S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 76

Sunday Update – September 23, 2018

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.

Another week gone by with lots of stuff done!

Monday, the kids were back at school and I was back in my routine. Walking in the mornings, working, running errands, or taking time to knit or read. This day, I did some writing and took it easy since Mondays are usually hard to get back into the routine.

Tuesday, I did yoga, which is my new Tuesday routine. Then I had to do my last shift of set-up at the CSA vegetable share. It was easy and mostly done before I even showed up because the truck was early.

Wednesday was my 14th wedding anniversary! The kids were home because it was a holiday (Yom Kippur) so I got them to help clean up the house, do homework, and then we went to Whole Foods to get regular groceries and special seafood for the evening. I got $50 worth of King Crab legs! Plus, caviar and crackers and some other stuff. I took the kids to tennis and then I had a decadent dinner with my husband. Prosecco and everything!

Thursday, it was back to school and routine. I walked in the morning and then went to my first pottery class! So exciting! I made two very basic small bowls, and I learned a lot. When I was done, I came home and got cleaned up, then worked on my writing in the afternoon.

Friday was another busy day. Walking in the morning, haircut, then Panera for some writing, and then lunch with my friend, Amy. Then the kids went to their pottery class in the late afternoon. We all had dinner together after since my husband worked from home!

This weekend has been fairly chill. I just finished my knitting project!! So I plan to post about that on Tuesday. I’ve been working on my outline for the whole series I’m writing, coming up with ideas per book for all 9 books in the series. I’ve also sat down and looked at what I’ve written already to figure out what I’m missing to move forward. I have some ideas but I need to make them happen this week.

Also, now that my youngest can walk herself home from school every day, I don’t need to cut my afternoon activities short in order to get out the door and pick her up. This means I’m getting more done or napping or relaxing, which are all nice things around here.

What else happened this week?

Yes, I baked more bread. There’s bread in the oven, actually, as I type this! Can’t get enough.

I got work done while The Men in Blazers was on, of course.

Anniversary dinner! Totally decadent and awesome. We ate well, and I feel like I did a good job of treating us for the special day.

Here are the two little pots I made. They’re not very big and I have no idea what they’ll look like once they’re done. We shall see!

I enjoyed a nice Gin Sidecar on Friday night.

And here we are, all ready to go out to a fancy dinner with the kids on Saturday evening. We had a great time and ate a lot of food! So good. We might still be full!

Hope you all have a great week!

The post Sunday Update – September 23, 2018 appeared first on S. J. Pajonas.

Some Thoughts on Anniversaries and Writing

Yesterday was my 14th wedding anniversary. When I made the commitment to my husband and our life together, I meant it to last forever. And now, we’re still a good pair, excellent pair, if I may say so. We both work hard to keep the house and our relationship in harmony.

Writing is a long-term relationship too. I’ve been in love with writing and stories for as long as I can remember. And I did what most people have to do when they’re in love with writing, I put it aside for many years in order to feed myself, pay the bills, and raise a family. I set it aside instead of giving it up for good. There’s no way I could ever do that. I firmly believe that the things we love dearly can never be quit. They’re only on hiatus until we can come to them again.

Thinking back on my post last week about my 5th anniversary in publishing, and all of your comments back, I’m really glad I talked about it in the open. Many people on the outside never see the struggle or the profit and loss spreadsheets or the ad spend. They only see the smiles, celebrations, and good cheer. I’m glad I said what I said. Once I had published the post, I felt a huge weight lift off me. I came out and said it — I failed the business of publishing but I have not given up on writing.

Because I love writing, but I have never loved publishing. I tolerated it as a way to get my books out to the world, which is an important part of my process. I have to say that I don’t feel too bad about giving up on making a publishing business. It is what it is. And even though I’ve given up on making it profitable, it’s still there, a foundation to support my writing into the future. It’s a base of knowledge that will serve me well.

