Keep the Lights On - a reading challenge

Autumn is here, and hopefully cooler temperatures will usher in soon. What do you think of during autumn? For me, it’s sweaters, hoodies, hot chocolate, throw blankets, curling up with a few good books, school, hearing the cheers of football games from my house (I live a block away from the local field), costumes, pumpkins, squash soup, and trick-or-treating.

During October in particular, I also think of scary stories. That, most naturally, got me thinking of potential reading challenges for this spooktacular month. Since I don’t support most horror stories but know other people enjoy being spooked by them, I thought this month’s reading challenge should allow for various degrees of fright.

Speaking of scary movies, one of the few horror movies I’ve actually seen [and even better, enjoyed] was The Bat {1959}, starring Agnes Moorehead; it wasn’t really scary to me, more of a murder mystery, but it’s classified as “horror.”

KEEP THE LIGHTS ON READING CHALLENGE

Read books from any combination of these categories:

31 Italians - a short story

Here is another short story inspired by YOU (see this article for details). This one is not a complete story as it will most likely become a full-blown novel -- if not a complete series -- because it's cranked up the wheels of my imagination. So, please understand going into it that it shall end abruptly, as this is a snippet from chapter one.

This story, once completed, will touch on some tough topics, such as alcoholism and grief, yet it will also bring along some humor and lightheartedness that are so necessary to balance out the heaviness of those deeper issues.

I'm excited about this story, but I won't have time to flesh it out completely yet, because I've got other writing plans in the coming weeks and months.

Copyright 2018 by Andrea Renee Cox. What follows may not be copied, published, or used without prior written consent.

31 Italians

Inspired by CutePolarBear

I hope you’re hearing this from me first.

If any of my siblings broke the news… Let’s say this: They have little tact. That doesn’t quite sum up the whole of it. They blow things out of proportion.

Way out of proportion.

There was… an incident... a series of incidents, you see. Rather small ones.

It all started with a butterfly…

The Lady of Tarpon Springs

I'm still on deadline this week. It's crunch time now! Any prayers you'd like to offer for concentration, focus, determination to cross the finish line... those are definitely much appreciated. Thank you, dear readers!

Here's a review of a book I recently had the pleasure of reading an early copy of (thanks, NetGalley!). I think you'll enjoy this story.

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received from NetGalley an electronic copy of this book. A positive review was not required. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.

A lady lawyer, Greek divers, and an expressive author voice combine to create quite an entertaining and enrapturing tale of maneuvering through life’s trials while striving toward one’s dreams with hope for a brighter future than one’s past.

I love that this book featured Greeks without the mention of false gods. That is such a difficult thing to find!

Soundtrack On Deadline

This will be short and sweet, because I am on an editing deadline the next two weeks.

I often like listening to music while I edit. This time around, the album on my playlist is Overflow by Hannah Kerr. I'm enjoying getting to know these songs even as I'm making minor changes to a client's manuscript to polish it for your reading pleasure.

I've never heard her prior to receiving this CD for my birthday last month (thanks, Sis!), unless I heard one or two songs on the radio occasionally. I'm already loving it and am having fun figuring out which are my favorite tunes.

The first song on the album is especially important to me, because it takes the attitude and determination of a warrior to focus on a project till the end of the deadline.