The challenge was set by World Indie Warriors on Instagram. They created three #WIWBingo boards; YA, Romance, and Fantasy.
The aim is to read and review the books on Instagram and tag @worldindiewarriors
The goal is to get three in a line, and help indie books get seen.
I’m doing the challenge. I’ve already read some of the books on the board so I’ll be reposting them this month, and I’m hoping to read some new one too.
I chose this book because it got me my BINGO in the Summer Reading challenge by World Indie Warriors. And, I’m so glad I did!
Setting
Jenny (the MC) lives in a flat with her cat, Bing. She works in customer service, handlings complaints. Her mum & BFF are sending her on blind dates as they’re as desperate for her to meet someone, maybe more desperate than Jenny is.
Main Character
Jenny is a relatable character. She tries hard, but things always go wrong, often with hilarious consequences. She’s crushing on a guy at work that’s not into her, or could he be? But, the situation is never right and she’s off on another blind date.
Bing isn’t the main character but he is such a star in the book I had to mention this cat. In fact he is probably my favourite fictional pet, ever!
Another character I loved was the BFF, Sarah. This girl was always just a phone call away, picking Jen’s spirits up after disaster dates, and laughing with her (and the reader).
Review
I’m a slow reader and I devoured this book in a weekend! This is so well written. There’s hilarious moments in every chapter, and jokes that are weaved through the book that get funnier ever time.
I loved so many of the characters. Bing is my all time favourite fictional pet. Sarah is an amazing BFF! The dream guy was perfection. I lived for every moment in his presence.
I had a friend that went on some entertaining blind dates and this book brought those stories back. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The challenge was set by World Indie Warriors on Instagram. They created three #WIWBingo boards; YA, Romance, and Fantasy.
The aim is to read and review the books on Instagram and tag @worldindiewarriors
The goal is to get three in a line, and help indie books get seen.
I’m doing the challenge. I’ve already read some of the books on the board so I’ll be reposting them this month, and I’m hoping to read some new one too.
Something I love about Goodreads is how easy it is to track my progress towards my reading goals. At the end of the year, Goodreads gives stats on my reads.
Redfae Bookshop is my Affiliate Bookshop.org shop link. NB: This post contains these affiliate links.
2020 Reading Goals
My goal was set at 12 books, thinking I could easily read one a month but I hadn’t taken into account how busy I’d be certain months launching my own book, Ocean Heart. It turned out just 12 books was harder than I thought.
The year has include some books I absolutely loved, and one I hated. I’m pretty good at choosing books I know I will love that I wasn’t surprised that my average rating was high. I just don’t have time to read books I won’t like. ?
Wiccan Romances: Amelia’s Story by Nicola Hebron
This was my first read of 2020. It was a book I’d been eager to buy, but was lucky enough to win a copy from the author on Twitter! Whoop! Whoop! I love fantasy set in the real world so it was a good start to my year.
My last two reads of 2020 were Garden in the Sands by Ellie Mitten and… I rather unusual choice for me… The Substantial Meal by Florence Green. I’ve rated them both on Goodreads but still need to write the review.
Garden in the Sands by Ellie Mitten
I think I preordered this book, but I’m such a slow reader, by the time I got to it, it’d been out a little while. I’m going to write a review very soon but as you can see from my 5 star rating, I LOVED THIS BOOK!
The Substantial Sandwich by Florence Green
I can’t remember how Florence & I got talking, but I was a bit glum I wasn’t going to make my pathetic reading goal of just 12 books. I was beating myself up. Then Florence cheered my up by sending me his recent release, an erotic satire using innuendos and puns about the Covid restrictions. It was a quick short read and succeeded at cheering me up. Review coming soon.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas is the most popular book I read. I’m not surprised as I saw it all over Instagram. I actually bought my copy in summer 2019 at YALC.
Another YALC buy was Sea Witch by Sarah Henning. It’s a historical fantasy/fairytale retelling of The Little Mermaid. I really loved the book, and hope to read book 2 in the series this year.
A book that should be more popular is Sorceress of Truth by J D Groom. It’s contemporary fantasy and has everything I love in a book. The MC was relatable, but all the side characters were well developed. With a modern day sorceress, fairies and vampires, what’s not to love?
2021 Reading Goal
To alleviate pressure, I’ve lowered my reading goal to 10 fiction books. I know, some people can read that amount in a month. But, I read for pleasure. And, I have to be in the right mood. If I’m too tired or engrossed in my own writing, I just can’t get into the book.
I also have a few resource books I need to read and review. I didn’t review any last year despite reading some. So, you can look forward to that. These are separate from my reading goal.
So, I set three targets and it’s not gone to plan…
Writing Goal: Finish Sky Heart
Originally finishing Sky Heart was my main goal for Camp NaNo. I always struggle with writing endings so I knew this wouldn’t be easy.
Kiely was a 2nd viewpoint in an early draft of book 2. In that draft Mariah was the MC but Kiely’s story took over. Then I cut all Kiely’s parts and made a new book in 2018 called Glide. In 2019, it was renamed Diamond in the Sky and I added to it but never finished it.
I opened the manuscript and had no idea what was going on. It has been too long. I’m lost.
Instead of working on the ending, I’ve had to start at the beginning, reading the whole manuscript and making notes. The good thing is I’ve already identified parts to improve which will help when I come to edit. I’m now up to chapter 10.
This book has always taken a back seat to book 1. As book 1 is with my editor I thought I could finally work on finishing this but I was wrong. As you’ll see below, Book 1 has demanded my attention.
Book 2 has been renamed Sky Heart and promptly put back in the back seat… maybe next month Kiely.
Publishing: Ocean Heart
I thought sending my novel off to my editor meant my job was done…
No!
Very quickly I realised how much work I have to do to launch my book. As this is a priority, I adjusted my goals to continue working on Ocean Heart.
So far I have:
Written a dedication.
Researched & written my copyright statement.
Researched covers in my genre to identify what I like or don’t and gather the details my cover designer needs.
Planning for a Giveaway.
Researching how to provide ARC copies.
Attend my first ever meeting with my editor (this Thursday).
Got feedback on my Blurb
Still to do:
Finish the instructions for my cover designer so she can start work on my covers (eBook & Paperback). For this, I still need to finalise my blurb and decide on book sizing like trim, etc.
Use the feedback to improve my blurb.
Create a space for my Street Team to access exclusive content and be the first to know my news.
I’ve now reached chapter 9. My little girl is demanding more attention from me now so I get less time to read on my phone during the day, which is when I read eBooks.