I have a lot of artist friends who create art for art’s sake. They spend money on canvases, paint, marble for sculpting, wires and lasers and computers for multimedia sculptures. They create the art and sometimes it never leaves home. Sometimes, that art makes it to a local gallery. I’ve been thinking a lot about these artists the last week and I feel I can learn from them.

For me, my art requires a few things: my computer and a good keyboard, some reference materials, and then editing, a cover, and a blurb. In every essence, it doesn’t require much else. I can put these books up for readers without spending anything else. I could even syndicate my stories right here on the blog or on other free platforms. I don’t have to make it complicated.

The commitment is still strong. The anniversaries may come and go, and some will be worth celebrating, and some will not. But my writing as an art form, telling the stories I want to tell, will continue. Thanks again for listening.

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I Read The New Blurb and First Chapter of CRASH LAND ON KURAI – Video

I’ve been considering doing more videos online since I really enjoy video as a medium. Back in college, I used Adobe Premiere to make the most basic of videos, and then I used it at a few jobs after that. Now things are much easier with programs like iMovie and Filmora! The only problem is: What kind of content should I provide?

For now, what I’d like to do is start with more Facebook Live videos and trailers for my books. Facebook live videos are obviously live videos that I will do on my Facebook Page. Most likely on Monday or Tuesday mornings. And not every week. I doubt any of you want to see me that much! Book trailers will probably come during downtime between books. There are already two book trailers on YouTube for REMOVED and FACE TIME. I’d like to make book trailers for THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE and CRASH LAND ON KURAI and the KNS series.

So today I have a little video for you. I got the new blurb for CRASH LAND ON KURAI and I decided to read it on Facebook Live along with the first chapter of the book. If you want me to read from more of this book or maybe a different book, please let me know in the comments. I’m happy to take requests!

NSFW Warning: There is one instance of the F-word in this first chapter of CRASH LAND ON KURAI right near the end. Otherwise, there are some milder swear words. This is Yumi after all. She doesn’t hold back the swear words (neither does my new protagonist in the new series, but that’s a story for another day.)

Hopefully I get less awkward at this over time! Lol. Right now, I feel pretty silly doing these. Sigh.

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Sunday Update – September 16, 2018

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 another super busy week here!

On Monday, we had the day off. It was Rosh Hashanah so the schools were closed, and we had the day to be lazy. I think that I managed to get my kids to clean up the house with me, but otherwise, we didn’t do much of anything.

On Tuesday, it was back to school, and back to our routine. I did yoga in the morning, picked up around the house, and got to work on the website and on some writing.

Wednesday was my busiest day of the week. I had someone come by to do some repairs to a special filter we have on our air conditioning unit, then the cleaning ladies showed up (yay!). Then several delivery showed up. I got the kids right after school and took them to their first tennis lesson of the season. The guy at the tennis club looked at me and asked, “Where’s your computer?” LOL. I guess I’ve made an impression on him long enough to last over the summer when we weren’t there at all. I sat down on the couch at the tennis club and got right to work.

On Thursday, I had the day to myself. I decided to take a rest day and enjoy some knitting and the movie To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before on Netflix. I absolutely adored the movie! It was so cute, so sweet, and so modern. It ticked all the boxes for me. I can’t wait to watch it again!

Friday was a lot of fun. I got all of my grocery shopping done in the morning after a walk, and then I met my friend Amy for lunch. She goes away over the summer, every summer, so it had been a few months since I’d seen her. We got caught up on life and work with lots of laughing and good food. Such a nice way to end the week! It was also the day that I put it out there about my failures in publishing. I had been dreading that post, but I feel a weight has been lifted off of me. *sigh of relief*

This weekend, I’ve been enjoying baking some bread, knitting, reading, watching sumo wrestling, working on my website, and most of all, writing. I’m writing book 2 in the series that I started this year, and it’s been fun feeling out what’s going to happen next. I had an idea for this book of what I wanted to accomplish, but the execution always brings out something different! This is the fun part of writing, the part I don’t want to give up. So I’m not going to.

