Meri Benson's Blog, page 12

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Just in time for Halloween, a new spooky short!

The Reaping

While their parents are away Katie and Josh watch as a dark storm rolls into town. With it, strange shadows lurking outside their window can be seen outside the house.

What are the strange shadows outside the in the rain?

Are Katie and Josh just jumping at shadows?

Find out in this creepy, short read just in time for Halloween.

You can find the book HERE for purchase or free to read on Kindle Unlimited!

Where oh where did October go?

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I do not know where my month has gone. I’ve been elbow deep in a werewolf story all month, pushing to get it written before November arrives. It’s one less story that’s off my mind while I strive for 50,000 words in 30 days.

The weeknights have been what have caused me to lag a bit, and it’s something I need to work out before November gets here because there are no excuses for my November daily word count and it must be achieved.

I’m close to the end, so I am pretty confident I can get it done before November. And I’m slowly working on planning out my November story so it’s ready to go on the 1st.

Reading is going slow but is going. I’ll get that updated soon. Mostly I’m just super focused on my current WIP and the planning for my November WIP. I have faith for getting November done and getting a win!

And this is going to be a super quick update because I need to get back to writing. Plus, aside from being elbow deep in words, I nothing else is happening. Like literally, my last two weekends I’ve been locked in my room writing.

When not writing, I binged Haunted and The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix, and caught up on all but the final two episodes Wynonna Earp. And to be fair, I wrote while watching Wynonna Earp, so multitasking for the win there.

Are you ready for NaNo? Are you a pantser or a planner? Let me know in the comments!

Also, if you want to be my writing buddy on NaNo’s website, my name is MerisCorner.

September Wrap-Up / October TBR

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So, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these. I went through a stage where I hadn’t been reading as much, and when I was it tended to be absolutely nothing off my TBR list. And so doing the lists fell by the wayside for a while.

But.

and I do mean BUT!

I’m picking them back up again. Dusting them off gently. And refreshing them so they are 100% doing well again.

Now, not to date my poor TBR list, but back in May *coughs softly* I had set myself a list to read. And SOME of it ended up being read. About 50% of it if we’re being honest.

The books I finished in August and September are:

Twisted gifts by Jessi Elliott
The Elite by Kiera Cass
Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau
Doppelganger by Alyssa Drake
Daughter of Persephone by Helen Scott
Vicious by VE Schwab
Tasting Gretel by Lidiya Foxglove
Prisoner of Silk by Lidiya Foxglove

Three of those books were on my May TBR list. But overall seven books is nothing to shake a stick at for reading purposes and all. And to be fair to me, Stalking Jack the Ripper would have been read if I could have found the book. I remember finding it when I was cleaning, but I was reading something else so I put it aside for later. After finishing the book, I went back to grab Stalking and it was gone. -_-

So, the May TBR that was not complete was:

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Chosen by Harlow Thomas & Anastasia Jones

For An Ember in the Ashes, it was less I didn’t want to read it and more, my Mother has a kindle that’s attached to my library and she’s currently reading it (63% done with it) so I’m going to wait until she’s done before I try and read it. If that happens in October and I am doing good on my TBR list I may dive into it. Otherwise, it will be back on my list in November.

For October I only have five books on it officially, and then there are two that are on it, if I finish my list early and still have some October left.

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
Hope in Paris by Donnalyn Vojta
Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

The two maybe’s are:

Escaping From Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaar Tahir

For Stalking, I’m planning to borrow it from the library so I can read it if I can’t find my hard copy. I don’t want to have to buy it again if I don’t need to, and I already know that the moment – and I do mean the moment – that I purchase a new copy and get three chapters in the original copy will magically appear and be all ‘what, I was just chillin’ next to this chair you checked by seventy times’. Because that’s always how it goes. The dragons and/or the ghost of my dad – or both teaming up together – have a very twisted sense of humor.

Writing wise, I have two shorts that I’d like to get finished, one a dragon story and one a werewolf story. As well, I have my Prep’Tober work to do so I’m ready and Prepared for NaNoWrioMo in *checks calendar* 30 days.

Currently, my NaNo project has the main characters name, nickname, minor description, her two brothers have names, and the town has a name and the center of town has a layout. oh! and the series itself (it’s a collection of 12-13 shorts) has a name!

