Yolanda Sfetsos's Blog, page 11

Some Kind of Goals

HAPPY NEW YEAR! ☺️🎉

I hope that 2025 is an awesome year for all of us.
For me, January usually feels like a clean slate, but this year I'm carrying forward a project.
In the past, by the time December hits, I'm mentally exhausted and stop working on new stuff. But this past December, I started writing a new novel even though I knew there was no way I'd get it finished by December 31st. 😅
Either way, I'm still going to add a list of personal plans and goals right here. I don't like to make New Year r...

Books Read in 2024

THE LOVER:Silvia Moreno-Garcia
THE TIGER CAME TO THE MOUNTAINS:Silvia Moreno-Garcia
HER HEART BEATS FOR ANCIENT BEASTS:Calvin Demmer
OPEN HOUSE:Nico Bell
BLACK VAULT:Alma Katsu
MANDY:Stephanie Sparks
THROUGH THE BLUR:Yolanda Sfetsos
HELENA:Claire L. Smith
TRUE CRIME:Samantha Kolesnik
BLEEDING INTO NEW WORLDS:Sarah Jane Huntington
PIRANESI (DNF):Susanna Clarke
BARREN COVE:Ariel S. Winter
THE CRANE HUSBAND:Kelly Barnhill
IN EXCESS OF DARK:Red Lagoe
WINGS OF SORROW:Yolanda Sfetsos
GOBLIN MONDAY(Goosebumps House o...

2024 Goals

Well, it's time to grab the goals list I put together/posted back in January, to see how I went.

This year turned out to be a very strange one. Lots of cool stuff happened, and some not-very cool stuff happened as well. Some shitty people revealed themselves and some disappointing crap went down, but I'm not going to concentrate on that mess because as a result, my first self-published book is now available and I'm SO PROUD of it. Yay! 🥳

Anyway, here's how this year turned out:

Go for long daily wa...

More words added...

Hey! How are you today? I hope you're all having an awesome and safe festive season.

We're now in the middle of that liminal time between Christmas and New Year's, which always feels a little strange. Something about this particular time of the year seems... unreal. But unlike every other year, when I usually wander around aimlessly, I'm actually still writing a story.

So, this week was pretty cool. My husband worked two days, had two days off, went to work on Friday, and now the weekend is here a...

Busy, busy...

Hey there! How are you today? As I mentioned in the title, this week was a busy one.

Last Saturday we got the latest Covid booster (finally available in Oz) and had to take it easy over the weekend because of the usual side effects: headache, sore arm, tired, sleepy. We had plenty of snacks, stayed hydrated, and took several naps. Almost a week later, I think that the hardest parts are over. Well, I did wake up with a killer headache this morning that eventually subsided, but sucked a lot of ener...

REAP, SOW by S.H. Cooper

Reap, Sow by S.H. Cooper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This week, I got the chance to read an ARC of this awesome novelette, and I was hooked instantly.

When Lucky finds herself inside a long corridor with closed doors that have no handles and faceless people who hunt her down, she doesn't know what's going on. But as her family members start showing up, the past returns with a vengeance...

Wow. This story is as dark as it is fantastic. I enjoyed every minute of it and loved how the mystery started to u...

Cover Reveal!

The other day, Cemetery Gates Media revealed the cover for my debut short story collection, MELANCHOLY DELUSIONS, and I think it's time to post it here.
Take a look at this beauty:

 Isn't it AMAZING? I think it's fantastic!
This gorgeous piece of art captures the essence of my short story collection, which features different characters leading strange and dark lives. But all of them find themselves in weird/bizarre situations.
Luke Spooner/Carrion House did such an awesome job, and I can't stop look...

More words?

Yep!
So, how are ya on this fine Friday the 13th? I didn't think I'd be writing a blog post this week because December is supposed to be my mental break month.
I mean, it's the end of the year and I'm usually exhausted by this point, so I prefer to spend my time reading and spring cleaning. Thinking about new ideas...

Yet, in typical 2024-style, that's not what happened.

Instead of sitting back and taking it easy after finishing the first draft of a novel last month, I ended up spending the beginnin...

TROG by Zachary Ashford

Trog by Zachary Ashford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Firstly, I want to thank Zachary for sending me an ARC of his upcoming novella.

After a traumatic ordeal in the city, Aisha's parents decide to relocate to a property in the middle of nowhere to keep her out of danger. What they don't know is that something is imprisoned beneath their new house, and that danger isn't limited to the city...

Wow. This novella is an action-packed, chaotic creature feature full of interesting characters, terrifying situa...

Thinking & Adding

Hey, how's it going? 
December is here and for us, that means that the temperature is heating up. That's right, our festive season is in the middle of summer, so we've been having some super hot days this week. And that leads to a bunch of storms. It's actually raining today and when we went to bed, a thunderstorm was raging outside.
I don't mind thunderstorms and rainstorms. Unless I get caught in the downpour, which happened to me last Friday. 😖
Well, this week turned out to be a bit wobbly, whic...