August 2023 Roundup

Writing A Book: Character Point Of Vi... Editing Tips: Getting Your Book Ready...

August 2023 Roundup

Welcome to the August 2023 roundup!

August for me was very much the same as July. I spent the majority of it at my keyboard working on edits. It all felt a bit endless by the close of the month, but I’m still loving working on this manuscript, so it certainly hasn’t felt like a chore.

When I was writing the first draft back in 2017, I was querying Blackbirch: The Beginning and getting rejection after rejection. Book 4’s draft kept me inspired and going, and I still love it now, even on draft 9 . Hopefully, my betas will feel the same and help me take it another step closer to a final draft.

As for the eighth month of 2023, this is what else I got up to…

What I’ve Been…Writing

Blackbirch 4 – I’m happy to say I was able to finish draft 9, aka, the Beta Reader Draft. After incorporating my alpha reader feedback, I did a Character POV Edit, a spell/grammar check through ProWritingAid, and read through the book from start to finish, one more time, before sending it off to two betas. Now to wait and see what they think and to find out what changes still need to be made.

Watching

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

Picking up where Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse left off, Across sees Gwen leave her own reality to work with other Spider-Persons to fix anomalies that are causing issues in the Multiverse. This opens the floodgates for a lot of Spider-Man cameos and references, including the Marvel live-action movies that we all know. It also connects her back to her old friend, Miles Morales, the only Spider-Man who isn’t a Peter Parker. The reason for that becomes known in a great little twist toward the end of the movie, and as usual, the animation is amazing.

The Other Two (Seasons 1-3)

The Other Two is about brother and sister duo, Brooke and Cary Dubek. They live in New York, him trying to make it as an actor, and her trying to find some direction in her life. When their 14-year-old brother, Chase, releases a song that goes viral, he’s turned into a global superstar (and a clever parody of Justin Bieber). Moving to New York with their mom Pat (who ends up Oprah-like with her own network and security detail), Brooke and Cary get swept up in the chaos of their family’s new fame. The best thing about this show is the fact they genuinely look after their little brother rather than being petty about his sudden rise to fame, and the fun this show pokes at celebrity, pop culture, and Hollywood. That’s where it really shines, as well as how it can make Brooke and Cary both narcissistic, yet turn them around by a season’s end. It’s fantastic character work and an easy 3 seasons to watch.

Nancy Drew (S4, Final Season)

The last supernatural show I watched that felt in the vein of Buffy, and Supernatural, Nancy Drew wrapped up its final season this month. With all the superior mystery stories used up in the earlier seasons, this one revolved around a lot of curses. Most of them needed outlandish cures that the Nancy crew were conveniently always able to get their hands on, and then tell the audience about it with what became a noticeable, heavy reliance on exposition. They did wrap up the storyline of a town sin eater well, however, and all the characters were given good closure to their storylines, and appropriate hints at what would be in store for them in the future, which is all a good finale really needs.

I’ll Be Gone In The Dark

This 2020 documentary only came to my attention this month and certainly grabbed it. While it focuses on The Golden State Killer, it’s also about author Michelle McNamara, who had been working on a book about the topic. After launching a successful true crime blog, and penning a piece for Los Angeles magazine, she had a contract for a book that was about the then-unknown killer, but also part memoir of her own life. She’d been working on the book for 5 years when given unprecedented access to the evidence collected on the murderer, and believing she could solve the case, spent days without sleeping in her research pursuits. When she did sleep, she’d have horrible nightmares and started self-medicating, which led to an accidental overdose at the age of 46.

The book was finished by her husband, actor/writer, Patton Oswalt, and other true crime writers. When it was released 2 years later, it became a bestseller, and only a few months after, TGSK was found and convicted. Highlighting the efforts of giving voices to victims and the work that goes into catching a killer, the documentary is also a lesson about being consumed. The fact that Michelle never got to personally finish her book, see it in print, or the TGSK identified and convicted, made it all very bittersweet, but worth the watch.

Reading

Reinventing Emily Brown By Jodi Gibson

When Emily Brown is left at the grocery store with no money to pay for her purchases, her husband’s gambling addiction is the final straw, and she leaves, carting her horrified teenage daughter with her to her hometown of Curlew Bay.

Crashing with her parents, and instantly back at war with her “perfect” sister, Emily flounders from one situation to the next, screwing up a variety of new jobs, and coming face-to-face with her high school sweetheart. He’s never forgiven her for breaking his heart. But the secret she’s kept from him all these years needs to come out, as well as secrets her own family has been hiding.

When Emily’s daughter throws more upheaval her way, she realizes the only way to get her life back on track is to reinvent it—and her actions will change everything.

Jodi Gibson’s latest is a fun, sentimental read, with a side of romance that is sure to appeal to fans of women’s fiction. Written with humor, full of likable characters, relatable situations, and home truths, it will also strike a familiar note with any mother who has put everyone else’s needs ahead of her own.

Bird By Bird: Instructions For Writing And Life By Anne Lamott

Part memoir, part writing tips, Anne Lamott’s book is an essential read for anyone who has dared to dream of being a writer. Borrowing lessons from the classes she teaches, and often told in hilarious, dark, no-nonsense bursts of info, Bird By Bird covers wanting to be a writer, the realities of publishing, impostor syndrome, jealousy, and how to dig deep to put your heart on the page. It’s honest, relatable, unvarnished, and written in a way that feels as if the secrets to the creative life are on the page. Highly recommended.

Christopher Pike Books

Inspired by the Netflix series, The Midnight Club, I decided to spend 2023 re-reading the books of my favorite author, Christopher Pike. It was his books that put me on the path to writing for Young Adults, and it’s interesting reading them now as a writer rather than just a reader. For these books, I’m enjoying the nostalgia and reading for fun and not to review.

This month I read Alosha, and The Shaktra.

If you’ve got any good book recommendations, let me know in the comments, or be my friend on Goodreads and share your books/recommendations with me! You can also find and follow my reviews and book recommendations on Amazon and BookBub.

If you’d like to add the Blackbirch books to your Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf and/or check out the reviews, click the following links:

Blackbirch: The Beginning Blackbirch: The Dark Half Blackbirch: The Ritual

Taking Photos Of

Afternoon walks and Luna. Cold weather and a change in my sister’s work schedule saw us switch our morning walks for afternoons, and on August 16th, it was the 2nd birthday of my writing buddy, Luna, aka, the seat stealer who chews on my office plants!

On The Blog

In case you missed any of my posts, or want to read them again, here are the latest blogs.

July 2023 Roundup Editing Tips: The Fix List Writing A Book: Character Point Of View Edit
Writing Tip Of The Month

#WritingTipWednesday posts are added to my social media feeds every week and here is the most popular tip for this month. It’s taken from my blog post, How To Give Your Characters Conflict.

Blackbirch Review Of The Month

This review is from Blackbirch: The Ritual, which was released a year ago this month, and has garnered nothing but 4 and 5-star reviews!

If you’d like to read the books released so far or find out more about each novel, here are the links:

Blackbirch: The Beginning (Book 1)Blackbirch: The Dark Half (Book 2)Blackbirch: The Ritual (Book 3)

If you’ve read any of my books—and haven’t done so already—please consider leaving a review or even just a star rating. It really helps indie authors get their books noticed, and also helps fellow readers find books they’ll like.

Quote Of The Month