Tag Archives: blogging

Looking Back and Looking Forward (My 2018 Recap and 2019 Goals)

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Oh, wait, what? It’s a whole new year.

Which means it’s time to look back at all the goals I set (and forgot about) at the beginning of 2018, and set some shiny new goals for 2019. Here goes nothing…

2019 goals

2018 Goal Recap:

  • Publish Esmeralda’s Story: Apparently 2018 was so long that I completely forgot this novelette even existed by the end of it, but you can purchase a Kindle copy of Empty Little Heart: Esmeralda’s Story on Amazon! That’s one goal to strike of my list, at least.
  • Write and revise at least one book: Yeah… this didn’t work out. I did do little bits of work here and there on some of my background projects (and also came up with about a hundred other project ideas, some of which would involve massive amounts of work. Yay!) but I never got even close to finishing one of my many first drafts. :/
  • Get my driver’s licence: This… actually happened. It still doesn’t seem real that I’m legally allowed to just go out and drive a car around by myself, but it happened.
  • Read more: This is kind of a vague goal, but I did ramp up my 2017 Goodreads Challenge Goal of 60 books, which I completed, to 70 books for 2018. Unfortunately, I only ended up reading 67 books out of those 70, so I don’t think I can really give myself full credit for this one.
  • Make more artistic stuff: Another really vague goal which I can’t really measure. I posted only one piece of artwork to Instagram this year, but that’s not really a good reflection of the amount of art I’ve done, since I almost never post pictures of my artwork. I did branch out into soap- and candle-making near the end of the year, which I guess could kind of count as ‘artistic stuff’? But I definitely wasn’t creating as consistently as I would like.
  • Embrace my emo side: I kind of randomly threw this ‘goal’ in for laughs, and then never actually did anything to realize it, besides occasionally wearing my assortment of chokers, my silver cross necklace, and enormous dangly chain earrings, and acquiring one or two new pieces of black clothing for my wardrobe. I dyed my hair at the beginning of 2018, and it hasn’t been redone since, and however much I dream of getting a fancy purple ombre, I’m really not sure when (or if) that’s going to happen.
  • Procrastinate less: This once again unmeasurable goal ended up completely backfiring, and I think I spent more of 2018 procrastinating than doing anything else. If you read my post Vicious Cycles, you’ll know all about the cycle of laziness and always taking the easy way out that I was stuck in. The new year seems to have cleared the air, at least a little bit, and I’m hoping that maybe I can power through it and create new habits of mindfulness and actually doing things before the cycle sets in again.
  • Exercise, exercise, exercise: Like most of my goals in 2018, this started out very well at the beginning, and kind of just sputtered out somewhere in the middle of the year. I’m trying to ease myself back into quick Pilates routines and long walks in the outside air, and I’ve even started going to the gym with my dad and brother now and then. Hopefully I can keep up the momentum this time.
  • Write more blog posts: I wanted to be posting weekly. I was even doing monthly wrap up posts with updates and plans for the next month. But in 2018 I only wrote 36 blog posts, a far cry from the 70 that were posted in 2017. Going back and looking at my 2017 Best Of/Wrap Up post, it’s hard for me to not notice the enthusiasm, the sheer excitement for what I had accomplished, and what the new year might hold in store. I could say that I feel like I’ve lost that, and that I’m disheartened and cynical and don’t know how to  recapture that lost flame, but… that wouldn’t be quite true, actually . There’s a flicker of that excitement inside me now, because I can see where I’ve failed, and I can see ways to fix it. I want to lean into that, to make better goals this year, and accomplish more of them. So here we go…

My 2019 Goals:

Criteria: These goals must be inherently measurable, specific, and able to be accomplished in the next 12 months.