I’m also trying something different when it comes to writing. I find that I’m really good at Dragon Dictation when I’m writing nonfiction, like this blog post that I’m dictating right now. I’m also good at dictation when it comes to emails and other things like long comments on blogs or on Facebook. So I’m trying to save my hands and my fingers for my creative writing by dictating all of these other little bits and pieces of writing that I do throughout the day. I’ve also switched to doing most of my typing on my Alphasmart Neo. I like the keys on it. They’re softer and easier on my finger joints. So I’m finding that I’m getting a lot more done by splitting up my work this way. It’s win–win!

What else happened this week?

I tried some Japanese sweets I had saved up. The goldfish one was a round apple jelly, and the bigger fish was a strawberry taiyaki.

Now that I’ve made room in my life for more things instead of the slog of publishing, I’m getting back to baking more. This is the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day method. I had the dough in the fridge for 4 days and made a boule out of it last night at dinner. My youngest praised it as tasting “just like what we get at the restaurant.” High praise, folks. I did some writing at the kitchen island while baking.

My husband returned from a conference he was at in Atlanta with some cool tiki mugs he got at Trader Vic’s.

I got the MATSURI AND MURDER paperback proof! It looks pretty good. It’s the first paperback I’ve done on KDP Print instead of Createspace.

Why is it that whenever I sit down to treat myself to some TV, the Playstation has to do a major update??

And the best news of this week is that Sumo Wrestling is back on! Yay!

Hope you all have an fantastic week. Stay awesome!

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It’s My 5th Anniversary In Publishing… Here’s Why I Won’t Be Celebrating

Warning: This post is brutally honest, and despite my best efforts, I was unable to put a positive spin on it. Read at your own risk.

Well, I’ve been dreading writing this post. Honestly, I keep looking at the calendar and thinking, “Maybe I’ll skip it this year.” Because nothing’s changed since last year, and in fact, things have just gotten worse. There’s something depressing about looking back on your year and finding you’ve achieved almost nothing. But I knew deep down in my heart that this was going to happen, so it’s not like I’m surprised. Just disappointed.

Last year, I laid it all on the table

I declared I was scaling back to part time, and hoo boy, did I ever. I decided to take a year off from the Hikoboshi Series because the third book in the series tanked. I wrote a new book in a new series and a new Miso Cozy novella. And that’s it so far. I’m posting more often on the blog, and that makes me happy, but it doesn’t generate income. I took the entire month of August off from writing and concentrated on other things. I scaled back my social media and now I spend less and less time there.

I cut my ad spend down to almost nothing. I knew that ads didn’t work for me, yet I clung to them like a tired swimmer does to a life vest. I thought if I just tried harder, I could get them to work. So I threw money down the hole and watched my income bottom out. There was one point where I was still running ads and I hadn’t sold a book in ten days. So, sometime in July, I gave up. I shut 90% of them down, and I walked away. I admitted defeat. My income wasn’t getting any better anyway, and I was already on track to have my worst month in three years. There was nothing I could do to change it except to change EVERYTHING. Since I couldn’t go back in time, I didn’t see the point.

And that’s the way it’s been since then.

This is the year that broke me and my business…

I unpublished SUMMER HAIKUS, FACE TIME, and all my short stories from all the vendors, and I’m only selling them direct now. I never sold them anyway, so I don’t see the point of listing them anywhere else.

I participated in a USA Today Best Selling box set, but it cost me money, and I haven’t seemed to gain any readers from the 5,000+ sets we sold.

I haven’t gained new reviews on my books except for the few from my ARC team on new releases. In fact, I had 101 reviews on THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE at one point and then Amazon took reviews away from me. I’m now back under 100. They also took reviews away from several other books, so I stopped checking. I also stopped checking my sales. I only check them once or twice a month now.

I published three books this year. THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE RETURNS A FAVOR did okay. FUKUSHA MODEL EIGHT has only sold 34 copies and one reviewer gave it 2-stars and says he won’t be continuing with the series, so yeah. The next book in the series has an AT BEST chance of selling 33 copies at this point. MATSURI AND MURDER is out now. It was my addition to the box set. I don’t expect to sell any copies of it because I’m pretty sure all the readers got their copy in the 99¢ box set already.

