Hello hello! Welcome back to Mayhem & Magic! Now that the whirlwind of releasing a book has calmed down, I'm back to my regular posts about books and writing and being a general hot mess. I don't have any huge writing updates this week, so I'll just give a small one at the end, but since this is my first regular post of February I figured I'd give a review of what I read in January!
It's not a lot, unfortunately, because I was busy bangin' out about 40,000 words of my current wip, and sadly I have not yet learned of a way to simultaneously read and write. Wish I would, though. I'd be so much more productive!
Anyway, let's go! Books of January 2021!
Next I read CITY OF SECRETS by Victoria Ying, a middle grade graphic novel about two kids hurrying to unravel the weird stuff going on in their alternate-world steampunky city. The artwork in this graphic novel is gorgeous, and the characters are endearing and likeable. I love steampunk when it's done really well, and this book did it fantastically. The worldbuilding is *chef's kiss* and it's a surprisingly big, dark plot for being MG!! It had me shook by the end, and I'll be sniffing out the sequel ASAP (because there's GOTTA be a sequel there simply MUST be).
The last two I technically read simultaneously, but I started A UNIVERSE OF WISHES first. This anthology of short stories, edited by Dhonielle Clayton, is a brilliant and emotional journey through the lives of a bunch of teens just trying their best. There was such a great range of genres in this book, and I found some new authors to check out, in addition to reading some familiar favorites. To name a few, Anna-Marie McLemore's story made me cry, Tara Sim's made me want an entire novel of the MCs, and V.E. Schwab's broke me and made me read A Darker Shade of Magic again. Yes these are all high compliments.
That brings us into our last read of January, yet another reread of A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by V.E. Schwab. I KNOW I'VE READ THIS BOOK LIKE THREE TIMES ALREADY BUT IN MY DEFENSE, I used this reread to take some craft tips from Victoria's writing. I needed a comfort read, and despite the many stressful emotions ADSOM makes me feel, sinking into this story and this world again was like coming home. I love this book (and let's be real, the whole trilogy) with my whole heart. And I sticky-noted the hell out of it this time, jotting down what I loved about the characters (especially the antagonists) and world so I can apply the concepts to my own writing. It was a productive and much-needed reread!!
What I'm Reading: Uhh currently, nothing (oops). I have THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS sitting here staring at me from the coffee table, and I AM going to start it soon, I PROMISE.
What I'm Writing: Easier question, because I have TWO projects now! I am digging into revisions with TRUTHSEEKER after managing to leave it alone for no more than like, a week, and so far so good! I'm trying to go slow with it so I actually think about what I'm doing instead of just blazing through it to be done. I have a feeling I'll need to revise one more time, but I'm not sure that'll call for a full third draft. We'll see what needs to change once I get to the end of this rewrite, and how it all plays out once I draft the sequel. I... may or may not be considering making the series a trilogy again instead of a duology (this is my brother's influence, it's his fault), but it depends on if I have enough content to fill three whole books without the characters running in circles. I barely know where the sequel is going, so I have no idea what I'd do with three books. Also, I JUST drafted a trilogy and it was extremely taxing so I'm not saying I'll never do it again, I just don't wish to do it again right now.
I'm also getting back into a short novella that is a sort-of sequel to THE ORACLE STONE, and it is once again my brother's fault that I've picked this up again. I have a plan for this novella but it's slow going. So that's a back-burner project.
Speaking of which, I really thought I was going to pick up my necromancer book again, for real this time, but I got mad at it again and put it in timeout. All I want... is to write this weird, gay necromancer book... but no. Won't let me. I'm sure I'll go back to it soon, though. It lives rent-free in my mind.
All right, well, that's about all I've got for you today, so until next week! Ciao!
😎✌🏻 Talli
P.S. in case you missed it all over all my socials earlier this week, my debut novel is now out!! Here's some obligatory links:
Buy THE ORACLE STONE on Amazon
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