  • Write and revise the script for my new Super Secret Project. That’s right, I said script. And this is not the same Super Secret Sci-Fi project from last year, which is so far on the back burner that it’s basically off the stove at this point. I won’t say too much about this project, as if it works out it’s going to take a lot of time and effort to complete, but it is there and it is humming along in the background, and I do want to put some work into it this year.
  • Complete Create This Book 2 by the end of 2019. Create This Book 2 is the second art-journal-type book from Moriah Elizabeth. I discovered her stuff late last year, and her Create This Book series really caught my eye. Create This Book 2 has 100 unique prompts to inspire all kinds of artwork, which you can create right on the pages of the book. I picked the second book because it has a more manageable number of prompts, and if I complete two prompts each week I can finish the book by the end of the year! I’m hoping that this consistent art creation will help me improve my skills, and that the book’s creative prompts will challenge me to try new mediums and techniques that I would have never picked up otherwise. I’m going to try to post at least some of my artwork on my Instagram, if you’re interested. 🙂
  • Read 50 books. Yes, 50 is a step down from my goal of 70 last year, but I’m heading into the home stretch of school, and things are getting more challenging and time consuming, so with that and my many other projects, I may not have as much time to read as in previous years. I think that 50 is a rather more manageable goal for me at the moment, and it would be much better to meet and surpass a smaller goal, as I did in 2017, then to fail a larger goal.
  • Review more books, movies, and videogames. This goal may sound vague, but I don’t want to set a specific threshold for reviews. I’m planning to at least review the big Marvel films of 2019 on this blog, as always, and continue posting short book reviews on my Goodreads profile. And yes, it has been nearly two years since my last videogame review, but I recently picked up some awesome indie titles with my Christmas money, so keep your eyes peeled for those reviews sometime soon!
  • Post what I want, when I want. Whether it’s poetry, random essays, movie, music, or film reviews, awesome quotes, or what have you, I don’t want to box myself into a set once-a-week-or-more posting schedule. I think giving myself the freedom to miss a week or two without worrying about disappointing people or not meeting my goals may actually help me to post more, but of course we’ll have to see. That being said, I would like to write at least 30 posts on the blog this year. Hopefully, that’s not too much to ask of myself.

And… that’s it! It may be fewer goals than I set for myself last year, but I think that’s a good thing. I can see my way clear to completing these goals in the next 12 months, and if it all works out maybe I’ll ramp it up for 2020. Who knows! I’m just excited to be a bit more inspired than usual, and I’m hoping that concrete goals and solid plans for implementing them will go the distance that my own sheer willpower, random inspiration, and zero planning skills has gotten me in the past.

Talk to me, friend! Tell me about your goals for 2019, and your plans for implementing them. Are you as surprised as I am that it’s already 2019?? Let’s chat in the comments below!

See you again soon!

🙂

May Wrap Up Post (2018)

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So April may have happened somewhere between this wrap up post and the last one, but I was really busy and kind of missed it, so… yeah. It’s time for my May/April wrap up post! Things this past month/last month have been kind of crazy, so here’s the rundown.

May Wrap Up

Highlights:

  • I traveled to England with my mom! As a super special birthday treat (and because my mom has wanted to go there for years and wanted someone to come with her) I got to go to England for a week! It was absolutely amazing, and if you haven’t had the chance to check out Part 1 or Part 2 of my write up of our adventures, make sure you do! My Instagram page is also chock full of photos from the trip, if you’re interested.
  • I accidentally started working on another secret project… Apparently I cannot stick to any of the projects I’m actually supposed to be working on, and I started developing ideas for another project I’ve had in the back of my mind for a while. It’s still in very early stages of development, and I’m going to try to work more on other, more pressing projects instead of following this thing off on a tangent, but… you know. We’ll see what happens.

Posts from April/May 2018:

Looking Forward:

I’m going to try and wrap up the One Week in London series during June/July, and get back to more regular blogging and writing habits. I’ve been kind of ignoring my WIPs and creative work in favor of… procrastinating, so I really need to work on that. It’s just a little frustrating, because with basically all my projects I’m right in the middle, which is where the self-doubt and boredom start to kick in. I know if I just keep working on it, doing a bit each day, I’ll get through. But the motivation is kind of lacking, so it may take a lot of willpower to actually get some work done.

Thanks for reading my May/April wrap up post! Can you believe it’s summer already? Cause I can’t… The year is almost half over, but it kind of feels like it’s just started. Have you done anything exciting during the past two months? Let’s chat in the comments!

See you again soon.

🙂

March Wrap Up Post (2018)

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Wow this post is late…

Hello, everyone! Sorry I haven’t been able to get last month’s wrap up post out until now. March just sort of bled right into April and I didn’t even realize it! But here’s a quick rundown on what I’ve been up to in the last month, and what’s coming up.