When I started this journey, I honestly thought I’d be making little baby steps towards a sustainable business, and by my 5th year, I’d maybe be making minimum wage or putting some extra money from books into my kids’ college funds. Instead, I’ll be posting a loss to the IRS again which means I’ve failed at making this a job. It’s now just a hobby.

This is a cautionary tale!

I am not writing this for your sympathy, but as a cautionary tale for others. Hard work and writing books does not a career make. You can “optimize your Amazon sales page” or spend money on fancy blurbs or have a professional take care of your ads, and STILL, you can (and most likely WILL, statistically speaking) fail. You can want something really bad and work for years at it and STILL FAIL. If you’re a new writer and you’re reading this, I wish you the best of luck! But feel free to come back here later when things are not going well and understand that you’re not alone. I’m here. I’ve survived the publishing grind, and despite the incredible amount of debt I’ve accrued, I’m still writing. That’s what matters.

Am I completely quitting?

I heard Naomi Osaka, the US Open tennis champion, say at a press conference, “I don’t dream to lose. I dream to win.” My dreams have always been to win at this, to do well, and be proud of my work. So, it’s hard to admit that my dreams are never going to come true. Soul-crushingly hard. Instead of giving up entirely, I just have to dream of something else. What will that be? I’m not sure yet.

In the meantime, I have not completely quit. I have partially quit. I have shifted my focus to my blog with writing on the side. I no longer expect to make money at this. I have a very short list of things I’m spending money and time on (covers, blurbs, and my website) and everything else is getting cut. I’m running Google Ads for my blog, and that’s it.

As you can see from all of my posts, I still talk about what I’m writing and when I’m publishing things, so it’s not like any of that is going to change. If you’re one of my few readers, you will know when I’m publishing something! I love blogging and telling you about my work. The website/blog and my presence here will not change at all.

This will be my last PUBLISHING anniversary post…

This is the last anniversary in publishing I’ll be marking. I don’t enjoy the publishing part of this business. I don’t enjoy the hustle, the advertising, high-priced courses, and rapid-pace pressure to publish and repeat. That’s nothing to celebrate. Instead I’ll keep up with my Monthly and Yearly Goals, the Sunday Updates, the fun posts, the visits to my friends’ blogs, and keep you all in the loop about what I’m working on and loving on. Because…

Instead we’ll be celebrating my Blog Anniversary!

I’ve been blogging since 2004ish and it’s in my blood now. This particular blog was started on July 2, 2011, so that’s the new anniversary I’ll be celebrating every year! I missed the 7th anniversary this summer, but next year we will all be celebrating 8 years on the internet together! I will even host some fun giveaways (Japan-related, of course). I’m sure I’ll be here and still be blogging, talking about life, writing, Japan, books, and more. That’s something to look forward to.

Thank you all for reading and listening! I look forward to hearing from you now and into the future!

PS) I have comment moderation turned on in case someone comes by to tell me how badly I suck. Just in case. I won’t be putting up with that today or ever. Also, please do not dispense advice. I am not looking for advice. I’ve been doing this for five years and TRUST ME I know how to write to market, publish, and repeat every three weeks with ads and cozy covers with animals on them and Kindle Unlimited and all that nonsense. I know it, and I don’t want to do it. That’s on me.

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Featuring WINTER’S KISS By K. G. Stutts

I have a nice group of science fiction romance authors I love to work with, so here’s another great author to checkout! Meet K. G. Stutts and her newest book, WINTER’S KISS.

I asked K. G., “What inspired you to write your series?”

She replied…

I wrote my first series after I kept having a dream about a woman who found out she was a clone. I had to get it out of my head! The second series was inspired after I finished my first series. I wanted to see what the future held for that world. In my vision stood a tall, proud woman with purple eyes and and a fighting spirit.

I love stories about clones! It’s one of my sci-fi favorites!

