Cheryl Mahoney's Blog, page 5

Writing Update (August, 2022)

My writing had been going along with slow but steady progress for the last few weeks.  I’ve been almost exclusively focused on revisions for Thorns 1, and am about 3/4 of the way through this pass.  I’ve been paying particular attention to Terrence’s character, and the character of the chief villain of the story, his brother Gregory.  There’s been a few new scenes, and some tweaking of existing scenes.

I’ve also found a few opportunities to do more with Penelope, the heroine of my unexpected add...

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

I’ve had a good mix recently of non-fiction and fiction reads – though I’ve had better luck on the whole on the nonfiction side!

I’ve been rereading L. M. Montgomery’s journals for the…third?  fourth?  fifth? time.  I’m on Volume IV of her Complete Journals (as opposed to the previously published Selected Journals).  Volume III covered most of WWI, and Volume IV covers the next several years, including the 1919 flu epidemic.  It was interesting to see what she said about the flu – more than I re...

Writing Update (July, 2022)

Writing projects are continuing along at a good pace!  At my last update, I was going through beta-reader feedback on Thorns 1, making quick edits and putting more complicated comments into a combined document.  I ended up with a document with about 95 comments – some my own, some from readers – noting needed revisions.

I took a step back from the story after sorting all that out and did a read through of my WWII/Phantom story, making some notes on some fairly significant revisions I eventually ...

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

After a lot of rereads last month, I brought home a big bag of books from the library and have been off on a lot of new reads more recently.

I continued my T. Kingfisher reading with Paladin’s Strength, sequel to Paladin’s Grace, focused on a supporting character from the previous book.  It was very good with some nice turns to the story, if not quite as good as the first in the series – but Paladin’s Grace is a serious contender for best of the year right now, so it’s hardly fair to set the bar...

Writing Update (June, 2022)

Writing has been less intense since last month, with the unexpected novel I ended up drafting!  My focus has been spread out to a few different projects ever since.  I made some revision notes for future reference for that unexpected novel, which may end up being Book 3 in my growing Thorns series (or possibly Book 4…)

After that I worked on some revisions for Thorns 2, which I did a full first draft on a couple of years ago – but I wanted to substantially rewrite the last several chapters.  So ...

Free Today: Nocturne, Book 1 of The Guardian of the Opera

I’m excited to share today that the first book in my Guardian of the Opera series, Nocturne, is currently available free in the Kindle store!  If you haven’t started the series yet, want to add an ebook to your paperback copy, or know someone who would enjoy the series, don’t miss this offer!  It’s only available until June 8th.

Here’s the book blurb to tell you a little more about it, in case you need to convince a friend!

A delightful retelling of the Phantom of the Opera from a new perspectiv...

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

I’ve been so busy writing the last few weeks, I’ve done less reading than usual!  I have enjoyed rereading some old favorites, though, and trying a couple new books too.

Gordon Korman was my favorite funny author of my childhood.  A couple of librarian friends tell me he’s known for survival stories now, but back in his early career he wrote some hilarious stories, including my favorite and one of the earliest reviews on this blog, A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag.  I recently bought one ...

Writing Update (May, 2022)

I’ve been having an unexpectedly busy past month in my writing.  On my last update, I mentioned revising Thorns 2; I was focused on that until mid-April, on track to finish this particular revision pass by the end of the month.  And then very suddenly I got hit by an idea for a companion story–probably a novella.  I thought I’d just jot down a scene or two…and it completely overtook my brain.

Penelope is a minor character in Thorns 1 – she’s married to Prince Gregory, Terrence’s brother and one ...

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

Lately I feel like I’m always on a hunt for more light-hearted books.  I’m not sure when that became a hard thing to find?  I’ve had some interesting reads in the last few weeks, but it’s been…mixed in terms of the tone!

As Old as Time by Liz Braswell sounded brilliant, a Disney-sponsored novel with a twist on their Beauty and the Beast movie (they have a whole series, in fact).  The first twist was that Belle’s mother was the enchantress who cursed the Beast, and the second twist was that Belle...

New Cover Reveal: The Guardian of the Opera Series

I mentioned earlier in the week that I was working on new cover designs for my Guardian of the Opera series, and today I’m excited to share the new covers with you!  The first book, Nocturne, came out almost two years ago now, and it’s fun to refresh the series a bit with a new look.  The paperback and hardback editions are keeping their original covers, but the ebook is getting a new style.

These are similar to the original covers, but they have a slightly different feel to them that I think is...