Sara Martin's Blog, page 5

He was the boss from hell... until he wasn't. Pre-order now!

Dear reader,

The pre-order for Clashing with the CEO is finally live! This enemies to lovers, slow burn romance follows Milly as she navigates a complicated relationship with her stern boss, Neil, after a workplace shakeup.

I have been teasing this book for months now, and even though I still don't have a firm release date set, I wanted to put the pre-order up so that I have a link to direct people to. The pre-order says August 2024, but that is just a placeholder date. I do intend to release soon...

Cats, chickens, and house sitting headaches

Dear reader,

It’s day four of house sitting at T’s parents’ house out of a total of eight weeks. I had an emotional breakdown a couple of days prior to coming, because I was so upset and stressed about having to leave my house for such a huge amount of time.

We’re often asked to house sit for relatives and friends of relatives, but eight weeks is the longest period we’ve ever had to do—by far.

Usually, when we're asked to house sit, it's framed as, "Because our house is so much nicer than yours, we...

Morning walks/thoughts

Photo by Spurwing Agency on Unsplash

Dear reader,

Still in a slump. Sigh. Morning walks are helping a bit. I get up at 7:30 a.m., have breakfast, huddle up in a warm jacket (it’s winter here), and head out. I walk around the same loop everyday because it’s quiet, away from the morning traffic. The area is industrial, with tons of small businesses. My breath comes out in puffs of mist. The walk only takes about ten minutes. Exercise isn’t the purpose. It’s to get some natural light into my eyeballs...

Rediscovering the joy of audiobooks 🎧📚

Photo by Samuel Rios on Unsplash

Dear reader,

I’ve been having a mid-year slump. Sigh. After that little phase of bad health, I’m struggling to get back into my daily routine. Writing, reading, and exercise habits have fallen to the wayside, while sleepiness, procrastination, and lack of attention have reigned supreme.

One good thing to emerge from fighting this slump: I’ve rediscovered audiobooks. I’ve lacked the brain power to read physical books and ebooks for some time now, but audiobooks are m...

5 fun things cheering me up right now

Hello dear reader,

Lately I’ve been recovering from a mysterious illness which presents itself as a pounding heart, shortness of breath, and a loss of appetite. Had some tests done, and my doctor found nothing wrong except for my increased heart rate (it has since settled). I do feel mostly better now, so I doubt it’s anything serious. Apart from that, I’m okay! How are you?

On a more cheerful note, I want to share with you some of the things that are bringing me joy in my life right now.

Photo by ...

Discovering a new guilty pleasure: Hammer movies

It was winter solstice here in the southern hemisphere on Thursday. I decided to make a new tradition in my household to mark the occasion. T jokingly suggested mulled wine (we don’t drink alcohol), but a hot beverage seemed like a good idea.

And thus, my new winter solstice tradition was born: homemade hot chocolate. This is the recipe I used.

Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash

Along with the hot chocolate, I made these delicious peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and we settled in for th...

Clashing with the CEO cover reveal 👀

Just a quick update today to reveal my cover design!

This cover was designed by Sylvia Frost at the Book Brander. So pretty! 😍

In case you’re not up to date, Clashing with the CEO is my upcoming enemies to lovers office romance set in Auckland, NZ.

This is my first outing into billionaire/CEO romance, and it won’t be my last.

Unlike my last series, this book is not K-drama themed, however it’s still K-drama inspired (I think all of my future books will be 😅).

I haven't set a release date yet... Hones...

Writing update and cover peek

⚠️ANNOUNCEMENT⚠️ My print book prices are going up. If you want to buy them at current prices, you have one week left to do so before I put the prices up. This is to cover an increase in printing costs.

Note: Bit of a ramble about my writing process today 😅 Keep scrolling and you’ll find a sneak peek of my cover design below.

Every phone call with my parents these days, my mum asks, “When’s the book coming out?” I tell her I’m still working on it, and I haven’t set a release date yet. At that poin...

Movies vs. books

T and I at his film showcase event

Once upon a time, I aspired to have a career in film/TV rather than writing books. I even majored in television at uni. But in the end, I discovered that I didn’t have enough passion for the industry and gave up on it, taking on a career in marketing and media instead. A few years later, I stumbled upon the world of indie publishing, and my path became clear. After all, fiction writing was my first love. Returning to the page felt so right.

My partner is a filmma...

This book is helping me out of a reading slump

Gather around. It's (true) story time.

When I was a kid, sometimes my parents would take me and my brother to the office where several of their friends worked. Other parents also brought their kids along. The children would play together while the adults had their after work drinks.

One day, us kids were playing in the building’s elevator, mucking around, pressing random buttons, when suddenly, the BACK of the elevatory opened. It was a double-sided elevator! That was crazy enough, but even crazie...