Category: Reading

Updates May 16-21

Hello,

Thank you for the likes and follows.

The weather has been getting warmer every day. It is a good thing. The trees are green, and flowers are blooming, bugs are flying around. I no longer have any excuse not to do a recommended health walk outside.  Writing about walking outside in this update is apart of making myself accountable.   Writing can lead to health issues- posture, weight, sleep, and the most hated carpal tunnel syndrome.  If the writer is not careful.  Health and over all well-being have been something I have struggled with for years.  Health and being creative are connected.  Once that was understood, I stopped labelling parts of my life as writing life and real life.  They influence and affect each other.  Something to keep in mind if you are a creative person. 

In writing news, there is not much to tell.  I’m still not satisfied with word count but that is something that can be worked on.  So, it is a work in progress.  Thinking about the future, I considered entering a writing contest or two.   I don’t know if I am up to that challenge yet, but I started to look through stories I started as short works.  There are about five on file.  Two are supposed to be part of the same universe. 

May is called Asian and Pacific islander month.  I didn’t always know this.  A YouTube creator started an Asian readathon a few years ago.  I found these two books on the recommended reading list and I indulged.  A Pho Love Story by Loan Le.  It is a Romeo and Juliet type of story with Vietnamese families and food.  I think this is the author debut book, and full disclosure I am listening on audible.  The story is told in first person POV and just better for me on audio.   The other story also first person POV is the Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso.   It is fantasy told from perspective of the Queen and I am so there for it.  Often fantasies are told about the poor orphan from the country or bottom of the city. This is a story about a person in power and the haters that are after her.   The queen’s responsibility to her people and to herself is the conflict.  I find it interesting and comparing it to the graphic novel Vagrant Queen by Magdalene Visaggio.  A topic for the Wednesday review or essay.  Those are the fiction books.  I am still listening to Germs, Guns and Steel by Jared Diamond for non-fiction.  It was stated that it would take about 2 weeks to complete reading and listening to that book.  I promptly got distracted on other things.  My bad.  I used to take a commute to work and often listen to books all through the day at work.  I am no longer doing this, so adjustments are being made. 

This week’s goals are of course writing 8000+ words in the romance novel Star Crossed.  Deciding which short story will be worked on in the next month and the choice for the writing contest.   Once I write it here, I must keep to it and update you all later.   Nothing yet is confirmed I am just looking. 

I hope this week goes well for everyone. We may not get what we want, but let’s hope we get what we need.

End

A Wayward Reader

This is not a book review.

A few weeks ago, I made a reading list, it consisted  15 books of  5 fiction, 5 non-fiction and 5 comics.  I then proceeded to kind of ignore the list and read other things.  I love reading and/or  listening to books, they have helped me through many bad days.   While I was in the hospital, I listened to the Glamorist Histories and the Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal, and the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells.  Jasmine Guillory’s The Wedding Party and the Great Courses lecture on How to write creative non-fiction and the science of sci-fi.  Those were the few that stood out in my brain, there were others and they were all great books.  It made the time in the hospital a little easier. 

Since coming home I found myself reading less and watching more content on streams.  I believe this was negatively affecting my writing.  The list was made to encourage my reading and to keep track of what was being read.  Another side benefit it would help me see what I was doing with my time.  I went through my books digital, audio and physical copies. I had more than enough books.  I could limit or stop buying books, audiobooks etc for the next couple of months.  As long as I got through that list.  The completion of one list would lead to another.  There are a number of books that were DNF because I just didn’t go back to them.  This was another objective for the list.  I didn’t object to these books.  I think there are only about 10 books that I refused to finish because the story or character went against everything I was willing to accept. 

Now to tell the truth, this past month I was having trouble with the romance I am writing.  I decided to listen to more romances and got caught up in works by a contemporary romance author, Piper Rayne.  It started with the book 2 of the Green family series and then I moved on to book 8 of the Bailey family series.  Listening and reading a book out of series was a different experience.  Ms. Rayne’s books are comfort reads for me.  They have common romance tropes like one night stands, friends-to-lovers, Second-chance lovers, Boss and employee etc.  What I found interesting is that in the nine book series called the Bailey Family, multiple tropes were used.  Book one title Lessons From A One-night Stand, featured a one night stand and a boss employee relationship in high school.  This continued throughout the series, part of the fun of listening was finding the trope. She even made Alaska seem like a place I might want to visit.  It was the reason instead of listening to Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond.  The Bailey series was completed and since I started with the 2nd book in the Green family series, I listened to 1st book in the series My beautiful Neighbor.   Both series are connected, there are character cameos through out all the books which is nice. 

I learned something in the writing style of Piper Rayne that I may use in my novel. I will discuss more in the update. Also before I forget all the books so far are written in first person point of view. It is hard for me to connect with reading but great when listening to audio.

Now that I have told on myself. The next step is pick up on Guns, Germs and Steel. I want to say something profound here but can’t think of anything at the moment. So, sigh with relief.

This will be the first time in about three weeks there has been a Wednesday post. Thank you if you reached this point. A goal of this blog is to post 4 times a week, to inspire and entertain.

End.