March Wrap Up

Highlights:

  • My next writing project is moving forward. It’s very tempting for me to say that I got nothing done in March, but now that I really think about it, I have done some work on what will hopefully be my next book. I’m really trying to get back into the habit of writing something everyday, even if I don’t feel like it (which it seems like I never do). I’ve been really out of the loop recently, which may be why this post is so late, and I’m still struggling with motivation and finding the will power to just sit down and write something. But I’ve made some progress, which is fantastic, so there was at least one thing I accomplished this March.
  • I watched The Greatest Showman! All of Twitter has been raving about this musical for the past few months, and I finally got around to watching it. The soundtrack is amazing, and I wrote a review of the film, which you can find in the ‘Posts from February’ section below.
  • I’m getting more comfortable behind the wheel. While I may never be entirely comfortable with piloting a large, heavy object through narrow streets and around sharp corners, I am definitely improving. I was actually able to drive all the way home from the parking lot where we practice a few days ago, and I didn’t almost drive into a ditch like I did the first time, so I’ll take that as a good sign…

Posts from March 2018:

Looking Forward:

There are a lot of things happening this month. First of all, you should be seeing my review of the new season of A Series of Unfortunate Events on Friday. It technically should have been posted last Friday, but procrastination and health problems happened, so… yeah. There’s my excuse.

I’m going to be away for the rest of this week, starting tomorrow, because I’m going to the Great Homeschool Convention with some friends. I may be posting some photos/updates to my Twitter and Instagram, so if you’re interested, please go check those out.

I’m helping my lovely friend Daley Downing with the bookiversary of her debut novel! I’m going to be hosting a super special giveaway, starting on the 16th, so make sure you subscribe to my blog if you want to hear about that and get a chance to win some cool stuff.

There’s also one other exciting thing happening this April/May, but unfortunately I’m going to have to keep that a secret for now… 😉

Thanks for reading my March wrap up post! How was your March? Did you get to see any cool movies or shows? Is there anything exciting coming up in April for you? Let’s chat in the comments!

See you again soon.

🙂

The Spring Cleaning Writer Tag

Posted on by under For All the Bookworms

When it rains, it pours, apparently, because I’m back today with another blog tag! This one was created by Deborah O’Carroll, and I was tagged for it by my good friend Daley Downing @ The Invisible Moth. So let’s dive right in…

springcleaningwritertagchallenge

Rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you
2. Share the picture
3. Answer the questions (naturally…) or even pick and choose which ones you answer
3.5. Tag 3 other writers and inform them that you tagged them (via comment/message/email or hey, even carrier-pigeon or smoke signal; I’m not picky)

The Questions:

1. Dust-bunnies and Plot-bunnies: Reorganize Your Writing Goals (Or Make New Ones)

I laid out a few writing goals in my 2018 Goals post, but now that we’re three months into the year, I think it’s time to give them a good reevaluation.

  • My first goal for this year was to publish Esmeralda’s Story, and I was actually able to do so this February! The novelette is currently available only on Kindle, and you can find it here on Amazon. So, that’s one less thing to worry about this year.
  • My next writing goal is to write and revise at least one book. I’m a notoriously slow first drafter, even more so when I’m legitimately busy and also procrastinating at the same time, but even so I’ve been able to make some progress on my current WIP, and hopefully over the next few weeks or months I’ll be able to finish it up. But we’ll see…
  • My final writing goal for this year is to blog more consistently. I’ve been trying to write at least one post per week, and although there have been a few rough patches, I’ve mostly been able to stick to that goal.

Sometimes it feels like I’m accomplishing exactly zero things, so it was nice to take this little look at what I actually have done this year! Now, on to the next question…

2. Which Stage Are You At? Expound!

a. Remodeling layouts (planning the story)
b. Painting the walls in colorful hues (writing)
c. Polishing the windows and scrubbing the floors and putting flowers in vases (editing)
d. Blueprints (not to the cleaning or remodeling yet… just drawing up plans for the very beginning inklings of a story)
e. Some combination of those things (cleaning out a closet)

I love these neat metaphors! I would say that I’m at the ‘painting the walls in colorful hues’ stage, or slap-bang in the middle of writing my first draft of what I hope to be my next novel. I’m just over the half-way mark, at almost 30,000 words of what I hope to be at least a 50,000 word draft.

