October 2024 Roundup

Welcome to the October 2024 roundup!

Looking back on this month, I know I sent my Checklist Book off to beta readers, and worked on blogs, and that’s about it. It feels like it went for 2 weeks instead of 4, but that’s the nature of the last few months of the year. As for what else I got up to this month, read on…

What I’ve Been…Writing

Blogs. I did plan to work on my Authoring Checklist book, but I got stuck in a bit of a blogging loop where blogs were what I wanted to work on, so I did. The last week of the month also saw three of four beta readers send feedback for my Writing and Editing Checklist book, so I started going through their helpful notes during the last few days. There are no major issues (so far), but I do have a list of changes and additions to implement, which will keep me busy in November.

Watching

Sweetpea

This dark British drama is based on a book series by C.J. Skuse. Rhiannon is a girl once bullied in high school so badly that she pulled out her own hair. The experience made her a timid adult who can’t stand up for herself. When the death of her father starts a chain reaction of Rhiannon losing her home to her high school bully, she snaps and kills a man who tries to attack her on a night out.

Rhiannon then transforms from Sweetpea (the name her dismissive boss calls her) to a woman who goes after what she wants: a job promotion, a boyfriend, and respect. She even hatches a plan to get back at bully, Julia, all while trying to avoid the suspicions of junior detective, Marina Farrah, who might be the only person who sees the real killer that Rhiannon is. It’s tense, dramatic, and gory at times, but twisty, and every actor plays their part beautifully. Be warned that it does end on one hell of a cliffhanger, so I really do hope it’s picked up for another season.

Joan

Joan hasn’t had a great life. Always running from something, she is forced to put her young daughter into care when her abusive boyfriend gets on the wrong side of some criminals. Determined to get her daughter back and find a place for the two of them, she lands a job working at a jewelry store. When the creepy owner makes a move on her, Joan takes revenge by stealing diamonds. Having gotten away with it, she wants to do more jobs, and befriends Boisie, an antique dealer who also deals in stolen goods. What follows is a gripping series where everything that can go wrong does, but Joan is a resilient character, who sacrifices what she loves most to get herself into a different life.

Nobody Wants This

What happens when you cross a Rabbi who can only date a Jewish girl and a dating train wreck who runs a podcast about sex and is not Jewish? A great new romantic comedy series! It also helps that it stars Kristen Bell and Adam Brody. They play Joanne and Noah, who meet at a mutual friend’s dinner party and instantly hit it off. The trouble is, none of their family or friends think their relationship will work. Thankfully, they don’t want to listen to their naysayers. Featuring a great supporting cast, and some genuinely funny situations, it’s already been renewed for season 2—which is a big deal considering it’s on Netflix.

Reading

They Watch From Below by Katya de Becerra

When 17-year-old Addie is given an early orientation to the University of Arches, she accepts. It’s the same university her mother attended, and Addie knows something happened to her amongst its Gothic walls, an event that still haunts her mother and makes her see things that aren’t there. Addie sees them too, the strange shadows. She wants to find out more, and at the university, she’s put in a legacy group of kids whose parents also act like her mother does. Together, they go searching for the truth, and discover something ancient and horrifying.

Well written by talented author Katya de Becerra, the chapters are interspersed with video recordings of the creepy encounters Addie had growing up, which adds thrilling layers to this quick and clever book, making it hard to put down. Creepy shadow figures, mysterious disappearances, a spooky college campus setting, myths, and great characters and relationships round the book out, which I highly recommend for fans of horror.

Welcome To Hollow Wood by Sim Alec Sansford

This quick read has an instant nostalgia slasher-flick vibe in the vein of I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream. Opening with a girl cowering in the woods, Welcome To Hollow Wood flashes to the present day when that girl has been missing for two years. The town doesn’t know what happened to her, but four of her friends do. They’ve kept the secret, but now someone else knows and is stalking them, leaving threats and forcing them to group together once again and face the consequences of their actions.

This book is part one of the story, and does an excellent job of filling in the events that lead up to Kelsey’s disappearance and why her seemingly close group of friends might partake in the events of that night. The backstory for one character and the reveal of how he got his life-changing injury is both devastating and a great twist in a book that expertly reveals twist after twist in the final chapters, leading to a grisly murder and a cliffhanger for book 2, which I’m hoping isn’t too far away.

At Night We Played In The Road by Chantelle Atkins

Another gritty, well-told story from author Chantelle Atkins, who is a genius when it comes to everyday characters.

Alfie and Tom have grown up coming second to the family business of small-time crime that consumes their father and grandfather’s lives. Motherless after Tom’s birth, the brothers learn to rely on each other as they grow from small children to adults. The story is told in flashbacks to Alfie and Tom’s childhood in and out of foster care, their young adulthood, where any promise of a better life is often squandered by twists of fate and bad luck, and their present-day, where an adult Alfie and Tom are being held hostage.

This might seem like a heavy book, but the author’s grasp of compelling, real characters ensures that you root for these two boys and their bond that hurts yet strengthens each of them. As the story of their lives and the roles of the other characters that drift in and out of it builds in layers, it’s a hard book to put down, and one any readers of strong, character-led stories won’t regret picking up.

Chasing Shadows (The Chronicle of the Crows #1) by Steven Smith

This is my first foray into steampunk sci-fi, and I really enjoyed the mix of technology and pirate adventures. Young Captain Edison Crow, his partner Selah, and their crew are robbers, using their airship to take from the rich. When their fatality-free crimes start being reported as murders, they realize someone on the High Commission is trying to set them up.

An upcoming celebration allows them to confront a leader of the High Commission and they discover not only a big secret but a dangerous new enemy rooted in supernatural superstition.

The world-building of this book is top-notch, as is the writing, the details, and the characters. Crow and Selah have such great banter, and chapters that dip into their backstory shed some light on their ever-evolving relationship. This being book 1, there is a mystery and new questions raised after the overall adventure is done, and I can’t wait to read what’s next for this Victorian-era, ragtag crew.

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 BeginningBlackbirch: The Dark HalfBlackbirch: The RitualBlackbirch: The Collector Taking Photos Of

Halloween. It’s the spooky season and I’ve been seeing lots of decorations on my morning walks.

Blackbirch Teaser Of The Month

This month’s teaser is from The Dark Half. It’s Sarah Randall’s observation/opinion of resident wannabe witch, and fan favorite, Eve Thomas! Eve was such a fun character to write about as she was so determined to have magick for herself, despite what it ended up costing her.

On The Blog

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

September 2024 Roundup8 Feedback Questions For Fiction ManuscriptsThe Backlist

Interview!

This month, I also did a fun interview with Sim from Chasing Driftwood Books, talking about writing, the writing community, Blackbirch, and my writing companions, Dash and Luna.

Interview with K.M. Allan

And that’s it for this month. I hope you’ve enjoyed my October Roundup. Let me know what you got up to in the comments!

— K.M. Allan

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