Amethyst is a secret team of genetically enhanced humans which is Earth’s greatest defensive weapon. Leading the team of super soldiers is Ember Wilson, a tough woman with a huge chip on her shoulder. The team gets their name from the after effect of the Genesis Project which turned their eyes and even their blood purple.

For decades, Earth has been ravaged by unpredictable weather which began to cause crops to fail. Most of the planet’s food sources have deteriorated. Dr. Clayton Rudo has proclaimed he has the means to save the soil. He has created a weather machine to regulate and help replenish. But Ember knew the truth. He didn’t want to save the planet. He wanted to control it. Amethyst destroyed the machine, but was placed in stasis. Two years later, Rudo recreated the device and has frozen Washington, DC and the west coast of the United States.

General Tom Blanchard brought Amethyst out of stasis to work with an elite Air Force team, led by Major Liam Ross. Tensions between Ember and Liam rise as they butt heads. Can they work together before Earth is completely under ice?

Check out WINTER’S KISS on…
Amazon Nook

SALE NOTE: As of Sept 13, 2018, most of Stutt’s books are on sale for 99¢.

Find This Author Online

Want to learn more about K. G. Stutts? You can find her online here…

Website: http://www.kgstutts.com

Blog: http://kgstutts.blogspot.com

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/KG-Stutts/e/B00K4HTY3I/

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MATSURI AND MURDER Is Now Available!

Today’s the day! MATSURI AND MURDER is now available on its own! It was a great run, working with other authors to produce DESTINATION: MURDER. We had a lot of fun, and we hit the USA Today bestseller list! Hopefully, I got some new readers who are here and checking out the blog.

This is my third published work for the year, which means I won’t be publishing anything more in 2018. I am working on a lot of new works behind the scenes, and I hope to also be working on another Miso Cozy Mystery early in 2019.

MATSURI AND MURDER takes place right after THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE RETURNS A FAVOR. So, while Mei is still pregnant in this novella, she is much further along and still helping her mother recover from the typhoon. There are more mysteries to come in Chikata, more adventurous with Yasahiro, Goro, and the gang, and more of life’s troubles for Mei to figure out.

I hope you enjoy this novella! It was a lot of fun to write, and I’m looking forward to writing in this world again soon.

Even on vacation, Mei can’t get away from murder. Traveling to Kubako for a three-day matsuri festival and fireworks, Mei, Akiko, and Kayo are just looking for some relaxation and tasty food, not a weekend full of drama. But when a local celebrity is poisoned in Kayo’s family brewery, Kayo’s father is the main suspect. Now, Mei, Akiko, and Kayo must put their meddling ways to the test. With the help of Kayo’s mother and some local friends, they gather evidence while dodging hotheaded detectives and another dead body. But time is running out and the murderer has everything they need to bury the evidence and deflect suspicion onto someone else. How will they find the murderer when the matsuri is in full swing and everything points to the wrong suspect?

MATSURI AND MURDER is a Miso Cozy Mysteries novella that will keep you on the chase and rooting for Mei until the very end!

Learn more and purchase MATSURI AND MURDER

I’ll be back on Friday for my 5th anniversary in publishing post!

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Sunday Update – September 9, 2018

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.

Hello friends! I didn’t post last Sunday because it was Labor Day weekend here, and I just plain forgot. It’s funny how the weekend gets away from you when you’re doing other things. We have a three-day weekend this weekend as well because tomorrow is Rosh Hashanah (we’re not Jewish but the schools are closed) so I’m sure I’ll be “off” all week thinking every day is a different day. Lol.

We got lucky last weekend and it was beautiful weather for the last weekend at the pool. We were able to go Saturday, Sunday, AND Monday. Monday, Labor Day, was seriously the busiest I’ve ever seen the pool. It was so packed they had 3 “adult swims” in a row at 2pm, 3pm, and 4pm. Unheard of! We got to see friends that day and hang out. It was really lovely and a great way to end the pool season.

Tuesday, we had the day off so me and the girls did work around the house including cleaning out my youngest child’s room. In the end we threw away 6 garbage bags of trash and junk! We picked up CSA veggies and got frozen yogurt. It was a nice day off despite all the work.

