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Kelly’s Year In Books

Kelly’s 2025 Year in Books

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Kelly’s Bookshelves

to-read (96)
currently-reading (6)
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Kelly’s Friends (106)

Amanda Helling

1,209 books | 69 friends

Hussam Elkhatib

128 books | 7,890 friends

Michael

2,044 books | 331 friends

Elizabeth

1,394 books | 68 friends

T.F. Lince

18 books | 1,493 friends

Dan

13,280 books | 2,037 friends

William Cooper

482 books | 4,153 friends

B.A. Malisch

10,310 books | 5,251 friends

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Kelly Sedinger

Goodreads Author

Born

in Pittsburgh, PA, The United States

Website

http://forgottenstars.net

Twitter

Jaquandor

Genre

Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror

Influences

Tolkien, Guy Gavriel Kay, Lois McMaster Bujold, Lloyd Alexander, Jacqu ...more

Member Since

April 2007

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/jaquandor

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I live near Orchard Park, NY with my family: my beautiful wife, wonderful daughter, two typical cats, and one very odd (and newly adopted as of September 2014) retired racing greyhound. Luckily I have my own book room to which I can retreat!

In addition to reading and writing, I love long walks, riding my bike, and am passionate about music. I also have an odd quasi-obsession with bib overalls. If you see a long-haired fellow in a Buffalo-area cafe or library, wearing overalls and banging away on a laptop, there's a good chance that's me!

My online presence is as follows: Official author site, http://forgottenstars.net; personal blog, http:byzantiumshores.blogspot.com; Twitter and Instagram @Jaquandor. ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

Do you listen to any specific music while you write, to get you in the right mood, or is it just whatever you happen to like listening to right now? Or perhaps whatever you like listening right now does give you ideas and inspiration on its own? What are you listening to while writing your current thing?

Kelly Sedinger Ack, sorry to keep this unanswered for so long! GR isn't great about notifications. But anyway: I don't tend to listen to *specific* music when I writ…moreAck, sorry to keep this unanswered for so long! GR isn't great about notifications. But anyway: I don't tend to listen to *specific* music when I write. Sometimes I do try to match mood to what I'm writing, but not always. When I do, I look for film music from the same genre as my WIP, so I'll listen to STAR WARS and other space opera music more frequently when I'm writing a space opera. Likewise, a fantasy might call for adventure or fantasy film music, and a similar thing for horror. However, I often listen to whatever I'm in the mood to listen to, regardless of genre or mood of what I'm writing at any given time. As I write this answer I'm listening to a Tchaikovsky symphony! I love music as I write, but I don't treat it as aural wallpaper or mood generator for my own work.

Likewise, I don't like to rely on music too hard for inspiration, but sometimes it's unavoidable. As a writer I can't always count that a reader will have the same emotional reaction that I'm having or trying to create, so trying too hard to rely on my listening as an emotional template for writing can be a mistake. But it can also be unavoidable, and it's not uncommon for me to listen to a piece of music (film, classical, celtic, anything) and think, "I want my writing to make the reader feel what THAT piece of music makes me feel." And that is always a BIG challenge!

Thanks for the question!(less)

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Do you have a writing routine, or anything you do to get in the groove?

Kelly Sedinger Geez, sorry it took me so long! I never saw a notification that this question existed, until just now when (after seven months) there it is. Ugh!!!

Any…moreGeez, sorry it took me so long! I never saw a notification that this question existed, until just now when (after seven months) there it is. Ugh!!!

Anyway, I do have routines. They're not carved in stone, but I do certain things certain ways. I get up at roughly 5:45 am each weekday morning that I'm working; after making coffee I'm sitting down at the computer by 6:00 until about 6:50, when I have to resume getting ready for the Dreaded Day Job. I also have started using my 30-minute lunch period at work as a writing session. Other than that, I try to cram in writing sessions as much as I can, whenever I can.

Saturdays I like to go sit in the cafe at the local grocery store for a couple hours and write, and Sunday afternoons I'm in my library at home. When I sit down, I generally noodle about online for a little while before writing, just to get juices flowing. I also like to have music playing, often in the genre in which I'm working (but this isn't carved in stone). In my library I have nice headphones AND a nice little speaker system if I don't want to use the headphones. Generally I'll listen to any music that fits my mood while I write; I'm pretty good at not falling into active listening while I write.
When I'm revising a manuscript, the timing is roughly the same, although then I'm using a hard copy of the manuscript.

