Anna Tan's Blog, page 67

#fridayflash: Flame of the North (excerpt)

I was going to skip #fridayflash this week having been so busy finishing up the novella submission, but I thought I'd give you a sneak preview into my upcoming short story, Flame of the North!
It's a continuation to  When Winds Blow Cold , so if you haven't already read that one, you can sign up for my mailing list to get a free copy! 
I'm also going to be giving out free ARCs for review, so stay tuned. =D
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Mica, son of the Sun and Snow, was miserable. His father had lef...

#bookreview: The Illusory Prophet | @susankayequinn

The Illusory Prophet by Susan Kaye Quinn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

TBH, I'm just sitting here going what? Whaaaatttt? over and over again. (But which doesn't give you a coherent overview of the book.)

So, I spent the first half of the book being annoyed at Elijah Brighton because I hate waffly main characters who can't decide who they are and what they want. Like GET ON WITH IT. And I was getting a little upset with Quinn because WHYYYYY are you doing this. I thought you're better than this!

But th...

#fridayflash: Yì Bin and the dragon

Today's flash is a snippet from my current WIP, which I may or may not finish in time to submit to TOR. *eyes word count; glares at calendar*

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A long time ago, when your great-grandfather, Yì Bin, was a young man seeking fame and fortune, he set off to seek a dragon. His grandfather, our venerable ancestor, had been a Dragon Master before him, and Bin was adamant that he would be one too. So he packed his bag, bid his family goodbye and left on his quest.

According to the practice of the time...

#bookreview: Awakening | @susankayequinn

A short review of a short story this time because I'm in the middle of writing something! (Was supposed to review something else, but it's too long to read at the moment.)

Awakening by Susan Kaye Quinn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I took a little while to get into this - not entirely sure why. It's a short read; I'd count it more in the short-story length but it's described as a novella so I guess it falls somewhere in-between. Maybe I read really fast because it ends too soon.

Awakening starts off a...

#musicmonday: You Are Loved | Stars Go Dim

- you don't have to prove yourself -

I thought this was a good reminder to start the year with. 2017 isn't about proving yourself. It's about getting things done. 

2016: a year in review

In preparation to write my year in review post, I went back through my archives and realised that I've actually been doing this for a long time.

Here are the previous year-in-review posts:
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015

So... what can we say about 2016?
Click to enlarge
Starting with the blog, simple maths says that this blog has garnered 48.6K views this year, which really goes to show that last year was an anomaly. And because I have apparently rediscovered my love for analysing figures and making graphs,...

#fridayflash: gates

We were talking over the gate; a strange sort of place to have a conversation, if you ask me. But there I was, leaning over it--it was closed. Locked, like the door of my heart, you could say--and he was ruffling his hair, shuffling his feet, and well, talking, while his car was still running--though idling might be the better word. Which was interesting, to say the least, because we'd been in places together before, with no hurry, and my mouth would be running and his would be shut.

"But yeah...

Merry Christmas!

#becomesslightlylessgrinchy

#bookreview: Flood and Fire | Deirdra Eden

Flood and Fire by Deirdra Eden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Watchers series starts off with a spunky 13-year-old Auriella in Knight of Light, a struggling 19-year-old Auriella in Hidden Fire and now an immortal (I guess 60+ but she's immortal so who cares) Auriella in Flood and Fire.

If I were to summarise this third book in one sentence, it would be this: Auriella does a Bella.

Okay, fine. My review may have a 90% chance of being affected by Christmas grinchiness (sorry, reviewers are emotional t...

Enough is enough.

The most I can say is that I am tired and drained.
I'll try to keep up the last few book posts, but everything else will be on hiatus.

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At any rate, I 'm crazy enough to think writing a 40K novella for Tor submissions next month is possibly worth it.
Make that in 3 weeks.
I did nano, didn't I? (but that didn't need to be good enough to be submitted, eek.)

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Also, short story needs to come out soon; it's written, just needs editing. And a cover. But, TIME.

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I can't wait for Christmas to be over...