Cheryl Mahoney's Blog, page 3

Writing Update (March, 2023)

I’ve had lots of writing progress since my last update, so that’s exciting to be sharing.  As you hopefully saw, The Princess Behind Thorns (Thorns 1) will be published in just over a week!  The book will be out on April 4th; the Kindle is already available for pre-order, and it will be available in paperback and hardback too.

I also finished my current round of revisions for Thorns 2, and sent that off to beta-readers last week.  I wrote the first draft in November of 2019, so it’s really great...

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (March, 2023)

I’ve been reading a lot of good books lately, some quite varied…although you could sum a surprising amount of it up just by saying “Martha Wells” – who, even though it’s only March, is a serious contender this year for new addition to my favorite authors!

My recent reads have included no less than three Martha Wells books, all strikingly different – although I think I finally clued into the through-line between them.  First I read Emilie and the Hollow World, a YA novel that feels like a homage ...

Proof Arrival for The Princess Behind Thorns

Earlier this week I announced that my next book, The Princess Behind Thorns, will be published April 4th.  In another exciting thing, the proof copy for the paperback version arrived a few days ago.  Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget you can preorder the Kindle version!

Cover Reveal + Pre-Order for The Princess Behind Thorns

I’ve been talking about my next novel, about the princess trapped behind walls of thorns, for literally years.  So I am very excited to announce it is finally being released!  The Princess Behind Thorns will be out in paperback, hardback and Kindle on April 4th.  And you can already preorder the Kindle!

I wrote the first short story that this book grew out of in 2019 – which was clearly an entirely different world and era.  This is the first in a planned series that I can’t wait to continue shar...

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (February, 2023)

2023 is starting off with some good reading, which I’m very much enjoying!  My writing slowed down a bit recently, but I’ve read through quite a few books in the past few weeks.

One of the more unusual books I’ve read was Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back – From a Certain Point of View.  A collection of short stories, they’re all set during The Empire Strikes Back, but from the viewpoint of background characters.  So, people who are going about their own lives and stories while the main plot un...

Writing Update (February, 2023)

Writing work is rolling along on both of my current projects – I’m down to the last few edits for Thorns 1, and may be finally finished by the end of the long President’s Day weekend.  Here’s hoping!  And then I should have another post soon about when you can expect to read it.

Revisions on Thorns 2 slowed down, partially because I pivoted back to Thorns 1 and partially because my day job sent me to our Annual Conference for a week.  It was a good opportunity to do the relatively easy work of t...

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (January, 2023)

I seem to be kicking-off the new year with a pretty good amount of reading, which is a nice way to start things!

First, to wrap up a few books read at the end of last month…I mentioned The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North in my end of year round-up, with the fascinating premise of a main character everyone forgets within a minute of looking away.  I think I might have liked this even more if it had focused more on how she lived her life with that circumstance, rather than turning into a...

Writing Update (January, 2023)

Happy New Year! I’ve been continuing along with my writing projects as we start into 2023. I wrote the last (final written, not final in order!) chapter of Thorns 1, and am doing my final-final-I-really-mean-it pass through. I printed it to read out loud to my husband, and am jotting the stray notes as I go.  It’s almost entirely things like fixing a repeated word or cutting an unnecessary sentence, so this really is very close to done now!

Meanwhile, I’m also revising Thorns 2, which was origin...

2022 Reading Round-Up

The start of a new year means it’s time to look back at the past year of reading.  I read 96 books this year, a drop from the days before I had a toddler, but not bad, considering!  And if you factor in picture books, I’m sure the number is at least double…!  Here’s a look at the details.

1) Best of…
I’ve been splitting my “Best of” books for the past several years, so that I can highlight the ones that were best in very specific ways.

1A) Best Premise: The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire No...

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (December, 2022)

Happy almost Christmas!  I’ll be doing a round-up of reading for the past year soon, but for today, time to look at recent reads for the last month of the year.

I’ve read a couple of very interesting nonfiction books.  First, Deep Work by Cal Newport, about boosting concentration and focusing on priorities.  It had some interesting insights, though the focus was a little narrow towards either academia or office work.  Second, The Skeptics’ Guide to the Future by Dr. Steven Novella (what a name f...