Checking In!

Hey! How are you?

Can you believe we're almost halfway through March? Yikes.

So, my husband went back to work this week, which is the worst after we had such a great break together. It's always hard to get back into the swing of things and I intended to take it easy. Of course, for me, that means tackling smaller projects.

The other night, while sorting and deleting things off my phone, I found a short story I started last year but didn't finish. It's the prequel short story for one of my completed novels. Okay, it's technically a prequel/sequel because it fits in between the two timelines in the novel, but the main thing is that I finished writing it last weekend and even revised it the next day.

When my husband went back to work, I completed the final read-thru, and made all the changes. It's a story that flows very well and complements the book.

The final word count is: 3,255.

Actually, after I finished this tale, I went back to the completed novel and changed/tweaked a few details that came about because of this short story. Nothing big, but enough that I'm even happier with the novel now. 

BTW, this is the third short story I've completed this year, and I just started tweaking another one. ☺️

Asides from that, I read two books this week. One that I really enjoyed because it was so quirky, Hard Copy by Fien Veldman, and one that was okay but too bleak in the worst way possible, Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor.

The other thing I've been doing is sorting through a bunch of my collectibles and books. We want to cut down our Funko Pops collection, so that means going through the shelves and getting rid of anything that we're no longer excited about having. There's no space for meh. I'm surprised, but glad, that we've already put quite a few aside (30+ so far).

I love sorting through stuff and figuring out what to keep, but it's really exhausting. And mentally draining. Still, it's always worth the work/effort. Especially when you have limited bookshelf space. Oh, and another cool thing about all the moving around I did last night is that my author copies are all in one place and on display. Cool. 😁

That's it for now. It's been a long week and I'm looking forward to spending the weekend with my husband.

Have a great day!

HURRICANE SEASON by Fernanda Melchor

Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm not sure why I picked this up. It could be because I read a translated book earlier this week and really enjoyed it, so I decided to give this one a go. Or maybe it's just because I found it while looking through my Kindle books. Either way, I finished it tonight.

In a small town in Mexico, the 'Witch' is dead and we're about to find out who did it...

Yikes. This sure turned out to be quite the bleak and woeful ride through the miserable lives of some pretty fucked-up individuals with loose morals. A penchant for violence. No future ambitions to speak of. Absolutely no fucking hope in sight.

The book is broken up into several chapters that introduce the POV of a different character to not only fill in the blanks about who killed the Witch, but also so we can get a very thorough peek into just how awful everyone's life happens to be. Some POVs a better than others, but they all share one quality: suffering, in the worst way possible.

While I liked how the story seemed to start at one point and expanded with each growing chapter, the blocky paragraphs and sentences that went on forever started to weigh me down and got on my nerves because you really do need a pause every now and then. Am I right?

Yeah, this isn't a terrible book but the subject matter and the shitty characters got to be too much. And it's not even a long story! It's just an uncomfortable read.


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HARD COPY by Fien Veldman

Hard Copy by Fien Veldman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I stumbled on this book, while checking out a different one on Amazon, it grabbed my attention instantly. I couldn't go past a woman who has a deep connection with her printer.

Working inside a small, stuffy office at a company full of people she can't relate to, in a city full of tourists, a single woman finds a comfortable companionship with her printer. But when she's forced to take leave, she wonders how she'll survive without him...

I love checking out books that are a little strange. Odd and quirky tales that drag me into the heart of the narrative and keep me turning the pages.

Well, that's exactly what happened with this novel.

As soon as I started reading, I was hooked and actually read the whole thing tonight. It's quite the deep and meaningful tale about one working woman's existence. It's about being just another cog in a random company. About how people are treated when they're a bit different, or socially awkward enough to become a target without being aware of it.

Most of the characters in this story are nameless and are referred to by their positions. Or the status in the narrator's life.

She's a lonely woman with only one friend and a lot of memories to crowd her mind. She also thinks about her place in the world, and enjoys Greek mythology. She loves to tell stories and shares details about herself with the printer in her office. The printer who listens and doesn't judge. And even he turns out to be interesting.

I also really like the garbage man because he's such a genuine person. The only one who truly listens without judgement. He's such a lovely man.

This is one of those stories that manages to make everyday work/chores/ponderings interesting. It certainly raises a lot of valid points and introduces a character that seems so weak and small on the outside, but is strong and intriguing on the inside.

Great book!!


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It's March!

How are you today?

It's Saturday here in Oz and we're enjoying hubby's annual leave break. I love staycations. They're awesome and very relaxing. We stay up late almost every night and sleep in. It feels a bit like the vampire lifestyle. 🦇 And I have to admit that some days, it's easy to lose track of time. 😅

I can't believe so many awful things are happening in the world right now. Ugh. If only people paid attention to what's really going on and voted with empathy in mind instead of greed and selfishness.

We've been watching SEVERANCE and YELLOWJACKETS, which are both fantastic shows. SEVERANCE blows my mind and we end up having long discussions about what's going on.

Oh, and we watched COMPANION. What an awesome movie! Really enjoyed this one.

I'm currently taking a break from writing and reading, but I did revise the short story I mentioned in my last post. I actually completed the final read-thru on my Paperwhite this afternoon and just made all the changes. The final word count is: 3,191.

I'm really happy with the result. This is a post-apocalyptic story that has changed direction during every single draft, which is always an awesome surprise.

Also very excited that I've already written and revised/completed two short stories this year. Seriously, last year, I collated and revised two short story collections and even started a few shorties, but I didn't complete any new ones.

BTW, have you checked out my debut short story collection yet? It's called MELANCHOLY DELUSIONS and I'm super excited that it's out in the world. Not to mention that I'm very proud of the 17 tales included in this volume.

You already know that I still play ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS daily, but I've also been playing HELLO KITTY HAPPINESS PARADE on my Switch Lite. I absolutely LOVE this adorable game and finally unlocked all 12 characters. It took me WEEKS to get Kuromi, who happens to be my fave. Now I'm working my way through all the challenges. Very cool.

Well, that's it for now. I just wanted to drop in to post an update at the beginning of the new month.

Have a great weekend!