Wednesday, it was back to school! HALLELUJAH!! My oldest started 6th grade and my youngest started 3rd grade. They’re so big now. I got a little tear in my eye, right before I jumped for joy and went for a walk BY MYSELF. It was glorious. Lol.

Thursday, it was so hot. SO SO HOT. It was 103ºF with the heat index and the school district called a half day since none of the schools have air conditioning.

Friday, it was much cooler and everything was back to normal. I also got my car back from the dealership. I had taken it in the Friday before because the Check Engine light was on. Guess what? Some little bastard chipmunk or squirrel had climbed up into my car and chewed the wires on something! They had to drop out half the engine and splice in new wires. I was angry and also laughing my butt off. Ugh. It was an expensive repair and now I’m glaring at every chipmunk I see.

I’ve been taking it easy, doing lots of reading and knitting, plus working on my next book. It’s been a slow start to the book as I figure out what’s supposed to happen in this part of the story. But I wrote on it today and I got some great ideas! So I’m going to jot them down and keep going.

What else happened this week?

One of the last days at the pool.

The CSA has been great for veggies, especially tomatoes, but we’ve also been getting great veggies and chilis from our own garden too.

We had a Blue Crab feast last weekend. I have determined that this is not my favorite kind of crab and I would prefer to eat something that doesn’t require as much work or hassle.

I’m making great progress on my knit, and I’m even farther along than this! Working on the last striped section now. But there are literally eleventy-billion stitches on the needles and one row takes a freaking EON to knit. So it’s slow going.

After cleaning six bags of junk out of my youngest daughter’s room, we went out for much-deserved frozen yogurt.

It was great to be back in the park this week!

I enjoyed a lovely daiquiri last night.

And this treat ended up on my doorstep! I loved these books as a kid, so I totally dropped for the Babysitter’s Club tin! My oldest is reading the first book now.

Coming up this week on the blog: the publication of MATSURI AND MURDER, and my 5th anniversary in publishing post. Not sure what else!

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Book Chat #42 – Phoebe North, Diana Peterfreund, Tracy Krimmer, And Isaac Asimov

I have quite the eclectic group of authors in the Book Chat today!

STARBREAK by Phoebe North

The first book, STARGLASS, was a page-turning favorite for me, but for some reason, it took me a few years to pick up this sequel. I’m so glad I finally picked up the second book of this series. I was entirely sucked into Terra’s mission and her compulsion to stay on the planet and work with the alien species there. It was also a truly different social structure and idea from other alien science fiction I’ve read, so extra points to North for making me guess, think, and theorize what would be possible on this world. I really enjoyed both books of this series and recommend it to anyone who loves YA sci-fi.

ACROSS A STAR-SWEPT SEA by Diana Peterfreund

Speaking of YA sci-fi, here’s another great sequel. This adaptation of the Scarlett Pimpernel was on-point by Peterfreund. Her world-building was so rich and lush, I was sucked in immediately. I loved the contrast of this story to the previous one, FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS. It’s not a direct sequel but, instead, a parallel story that features the same world but different islands with different societies, and then brings the two worlds together. Persis and Justen were great foils and great romantic leads too. I fell hard for them both in the starry lagoon and devoured this book in only a few days (fast for me!)

ALL THAT MATTERS by Tracy Krimmer

The last in the series! My critique partner, Tracy, writes great contemporary romance! What I loved about this series was the family dynamic she constructed. I don’t do dark romance or anything too heavy. I’ve tried those books and they’re not for me. The lighter side of romance that deals with families and all the trials that come with them are more my speed, and Tracy Krimmer hits the nail on the head with the All That Series. She made me cry TWICE while reading this book! And when it was all over, I felt happy and satisfied for all the characters. A really great ending to the series!

