Q&A with Katherine Reay

Today, friends, we have quite the surprise...

Katherine Reay has stopped by for a visit!

Andrea Cox: The London House is in the new-to-you genre of time-slip fiction (featuring contemporary and the historical eras covering the years 1928-1941). While I’ve adored your contemporary stories and look forward to reading your single nonfiction title, I’m especially intrigued by this WWII-soaked book, as that’s one of my favorite genres. What drew you to time-slip for The London House? How did you decide to set part of the book during the Great Depression and World War II? Was it tricky for you to find the right balance between the contemporary and historical threads for the novel? If so, what was it that finally clicked for you?

Katherine Reay: Some amazing questions here! Slip-time is such an intriguing genre for me. I have previously written contemporary novels because I love looking at literature and the past with an eye to the present -- to address our lives and stories in the here and now. Split-time uniquely allowed me to not only explore the past, but draw that intrigue and even those lessons into the present  -- in a “real time” fashion. I loved it and found it an incredibly dynamic format, almost creating a conversation between past and present. As for the time period -- the Interwar years and WWII simply offered that perfect mix of situation and emotion to address the themes I wanted to explore in the contemporary storyline. It all simply fit together well. 

Read more on my new website.

Write In Faith Camp: An Invitation

For nearly a decade, I have enjoyed participating in virtual writing camps. These have been great for helping me keep focused in my writing. They’ve aided me in blocking out specific times of day to dedicate to creating stories that someday will be shared with the world. Beyond that, they’ve helped me find online communities of writers, and I’ve built some beautiful friendships through these writing camps.

At this point in my writing journey, it makes the most sense for me to share my love for writing camps with you by creating a camp of my own.

Write In Faith Camp (WIF Camp), hosted by my publishing company, Writing to Inspire Publications, is a place for Christian writers to come together to write in faith that God will bless our time together and build in us a greater faith and produce through us greater stories than we could possibly have without His guidance.

Read more on my new website.

Enjoy a Hike Responsibly {guest Lauralee Bliss}

Please welcome today's guest, Lauralee Bliss.

Enjoy a Fall Hike! How to Do It Safely

by Lauralee Bliss

There’s nothing better than a hike in the woods at the peak of fall color. The air is crisp, the colors of the changing leaves brilliant, and the expectation of fun and enjoyment in the great outdoors. It is proven too in these years of strain on our bodies with various illnesses that outdoor exercise strengthens the immune system and provides immune-boosting Vitamin D from the sun.

With that in mind, here are a few tips to make a fall hiking trip go smoother and more enjoyable. 

Read more on my new website.

Why We Fought by Jerry Borrowman

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This is a really great WWII resource. I enjoyed every chapter, because they taught me things I didn’t already know in a way that was easy to absorb the information. The author voice was great and easy to understand. Overall, this book was fascinating and absorbing.

Here are my personal summaries of each chapter’s heroes:

Virginia Hall, amputee spy who defied the odds as well as the Nazis.

William Sebold, a double-agent who took down several German spy rings.

Marlene Dietrich, an actress with a knack for boosting morale.

Juan Pujol, a writer and his make-believe spy ring fooled high-ranked Nazis.

Carl Lutz, risked his life to save 72,000 Jews.

The Ghost Army, diversion tactics made a huge difference.

The Battle for Castle Itter, WWI veterans hold the fort.

Read more on my new website.

A Midnight Dance by Joanna Davidson Politano

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This was my most-anticipated book of 2021. I’m not sure yet what I think about it.

In one way, I feel very misled by a couple of things. The back blurb and meet-cute both indicated a certain romance was going to take place, but the story took a weird turn on that front. While I grew to enjoy certain aspects of the romantic thread and rather adored the finale, it wasn’t anything like what I’d been led to believe it would be.

