April 2024 Roundup

Switches For A Non-Working Scene Writing A Book: When To Dump An Inter...

April 2024 Roundup

Welcome to the April 2024 roundup!

Another quick month down in what has been a fast start to the year. As usual, I’ve been working hard but also feeling like I’m not getting enough done (please tell me I’m not the only one who feels like this?). I’m also still a little out of sorts as I’m not working on any fictional stories. Thankfully, the creative dry spell I fell into after publishing my last release has lifted and I’ve started having ideas for a story that has been in the back of my mind for a number of years. I once outlined the plot a few years back in between Blackbirch drafts, so when I am ready to work on it fully, I think I’ll be off to a good start.

In what was a good end to the month, the family and I made a quick trip to Sydney for my cousin’s wedding! As for what else I got up to, please read on…

What I’ve Been…Writing

Blogs. I’ve been working on content once again, doing research on topics and making notes so I can get ahead with posts for the next few months. This has meant the outlining I was doing on my Checklist Book hasn’t progressed, but I will be making more of an effort to get into that in May. When discussing writing at a writer catch-up this month, my friend Belinda suggested going back to one of my writing routines where I spend one week focusing on “Writing” and the other on “Authoring” (you can read about that particular routine here). I did that routine when working on my Blackbirch series, but I wasn’t doing it this year as I’m not working on anything fictional, and I think that’s why I’m not making progress. So, in May, I’ll start that routine again and see if it helps put together the blogs and the Checklist Book faster.

Watching

Fallout

Based on the video game series, Fallout starts at “The End” when a nuclear bomb goes off during a child’s birthday party. The world is retro-futuristic, with a 1950s look, but technology that includes robots and the ability to create underground vaults to house survivors. One such survivor is Ella, who we meet 200 years later on her wedding day. She’s marrying a stranger from another vault, who it turns out is a surface dweller who launches a raid. During the chaos, Ella’s father is kidnapped, and she leaves her brother to go to the surface and find their dad. There, she discovers how naive she is, and how much of the world and history has been hidden from herself and the people in her vault. Across the 8 episodes, there’s so much we learn about how the war started, the current world, how it became what it did, and other characters. It’s slick, looks stunning, and there is violence and gore, but also humor and characters to root for and dislike. There are also some good twists, secrets, and a great lead-in for the next season, which I would happily watch.

The Fall Guy

One of the best movies I’ve seen in a while, and worth seeing in the cinema for the action alone (and of course Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt). When Colt Seavers, stunt man to one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, gets hurt, he disappears for a while. Drawn back out of retirement by movie producer, Gail Meyer, he agrees to the work because it’s for the former flame he ghosted after his accident. Still carrying a torch for Jody, Cole does what he can to make sure her directorial debut is the hit it needs to be. This involves finding the lost lead, pulling off historic stunts, solving a murder, a run-in with thugs, a hilarious drug-induced sequence involving unicorns, a dog that only obeys commands in French, and so many awesome stunts. Full of action, humor, romance, great plot twists, star cameos, and a fun post-credit scene, The Fall Guy is well worth a watch.

Reading

The Ruptured Sky (Gardens of War & Wasteland #1) by Jessica A. McMinn

An exciting dark fantasy full of prophecies, a Princess in hiding who is a capable hunter, and questionable characters trying to raise an old-world Goddess. This book has it all and is beautifully written too. When a secret power Amika’s been hiding all her life is exposed, she’s made an offer to learn how to control it. Coming from a man who has his own secrets, and a family dealing with the bad decisions he’s made, Amika has to decide if she can trust him enough. When her past comes back to ruin their new plans, she also has to face the life she disappeared from and the consequences of her actions. The Ruptured Sky is a great start to a promising series and is highly recommended for fans of gritty characters, interesting worlds, monsters, and magic.

Some Shall Break by Ellie Marney

The sequel to None Shall Sleep takes place 3 months after the events of that book and sees college student Emma Lewis, and FBI trainee Travis Bell, reunite to track down a new serial killer. When it becomes obvious this new creep is targeting women who look like Emma, her past trauma is re-opened as she’s forced to deal with the aftermath of her own serial killer experience, which is once again hinted at, but never told in full (which is a shame because I’d love to read a book about that story).

Some Shall Break also includes the return of Simon (book 1’s serial killer) in what at first seems like a real stretch of logic, but does pay off later in a big way. His twin sister Kristin also takes a main role and turns into one of the real stars of the series and helps lead things to a cliffhanger ending (and thankfully the author is currently working on the third book). If you loved the first book, the second ups everything, including the slow-burn romance of Emma and Travis and the banter between Simon and Emma, to create yet another read-worthy installment.

Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell

Dr Kay Scarpetta faces off with a serial killer who is going after single women and leaving behind a mysterious glittery substance. There’s lots of medical talk, scientific talk, computer talk, and just general talking in this book. As it’s from 1994, most of the DNA science is outdated now, but that doesn’t stop the story from being interesting. I’m not completely on board with the prickly Scarpetta character yet, but Cornwell’s writing style, her red herrings, and villain reveals (which I didn’t guess until the end) kept me interested and reading, so I will be checking out more of her books in the future, and recommend this one to anyone who likes forensic thrillers.

Christopher Pike Books

Inspired by the Netflix series, The Midnight Club, I’m re-reading the books of my favorite author, Christopher Pike, and enjoying the nostalgia and reading for fun and not to review. In 2022/2023, I read Pike’s YA books. For 2024, I’m reading his Adult books.

This month I read The Cold One.

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! 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 Blackbirch: The Collector

Taking Photos Of

High tea and a wedding. This month I met up with two friends, Belinda Grant and KD Kells, from the #6amAusWriters for a high tea. We last saw each other in December 2023, so this was a chance to catch up in the New Year and talk about what we were working on and what else has been happening in our lives. As always, I left with my creative and social cup filled and was inspired to keep working on my current projects. I then ended the month road-tripping to Sydney with the family for my cousin’s wedding, which was a stunning occasion.

Blackbirch Review Of The Month

This month’s 4-star review is the newest for my latest book, Blackbirch: The Collector! It’s been so awesome to see how well the final book in the series has been received since its November 2023 release, and I love hearing what readers enjoyed about the books, so please keep the reviews coming.