I have a vague idea of where I’m going to start for plot and the like for each short, but nothing concrete, nothing set in stone, and nothing that will make sure I can get myself through the month with actual words on the page. But, I have a few weeks to get it there. I have goals! And they shall nay be ignored! =)

What are you reading for this October season? Are you participating in NaNo next month? Are you ready for NaNo next month? Leave me an answer in the comments below!

Book Review: Twisted Gift by Jessi Elliott

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Author: Jessi Elliott 

Publisher: Jessi Elliott

Series: Twisted #2

Genre: Urban Fantasy (New Adult Romance)

Release Date: September 21, 2018

Rating: 5 Stars

Find Twisted Gift on GoodReads

WARNING – There may be Spoilers for Twisted Fate (Book 1). Pick up a copy here before you continue with this review of book 2!

Let me start out with the fact that I have been pining for this book since I finished Twisted Fate. The way Aurora and Tristan ended up leaving things kind of broke my heart. So to say that I needed to know what had happened to them, so the anticipation of this book was nothing short of zomg where is it excitement.

Becoming Fae was never something that Aurora planned for, and hadn’t expected. But life didn’t leave much in the way of arguing for Aurora after she killed the leader of the light fae and took on his powers, becoming that leader herself. Suddenly she’s forced to figure out how to feed, how to use her powers, and how to manage the emotions of those around her when she can barely hold onto and manage her own as her world shifts upside down.

Not to mention that while she’s adjusting, the world continues to turn and the war between the light and dark fae rages on.

Wanting to help the fae find peace, Aurora swallows her pain and agrees to work with Tristan despite all the emotions and memories doing so brings up. But when they come together to end the war and bring their people together, they find that there are twisted creatures lurking in the dark.

Everything I loved about Twisted Fate is present in Twisted Gift. Realistic characters with heart-wrenching pain and smiling inducing happiness, captivating plot, and addictive prose. I devoured this book, never wanting to put it down for fear of taking too long to find out what happens next.

The story picked up effortlessly from book one, while still carving its own path of enjoyment. The plot was well wrapped up by the end of the book, as was the overarching storyline for the characters between the two books. I recommend picking up a copy if you love a good romance story, good urban fantasy, and a bit of magic.

I can’t wait to see what Jessi will publish next!

Disclaimer: I did receive an arc of the book in exchange for my honest, unbiased opinion. All thoughts are my own, and were not colored for receiving the arc.

Remember to find Twisted Gift on GoodReads

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Synopsis

Being the new leader of the light fae really puts a dent in your post-grad plans.

Aurora, once a snarky business major, struggles to adjust to fae life—and the diet of human energy that comes with it. A change made worse by the overwhelming ability to feel the emotions of everyone around her, especially when she can barely manage her own.

Agreeing to work with her dark fae counterpart, Tristan, in an attempt to bring peace between their people is a painful reminder of how strong they are together. Even still, Aurora fights the urge to keep her distance. She needs to be sure what she feels for him is real, and not a result of the former light fae leader’s manipulation as a part of his plan to eliminate Tristan.

Aurora thought she’d encountered the worst thing since early morning lectures when she stumbled into the world of the fae. She’s about to find out that they may not be the most twisted creatures out there.

Available September 21st

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Amazon | iBooks | KOBO | Signed Paperback

TWISTED FATE (Book 1) IS ON SALE FOR 0.99c!

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Amazon | iBooks | KOBO

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | GoodReads | YouTube

Jessi Elliott is a law clerk and author of both young adult and new adult romantic fiction. Her love of writing was born after many years of reading and reviewing books on her blog.

She lives in Southwestern Ontario with her adorable cat, Phoebe. Yes, named after the Friends character.

When she’s not plotting her next writing project, she likes to spend her time hanging with friends and family, getting lost in a steamy romance novel, watching Friends, and drinking coffee.

You can find Jessi at www.jessielliott.com, on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can join her newsletter to stay up to date on book news and upcoming releases.

Join her Facebook reader group, Jessi Elliott’s Twisted Sweethearts, for exclusive news, promos, review opportunities, and giveaways!

Feelin’ Accomplished

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I just updated my little bookshelf with the books I’ve read this year and realized that to last the rest of the year I’m going to have to extend the little drawn bookshelf to the next page. It’s lucky that I left it blank just in case. I had enough books on the shelf for my GoodRead’s challenge of 24 books, but I’ve surpassed that this month. And I have high hopes and goals for the remaining months of the year to get through lots more books.