END OF ETERNITY by Isaac Asimov

I picked this one up in a BookBub sale and then added the audiobook to my cart at the same time. Guys, I don’t know what happened to me in the last 10 years but my reading tastes have definitely changed. I think I would’ve loved this book 20 years ago, but now? My god, I was so bored. And when the hero of this novel, Andrew Harlan, meets a woman in Eternity and very reluctantly falls in love with her, I rolled my eyes hard. My first thought was, “Which editor forced Asimov to include a romance?” because it felt like he opened up the novel with crowbar and shoved it in. Then it was twist upon twist upon twist, time-travel style, that I lost track of what was going on, and I didn’t care. I don’t even remember what happened at the end! (I just had to look it up on Wikipedia to remember.) The best part of this novel was truly all of the made up terms for time traveling: Upwhen, Downwhen, the Allwhen Council, the kettles, etc. But that’s about it. So I think I’ll stay away from the sci-fi classics for a bit. They’re just not my speed right now.

What have you been reading?

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Top Ten Bingeworthy TV Shows

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted every week by That Artsy Reader Girl.

We’re heading into the fall TV season! Which means new TV, new shows to watch, and new characters and worlds to love. Here are my Top Ten Bingeworthy TV shows. I will link to them on IMDB, but if you’re not in the U.S., you should check your streaming options for more information.

The Great British Baking Show – This is the clear winner right now. My husband and I have watched all the seasons available on Netflix and then Netflix dropped a whole new season on us on August 31st. I love learning all about baking. I love the puns. And I love that it’s reality TV without being petty.

Supergirl – My kids and I are watching this show together. I love it a lot and it’s been a fun ride. Plenty of good topics to talk about with my children and plenty of characters to love.

The Crown – I binged on this show earlier this year when I had the flu and a sinus infection. Such great history and wonderful drama. Totally captivating. And I hear they’re filming the next season right now, so get in there and start watching!

The Handmaid’s Tale – Be prepared to be uncomfortable and shocked with this series. It’s as good as the book. Plenty here to binge and then mull over, especially in our current political climate. There are two seasons on Hulu!

Killjoys – This is by far my favorite TV show currently. It’s fast-paced, original, and funny as hell. Super creative too, with a large cast you can really latch onto. God, I love John Jacobi so damned much. This series inspired my current work-in-progress (shhhh!) This is on SyFy in States. Not sure about overseas.

The Flash – We started watching this after seeing a cross-over episode on Supergirl and I have to admit that I may like it better than Supergirl (shhhh, don’t tell Kara). Barry and his team of meta-humans are a lot of fun. I keep wanting to watch more and more.

Victoria – I watch this one on PBS when it comes on, and I hope it’s out there somewhere for bingewatching (do a search!) Another super enjoyable period show about Queen Victoria. The costumes, the drama, the acting, all stellar.

Death in Paradise – I’ve talked about this TV show before and I still love it. My husband and I watch a few shows here and there, especially between other shows that we’re watching. We have sat down and binged a season at a time too. There are at least 5 seasons on Netflix right now! Great cozy mysteries set in the Caribbean? What’s not to like?

Stranger Things – If you love the paranormal with some horror, then this is the show for you. I’m a little meh about paranormal, but this show definitely hooked me with its 80s theme and all the great actors. There are two seasons now and I see they’re filming the third! So get on it!

The Expanse – Not only is this bingeworthy TV but it’s also bingeworthy books. This is my favorite sci-fi series both in books and TV. The TV adaptation is pretty faithful to the original, the special effects are awesome, AND Amazon just took it up to make it their own after SyFy announced they were canceling it. I have full faith that Amazon will do a great job with it. You’ll love the whole crew, but I especially love Amos. (This says a lot about me and the characters I love.)

BONUS!!

Battlestar Galactica – Have you watched everything already? Do you need something completed to tide yourself over until something new starts? I recently re-watched this entire series, and it was just as good as I remember it being. It was probably better because I didn’t have to wait between episodes to see what was next or forget what happened previously. Currently all the seasons are on Amazon Prime. You can watch them all right now and see the show that’s influenced tons of current sci-fi authors (including yours truly).

What are you watching and loving right now? Share it with me in the comments!

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