Cheryl Mahoney's Blog, page 6

Writing Update (April)

It’s beginning to look spring-like near me, and as the weather gets warmer, obviously it’s time to…settle down at the laptop for more writing!  I was very happy to meet my March goals – I finished the latest revision pass of The Princess Behind Thorns, the first in my newest series, and sent it off to beta-readers last week.  I’m putting that one on pause until I get feedback, and then I’ll do final revisions and get the story out to all of you!

For April, I’m working on the second book in the T...

Video Review: Anne of the Island

I’ve been rereading the Anne of Green Gables series by my favorite author, L. M. Montgomery.  Today I have a video review of Book Three, Anne of the Island.

This volume follows Anne to college, with new romance and a new character I especially enjoy.  I think it’s an improvement on the second book of the series, and definitely well-worth reading.

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

I’m not doing any formal reading challenges this year, but I have still been continuing to read.  I thought I’d share a few highlights from my recent reading – it’s been mixed!

If I Were You by Lynn Austin is one I encountered while doing research for my WWII novel.  It appeared to be about the aftermath of the war – Audrey, a British widow goes to her American in-laws for help, only to find her best friend already there, pretending to be her.  Sounded fascinating!  But as it turned out, most of...

Writing Update (March)

It’s been quiet around here recently – life and especially a baby can do that!  But I’m pleased to say that my fiction writing has actually been going very well, on two different projects.

I spent January continuing my NaNoWriMo project, a World War II companion novel to my Guardian of the Opera series, focused on the Phantom’s granddaughter and the Nazi occupation of Paris.  I wrote 20,000 words in January, and another 5,000 in the beginning of February, bringing the total draft-in-progress to ...

2021 Reading Round-Up

Though it sometimes feels like we never quite left 2020, it is somehow the beginning of 2022, making it time to look back at the best, the worst and the sometimes weird of my 2021 reading. I read 115 books this year, down from the high numbers I did a few years ago but comparable to recent years – and considering I also had a baby in March, we’ll call that good!

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 ...

Video Review: Little Blue Truck Series (Part Two)

A few months ago I reviewed the Little Blue Truck series – a very popular collection in our house!  We’re still reading the series with my baby pretty much daily, and have expanded our collection.  This video reviews four more books in the series, including Little Blue Truck’s Christmas – currently timely, fun all year round, and one of the best in the series.

Post-NaNo Writing Update

I had a really good NaNoWriMo, writing 35,000 words of my next project, a World War II companion novel to my Phantom series. But 35,000 words is definitely not a full novel, so I’ve continued writing my draft through December.  My goal is to write an additional 20,000 words this month, and so far I’m on track!  I’ve written just over 10,000 words, putting me at about 45,000 total.

The storyline is moving along well too.  We’re up to June 11, 1940.  The French government announced they were leav...

Launch Day: Entr’acte & Guardian Collection

They’re here!  If you want to complete your bookshelf of Guardian of the Opera stories, today’s the day.  We’ve been counting down, and now it’s launch day.  You can buy your own Kindle copy of Entr’acte, or get a paperback or Kindle collection of Entr’acte, Overture and The Confessions of Christine Daae in one volume. 

If you haven’t yet started the series, I have good news for you too: Book 1, Nocturne, is free on Kindle right now!  The deal only lasts through the weekend, so don’t miss it.

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NaNoWriMo Day 30: And We’re Done! (For November)

It’s the final day of NaNoWriMo, and time for a final word count – I’m winding up the month with 35,026 words, right on my second goal of hitting 35K.  My highest single day was 2,010, and my lowest single day was 596, which was actually today – I probably could have done a bit more, but I hit the end of a chapter, and I liked the roundness of landing so close to 35,000.  And it was nice to have a light day at the end!

According to my outline, I’m a little over a third of the way through the sto...

Entr’acte Count-Down: 1 Day

I’ve been counting down this week to my newest book, which will be out tomorrow on December 1st! Entr’acte is a collection of bonus material connected to my Guardian of the Opera series. Plus, I’m putting out a paperback combining Entr’acte, The Confessions of Christine Daae, and Overture.

Today’s quote is from a very special item in the collection – until almost the end of the process, Accompaniment included a chapter about Christmas.  It got cut in the end, but I’ve included it for you in Ent...