September Wrap-Up
Hey all, Sam here.
Today is the premiere of Critical Role Campaign 4, and I am so very excited to watch it tonight. Trying to get through the rest of the hours until then is going to be a struggle. David and I might play a little more of the current season of Diablo 4 to waste some of the time. Oh, and after the first episode of Campaign 4, there’s also Taylor Swift’s new album to listen to, which means this is going to be a busy day.
Anyway, it is time to look back on what I’ve read, written, blogged, and the trips we’ve gone on this past month. It’s another pretty decent wrap-up for the month, so I don’t want to take too long before jumping into the meat of today’s post. Let’s just go ahead and get started.
ReadingI managed to read 11 books this month, which isn’t bad, even if it isn’t as much as I would have hoped. I actually read most of these books in the first half of the month and then had too many days of not really being able to read for most of the rest. That happens far too frequently, where I just have a whole bunch of other demands on my time and energy and then I don’t get to read as much as I would like.
Still, I’m happy with what I managed to read and I’m looking forward to all the books I hope to read in October. I feel like September was a lot of cozy small town reads, so maybe in October I can do more spooky atmospheric reads. Oh, also maybe October will be filled with reviews for these books, because I realized that even with the couple of books that were re-reads that I hadn’t actually reviewed them here before. Oops.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi — 4 stars
The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore — 4 stars
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree — 5 stars
Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree — 5 stars
Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree — 5 stars
A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic (Deluxe Edition) by J. Penner — 4.5 stars
A Fellowship of Librarians & Dragons (Deluxe Edition) by J. Penner — 5 stars
A Fellowship of Games & Fables (Deluxe Edition) by J. Penner — 5 stars
Sheeta’s Big Little World Vol 1 by Yuki Kamba — 3 stars
Betrayed by the Hero, I Formed a MILF Party With His Mom! Vol 2 by Makoto Kuon and Ishino Yassan — 4 stars
What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller — 4 stars
WritingWell, the middle of the month was supposed to mark my participation in the Write Brave Challenge, taking place from September 15-October 15th. My goal was to write a few hundred words a day as outline/prep for a two-person romance RPG that David and I have been wanting to write. I typed up a couple hundred words on the first day of the challenge……..and haven’t written anything since.
I guess I’ll just point up to the aforementioned other demands on time and energy. I really need to figure out how to balance life and creativity, at least whatever is going to work for me personally. I’d like to actually get a good amount of words on the page (or screen) again.
My friend Sarah is planning on heading out our way next year for GalaxyCon Des Moines to sell her candles and other crafts, and it makes me dream of being at a con to sell my books…but I can’t do that if I don’t get books finished. Sarah and I had a booth in Artist’s Alley back at Wizard World Columbus in like 2016(?) and I had one book and she had two. It was a nice time, so I think it would be nice to experience that again with her.
I just need to figure out how to get writing again.
BloggingSo…I don’t know exactly what happened in the month of September when it came to this blog, but my stats basically skyrocketed. This is the best month I have had in terms of view count in a whole decade of running this blog. If the views keep coming in at this same pace then this will be my most highly viewed year on the blog, and that is crazy to me. It’s also quite wonderful.
Thank you to all of you who have stopped by to check out my posts–whether that is people who have been around for years or new folks. I’m happy to have you here.
All that being said, I did manage to write up 9 posts in the month of September, which meets my blogging goal set at the beginning of the year, so yay. If you missed any of the posts, I have them listed and linked right here:
Weekend Writer: Write Brave Challenge 2025
Books I’m Hoping to Read in 2025
Manga Review: Sheeta’s Big Little World Vol 1 by Yuki Kamba
Cover Reveal: Claimed by Darkness by S.R. Hartley
What I’m Looking Forward to Reading (Hopefully) in October
NetGalley Review: Warrior Princess Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer
Pathfinders Writing Collective (PaWriCo2025)
Trips/ConventionsDavid got to go to his first concert this month. We went to see Apocalyptica, Lindsey Stirling, and Halestorm in Cedar Rapids last week, and it was a really great time. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a concert, and the music and the energy of the crowd just reverberated through me, reminding me how much I missed this. Also, David had an absolute blast, and is already itching to go to more concerts, which is fine by me as long as we can afford them.
The photos aren’t great, but we had seats in the upper section on the far side of the arena, so my phone camera couldn’t zoom in any farther. I was very excited to hear “Shatter Me” live, because I was hoping Lzzy and Lindsey would team up on stage for this one specifically. All in all it was a fantastic time.
In October we plan on going to a nearby Ren Faire, as well as going to a nearby farm for some pumpkin picking and other harvest fun, and we’re also having a nice day/night out to celebrate because our wedding anniversary is at the end of the month.
All right, well that’s all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.