3. Treasure From the Back of the Closet (Share one to three snippets you love!)

His earliest memories were of her voice; sweet, mellow, rich and dark in tone, not like any other voice he heard around him. She used to sit beside his bed and sing him to sleep, her voice coloring his dreams long after he had sunk into slumber. In the blurs and shadows of his past, she was constant and clear, a rock in a sea of memories. He had hardly yet begun to appreciate his youth, but she made him wise beyond his years. She was everything.

He never wanted to be apart from her.

 

He realized after a few moments that they had stopped shouting. The silence of the twilit city, made up of a hundred thousand different sounds, pooled around them in the growing gloom. Chelsea’s heartbeat pounded against his shoulder, and every breath she took seemed to catch in her throat and shake her body like a trembling leaf. He couldn’t tell if she was crying or not. Her limp and dirty hair, which not so long ago had been neat and brushed and washed, hung in strings down her shoulders and back. He pristine white gown was gone, replaced by a shapeless gray dress which felt like it was made of potato sacks. She was gripping his hand, and her fingers were icy on his skin, but even in this state she felt like safety.

 

He pulled her through the garden gate into a blooming world carpeted with green; neatly trimmed hedges and soft moss and flowers fed by the rain, flourishing in color.

3.5. Bonus: Do Some Actual Spring Cleaning of Your Writer Self! (and share a picture!)

Eh, I’ve been cleaning up my room off and on over the past few months, but  it’s  still extremely messy  in some places, so I’ll spare you from any horrendous pictures… 😅

Thank you so much for this awesome tag, Daley! I would tag all my fabulous blogger friends, but I think they’ve already been tagged, so, if you haven’t yet been tagged, but would like to participate, consider yourself tagged and just head on over to Deborah’s original post to grab the questions for your own blog! ^_^

Thanks so much for reading! See you again soon.

🙂

Wednesday With Words: The Soul at Play

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Hey, everyone! This week’s quote is from Emily Dickinson, just in time for World Poetry Day! I’ve been reading through an enormous book containing all of Emily Dickinson’s 1,500+ poems recently, and this really caught my eye:

Emily Dickenson

Thank you so much for reading today’s Wednesday With Words! Sorry it had to be a little shorter today. I hope you enjoyed today’s quote, and Lord willing I’ll have some exciting new posts up soon!

Bye for now!

🙂

February Wrap Up Post (2018)

Posted on by under Monthly Wrap Ups

Heyo, friends! Wow. I can hardly believe February is already over! January felt at least a year long, but February 2018 went by in seconds, and suddenly we’re five days into March and I hadn’t yet posted my monthly wrap up post because I didn’t even realize the month had ended. Well, no more waiting! Let’s jump right in to what’s been happening this month…

February Monthly Wrap Up

Highlights:

  • I published a new story! It’s set in the same world as Behind Her Mask was Death, and takes place about ten years prior. The story is a novelette called Empty Little Heart: Esmeralda’s Story and has some backstory on everyone’s favorite Princess Esmeralda. You can pick up an ebook copy over on Amazon (it’s currently available exclusively on Kindle), and take a glance at the gorgeous cover art created by Jenna Paddey:

Empty Little Heart (Cover)

  • I became the co-creator of the dankest meme on the internet. Well, maybe not really, but it is a pretty great meme! The meme is called “John Green Red” and was created in honor of my YouTuber/author/awesome-creative-person friend Hannah Marie. I’ve mentioned Hannah a few times here on the blog, and if you’re interested in learning more about her, make sure to check out her Twitter, her YouTube channel, and visit her Fandom Wiki page! To learn more about the meme I helped create, and what it means, you can visit this page.
jOHN GREEN RED MEME

