S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 34

Paranormal, Fantasy, and Sci-fi Romance Summer Book Fair – Promotion

Wow. I checked on this promotion today and it has over 100 books in it! I see lots of great sci-fi romances here too. Now that summer is almost upon us in the Northern Hemisphere, it's the perfect time to load up your ereader and read by the pool or on your deck… or in bed. I know I'm ready to just lay around and read all summer long.

Check out these Paranormal, Fantasy & Sci-Fi Reads!

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Sunday Update – June 13, 2021

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

The weeks are getting busier as we cruise into the last of school. My kids get out really late this year because they started late in September due to school construction and Covid. I spent most of my week running around doing errands, dropping kids off and picking them up.

It was also a week of soreness for me. The 90-min ride I did last Saturday for the challenge stuck with me all the way to Thursday. I struggled with exercise this week. I still did it, mind you; I just struggled. So that means I need a day (2 actually) off! I’m taking Monday as a rest day. I’ll be doing some long stretches with Peloton for the day. Hannah Corbin has a new 15-min hips stretch and a 15-min upper body stretch. I’ll do both of those and take an Epsom salt bath. Tuesday, I’ll walk the dog but no added strength or core or anything. Wednesday I’ll be back on the bike.

Also this past week, I sent off my Pets in Space novella for proofreading. I got back those proofreading edits, made changes, and sent off the submission to our anthology editor! So that’s fine! Yay! I’m so glad to have it off my plate. Now, I concentrate on Skylar’s book and on audio for HIGH FLYGHT.

FAIR WARNING, I will be taking a “vacation” from both this blog and SFR Station for all of July. I'm going to spend the month working on the Amagi Series (Skylar's books). Finishing off the first book, writing on the second book, and plotting out the whole series. I've been working non-stop since the pandemic began, and I am bone tired. I want to make this series my priority for a bit so I'm going to step back from everything else so I can get this done. I'll also be away on real vacation, so I'll still be updating via Instagram, if you want to follow me there.

Lulu loves to play… at all times.

Doing a basement purge of teas and drinks since I'm in the process of giving up Splenda (sucralose). I'm trying to make healthier decisions about what I put in my body, and I have tried many herbal teas over the years that I just didn't like. This box was gone in an hour.

Softball knitting. Not many more games to play!

I tried out that Voila app everyone is raving about. These made me laugh and laugh.

Took a few hours off this week to sit and read outside when the weather was nice.

And finally, Lulu and me on the deck enjoying the sun together.

Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy.

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Book Chat #71 – Andy Weir

A little Book Chat before the weekend! Posting is light on the blog this month as I get a ton of work done.

PROJECT HAIL MARY by Andy Weir (ebook)

I pre-ordered this one because I loved THE MARTIAN and ARTEMIS, and the story of PROJECT HAIL MARY did not disappoint. It was science and humor and emotion all the way through. I enjoyed the mixed time sequences of the story, jumping back and forth from present to past. I felt like they really kept the story moving. Rocky was my favorite character, of course. And solving the Astrophage mystery was exciting! The ending especially tugged at my heart. It was very satisfying.

I have to make a few notes about the editing of this book, though. (I hate doing this and being negative, but…) I have never seen so many exclamation points in a book in all my life. In a book this size, there should have been 20 to 40, tops. There were maybe 20 on each page. And then using ?! too? No. Just no. I felt like I was being shouted at the entire time. Also there were other mistakes like the wrong sequence of names in a sentence. One sentence started with, “I and the other science leads…” Nope. It should be, “The other science leads and I…” YOU never go first. Ugh. I thought this was published by a traditional publisher. Did they just forget to edit it? I don't know. It took me 70% of the book to finally ignore the exclamation marks. The other stuff just made me groan. It's tough to be an editor and read books like this.

But regardless of the editing (really), I still highly recommend this books if you love science-heavy sci-fi with humor. This one fit the Andy Weir brand.

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Sunday Update – June 6, 2021

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

It's been busy busy busy around here. Between last of school functions and me working on 4 different projects at once, I have had absolutely no free time. The only “free time” I have is at lunch each day, and I use it to read for twenty minutes when I stuff my face with food and then go back to work.

Currently, I'm working on: edits to my Pets in Space novella, the HIGH FLYGHT audiobook, Skylar's Book 1, and building a website for my anthology I'm co-editing. This week, things should lighten up as I'm almost done with the Pets in Space novella.

Otherwise, nothing else is really happening. Softball is still ongoing. The pool is open and we are going on the weekends now. Yay!

It was so cold here last weekend we actually had a fire in the fireplace.

June means Happy Pride Month! I am a proud ally.

Lulu snuggles in for some writing time.

Lulu likes to pick the green beans out of her food and eat them last! Lol.

Oof, I hate when updates happen when I'm trying to write.

Nothing like being exhausted and realizing I still have 85 minutes in the class.

