Simone Shirazi's Blog, page 2

Once Upon a One Night Stand – Story Seasons & Updated FAQ

If you’ve been keeping up with the new chapters of Once Upon a One Night Stand or Roses & Thorns on Radish, you’ve probably noticed how those stories are now split into a little something called “seasons.”

What are these seasons, you ask? Well, it’s a new organizational tool for stories. Think of them like seasons of a TV show, only for books! For longer stories, grouping chapters into seasons can help break things up so you’re not so overwhelmed by the sheer number of them. For series, writ...

Simone Read What? – June, July, August ’20

Can I even call myself a reader anymore? I’ve barely picked up a book these past few months, and when I do, I manage to read about 20 pages before falling asleep. The combination of quarantine boredom and adult responsibilities have left me wanting to simply veg out in front of Netflix rather than attempting to use my brain to read. By 6pm every night, I’m ready to turn that thing off and mindlessly watch an early-2000s TV show that I’ve already seen 5 times.

All of that said, I did manage to re...

Simone Read What? – April & May ’20

It feels almost wrong to be posting about books with everything going on in the world right now, but I need this little corner for my own mental health and well-being. The murder of George Floyd and the ensuing protests for justice have once again shown me how little Black lives mean in the structure of American society. This is nothing new to me. I’ve known this for practically my whole life, considering I’m Black. Mixed and light-skinned, yes, but still Black. But I realize that I am privilege...

Still in Bloom – Why I Decided to Continue Roses & Thorns

If youve been keeping up with this blog, my work on Wattpad, or my work on Radish, you probably know that I decided to continue the first book in the Fairytale Series, Once Upon a One Night Stand.

As of today, there are over two-hundred (yes, I said 200) new chapters of OUAONS. Wild, right? When I said I wanted to fill in all the blanks of the Fairytale Series timeline, I meant all the blanks. There is no stone left unturned!

When I finished Roses & Thorns last year, I felt like the story and...

Simone Read What? – February & March ’20

Its been a long, long two months. With coronavirus spreading like wildfire, Ive been stuck in the house, which one would normally think lends itself to plenty of time for reading. Ah, yeah, not so much. More than anything, Ive been too busy working to get much reading done.

Im still trying to reduce my physical TBR pile, but man, its hard to resist the lure of library ebooks. Theres just so many to choose from! Although, Im sure the same could be said of everything already on my shelves hmm.

...

Origin Stories: Boys in Bands

Whew, it’s been a while since my last Origin Stories post! But, to be honest, it’s probably a good idea that I held off on this one for a bit, considering I took this story down from Wattpad for a while. Now that I’m bringing it back (and I’m determined to finally finish it) it seems like the perfect time to write this.

I suggest checking out my previous Origin Stories posts for an idea of what this series is about and for a background on my writing journey so far.

Now, let’s get into Boys in...

Simone Read What? – January ’20

Happy 2020! We have officially made it through the first month of a new decade. Isn’t the passage of time wild?

For this year, I’ve set my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal to 60 books. That’s up from last year’s goal of 48, where I actually ended up reading 50. So I figured, hey, what’s ten more books?Knowing me, I’ll probably regret that later in the year, but for now… I’m gonna give it my best shot.

For January, I also wanted to make a (tiny) dent in my physical TBR pile. I’m talking about...

Why I Decided to Take Down All That is Gold

At the end of January, I’m going to be taking down a story of mine from Wattpad that has been posted there since 2015.

That story is All That is Gold, a fun, messy, satirical take on a high school hierarchy that used to bring me such joy. These days, though? No joy to be found, not an ounce in sight. And if I’ve learned anything from the lovely Marie Kondo, it’s to get rid of the things that don’t bring you joy.

It makes me really sad that I can’t feel joyful about that story anymore. Was it...

My Favorite Reads of 2019

Ah, 2019. Another year (almost) gone. It was… a time. Some of it was great, some of it not-so-great. But you know whatwas great? The number of books I managed to read!

50 books, y’all! I’m so proud of myself! Just a couple years ago, I was barely managing to read 10 books, if that. So the fact that I managed to hit 50 in 2019 makes me so happy. I love reading and I feel like I missed out on so much during the time where I barely had the energy to pick up a book.

I also really enjoyed having...

Simone Read What? – December ’19

I did it, y’all!! I hit my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal! Actually, considering I read more than my goal, I totally smashed it. Heck yes! Gimme a high five!

I’d like to thank the several 4-hour long train rides I had this year, the delayed flights, and the ebook section of my public library. Those are the MVPs that allowed me to read 50 books this year. Without them, I never would have gotten this far.

Ahem, anyway.

I’ll be doing a round-up post for all of my favorite reads of 2019, but...