The original “John Green Red” meme created by yours truly. *dabs unironically*

  • I completely quit YouTube and have decided to focus more on blogging and writing. In the January Wrap Up Post, I said that I was going to try and make some more YouTube videos for my channel. But I realized, after several fruitless attempts at filming, that this was just a total drain on my mental health and creativity, and I’ve decided to drop that idea and focus on doing what I really enjoy. I’m going to try to do a lot more original, interesting blog posts on here, including recommendations, essay-type-things, more poetry (maybe?), and more reviews.
  • I’ve started learning to drive! I actually got my permit back in January I believe, but what with sickness and crazy schedules and work and what not, I wasn’t actually able to start learning to drive until Saturday of last week. Let’s just say that I still need a lot of practice before I’ll be driving anywhere except empty parking lots…

Posts from February 2018:

Looking Forward:

I have a couple of fun posts planned for March, and I’m going to try to finally finish up Season 1 of Marvel’s The Gifted and write a review of that as well. I’m playing through the 2017 rage game Getting Over It, and if I ever do, in fact, get over it, I’ll be reviewing the game on here. I’m making some progress on a couple of writing projects, which is good, as I haven’t written anything at all in the past few weeks (Yes, I know, I’m the worst…) and I’ll be sure to keep you updated if I have any breakthroughs with that.

I’m toying with the idea of doing some Instagram livestreams sometime in the future, just super casual, chat-about-your-day kind of stuff. If anyone would be interested, please let me know! (You can follow me on Instagram here, if you like.)

Thanks for reading my February wrap up post! How was your February? Are you as baffled as I am at how short it seemed??? Did any cool things happen to you this month? Let’s chat in the comments!

See you again soon.

🙂

Wednesday With Words: The Act of Writing

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Heyo! It’s break week, and I’m officially back from my little haitus with a new Wednesday With Words post! Today’s quote is from William Zinsser’s famous On Writing Well, a fabulous book about writing that I’ve been perusing this week. While the book focuses on nonfiction writing, it does have quite a few tips that can be applied to fiction writing as well, and also this little description of the writer at work, which I thought was too good (and way too true) not to share today:

On Writing Well

On my reading list this week:

  • Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor: A novel based on the hit Welcome to Night Vale podcast about a weird little town in the middle of nowhere, where paranormal happenings are everyday occurrences and every conspiracy theory is true. I love the podcast, and I’m greatly enjoying this book, but I’m not a fan of the super liberal worldview…
  • Cyndere’s Midnight by Jeffrey Overstreet: The second book in the Auralia series. I started reading this back in July of 2016, and then eventually dropped it when my reading pile grew too big for me to manage. I picked it up again recently, as I own the entire series and would really like to finish it. The book is kind of slow, which might have been part of why I originally dropped it, but it’s picking up a bit now that I’m nearing the end.
  • Emily of New Moon by L. M. Montgomery: Rereading this old favorite for the Back to the Classics 2018 challenge. It’s one of my favorite books by L. M. Montgomery! I just identify with Emily so much.

Thanks for reading this week’s Wednesday with Words post! See you again soon.

🙂

Wednesday With Words: Puzzle Peices

Posted on by under For All the Bookworms, Wednesday with Words

I’m finally back with a new Wednesday with Words post today! This week’s quote is from Henry and the Chalk Dragon by Jennifer Trafton, which my little brother read aloud to me during the month of January. This book had us rolling with laughter at multiple points, but also had its fair share of touching or thoughtful moments, like the quote I’m going to share with you today:

Puzzle Pieces

On my reading list this week:

  • The Stroke of Eleven by Kyle Robert Shultz: My friend Daley Downing @ The Invisible Moth sent me several indie books, including the last two Beaumont and Beasley books. I read The Tomb of the Sea Witch already (it was so good I finished it in less than two days) and I’m starting The Stroke of Eleven as soon as possible, because I need to know what happens next!
  • The Blood Race by K. A. Emmons: Another book that Daley sent me. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, and I’ve heard tons of good things about this book. I can’t wait to read it!

Wednesday with Words is hosted by ladydusk.

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January Monthly Wrap Up Post (2018)

Posted on by under Monthly Wrap Ups

“Aria???? Where in the world have you been????” you cry furiously at your computer screen, as you smack your desk repeatedly with the palm of your hand, “You promised that this year you were going to actually write more blog posts, and then you just… disappear into thin air! What’s up with that??? Are you lying to us to our faces???????“

Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m sorry. One month into the year and I’ve already failed one of my goals, which was to post at least one blog post a week. I got off to a pretty good start and then… stuff happened. School. Work. Dare I say… procrastination? But that should have only been for last week! I was all geared up to try and get some posts out this week, and then disaster struck, in the form of a very nasty strain of the flu.