My writing has been slow the last month or so. I’ve been feeling under the weather, so I’ve been focusing on reading and resting versus plotting and writing. Though lots of plotting needs to start because I fully intend to participate in NaNoWriMo this year.

I have started some of my planning for NaNo. As I mentioned before, I’m going to be a rebel and do a collection of shorts instead of one Novel. I finally figured out the overall theme of each of the shorts in the collection. Now I just need to work out the plot for each of the individual shorts. I’m getting there and I should be done in plenty of time to settle into November and my massive word demands. =)

I know this has been a short update, but I don’t have too much to report past plotting for NaNo and my reading. I was under the weather, but I’m getting better and so there’s not too much to report there. Work has been super stressful as well, which hasn’t helped me to keep up on everything. I have a backlog of reviews I want to get up and out, so I’m hoping to work on those this week and see if I can get them scheduled.

I have a review coming out tomorrow, super excited for it. So definitely be sure to come back for that!

New Fall, who dis?

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Can you believe that it’s Fall?

I mean, ignore the fact that it’s been like 80/90 degrees – way too warm for the sweater weather it’s supposed to be. Though it’s started to rain a lot this week, so that may be slowly settling where it should be.

September means school is back in session. There are no Holidays from work until Thanksgiving in November. I have two months to finish planning for NaNoWriMo. And at some point, when the trees stop believing it’s summer, there will be pretty colors all around before they fall to the ground. Though, my poor Maple Trees already have that fungus that grows on them when it’s too wet in the season. Hopefully, it will clear up so I can get some good photos of the color change though.

With school back in session, I’m busier than ever at my job. Especially because the day I intended to write this blog post and get it up, the entire University had a power surge that took out the computers for a bit, took out the internet for a couple hours, and has left a string of issues in its wake. A brand new phone, it was legit installed last week new, is now dead because of it and needs to be replaced. One of my graduate student’s computers hard drive is now dead because of it – and this computer was bought in August. Thankfully because both are brand new, they’re both under warranty to have replaced.

It’s left a lot of running to fix problems the last couple days. I’m finally winding down enough to think straight and focus on a few things other than work.

I’m currently working out a series of shorts that I plan to get a jump start on during NaNo. That’s right, I’m going to be a rebel! I’m looking to do three 20K shorts during NaNo instead of one 50K novel. It does, though, mean that my goal for NaNo will be approximately 10K longer than the official goal though, so in a way I’m paying for being a rebel by having to work a little harder to get there. But I think, with a solid plan on what I’m doing and where I’m going, that it’s completely doable.

I’m also thinking of participating in PenTober.

What is PenTober? Well, if you’ve ever been on Instagram or Twitter, you’ll probably know of the InkTober event where artists are given a list of prompts, one for every day in October, and they draw something related to that prompt. PenTober is similar, except we’re not drawing – we’re writing.

The goal is to write 500 words or less, every day. Ideally incorporating the prompt for the day, but the organizer’s main goal is to just get everyone writing every day.

For more information, you can check out their website here.

Labor day weekend I wandered around and hit two used bookstores. The books I scored copies of are in the photo above. Overall, I think it’s a pretty awesome haul of new things. And, I’m sure you’re going, but you haven’t updated your TBR list since May, but have no fear. I’m slowly working on that list now. I’m halfway through The Elite as I type this. So while the current May TBR stands for September, there WILL be a new TBR for October.

Speaking of October and TBRs. If you have any creepy horror novel suggestions for me to give a try during the spooky month, please be sure to drop them in the comments! I’d love some more haunting reads for the upcoming month.

Cover Reveal: Twisted Gift by Jessi Elliott & Giveaway!

TITLE: Twisted Gift
SERIES: Twisted #2
GENRE: Urban Fantasy (New Adult Romance)
RELEASE DATE: September 21, 2018

 

GOODREADS LINK

 

SYNOPSIS

Being the new leader of the light fae really puts a dent in your post-grad plans.

Aurora, once a snarky business major, struggles to adjust to fae life—and the diet of human energy that comes with it. A change made worse by the overwhelming ability to feel the emotions of everyone around her, especially when she can barely manage her own.