In another way, this story grew on me and wrapped me in a vintage era that felt very much like home. The atmosphere in this book helped the story slowly sift past my defenses at the aforementioned deception. The words chosen created such vivid imagery that I found myself immersed in a different time and place and wanted to stay in the fantastical ballet-and-circus world the author created.

Read more on my new website.

The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery by Amanda Cox

The atmosphere was superb in this one. That was the most mesmerizing thing for me while I was reading this book. I also thought the author nailed the dialect of small-town Southern United States. The way these characters spoke and thought made them come alive for me.

The cover was amazing… until I realized there were only two letters mentioned in the story instead of the hefty stack shown on the lower portion of the cover. Now that car… I’ll take one of those, please! So gorgeous, those curves. And I still love the tone that’s set by the cover. That was totally spot-on.

Clarence was a completely compassionate gentleman. I couldn’t get enough of this guy and his love for “his girls” (his wife and daughters). His protective spirit and encouraging nature were amazing, and I wish he could have been in several more scenes.

Read more at my new website.

Hostile Intent by Lynette Eason {review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This book started off with the potential to become my new favorite Eason book. The action was fast-paced and came often, which made for a great suspense formula. The characters were intriguing, which added richness to the story being told. The settings were very well used, which increased the depth of the tale. Overall, this was a fantastic series finale, capping off one of the best series Mrs. Eason has produced to date.

Read more on my new website.

Dinner Guests {short story}

The table was set for seven, but not a single person had arrived. The round twinkle lights still glowed, but they illuminated only dried-up hopes and empty chairs. The hostess had retreated to the deck, and she’d likely leave the mess until tomorrow. She’d worked so hard to pull this dinner together.

Yet no one came.

Perhaps it wasn’t their fault. Maybe something truly had come up. An emergency, perchance? Something dire that would give solid footing for their excuses?

Or maybe they were just all running late.

Continue the story on AndreaReneeCox.com.

The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner {book review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This book wasn’t what I was expecting. At all.

Yet, it was still beautiful and deep and touched every emotion inside of me.

When I first heard about this book, I was thrilled that I had finally found a Vietnam story. Only, it kind of isn’t. It touches on the Vietnam War, but it doesn’t show the war itself. In fact, it never actually steps one foot into that country.

That was disappointing.

However, I’m a sucker for an emotional adoption story, so this little birdie wriggled its way into my heart once I found my rhythm with the three time periods, all of which were written in first person. That took some getting used to, but I’m glad I stuck with it. The story was so amazing. Little Minh was so adorable! I couldn’t get enough of her, truly. The emotional punches and tension-filled adoption story reminded me so much of Susan Schoenberger’s A Watershed Year, a favorite book of mine that I’ve read at least three times already. If you love that one, you’re going to absolutely want to find a copy of this one… and vice versa.

I’m still not sure what I think of the ending of each of the three storylines. There was resolution in some ways, but so much was left open… but I think it was in a good way. I need to mull it over more and possibly give it another read or two before I fully make up my mind.

The Nature of Small Birds + Other News

The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner

I’ve been looking forward to this book since I first saw the cover and glimpsed the blurb. Listen, I think the Vietnam War is under-represented in Christian fiction. The thing is, this book isn’t about the Vietnam War exactly… it’s more of an adoption story, about a little girl that escaped the war. While it isn’t exactly what I was expecting, it’s turning into quite the wonderful story. It’s heartfelt and emotional, for sure, and you know those are a couple of my happy places. I’m about halfway through the book already, and I’m loving it so far. The characters are amazing, the plot wonderful, and the split time aspect is done pretty well. It took me a few chapters to really settle in and feel grounded in each of the three threads, but I’ve found my rhythm with it and expect to finish it in time to bring you my full review next week, if all goes well. This is my first book by Susie Finkbeiner, but if it holds out to finish as well as it’s begun, it likely won’t be the last.

