Yolanda Sfetsos's Blog, page 22

The Revision is Done!

Hey! How are you today?
Well, it's Friday. The 1st of September. The first day of spring. And the coldest day we've had for a while.
I went for a nice and long walk earlier and the wind chilled me to the bone. 🥶
Anyway, enough about the weather.
This turned out to be another busy week for me. The final read-thru usually is. It's when I sit down with my Paperwhite and read the story from start to finish. Doing this always highlights repetition, sentences that are too long, or awkward wording. Things ...

More Revision!

Hey! How are you?
Well, the sun is shining and it's Friday, so that's very cool. What did you get up to this week? Anything exciting?
My week turned out to be quite hectic. As you already know from last week's post, I'm in the middle of revising a novella. But early this week, I had to divide my time between two projects. I had to add an edit for a different novella, followed by the final proofread. 
So, yeah, super busy. Kinda mentally exhausting too, but I don't mind because I enjoy spending time...

Revision Time!

Hey! How are you today? I know I'm a little late, but welcome to August. Yay.
I have big plans for August. ☺️
As you already know (because I posted about it) I finished writing a novella during the first week of this month. Then, I took a week off to read and have a small mental break. But I got back into writing this week.
After spending about eighteen months revising a bunch of first drafts that I kept abandoning for years, I made a promise to myself. That I'll never put projects away for longer ...

MY FIRST BOOK OF GIRL POWER by Julie Merberg

 

My First Book of Girl Power by Julie Merberg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My husband found this book today while we were thrifting, and of course we had to buy it. I mean, it's a book about girl power featuring a bunch of very cool women who also happen to be superheroes.

I think this is a terrific way of introducing comic book heroes to kids. I think both girls and boys would benefit from reading this. Little girls so they can feel represented, and little boys so they learn early that it's not only ...

KINDRED by Octavia E. Butler

 

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've had this book on my TBR pile for a while. It was one I found during our pre-Covid thrifting. So, I decided to see if I liked the sounds of it... and once I started, I couldn't stop reading.

On her twenty-sixth birthday, Dana is transported from her comfortable life in 1976 to another time. A time in history when white people used slaves and didn't much value anything or anyone. While she struggles to find the reason why this is happening,...

SCARLETT by Brian Bowyer

 

SCARLETT by Brian Bowyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I picked this up and read it in one sitting. Yes, it's that good!

Myla's had a bad year and pretty much lost everyone she cared about. At least she's still got her job, which is how she ends up getting back into dating. With some unexpected consequences...

As soon as I started reading this novelette, it hooked me in. I felt so bad for Myla because she suffered a lot of heartache and loss in the last year. No wonder she has trust issues and isn't k...

REAL LIFE SUCKS LOSERS DRY by Cassandra Daucus

 

Real Life Sucks Losers Dry by Cassandra Daucus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked up a copy of this novella the other day and was looking forward to reading it. I mean, look at that awesome cover. And how can I resist a book named after a quote from Heathers? I love that movie!

When Blade—Archibald to everyone but himself—meets the new girl in school, he's totally smitten. Chrissy is different and she actually likes him. Listens to him. And even though she keeps him at a safe distance, she does ma...

D&D DUNGEON CLUB: ROLL CALL by Molly Knox Ostertag

 

Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Club: Roll Call by Molly Knox Ostertag
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have to admit that I'm not a huge D&D fan and have never actually played the game. But between Stranger Things and the Dungeons & Dragons movie, I've managed to enjoy D&D from an outsider's perspective.

So when we found this graphic novel for a bargain price over the weekend, we picked it up. And I thought I'd give it a go.

Olivia and Jess are best friends who attend middle school. They're also D&D fans a...

E.T. by Arie Kaplan & Chris Fennell + JAWS by Geof Smith & Kaysi Smith + BACK TO THE FUTURE by Arie Kaplan & Meg Dunn

 

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Funko Pop!) by Arie Kaplan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was really young when E.T. was released back in the 80s, and I went to the cinema to watch the movie. I never forgot this adorable alien, or the human friends who loved him enough to help him find his way home. 😢

The story contained within the pages of this adorable Little Golden Book might be simplified, but it still captures the magic and wonder that E.T. always brings out in me. The illustrations are beautiful an...

A little (unexpected) writing...

 

How are you today?

Well, I didn't expect to be posting any sort of update this early in the month, but productivity hits when it wants to. LOL.

As the title states, I wasn't planning on starting a new writing project this month. Instead, my plan was to revise the novella I wrote in June. I mean, I would still like to tackle this revision, but had to push it back a bit.

During one of my daily afternoon walks a few weeks ago, a new story idea struck. It's an unexpected tale that came out of nowhere....