For multiple days I have been laid up in bed, basically unable to move, much less to write a riveting blog post. But, at last, I have returned. I’m still a bit sick, but I think I’m well enough to recount all the stuff that happened this month. Hopefully…

January Monthly Wrap Up

(Yes, I am making new banners without the year on them. I figure it’s way more efficient than making a whole new set of banners every single year!)

Highlights:

  • I went to see Secret Midnight Press on tour with indie musicians Tessa Violet and GiveMeMotion, and it was amazing! There were more people there than I expected, but I thoroughly enjoyed both parts of the show (they had the musicians do their sets first, and then Jesse and Ashley from Secret Midnight Press came and read their poetry). It was at a smaller venue, which was nice, and the atmosphere and ambiance they created was very cool. I even got to talk to Ashley a bit after the show, and she signed my copy of Smoke Signals! 10 out of 10 would see a Secret Midnight Press show again. I had an awesome time.
  • I discovered some amazing small YouTubers during this month/the end of last year, and I wanted to give them a little shout out because they’re all super cool, and you should go check out some of their videos. I don’t normally watch smaller YouTubers, because it’s difficult to find ones with good quality content, but a while back a couple of my internet friends started YouTube channels, and they are through-the-roof-amazing. So make sure you check out That Girl with a Blog (My friend Hannah Marie’s channel. She does vlogs, storytimes, and is just generally hilarious and relateable) and also Jeneca Zody, Bethany Stevenson (they’re both amazing artists) and MasterEth (he makes hilarious clean comedy videos and is a friend of Hannah’s)
  • I started listening to Welcome to Night Vale! You may have heard of it at some point or another on your journey through the internets. It’s a fiction podcast about a tiny desert town somewhere in America where really weird and random paranormal stuff happens. The podcast is super bizarre and a little creepy, but I actually find it quite funny, mostly because of just how random it is. I’m almost finished season 1, and I’m loving it so far! The creators of Night Vale have also made another podcast called Within the Wires, which has a totally different vibe and is super suspenseful and exciting. I listened to the first season, and highly enjoyed it. Until recently I didn’t really know fiction podcasts were a thing, but Aimee Meester’s Bright Eyes Project sort of introduced me to the format, and I love finding new podcasts to enjoy. ^_^

Posts from January 2018:

Looking Forward:

Yes, I am going to try to do better about actually making blog posts in the future. But, I mean, hopefully I won’t have any more surprise attacks of the flu, so we should be good. I’m also hoping to make a YouTube comeback as soon as my voice doesn’t sound like a dying rat! I made a channel a while back and posted like one video… and then I never posted anything again. I have a couple of super cool ideas, though, and I’m hoping to make at least a few more videos very soon! I let you know if/when that happens.

Thanks so much for reading my January wrap up post! How has your January been? Have you discovered any cool new YouTubers, podcasts, TV shows, books yet this year? Do you have any favorite small YouTubers? Let’s chat in the comments below!

See you again soon.

🙂

Wednesday With Words: The Fire of Life

Posted on by under For All the Bookworms, Wednesday with Words

Hey, everybody! I’m back with another quote from Smoke Signals by Ashley Dun. I chose this quote for today because I’m actually going to be seeing Ashley and the rest of the Secret Midnight Press crew on their book tour tomorrow! I am very excited! There is going to be poetry reading, live music, and a meet-and-greet after the show, which sounds awesome! (And maybe I’ll see if I can get my copy of Smoke Signals signed???)

The Fire of Life

On my reading list this week:

  • The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: Rereading this for the Back to the Classics 2018 challenge. It’s actually one of my favorite books of all time, so its nice to have an excuse to read it again.
  • The Last Archer by S. D. Smith: The latest installment in the Green Ember series; this one’s a novella and I’m reading it while I await the publication of the next full-length Green Ember novel!

Thanks so much for reading this week’s Wednesday with Words post! What books are you reading this week? Have you ever been to a Secret Midnight Press show, or are you going to one this year? Let’s chat in the comments!

See you again soon.

🙂

As always, Wednesday with Words is hosted by ladydusk.

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