Other News

For a while now, I’ve wanted to have a dot-com website. When Blogger decided to discontinue the follow-by-e-mail feature, I knew it was the right time to make the big switch. So my breaking news is this:

Summer Reading List

One of my favorite things about summer is working through a summer reading list. I don't always stick to my list, as I'm a pretty moody reader. This month, though, I'm trying hard to stick to a specific reading list. I do love a good challenge!

Here are a few books I'm reading this summer.

Writing Update + Setting Goals

July was another successful writing camp for me. Since I was (and continue) dealing with post-WuVi symptoms such as short-term memory loss, sudden fatigue, and severe lack of focus, I set a small (for me) goal of 25,000 words for the month.

Last week's article told you about some timely reminders I'd received. Friends, these reminders helped me vastly. I was able to zoom right past my word count goal as well as a secondary goal. I nearly reached my third goal of 50k words, coming just short at 48,101 total words for the month.

While I didn't reach the 50k I'd hoped for, I have exited July with great satisfaction that I was able, by God's sweet grace, to push through the severe lack of focus and short-term memory loss in order to pen a plethora of words. There were many late nights and last-minute pushes to claim those words, but they have been logged in despite the slight sleep deprivation I may have imposed upon myself in order to do so.

August will likely not see me writing quite as much, but I have new goals I'm setting and striving to accomplish.

Timely Reminders

I recently read an article by Jill Kemerer (visit the original article here) that served as a great reminder for me.

A month or so after I got over Wuhan Virus, I started experiencing post-WuVi (my term) symptoms. Some include short-term memory loss, severe lack of focus (way worse than my normal ADD), and quick exhaustion. These symptoms come and go as they feel like it, disrupting my train of thought and ability to accomplish goals.

You might have noticed my blog has been more miss than hit so far this year.

The thing is, I still have goals that I want to accomplish. I'm frustrated that these symptoms are not allowing me to do so.

When I read Mrs. Kemerer's article about writing through one's moods, this hit home for me. Not necessarily about writing through a wide variety of moods, though that's necessary too. But to write through the symptoms I'm continuing to deal with.

It hasn't been easy since I realized that on June 9. My writing has still seemed to only trickle in the following weeks. Not for lack of trying. Not for lack of motivation. Solely because of symptoms I couldn't seem to lick.

Then I received an e-mail encouragement from the hostess of Go Teen Writers' 100-for-100 Writing Challenge that I'm participating in this summer and autumn. In that e-mail, Stephanie Morrill shared the following quote by James Scott Bell:

The Strength in Our Weaknesses by Kellyn Roth {At Her Fingertips Launch Tour} + Giveaway!

Friends, today we have a special guest. Kellyn Roth is the author of The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy series, a series which I have had the pleasure of copy editing for her. The latest Alice & Ivy book, At Her Fingertips, released on July 17, 2021, so is now available.

Be sure to stay tuned after the guest article, because Kellyn is hosting a giveaway.

The Strength in Our Weaknesses

by Kellyn Roth

Hello everyone!

I’m Kellyn Roth, a historical women’s fiction and romance writer who loves filling my novels with Christian themes. Today I’m here to talk about one of the themes in my novel, At Her Fingertips.

This book is practically brimming with ideas—and I never planned for any of them! God just likes to toss random things into my novels, and this was one I hadn’t planned at all.

You see, my idea was to write a novel in which my main character, Alice, struggles to release her plans to Christ. As the Bible notes, “[God] knows the plans [He] thinks toward you.” (Jeremiah 29:11) Our end is “expected” to Him—He’s already got it all figured out!

So with a control freak like Alice (sorry, girl—it’s true!), I had a lot to work with!

However, one day, I was writing along, minding my own business, and suddenly, this happened:

“She was doing it again—letting pride and stubbornness pull her away from those she loved. She’d rather appear strong and reject vulnerability than have a close relationship with her family. But she wasn’t strong; she was weak, and every time she failed to show her weakness, she became weaker.”

