April 2018 Book Reviews

Do you have months where you feel as if your head is spinning? Like no matter how hard you try, life is simply getting away from you? April felt like that.

We started the month on vacation in Arizona and California. We got home at 10pm on a Tuesday night and jumped right back into the "regular" schedule Wednesday morning. It's been weeks and I'm barely keeping up with everything -- except the laundry. I have gotten the laundry done.

Writer Dad

Personal note: I've met Sean Platt, the author of Writer Dad and I like him. He's fairly hilarious and extremely motivational.

That said, Writer Dad was a bit of a surprise since it gives so much information about Sean's personal history -- history I didn't know. I always end up feeling like I'm peeking into a person's life too much with these sorts of books.

As for the book itself, man, left me feeling like I was on easy street! Some good ideas for balancing work and life while struggling to make money to afford life. If you are a parent facing the challenges of writing while caring for your family, this is a heartening read.

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5 Secrets of Story Structure

April had a lot of craft development reading and this was one of my favorites. It is sweet and extremely direct / to the point while still providing solid information. Added bonus: I understood the information and can apply it to my writing (that does not always happen for me).

If you're writing stories, I highly recommend this book. I'm using the concepts in it to develop several series and expect those series to be much stronger on the story side.

Note: the link for this is to Amazon but you can get a copy of the book for free on K.M. Weiland for signing up to her newsletter.

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Midnight in Austenland

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale is the follow-up to her hilarious contemporary romance, Austenland. I wanted to love it.

I started out loving it...

Then I went on vacation. I didn't take it with me because I did not want to carry one more thing in my carry-on bag. I wish I had purchased the e-book, but, alas, at that particular moment in time, I had a hardback version from the library. It became "one more thing" and I left it behind on the kitchen counter.

When I returned, I'd lost all interest in finishing it... Well, that's not totally true. I read the first 10 chapters and the last 2 chapters before going on vacation. I know how it ends. I just don't know the middle part of it -- the how it happens to get to the end.

If I were more curious or had more free time, I would finish it. Midnight in Austenland simply did not hold my attention like the first book did.

Another less than stellar reading month. I have several books that are in-progress. I will report on them, even if I do not finish them, in May. Because my time is so limited, I do not finish everything I start. I think you should know that, considering I'm telling you about a book that I liked, but didn't love enough to finish.


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