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About the book
Blood Moon by Lucy Cuthew (Blurb)
My thoughts
Book Review of Blood Moon by Lucy Cuthew on YouTube
Frankie lives next door to her bestie. Together they love to hang out in their tree house planning to take pictures of the moon. But, they don’t agree on everything. Her BFF is boy crazy, and Frankie finds it embarrassing.
There is an internship at the Planetarium and there’s a few hoops to jump through to get the role. Both girls decide to go for it. Frankie works hard on her essay and gets her science teacher to check it over and write her reference.
When she finds out her BFF sent an inappropriate photo to the science teacher instead of an essay, Frankie worries how their friendship will affect her reference. Her BFF knows she screwed up and is hurt that Frankie won’t stand by her side when she needs her most. The girls have a massive fight and are no longer friends.
To make matters worse, her now ex-BFF tells their mutual friends her version of what happened, and now Frankie is alone. Being alone enables Benjamin to get to know Frankie better. The pair get closer, and closer, and one thing leads to another.
The best feeling in the world, rapidly turns into a dirty secret. Someone knows the sordid details of what Frankie and Benjamin did that afternoon. And, now it’s all over the internet, one meme after another.
How can Frankie get the bullies to stop and who can she trust? This is a fast paced emotionally driven story of friendship, bullying, and first love. With an epic ending.
Taking those next steps towards publishing book two is very exciting. It’s still a way off, but I’ve reached out to my cover designer to discuss ideas and book in.
An update on what I was doing in July. Originally I’d toyed with the idea of doing a project for Camp NaNo.
Instead, I was busy planning my husband’s secret party, and attending all the end of school/nursery events for my kids.
In the end, I was working on remaining present on social media by developing content. This included opportunities to feature in Felixstowe Magazine and interviews with other bloggers.
Smashwords Summer Sale (July)
I posted at the start and end of July to make people aware that Ocean Heart was in the Smashwords sale at 50% off. This needed some prompting and content to spread the word.
Coming Soon – Author Diaries
I’ve also been busy working on this collaborative project, and developing content to start promoting.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel and stay tuned for more info coming soon.
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I can’t wait for the holidays and to relax. My best friends wedding was a busy weekend but the lead up to finishing school has been crazy. I’m literally taking one day at a time.
This is a HUGE milestone. I can’t wait to see what my editor has to say. She is fabulous at slapping me with the truth in a way that doesn’t hurt and helps me make my story better. I know there will be a lot of work but I’m ready for it.
It’s free to follow me on Ko-Fi and be sure you don’t miss out on my latest news, or any freebies. You can buy me a virtual cuppa or merchandise from my shop, including a signed copy of my book.
I’m getting close to finishing my self edit and shared where I’m up to with the plot hole fixes.
Follow me on Ko-Fi
It’s free to follow me on Ko-Fi and be sure you don’t miss out on my latest news, or any freebies. You can buy me a virtual cuppa or merchandise from my shop, including a signed copy of my book.
I share my first chapter of Sky Heart. This has only been self edited and needs to go through professional edits but I thought it’d be fun to share a little of my work in progress.
I shared how I was progressing towards my NaNo goal, what has gone well and what I still need to work on.
Sky Heart Coming Soon
Follow me on Ko-Fi
It’s free to follow me on Ko-Fi and be sure you don’t miss out on my latest news, or any freebies. You can buy me a virtual cuppa or merchandise from my shop, including a signed copy of my book.
This post contains affiliate links. Please check out my affiliate disclosure page for more information.
I was lucky enough to get an ARC copy of this book via Net Galley. It’s release date is 14 June 2022.
About the book
Blurb of The Sea Women by Chloe Timms
My thoughts
I read an ARC from Net Galley and this is my honest review.
Wow! This book is dark and twisty. I’ve always wondered how people fall prey to a cult leader. How fears can control.
Esta lives on a patriarchal island where they fear the seawomen, and every challenge the islanders face is blamed on the sins of their women. Punished by god, they must repent to be saved. Esta sees through the lies and dangerously seeks answers to questions that if she was a good holy girl she’d ignore.
This book reminded me of the darkness of The Handmaids Tale. The way the book made me turn the page out of morbid curious that people could live this way. The history and characters are written so well, it was difficult to put down.
My birthday was back in November and my online writer friends clubbed together and got me an Amazon voucher. I didn’t spend it right away. I wasn’t sure if I might get books for Christmas. Plus my book Wishlist is insane so I took my time narrowing down my choices.
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Here’s what I got:
Fiction
This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
The Weavers by Ania Whiteley
World for the Broken by Elexis Bell
And The Stars Were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando
PREORDER: When Our Worlds Collided by Danielle Jawando
Non-Fiction
Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes
The Rural Setting Theasarusby Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi
The Urban Setting Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi
I delivered my first ever face-to-face author event for World Book Day. It was extra special because I got to attend the high school where my book Ocean Heart is set.
