five times to eat, changed an image, almost lost the blog when I somehow hit the back button, stopped to see about 20 different things my son has made for me and there goes the time.

Not only that, Daylight Savings Time screwed me over the last two months. That one hour meant I got locked into a horrid sleeping pattern where my son was waking up at 3am, 4am, or before 5 am and I have been a cranky, dead inside walking zombie momma because of lack of sleep. We’ve been eating lunch at 9 am, having dinner by 1 or 2 pm and falling asleep around 6 pm.  I swear, it’s not fun. I’m tired. So tired… today we woke up at 3:45 am. I’ve already cleaned the toy room, done the dishes, discovered how far I’ve fallen behind on my blog, researched a bunch of stuff, made lunch, got my son a snack, and some other things I don’t remember and at the time I’m writing this, it’s 11:20 am. I’ve been up almost 8 hours already and could use a nap.

Finding uninterrupted time and not getting distracted is key to staying on track!

So, there you have it folks. There’s just 10 major ways an author can get distracted while writing that novel you’ve been waiting for

10 Blogs on ways an author can get distracted – BLOG NINE

NINE:

DOUBT!

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Doubt is an insidious distraction. I’ll be writing away and suddenly start to worry is this scene dragging? Am I taking too long to get to the point? Is my character still funny? Where am I going with this? How do my characters find a way to kill the bad guy? Is this original? Unique? Are people going to read this? How am I going to finish this on time? Am I not paying enough attention to my son? Is that font too small? That chapter too long? Is this boring??? How do I come up with another unique way to say Holy leaping sulfur bugs, Hades’ third nipple, and steaming unicorn farts of glitter?

Did that author just publish a book with the same idea as mine???!!! That’s it. You’re done. Throw it all away. There’s no point in finishing it now.

The list is endless. The doubt bottomless. The thing that got me through finishing my first novel was to just repeat – Don’t stop. Just keep writing. You can fix it later – take it out if it’s not needed or change it after you finish your novel. Now, I just need to find loads of number ten on this list.

 

10 Blogs on ways an author can get distracted – BLOG EIGHT

EIGHT:

BURN OUT!

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This kind-of relates to most of this list. Burn out is serious and real. It will drain a writer of ideas, it will leave them wanting to do absolutely nothing but curl up and not think. I might have 50 gazillion ideas waiting for me to create them but I think I burned out my muse by publishing three books in 3 months time. There is a LOT that goes into publishing a book aside from writing it. Creating the cover, editing, promoting it, reviews, updating your social media, sending out ARC’s, promoting it some more, adding it to your author pages, more editing… it’s not just a click of a button and you’re done. When you add in all the other distractions I’ve listed, burn out is almost a given. The pressure to finish book two and write the next one is hanging out and edging me on but I know if I didn’t take a break, I wouldn’t be happy with what I wrote. I like my characters too much to give them my burned out distracted lack of focus.

Be sure you’re not trying to do too much at once. My goal going forward is to try and get back on a schedule and to start a schedule for my social media – most importantly my blog. I hope starting today, I’ll be able to post a blog a day and I have a plan to make that happen without getting burned out. I’ll keep you post as I go on whether or not my plan is successful!