After this happened, I had to go back through the rest of the novel during rewrites and think over what I really meant and do some serious Bible research.

Here’s what I arrived at.

Bridge of Gold by Kimberley Woodhouse {book review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This book was pretty wonderful. There were buckets of things to adore about it and only a couple of reasons why I docked a single star.

Mrs. Woodhouse has improved so much in her writing. I’m growing fonder and fonder of her stories as time goes on, and this book is a prime example of why. It’s a time-slip story that features a murder mystery that revolved around the discovery of a ship buried beneath the streets of San Francisco, California. While it might not all be factual (I hope the murders didn’t actually happen!), I was intrigued to learn that there really were ships that were sunk and used as landfill to expand the growing city of San Francisco during and directly after that California Gold Rush. So neat! It was great to see Mrs. Woodhouse expanding her abilities by dipping into the time-slip genre. She’s long been growing as a historical author, but now she’s added the dual-timeline style to her repertoire.

"Follow by E-mail" Discontinued -- But Stay Tuned!

Blogger is run by Google, and the powers that be at Google have decided to discontinue the "follow by e-mail" widget that allows readers like you to follow bloggers like me. It will be disappearing sometime this summer.

I know, I know. It's horrible. Devastating, even. Now my articles won't go directly to your inbox.

Gasp!

Don't worry; I'm working on a solution. In the meantime, please pause right now to bookmark my blog. That way, you'll be able to navigate back here without the aid of the e-mails that will no longer be coming your way.

Anything - Extra Bits

Friends, how would you like some extra bits from my short story in Anything, which released on April 26, 2021? #AnythingKDWC

There isn't more to the story itself, but there were a couple of things that got left out of the book that I would love to share with you today. (If I ever republish my short story on its own or in a collection of my own shorties, I fully expect to include these bits.)

Get Outside {book review}

I have not yet used this journal, but I've read all the extras and have thumbed through it several times, pausing to read this prompt and that one. Here's my review.

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This is a cute journal. I adored the texture of the cover and the metallic accents on the cover. The lined pages were great, and the prompts were interesting. The little extras that help the journaler to recognize animal tracks, weather patterns, and tree types were helpful and unique additions to a journal.

One negative: A couple of the "myths" at the back were incorrectly "busted." There have been lots of times that these two particular things have saved lives, so, to me, they are proven facts rather than busted myths.

This book makes a great gift.

Blackberry Beach by Irene Hannon {book review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

If you’re in the mood for a fluffy beach read, this book is a great fit. I usually like more depth to the books I read, but every now and then, a beachy read is exactly what I’m in the mood for. That was the case when I picked up Blackberry Beach by Irene Hannon.

One of the best lines (to me) was this gem: “Life shouldn’t be all about accruing money.” It was great to see characters making choices NOT based on money but rather on God’s direction for their lives. This was so refreshing!

The beach scenes were some of my favorites in this story. The view was declared to be amazing, but I wish it would have been described a little more so it could have come alive in my mind. The discussions on the beach and the romantic bits that took place there were heartfelt and entertaining.

The cover was completely gorgeous.  The purple hues were beautiful and complementary, and I loved that Katherine’s sunglasses were highlighted! They played a big role in the story, so it was fun to see they made it to the cover as well. It was fun also to have the pair of seagulls flying in the background of the cover, considering they play such significant roles throughout the entire series. The only alteration I would make is to highlight the blackberries a bit more. They’re hard to see in the bushes at the bottom of the cover. But overall, this was a breezy, fun cover that piqued my interest.

Anything Release Tour {my debut book}

Friends, my debut book is here!

Anything features short stories and a poem by thirteen Christian women (including yours truly), so you're in for quite a treat. I hope you will consider purchasing a copy for a friend, family member, or yourself. Summer is coming soon, and Anything is a great book to add to your summer reading list.

I've already heard from some of you that you've purchased a copy. THANK YOU! Your support and encouragement are greatly appreciated. If you enjoy reviewing books, please consider leaving an honest review on retail sites and/or Goodreads.

