Hello, lovelies! September is over and spooky season has officially begun! Yay!
September has always been one of my favorite months: September feels like a fresh start after the heat of summer. Its cooler days are perfect for cozy sweaters, scented candles, and TONS of writing (I finished up line edits for my YA fantasy Rebel Prince and got a head-start drafting the sequel). Luckily, I also found time to read, watch a series, and listen to some great music! Please allow me to share my favorites 🙂
I Read…
Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin!
I’m still on the hunt for good comp titles for my WIP. I’m obsessively drafting my query letters, but I’m having a difficult time deciding on my comps. Ugh, send help, please!
Blood & Honey is the second book in Mahurin’s Serpent & Dove trilogy. After narrowly escaping death at the hands of the Dames Blanches, Lou, Reid, Coco, and Ansel are on the run from coven, kingdom, and the church. In the book, the story takes a dark turn – things are HAPPENING, y’all!
By the time we reach the end of the story, Dante’s nine circles of hell seem like a walk in the park. Everything hurts, and don’t even get me started on that cliffhanger ending. DAMN!
I Watched…
The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime!
Set in the Second Age, thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, this series transports us to the time when the One Ring was created, the elf capital of Lindon was majestic, and the dwarven halls were prospering.
The first episode begins relatively peaceful, following an ensemble cast as they are confronted with the return of evil to Middle Earth. Galadriel is especially awesome: she’s a badass warrior, intent on finding the source of evil that she believes is still lurking in Middle Earth. Elrond is a politician, befriending dwarf princes and aiding kings. Both elves are young and passionate – the opposite of the grim leaders in the original movies – and I can’t WAIT to see how their characters develop in the remainder of the series!
Also, I will gush over this line forever more: “Evil does not sleep. It waits.”
I Listened to…
My playlist for the second book in my YA fantasy series!
As I wrote in this post’s intro, I’ve started drafting the sequel to my Rebel Prince WIP. It doesn’t have a name yet (though in my mind, I’m secretly calling it Pirate Queen). The book begins in the ugly underbelly of a wealthy harbor town, after which my MC crosses turbulent waters, drops anchor on a perilous island, and nearly loses her life in an epic battle at sea. The story is filled with brazen privateers, water magic, tons of rowdy banter, and a dash of spicy romance.
Naturally, the songs in my playlist perfectly support the shenanigans 😉