But hey! I reached 8000 minutes on Peloton!

And finally, BACK AT THE POOL! Yay!!

Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy.

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June Romantic Fantasy/Sci-Fi Reads – Promotion

This month, you'll find over 40 romantic fantasy and sci-fi books here! With lots of great reads to choose from, you're bound to find your next favorite author. Be sure to check this out in June!

Check out these Romantic Fantasy/Sci-Fi Reads!

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June 2021 Goals

May blew right past us! And now summer is on the near horizon. Yay!

What happened with May's Goals

Finish my Pets in Space novella. It's done! And my readers have given me feedback. So next up is revisions and copy edits.

Start Skylar's novel, the beginning of the Amagi Series. I've got the first act done! And I know what's going to happen now. I will try to finish it in June.

Finish the audiobook for FIRST FLYGHT! This is done! Also BROKEN FLYGHT is done now as well!

Build my anthology website. This is still not done. Sigh.

Continue on with SFR Station. Did, done.

Keep up with the Spring Power Zone Pack Challenge. I am in a lot better shape than I thought I was.

Continue with fasting. I kept up with my intermittent fasting! Most weeks I managed to do extended fasting on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Audiobooks, reading, and knitting. Reading and knitting, yes. I have been reading a lot and knitting at softball games. But audiobooks have fallen by the wayside while I work on my own audiobooks.

June Goals

Finish editing my Pets in Space novella and send it off. I'm going to finish this book and send it in early. I want to have it off my plate so I can stop worrying about it in the back of my head.

Finish Skylar's novel, the beginning of the Amagi Series. I'm going to keep writing on this and finish it off this month.

Finish the audiobooks for HIGH FLYGHT and LOST FLYGHT. I'll start selling the audiobooks once HIGH FLYGHT is done but I plan to also do LOST FLYGHT this month too.

Build my anthology website. We've signed contracts with the authors, so this is going forward! That means it needs a website.

Continue on with SFR Station. The usual needs doing here.

Keep up with the Spring Power Zone Pack Challenge. It's almost done!

Continue with fasting. I just need to keep on keeping on.

Audiobooks, reading, and knitting. Continue my commitment to reading and knitting! Hopefully get in an audiobook.

Snuggle more with Lulu. As the photo on this post suggests, I need to take a little more time each day to relax with my dog. She's a great stress reliever.

That's it! Have a great month everyone!

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Happy Memorial Day Weekend 2021!

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

The Sunday Post is early this week because it's a holiday weekend coming up and I'd like to take Sunday off. A novel idea, I know. Lol.

We had another busy week here. We were out of our house on Monday and Monday night because we got the attic spray-foam insulated. It sucked to have to stay in a hotel for a night and board Lulu, but we made it work. I think I'm still tired from barely sleeping that night! There was a band concert and more softball, of course. More writing for me and working on my BROKEN FLYGHT audiobook, which is almost complete.

We're heading into the Memorial Day weekend when we usually go to the pool. But the weather is not looking good for Saturday and possibly Sunday too. I hope we'll be able to go on Monday. We'll see.

Band concert on Monday night. The littlest child had a solo!

A hawk sat on top of the school and watched the concert too.

More softball and knitting.

A photo from the hotel bathroom.

Working from my car, of course.

And I managed to get an hour, outside and reading, with my feet up earlier this week. That was nice. I wish I could have that every day!

Have a fabulous holiday weekend to those in the States! Have a great weekend everyone else! I'll be back next week with monthly goals and other such fun posts.

Stay safe and stay healthy!

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Sunday Update – May 23, 2021

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

It was a long week of knitting and softball for me every night but Friday. We had two away games and two home games, and I handled all four of them. I also spent almost every day running errands or picking up kids and dropping them off places. It was busy and by the time Saturday rolled around, I felt like I had been run over by a truck. I got up early on Saturday too, to do my Peloton 60-min Power Zone ride for the challenge and then chaperone a window painting event for my youngest daughter. I came home from that, ate something much earlier than I usually do, and then passed out in bed with landscapers outside (that's how tired I was). I'm so glad I got to sleep in a little today.

I seem to be having a crisis of confidence this week brought on by making the audiobooks for the Flyght Series. You know, I really loved writing that series. The stakes were high and the world was unique and new. Vivian came to me out of nowhere and she was so much fun to write. All the men I chose for her network were interesting too, in their own ways. It's been amazing reading and listening to these books again, BUT it's making me wonder if I'll ever get that same magic again. I'm writing Skylar's series now, and I'm hoping I can make it work. The stakes are high for her too, but she's lived a different life than Vivian. I need to figure this out before I go any further. I'm feeling a little lost right now, honestly. Maybe it's the lack of writing time I've had and the busy home life? I don't know. All I know is that I'm worried and I need to figure out how to stop worrying and just write.

There were more of these photos this week, but you get the picture. Lots of knitting and softball.