About the Book:

He was willing to do anything.
Talk about anything, they said.
She hadn’t ever done anything.
You can do anything.

 

In this heartwarming collection, thirteen Christian authors weave tales both historical and contemporary in a variety of imaginative settings. Anything features characters stretched to their limits: a pencil and a crayon who are best friends, a Tea-Dragon with a mischievous and mysterious habit, a terminally ill child with a lovely wish. In these pages, you’ll discover an eccentric gentleman who never stops reading, a foster boy who makes up in appetite what he lacks in conversational skills, and a single mother with a fault-finding mother-in-law and five rambunctious children who haven’t learned respect for a living room.

 

Watch as a couple sacrificially prays for a lost and dying sister-in-law, a young lady tearfully talks her best friend through a coma, a courageous brother offers to lay down himself for others, a camera-shy teenager faces her greatest fear, and a music camp applicant struggles mightily with writing an interesting bio. Warmth, hope, and encouragement pervade the pages, echoing the theme of “anything” from a refreshing variety of angles both insightful and entertaining, spiritually profound and eternally valuable. These short pieces will delight and encourage the whole family.

The Indebted Earl by Erica Vetsch {book review}

Today's article is a bit lengthy. Hang in there with me, folks. There's loads of good stuff heading your way... starting now!

Recently, I had the great privilege of reading The Indebted Earl by Erica Vetsch. Just as I suspected, it helped me crack right through that silly reading slump I stumbled into a couple of weeks ago. Here are my thoughts on this pearl of a book.

{Book Review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

What a fantastic finale! I adored this entire series, and each book was better than the previous one. The series built beautifully and felt very connected, which I completely love about series books.

The plethora of naval, water, and sailing analogies helped me feel immersed in Captain Charles Wyvern’s world. They added richness and depth to the atmosphere. I liked that the story began in Portugal. That’s a country I don’t see featured much in Christian fiction, so it was a delight to spend a chapter or so there. The other setting of England really popped to life through the description throughout the book.

From beginning to end, this story was complex. It was twisty with loads of surprises along the way. I especially enjoyed the children’s personalities. They bumped against each other as they were all so different, yet there was a clear thread of love keeping them tethered to one another despite what their words declared at times. This little makeshift family was charming, and I was beyond happy to spend plenty of hours alongside them.

Happy sigh, y’all. This book was spectacular. It was a superb finale. I can hardly wait to see which series will be next up for Mrs. Erica Vetsch. I adore her writing and highly recommend it.

Anything Release Tour + My Publishing Debut!

Friends, I'm just going to jump right in with the best news.

I'm finally getting published!!!

The King's Daughters' Writing Camp (KDWC) is putting out a collection of short stories and poems, and one of my short stories -- which has not yet been posted here on Writing to Inspire -- is going to be in it.

The collection is called Anything, and here's why:

A couple of camp sessions ago, several of the ladies in camp were recommending "anything" by this author or that author, meaning any of their published books. Someone in the group (and I really don't remember who) suggested that we all write Anything stories -- stories called Anything.

So a baker's dozen of us did!

Anything will be published this month -- on April 26, 2021. It will be available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and in paperback.

I can hardly wait for you to meet Sarah Mae and her rambunctious kids in my story, entitled Any Thing. Yep, my title is slightly different than the other twelve, in that mine is two words instead of one. I can't share the reason without spoiling the story, but let's just say there's a very specific and whimsical reason for the two-word title.

Stay tuned here on Writing to Inspire for future updates -- including some quote graphics! -- on my Any Thing story.

***

Now for the other news. I am pulling together a release tour for Anything, and you're invited! If you have a blog or social media accounts, the team and I would love to have you join us in celebration of KDWC's debut story collection. Just fill out the following form and let us know how you'll be able to help spread the word and get a buzz going for our debut release.