The Setting
Ocean Heart is set in Felixstowe. When I started writing the novel there were two high schools in the town. Deben High School and Orwell High School, both named after local rivers. The two schools had some rivalry and I didn’t want my book about that so I merged the schools together and made Felixstowe High School.
Little did I know that the council were going to do this. The old schools were knocked down and a new modern building erected.
I’ve never had the opportunity to visit the high school so it was really fun to see if it was anything like I imagined. The school was lovely, and very modern, and a lot bigger. I was very impressed.
The students
I met up with groups of five to six students from Key Stage 3. The plan was to introduce myself, and my book, and discuss what had inspired my writing.
I’m not great at public speaking, so I took a notebook with some conversation bullet points to boost my confidence and feel more prepared. I’m not sure what I’m scared will happen, other than making a fool of myself.
The students were very sweet and polite. Once I flipped the attention off myself and onto them, I was able to relax and the conversation flowed better.
We discussed my writing, debut novel, and reading. The students came up with some great questions for me, some that madrWhen we discussed their interests they even had some book recommendations for me.
The book recommendations
My notebook came in handy to write down the books the students recommended I read.
Reflection
I’m so thankful to Felixstowe High School for having me. I appreciated that Deputy Head, Darren M arranged for me to chat with a small groups rather than in-front of a large audience.
Darren also got me thinking about delivering some leisure learning courses for Creative Writing. I’ve been going over old books, notes from courses I’ve done, to explore the idea. Ifurther
I think the more I do, the easier it will get. As a natural introvert, I have to push myself outside my comfort zone but this is good for my professional development. Plus, afterwards I was buzzing that I did it.
Mermaid of Sicily Jincey Lumpkin (Mermaid of Venice, #2) Publication date: September 20th 2021 Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance
The glamorous Gia Acquaviva struggles to maintain her freedom and hold onto her business empire. A Sicilian mob boss nips at her tail, hoping to lure her into his sick fantasies. Meanwhile, the global media hunts Gia, attempting to hold her accountable for a string of murders. Can the world’s most famous mermaid escape their net, or will she be caught?
Dive into the extremely glamorous life of Gia Acquaviva, an ultra-rich Venetian mogul with a portfolio of clubs and casinos around the globe. Gia harbors dark secrets––and an underwater graveyard filled with the bones of her former lovers.
Her family’s roots descend from the mythological sirens of ancient Greece, but she’s taken every precaution to protect her anonymity and the existence of other mermaids. Gia lures in men with a beguiling façade, but inside lurks a deeply troubled soul, severely damaged by a mysterious past.
Fans of Killing Eve and Big Little Lies will love Mermaid of Sicily, a sexy psychological thriller with lush fantasy elements. The chic mystery and European hot spots of Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley with a juicy splash of the lavish lifestyle in E. L. James’s 50 Shades series. This is not the Little Mermaid you grew up with. Gia’s out for blood.
Mermaid of Sicily is the second installment in a series of 6 books about Gia Acquaviva.
Gia arrived at the base of the Eiffel Tower in disguise. An auburn wig, a pair of large sunglasses, and a wooly cap hid her identity. She approached the brown awning of the Jules Verne restaurant with supreme caution, hyper vigilant of her surroundings and potential threats. It was then that she was met at the front door by two of Q’s men.
“Are you here for Signor Mosca?” one asked.
“Unfortunately,” Gia chirped, sarcasm thick in her voice.
“This way.”
As they entered the restaurant, Gia discovered that Q had paid enough money to clear the place out completely.
How much had that set him back?
People waited months for a reservation—it couldn’t have been easy to compensate all those angry patrons overnight. The men escorted Gia into the glass elevator. As it rose, they passed through level after level of the brown iron that Mr. Eiffel had twisted himself.
The men took Gia all the way to a table that was situated in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“Thank you gentlemen,” Q said, patting them on the back. “I have asked the chef to set up a table for the two of you in the kitchen. Please enjoy your meal. We will come to you when we are ready to go.”
He shuffled toward Gia and took her hand in his. Gia resisted the urge to pull away, her stomach lurched in revulsion to his touch.
“Signorina Acquaviva, I have been looking forward to spending time with you since we met in Athens…”
Author Bio:
JINCEY LUMPKIN is a writer and creative director in Luxury Beauty. She is the author of the Mermaid of Venice fantasy thriller series. Recognized as a thought leader on women and culture, Jincey has written more than 50 columns for the Huffington Post and Playboy. She headlined Sex Week at Harvard and gave an infamous TEDx talk, “Are Robots the Future of Sex?” She has been profiled by Dateline NBC, Vice, and GQ, among others. Out Magazine listed her in its “OUT 100”, naming her as one of the world’s most influential LGBTQ+ people, alongside celebrities like Laverne Cox and Ricky Martin.
