Welcome friends to the quarterly blog. A lot of things have happened in the past few months. Maybe not a lot. But enough to share some things that I had been doing. Before I begin, I want to say I love Autumn. It is the time of the year when the air cools down; the trees change to beautiful vibrant colors, and make apple cider and carve pumpkins. Because summer is over, I thought it would be fun to look back and share those summer days with you.
Nothing big had happened in the last few weeks of July, but in August I went camping in Michigan for a couple of days. Now, I won’t share a lot here because I wrote a blog about the trip. Over there, I shared more about the things we did (my siblings and me) while we stayed. If you click this Return to Mackinaw Island (A camping trip adventure) , it will take you to the blog to read more. I have to say it was really nice, and I had a good time there. After the trip, we celebrated my niece’s birthday with the rest of the family members. Toward the end of the month, the fair came, and September arrived.
Did I do any new writing projects? Before the trip, I have not have written any new projects other than revising a contemporary and clean romance novella. I sent the manuscript to one critique partner and returned the manuscript back to me and straight away began the revisions within a month. After that, I delivered it to another critique partner. Toward the end of August, I got it back and did another round of revision. It is hard sometimes for me to start a whole and different new project while that story is still on my mind. Do you have that problem sometimes when you can’t double projects yourself? There are writers who can do that and it may not be for everyone. I used to write one project after another non-stop and now; I like to do one project at a time. Anyway, with critique partners’ valuable feedback, I wanted to take my time to make the story b. Soon enough, I’ll have it ready for the next stage. Just before I share the excitement with you, I like to keep this surprise for the last.
We've had some unexpected surprises on the farm. One of the female ducks (we have one male and five female) hatched couple ducklings, and sadly, one of them survived. We nursed the one and miraculously made it through one night. The duckling is growing strong and healthy. And one cow had a baby calf, and it was a girl. She is adorable. I will share two picture here to show you the calf and the duckling.
Did I read any new books? Yes, I did. In fact, I read over two books. Half of them are indie books and few traditional books. Because I like to share what I read and leave reviews, I’ll start off with one traditional book and keep this short.
I read a contemporary and women’s fiction The Bookstore on the Beach by Brenda Novak. I never read any of her books and saw the cover and read the blurb. A story about a woman who struggles for a year to search for a husband and decides to go to her hometown with two teenagers. Her mother had a shop located by the beach. And the mother had a secret she never shared with her daughter and the granddaughter dealt with some issues with relationships and a secret of her own. While staying there, the wife of the missing husband encountered a man who was her childhood sweetheart. I won’t say much since you may want to check it out for yourself. There were a few things I didn’t like and mild language, but overall, it wasn't bad.
Because I already left a couple reviews on Amazon, I’ll share them here. First book I read was The Clockmaker: A Clock Can Talk by Ella Khodakivsk. This book has been on my TBR list for a long time. The first time I saw this was on Twitter. The clock looked really nice, and I read the blurb and it sounded interesting. When it was on sale, I straightaway began to read it. I love how she brought the details of clocks and the values of time. With a bit of whimsical touch of fantasy and uniqueness. The characters were interesting. It is slow, but if you keep going, it is not bad. Negative side, the formatting is a bit off. I guess because it is a different type of style. Other than that, the story is beautiful yet bittersweet and sad. Especially the dog part. I cried. I enjoyed reading this book.
While I was on vacation, I saw this book called Being Dorothy (in a world longing for home) by Michèle Olson. The title and the blurb caught my attention. I grew curious and brought it from one of the little adorable bookshops. I read it within a week. The town and the sense of the location was very real, and I like Dorothy and her husband. Glad that they come to a place they need each other and Jesus in their marriage. There were some things like Dorothy’s new friend. At first, I thought she was slightly pushy trying to convert Dorothy into Christianity, but I suppose that is who she is when she shares with Dorothy her faith. I'm glad the author gave some room for Dorothy to think about it and let her make the decision for herself. Overall, the story was good. Now, I wanted to read the third book, Alice.
One writer I followed on Instagram, she loves hummingbirds. We have been writing friends for a while, and she recently released her debut fantasy novel Follow the Hummingbird. She wrote a story about a woman grieved for the loss of her husband and she see him in her dreams. I got a copy and loved the cover and read the story. I want to say the story is fantastic! Tina, I feel sorry for her. The struggle of losing her husband. Now, she encountered him in dreams, ah. The vibe of the old lady’s (her new friend) place reminds me of Howl’s Moving Castle. The crystals and the flowers. Pretty creative. Elena did a great job putting the story together. Only thing that bothers me is her friend Natalie. I feel every time Tina talks to her; she laughs. I can understand here and there but every conversation, hmm. I don’t know. Maybe that’s her personality, but it was too much. I feel so bad for her friend Matt (I may spell his name wrong) He cares about her and falls in love with her. My heart ached. I hope they will be together after Tina’s husband encourages her to move on. But I can see why Tina didn’t want to. Toward the end, I felt it was a bit rushed. Again, I’m definitely curious to see what happens next.
The last book before the summer ended, I read a Christian fantasy novel The Sujemm by Melanie G. Clark. Her book was on my TBR list and I finally got a copy to read it. The story was great. I kept on reading to the last page. I enjoyed it. On the other hand, I felt they could be split into two separate books as part of the series. It took little time for me to understand what’s really happening and stay on track with everything else. It was a lot to handle. I noticed a couple, minor typos like one or two sentences were missing and the quotation marks were double in two different places. But everything else, she did a good job creating a story that you don’t want to miss. Love how she uses earthly things (candy cane, candy corn, clock gears and game cards) and uses them as magical objects. I can’t wait to read more in the following series.
Now the exciting news you all have been waiting for. I’m publishing a novella in summer 2022!
Yes, you got that right. I'm publishing a debut book. It is official, even though I haven’t chosen a specific month or day when it will be released to the world. There will be more updates and details in the coming year. I’ve thought about this decision for a while. Because I have self-published in the past, there were parts I didn’t do properly. After all, we learn from mistakes and learn from them. . Why tell now when the summer is over? I wanted to tell you now because I finally decided about what I wanted to do with my writing career. I’ve tried to get traditional publishing like querying agents and submitted to a couple of indie publishers. Each one has passed on. It is hard and not always easy to get an agent or get accepted by publishers. Sometimes it is not the right time, but it doesn't mean there isn't any other option. That's why there is a path called Self Publishing. Now you understand why I suddenly changed the course of being wanted to be traditional publishing to self-publishing. It won’t be easy, but with your support and love, I know at the end it will be worthwhile.
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Thank you all for reading the quarterly blog. Till then, have a beautiful autumn season.ebte.tbete.betrt.bette.better.
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