The Indebted Earl by Erica Vetsch {giveaway}

The Indebted Earl by Erica Vetsch is one of my most anticipated books of 2021. I feel terrible that I've been ill lately (sinus and ear infections) that have launched me into a huge reading slump right when I wanted to enjoy this little beauty.

I am determined to crack out of the slump, and The Indebted Earl is bound to be the book to do it. The first two books in the Serendipity & Secrets trilogy were spectacular and right up my alley, so I've got really high hopes for this story.

Be on the lookout for my review later this week, right here on Writing to Inspire.

I've got a jam-packed article for you today, and there's going to be some spill-over. I was given so many great tidbits for this blog tour! I just want to use it all. There's a neat Q&A that I'm going to post with my review later in the week. Be sure to come back for that. As for today's article, we've got a really great interview from author Erica Vetsch -- and it includes what's coming up next after The Indebted Earl.

***

Our Good and Sovereign God Works in Mysterious Ways

Erica Vetsch offers readers a marriage-of-convenience story that is sure to delight.

Grand Rapids, MI — Erica Vetsch brings her much beloved Serendipity & Secrets series to a close with the highly anticipated release of The Indebted Earl (Kregel Publications/March 23, 2021/ISBN: 9780825446191/$15.99). This latest installment tells the story of Lady Sophia Haverly, the free-spirited and energetic younger sister of Marcus Haverly readers will remember from The Gentleman Spy, and Captain Charles Wyvern, a longtime naval officer trying to find his footing on dry land.

Facing the Dawn by Cynthia Ruchti {book review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This book was good, perhaps great, but it wasn’t a good fit for me.

The first half was so stuffed with sarcasm that I really struggled to feel connected with it at all. I had difficulty feeling bad for Mara when things went completely sideways on her, simply because she wasn’t a very likable or relatable character to me through the entire first half. (I did learn to like her better as things progressed into the second half, thankfully.)

Then, here trots the second half, and I’m completely blown away.

That’s what I expect from a Ruchti novel: to be emotionally moved and completely blown away. She succeeded once again, in the second half of the story.

Ashlee and Sol were amazing from beginning to end, and they were the ones who kept me interested when the Jacobs family didn’t. I did like the growth each of the Jacobses showed in the second half of the story. That was really well done and gave me great hope for their next chapter after the finale of this particular glimpse into their lives.

Spring Cleaning + Camp Prep {a personal invitation}

It may not yet be spring, and I may not typically do spring cleaning, but this year feels like I am. In February, my water pipes froze and then burst in the sub-zero temperatures north Texas experienced. I ended up having to use a ton of blankets, comforters, and towels to sop up the water that spilled into my house before my dad got the water turned off. Since I didn't have working water for almost two weeks, I fell behind on washing dishes and other water-related chores.

Now that my pipes have been fixed (thanks, Daddy!), my spring cleaning this year is catching up on laundry and washing dishes.

There's a bit more cleaning going on around here, and some reorganizing too, but the water-based chores are definitely top priorities this season.

In other news, I'm also getting prepared for writing camp. The next session of King's Daughters' Writing Camp (KDWC) -- a writing camp for Christian ladies -- takes place in April. This month I'm outlining, doing a bit of preliminary research, and dipping my toes into several different stories I've got in the works. Since I'm dealing with post-Wuhan Virus short-term memory loss, my creativity is struggling more than I'd like. So I'm trying to figure out how to beat that even as memory issues plague me at the moment. The good news is that I've found pockets of inspiration in the last week or so. The writing sessions of 150; 300; and 500 words (averages) have added up to over 5,000 words already this month. I'm shocked by that number, because it's felt like such a huge fight to get each sentence onto the page. While that number is super low for my normal monthly pace, it's a huge milestone for me with my current memory situation.

I'm celebrating with ice cream tonight, because fighting my way to this milestone has felt like climbing Mount Everest.