It rained at the away game this past Monday but produced a double rainbow!

I hit 250 rides this week on Peloton! I had no idea I was that close to the milestone or I would have saved it for a class where I got some high-fives. Instead, I took it as a scenic ride. Oops.

All of my exercise clothes are big and baggy on me now, and I look pretty silly going out for walks with Lulu.

I turned the shelves next to me on the couch into a desk area where I can keep all my stuff.

Among all the things I did this week was get my oil changed and my car washed.

I worked outside quite a bit while the weather was nice.

I chaperoned a window painting outing on Saturday morning. The girls did a great job!

I ate dinner in my car quite a few times.

I had my first ever poké bowl from a local sushi place that just opened up. It was awesome!

I'm so beat. I really need a vacation. I hope the craziness in life lets up soon.

Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy.

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Book Chat #70 – Books by Becky Chambers and Susan Kaye Quinn

In this Book Chat, I have two new books and one re-read! No audiobooks, though. I seem to have fallen into podcasts-only territory for a little bit because I used to listen to audiobooks and knit in the evenings. But now, I'm knitting at softball games. I hope to pick up audiobooks again this summer.

OF KINDNESS AND KILOWATTS by Susan Kaye Quinn (ebook)

Continuing on with this series, I immediately picked up OF KINDNESS AND KILOWATTS when it hit my kindle. Thanks, pre-orders! Once again, I love how the overall story picks up with another character that we met at the end of the previous book, Akemi. It almost feels like football or rugby when the ball is passed to a new player and they run it down the field. I loved Akemi, the Japanese-American character in this book, and his relationship with his family. He's super smart and so are his family members, so they get to work on the problem right away. The tension really built throughout this book, and I raced through it. I was a little WHAT? about the ending because it felt so abrupt! Maybe a little more of a cliffhanger than I'm used to. Lol. But it could also be because I was reading it so quickly. Regardless, I'm now pumped for the last book in the series and it's pre-ordered as well. The mystery of these books is really compelling and I want to know what's going on. I have a feeling it involves “dark matter” somehow, so let's see where my intuition takes me.

THE GALAXY AND THE GROUND WITHIN by Becky Chambers (ebook)

I'd had this book pre-ordered for AGES. Literally, bought it the day they announced it, so I was super excited to also see it hit my kindle (thanks again, pre-orders!). This book was one of the slower books of the series, but no less engrossing. I love that we saw everything in this book from the viewpoint of several different alien species. You never once see things from a human POV. I loved it! What an interesting universe Ms. Chambers has built! My favorite character was definitely Roveg. He was not how I pictured a Quelin to act after seeing other Quelin in the other books of the series, so that was a nice stereotype bunked right off the bat. I blew through this book, and enjoyed every moment of it. Again, this is the kind of sci-fi that I love. Quiet, contemplative and introspective, with enough mystery and adventure to keep the pages turning.

THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL ANGRY PLANET by Becky Chambers (ebook)

This was a re-read (original Book Chats post here) as I had nominated it for my knitting book club this month. I'm so glad I re-read it. It was just as magical the second time around, and it gave me a way to get ready for the last book of the series. If you haven't read any Becky Chambers, BUY HER BOOKS NOW.

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Sunday Update – May 16, 2021

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

I've been trying (and failing) to update my WP installation today so this update is a little later than usual…

It was a week with a lot of softball. We were supposed to have games on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday, but Monday and Saturday's games were canceled. Still, I went to games three nights in a row and got plenty of knitting done!

Unfortunately, my allergies are crazy right now. I spend most days sneezing and then trying to sleep with an itchy throat at night. The Claritin I take daily is doing its job, but the pollen is just so high right now. It's everywhere. It gets in my eyes and in my lungs. My car is especially gross. Ugh. This is the one thing that I do not enjoy about spring.

This week also saw a milestone in weight loss! I have now lost 40 pounds! I'm very happy with how things are going. I'm doing well with the Peloton and I don't feel like I'm missing out on any foods. I eat things in moderation, but I'm fasting longer hours. I'm wondering if I'll hit 45 or 50 pounds lost by the end of the year. We shall see.

I also finished my Pets in Space novella! Then I sent it out to my first readers. I also finished the audiobook for First Flyght! Yay! Lots of finishing energy this week. I started Skylar's Book 1 and I also started the audiobook for Broken Flyght. Getting lots of work done around here.

Softball, softball, and more softball.

Mother's Day! I celebrated with prosecco and reading, lobster, mashed potatoes, and artichokes, and then I got this card from my oldest daughter.

How I break a 20-hour fast…

We harvested spinach from the garden!

Hanging out outside with Lulu.

Lunch outside and then evening drinks on the deck too.

Lulu loves the sun!

And finally, I surpassed 7000 workout minutes on Peloton this week!

Have a great week everyone! Stay safe and healthy.

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