Agreeing to work with her dark fae counterpart, Tristan, in an attempt to bring peace between their people is a painful reminder of how strong they are together. Even still, Aurora fights the urge to keep her distance. She needs to be sure what she feels for him is real, and not a result of the former light fae leader’s manipulation as a part of his plan to eliminate Tristan.

Aurora thought she’d encountered the worst thing since early morning lectures when she stumbled into the world of the fae. She’s about to find out that they may not be the most twisted creatures out there.

 

 PRE-ORDER

AMAZON | iBOOKS | KOBO | SIGNED PAPERBACK

 

TWISTED FATE IS ON SALE FOR 99c!

AMAZON | iBOOKS | KOBO

GIVEAWAY

Prize: Kindle Copies of Twisted Fate + Twisted Gift

Rafflecopter Link

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessi Elliott is a law clerk and author of both young adult and new adult romantic fiction. Her love of writing was born after many years of reading and reviewing books on her blog.She lives in Southwestern Ontario with her adorable cat, Phoebe. Yes, named after the Friends character.

When she’s not plotting her next writing project, she likes to spend her time hanging with friends and family, getting lost in a steamy romance novel, watching Friends, and drinking coffee.

You can find Jessi at www.jessielliott.com, on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can join her newsletter to stay up to date on book news and upcoming releases.

Join her Facebook reader group, Jessi Elliott’s Twisted Sweethearts, for exclusive news, promos, review opportunities, and giveaways!

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | GOODREADS | YOUTUBE

Birthday Week

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It almost doesn’t seem like it should be Monday yet. However, here we are. Not only is it Monday, but it’s almost the end of Monday before I’m getting to this post. Mondays are always the worst at work, coming back from the weekend and all the fires. So it’s always slower to get to non-work things even during lunch.

I was able to get my current WIP typed up and ready for working on, however, Saturday I had my cousin’s engagement party to go to and that pretty much took the day. And Sunday I ended up with a super bad migraine and sleeping a third of my afternoon away. I’m just glad that I’m feeling better now.

This week, and the rest of this month, I plan to work on my WIP and see about finishing the story so that it can be edited. I was able to do some edits while I was typing up the two chapters I already had written. That felt good too. Soon. Soon it will be finished and out in the world.

And if you can’t tell by the title of my blog, it’s also my birthday week. My birthday is on Friday. I’ve taken the day off work so I can enjoy it because I almost always have to work it and I wanted to not have to worry about that this year. Just take some me time. I might write, I might play video games – I’ve fallen back into World of Warcraft recently so I’m trying to catch up on all my questing before I get the newest expansion pack. Just so I’m not overwhelmed with the new content before I really finish the content I already have. Yes, I’m on Legion currently, if you know WoW. And no, I don’t have a side for which I like better. I have a human rogue and a blood elf rogue. Though, I do play my human a lot more than any other character I have.

Aside from just having a good day, I don’t have any real plans for my birthday. Just something quiet I guess. At some point we’ll do family birthdays so I can celebrate with the family as a whole, and I may see if Mom wants to go out to dinner with me Friday or this weekend, but yeah.

Do you have any birthday traditions you always do on your birthday? Anything special foods you eat? Let me know down in the comments.

Book Review: Cocky Dragon Slayer – an Indie Author Adventure

So there will be three shorts reviewed in this post. With everything going on with trademarks and things, a small group of us got together and wrote Cocky Dragon Slayer stories. Yes, I wrote one too, and you can find that one here. But this review is about the other authors that wrote their own story.

Going into this project, we wanted to show that not only could we work together and share titles – but that the title wouldn’t define the story inside that book so much as the author writing it would. Meaning, just because something shares a title, doesn’t mean it’s the same book or it was copied or stolen. That it can be unique and able to stand on its own. Because this is how you Indie.

 

Author: Maddie Blake [image error]

Publisher: Maddie Blake

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5 Stars

Before the dragon arrived, Kiera thought that the town of Cresent’s Cove was known for the vast library the late king had bequeathed them.  But after a renowned dragon slayer arrives, Kiera realizes that some things might be worse than a potentially fire-breathing creature that flies overhead of her home.