Would you like to join me in writing camp next month?

At Her Fingertips by Kellyn Roth {Cover Reveal}

It's my pleasure to share with you the cover of a book I will be editing in late spring.

Author Kellyn Roth has been a client of mine for a while now (and a friend several years longer), and working with her is a complete joy. So when she opened up an opportunity to participate on her cover reveal team, I couldn't resist.

Before we get to the big reveal, there are a few other things you need to know.

Title: At Her Fingertips

Author: Kellyn Roth

Series: The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy, Book #3

Release Date: July 17th, 2021

Pre-Order At Her Fingertips

One easy thing that will help Miss Roth is to add the book to your Goodreads want-to-read shelf as well as any appropriate Listopia lists (such as "Most-Anticipated Christian Fiction 2021" or "Best Historical Christian Fiction"). Here's the book's page on Goodreads, if you're of a mind to do either of the above. Before you decide...

When Twilight Breaks by Sarah Sundin {book review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This book would have been guzzled in a scant number of days if I hadn’t had broken water pipes to deal with in my house.

What a zinger! I adored this story overall. Once again, Mrs. Sarah Sundin melded history with fiction in a seamless way that brought the past to life for me. Her treatment of a female reporter when men ruled the newspaper business was superb. It touched on women’s rights issues yet respected the men in the book at the same time. That’s a delicate touch on a tough subject, if you ask me.

Evelyn Brand was a heroine I could root for. She was spunky and brave, but she had flaws and fears that sometimes got in her way. As a reporter, she knew her stuff and dared to be different. She was courage on display.

From Sky to Sky by Amanda G. Stevens {book review}

I've read a ton of books lately (nothing unusual there, hehe), and I thought I'd share some of my favorites over the coming months. There won't be a book review every week, of course, but they are pretty easy posts to do when life is otherwise busy. Right now I have an editing job I'm focusing on, so easy is muchly needed at the moment.

So, let's kick off the reviews of 2021 reads with a book that quite surprised me.

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

From Sky to Sky by Amanda G. Stevens

This book blew me away and soared far and above how much I enjoyed the previous book in this series. The cover is gorgeous, and the story was too.

Abbreviated Hockey Season

Hey, friends. It's hockey season, but in a Covid-19 year, you know that means it ain't going to be normal.

This season is an abbreviated one, with only 56 games in 116 days or so. There are normally 82 games plus post-season games for the teams that qualify. It's much shorter this season, but at least we're getting a season.

Since several players on the Dallas Stars (my home team) had acquired Covid-19 right before the start of the season, they had their first four games postponed. Even now, many games and a couple of weeks into the season, there are teams across the league that are having chunks of games postponed due to Covid-19 outbreaks among the coaching staff and/or players.

Updates Galore

Hey, friends. How would you like an update on a few things in my life?

Business

Since the recent acquisition of PayPal by China, I have changed the method of payment for my copy editing work. Rather than PayPal, clients now will pay by mailed check. They will still receive a professional invoice, which will be the trigger to stick the check in the mail. The quality of my copy editing work has not changed, so hopefully my clients will continue to be satisfied with my work.

Life

So I caught Covid-19 on Christmas Eve. Yippee. From raging and unpredictable fevers to intense and draining fatigue like I've never before known, this illness wiped me out and stole all my energy to the point where I couldn't even read for about a week and a half. Recovery has been longer than that of most illnesses I've ever had (if not all others), but I have finally, about a month after first acquiring the illness, returned to normal with no remaining shortness of breath (as of Friday last). What remains to be done is rebuild my stamina, which, naturally, took a hit over the past weeks of struggling to survive the ups and downs of Covid-19.

Christmas Break

Hello, friends.

I apologize for the extended Christmas break. I caught an illness and have struggled to overcome it for the last couple of weeks. I'm now in recovery and better able to think clearly. I'll have regular posts for you again soon.

How were your Christmas and New Year holidays?