Book Review #6

In 2015, Entertainer Issa Rae wrote in her book Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. That maybe it would be beneficial for Black women if they dated and married Asian men.

Some people in the black community wanted to criticize her suggestions. Interracial Romance Authors decided to take her suggestion and run with it.  The results are phenomenal.  There are thousands of interracial romance stories featuring Asian men and Black women.  This is just one series; I began reading in 2019 and came back to while I was in the hospital.  I was looking for happy endings and I found some of them here.  These two books are part of a four-book series.  They can be borrowed if you have Kindle unlimited. They are exclusive books sold only by Amazon.

Sweet Sweet Revenge By Nia Arthurs

Joon Gi Kim was once a successful businessman, engaged to a\ beautiful woman Hanna Park and admired by many. An anonymous tip to authorities changed all that. He is arrested and charged with a white-collar crime. The stigma of being a criminal has turned everyone in his social community against him.  He loses his business and fiancée. Down and out, he resorts to offering his business knowledge, to a baker Sky Johnson and her struggling shop Sweet Treat. Sky is a kind-hearted woman, who chooses to see better in people than there actually is.  She hires Joon Gi even though she is sure he is up to something.  Joon Gi vows revenge against those who have wronged him.  He thinks he knows who they are.  Besides a struggling business Sky also has relationship issues that need to be dealt with.

The attraction is evident between these two and during a series of events, love springs up between them.  Joon Gi and Sky’s relationship blossoms and it changes them both.  Sky stands up for herself and Joon Gi puts aside his plans for revenge to help Sky and her shop when she needs it.   Joon Gi’s enemy is revealed and it is a twist.  The story ends with the shop being saved.  Sky and Joon Gi committing to each other.

Sweet Sweet Disaster By Nia Arthurs

Sun Gi Kim is a successful businessman and younger brother of Joon Gi Kim.  He saved the family’s fortune when Joon Gi was arrested and is engaged to his brother’s ex-fiancée, Hanna Park. Ignoring is brother’s advice not to marry a woman he has no feelings for, Sun Gi ignores this and continues with wedding plans.   Sun Gi is attempting to prove something that can’t be done. Joana Lee Gregory is a part-time worker at Sweet Treats and a good friend to Sky Johnson. She is a biracial woman with a Korean mother and a Black father and aspiring-to-be-discovered singer. She prefers to go by the name Jo. She has a crush on Sun Gi since they were introduced in Sweet Sweet Revenge.   However, is quite sure that Sun Gi would never be attracted to her. 

This, of course, is not true.  Sun Gi is seduced by Jo’s beautiful voice when she secretly performs at a nightclub.  He searches for this “Nightingale” only to realize she was always in front of him.  

Jo appears to be confident in herself and life choices however there are cracks like she feels she will never be enough for her Black and Korean families.   She wants to be a vocalist, however getting recognition without a support system is very difficult.

Meanwhile through complicated circumstances Jo leaves her job working with Sky.  There is an introduction of a new character Jewel.  Jo ends up working at a store but soon fate work for her and she gets the job as Sun Gi’s executive assistant.   Their attraction to each other grows but Sun Gi is still engaged to Hanna Park. 

A plot twist occurs that can only be describe as K-drama melodramatic goodness.  Sun Gi and Joon Gi who have been estranged since book one, work out their brother issues.  Hanna and Sun Gi decide not to get married.  Jo and Sun Gi become a couple. 

These two stories were interesting to me for different reasons.  There are some things I liked about it and there are some things I didn’t.  But overall, it was an enjoyable read.  Arthurs left the mean evil ex-girlfriend trope and came up with a plot twist I was not expecting.  Also, the story is set in a part of the world that I never really thought about.  It seems like something strange and completely stupid to write.  Belize as the setting for the story was different than what I am used to in romance stories.  Usually in these stories set in not the United States or Canada, the main female character is visiting, the new wonderful tropical land. Full disclosure at the time I read these books it had been a couple of years since I’ve read a contemporary romance with no supernatural or speculative fiction element to it.  The world building felt normal.  I believe that was something I needed because my real world was very uncertain.  I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to have a pleasant read. 

End

At Least a 100 words #10

One of the plans I made to increase my writing productivity was to make a schedule for the day and then writing schedule for the next month, what should be posted when.   It changes with delays.  I didn’t think about the time it would take for me to write something I am comfortable posting.  Every writer has faced this problem, when is done … done.   This is a quality issue.   My goal is to eventually write quality essays, that satisfies the reader.  It is what I expect as reader.  I found myself falling down rabbit holes of not knowing enough to complete anything.  This short essay is to be posted as is without hindering thoughts.   It is meant to be hot off the presses, correction made later, if necessary.  Yet, I take days to complete an essay to my satisfaction.  I want my words to be understood, invoke a feeling and please some people.   I also want these essays to be a short read.   I saw somewhere that a standard blog post is 500 words.   At Least 100 words range goal is 100-300 words.  I don’t think there is a post that is just 100 words. 

These are the thoughts going through my head while I am attempting to compile an efficient writing schedule.   While I am thinking thoughts, time is being lost to inaction.   This essay is closing on the possibilities of the week ahead. 

The time is always now.” -Erica Jong

End