Loved the take on dragons, dragon slayers, and how important a library can truly be! Kiera is fierce in both her quest for knowledge against the dragon that has taken up residence near her town and the protection of the library that she works at. This is a sweet, enjoyable read that I completely recommend.

 

Author: Alicia Chumney [image error]

Publisher: Alicia Chumney

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5 Stars

Ander the dragon has one major goal in her life – protect Princess Lilianna at all costs. When Arnold arrives to fill the shoes of his older brother – a renowned and feared dragon slayer – can Ander help him to see that dragons aren’t bad or a threat to their princesses?

Ander and the Cocky Dragon Slayer is a wonderful and fun read. It takes a fresh, interesting spin on dragons and why they’re always with princesses at castles, and a surprise twist will leave you scratching your head – in all the good ways.

 

 

Author: J’nae Rae Spano [image error]

Publisher: J’nae Rae Spano

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4 Stars

Sephra has a choice. She can accept her fate to bare a War Dragon and become the concubine of his rider, or she can take a stand and battle to become the new Queen Dragon – letting her choose her own fate and live how she wants.

This was a beautiful take on both dragons and dragon slayers. The world building was stunning, the take on where dragons originated from, how they worked in this word was fresh and interesting, and Sephra was stunning as our main character.

Clinging to Health

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So my immune system pretty much handed my ass to me a day after I got back from my vacation. There’s nothing a boss loves more than having someone come back from vacation for a day before being out for two more due to sick, believe me.

So first, my vacation. I went camping. A week, Sunday – Sunday, of camping. Tents, air mattresses, limited to no cell service, camping. The first couple days weather wise were good. Then it rained. Then it got ungodly hot. And I was able to come home.

This trip has fully made me realize that while I used to love camping, I can’t do it anymore. I have hip and back problems – and I paid a pretty penny for a mattress at home to help with these problems. So sleeping on an air mattress just doesn’t cut it for my body anymore. I also have problems with the heat – I tend to get heat stroke super easily and so I can’t take prolonged exposure to heavy heat. The last two days of the trip the weather was close to 100 in the shade and I felt like I was going to die. And! And. The chigger bites. I looked like I had chicken pox from the knees down on both my legs. It wasn’t fun. And while I love the people I saw on this vacation, I feel like there’s a better way to see them that won’t leave me in itchy hell after.

Last week I was pretty quiet because after coming back and spending two days in my bed, I got sick. Not sure what it was but it had me going home Wednesday with a half day from work and home Thursday to try and sleep it away. I’m still not a 100% right now, mostly phlem in my throat and fatigue that I’m trying to shake. So trying to be productive has been difficult.

I’m drinking lots of fluids, I’m taking some over the counter meds that help to clear up the issues, and mostly I’m getting to bed at a reasonable time to try and get as much rest as I can so my body will get better faster. However, a couple nights ago I couldn’t get my body tired enough to sleep, but my brain was shot so I spent until Midnight on a video game because I just couldn’t get to sleep. It’s up and down, overall. I’m working on it though.

While I was camping, I brought a WIP that needs to be finished. My plan, because it’s been in progress for a while, had been to read and edit it and then be in the right headspace to finish it. It’s literally only a couple chapters from being done. That worked until I got to about chapter 5.

Then, I woke up at 4am one day and my brain refused to let me go back to sleep until I wrote what it wanted. An hour later I had about half a chapter of a brand new WIP. The rest of the week was spent writing on the new WIP. I finished two chapters before I got in the car to come home. My game plan this week is to get it typed up into a document (because with 100-degree weather this was all written in a notebook) and then continue to finish it. I know it’s going to be a short. And thanks to my friend that I discussed it with while I was writing it, I already know that it will have a sequel. I’m not sure if I’ll try to lengthen it past a mini duology set or not. Depends on how I feel after I get the second short done, I think. But yay! I’m hoping to get that short finished by the end of the month and get it out early September, with the second one to follow shortly after.

My WIP list grows every steady as I go. But I’m excited about this short and it’s sequel.

I’m also currently reading an ARC that will have a review posted soon! Super squeeing about that too. So excited to both read it and share my thoughts!

For now, back to the grind of getting everything set up. I can’t believe summer is almost over, the school year is almost back, and everything is zomg.

Are you ready for the school year? Are you ready for Fall? What’s your favorite Fall activity? Leave your answers in the comments below.