I hope that covers everything!!!(less)

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Combine Editions
Kelly Sedinger’s books

Average rating: 4.46 · 46 ratings · 14 reviews · 6 distinct works

	Stardancer (The Song of Forgotten Stars, #1) 4.48 avg rating — 27 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wisdomfold Path (The Song of Forgotten Stars, #2) 4.56 avg rating — 9 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Amongst the Stars: The Song of Forgotten Stars, Book 3 4.40 avg rating — 5 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Savior Worlds (The Song of Forgotten Stars, #4) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Chilling Killing Wind (John Lazarus Book 1) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Amongst the Stars (The Song of Forgotten Stars, #3) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Kelly Sedinger

The Song of the Forgotten Stars (2 books)
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Kelly Sedinger (Goodreads Author)

4.50 avg rating — 36 ratings

Kelly is Currently Reading

Kelly Sedinger is currently reading

The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sherlock Holmes, #5)

by Arthur Conan Doyle

bookshelves: currently-reading, 2026-reads, mystery-crime

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May 03, 2026 05:04PM

Kelly Sedinger is currently reading

On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer

by Rick Steves

bookshelves: currently-reading, 2026-reads, travel

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May 03, 2026 05:03PM

Kelly Sedinger is currently reading

The Art Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

by Caroline Bugler

bookshelves: currently-reading, 2026-reads, art

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Jan 01, 2026 06:00AM

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Kelly’s Recent Updates

Kelly Sedinger is currently reading The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sherlock Holmes, #5) by Arthur Conan Doyle	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 03, 2026 05:04PM · like
Kelly Sedinger is currently reading On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer by Rick Steves	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 03, 2026 05:03PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of On the Hippie Trail by Rick Steves. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — On the Hippie Trail by Rick Steves <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kelly Sedinger rated a book really liked it Empire of Silence (The Sun Eater, #1) by Christopher Ruocchio (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Probably 4.25 for character work and world-building, but then maybe 3.75 for being really long-winded. I mean, this book is LONG. That's not so much a criticism as a statement of fact. If you want Big Epic Space Opera, here it is. If you want Breezy ...more
May 03, 2026 01:04PM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kelly Sedinger rated a book really liked it Art and Fear by David Bayles	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Re-read. An artist friend (who has since passed on, RIP Robert Guttke) gifted me this book years ago when he was encouraging me to work on my writing more than I was at the time, and I decided to re-read it this year now that photography has taken so ...more
May 03, 2026 01:04PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Art and Fear by David Bayles. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Art and Fear by David Bayles <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kelly Sedinger rated a book really liked it Art and Fear by David Bayles	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Re-read. An artist friend (who has since passed on, RIP Robert Guttke) gifted me this book years ago when he was encouraging me to work on my writing more than I was at the time, and I decided to re-read it this year now that photography has taken so ...more
May 03, 2026 12:58PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Art and Fear by David Bayles. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Art and Fear by David Bayles <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kelly Sedinger rated a book really liked it Magnum Degrees by Michael Ignatieff	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
4.5 stars, really? There is some astonishing photography in here. In fact, there is a LOT of astonishing photography in here.
May 03, 2026 12:53PM · like · see review
Kelly Sedinger rated a book really liked it The Art of the SNL Portrait by Mary Ellen Matthews	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Amazing collection of portraits.
May 03, 2026 12:52PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Art of the SNL Portrait by Mary Ellen Matthews. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Art of the SNL Portrait by Mary Ellen Matthews <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kelly Sedinger rated a book really liked it The Comic Book Story of Professional Wrestling: A Hardcore, High-Flying, No-Holds-Barred History of the One True Sport by Aubrey Sitterson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Good art, and a good summation of where wrestling came from. This might be better aimed at people who know anything at all about wrestling (I do not), but I enjoyed it as an Intro to the History of Wrestling. What it is NOT is a general Intro To Wres ...more
May 03, 2026 12:49PM · like · see review
Kelly Sedinger rated a book really liked it Findings by Leonard Bernstein (1982) Hardcover by Leonard Bernstein	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I hadn't read this collection of Bernstein's writings and ephemera in many years. Some of his youthful work is obnoxious, but later on Bernstein's erudite tone and style arrive. Fascinating work by one of the 20th century's greatest musicians. ...more
May 03, 2026 12:46PM · like · see review
Kelly Sedinger rated a book really liked it Camelot by Alan Jay Lerner	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Rounding up from 3.5 because the songs are great (this is the book of the show, but still). I know that CAMELOT had a really troubled history on the stage, and reading the book of the show, I think I see why. It's really something of a mess. Adapting ...more
May 03, 2026 12:45PM · like · see review

More of Kelly's books…

Kelly’s Quotes

“Hamilton was keen to shoot authentic local colour to give the film an American flavour, especially specific details that could not be faked in Europe. The later part of the film was set in Kentucky, but Hamilton found plenty to shoot in Florida. He was particularly proud of one shot of a certain food shop, ‘This was too good an opportunity to miss. God is smiling on me. Of course, it’s years later that Kentucky Fried Chicken is everywhere!”
― Matthew Field, Some Kind of Hero: The Remarkable Story of the James Bond Films

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