You know how I keep saying I’m going to stop reading those self help books? Well, I am terrible at sticking to my word and I thought that maybe this would have some tips on how to better create habits that I hadn’t seen before.
Atomic Habits focuses on how to set you up best to make a new habit stick, from setting up your space to creating a system of accountability for yourself to make sure you stick to it. It discusses the theory and is peppered with anecdotes of how the theory might work in practice for other people, or how other people have implemented the theories to great success. The thesis is essentially that you start small and then add on, and do everything you can to set yourself up for success.
I struggled a little with the book because the information is ultimately not new to me, and I am less interested in theory than the practical aspects. Given the structure of the chapters, I could have used with subheadings that directed me to the practical portions rather than the end of chapter notes that summarized the main ideas.
It’s not bad overall, just not structured or done in a way that ultimately works for me. I got the same information in a more actionable way from this playlist. But if that doesn’t work for you and you want more of the theory, this might work better for you.
One thing I love about doing author events is getting the chance to check out new and local talent. et the editor of this at one of the Pulp Literature events and I’ve been anxious to finally get a moment to check it out!
This is an anthology of a particular subgenre I’m not familiar with: Deadpunk. As near as I can figure, it’s got a Victorian gothic feel but with more of an emphasis on the horror elements. The stories range from vampires to werewolves to ghosts to people simply losing their minds, each of them with a slightly different take on the tone.
I’ll admit, I liked the ones with a bit more humour and levity, but I suspect that’s just because my life is a bit chaotic right now. There was such a variety in here that I can see myself going back into it again and again, picking out particular stories to satisfy particular itches that I need to scratch.
Overall, highly recommend! It was a lot of fun and there’s something in here to satisfy all of your horror needs.
I don’t know if this is unusual, but I seem to pick up hobbies pretty easily. Like, easier than it feels like most people I know. Many of my friends only seem to have one or two that they’ve stuck with for years and, well…
To be fair, this one was an accident. It’s really an extension of the bottle charms if you think about it. After making a few of those (And I still make them, don’t get me wrong) I just had a lot of charms left over. As well as those really cute beads.
I do find it very relaxing to create, and they are much quicker to finish than the bottles. But now I have all of the jewelry I’ve made and… well, I’m not going to wear all of this. I feel like this keeps happening.
You know how sometimes you see a title and you just have to know more? Look at that title. Look at the embroidered skulls. I couldn’t not check it out.
The story follows Maud, a little old lady who reminisces on her life and the many times she has encountered death, both as the one to cause it and as the one to… well, almost cause it. She is very deliberately sweet and uses her old age as a way to deter people from suspicion, but with the story told from her eyes, you can see just how cool and calculating she is in throwing people off of her trail and getting her kind of justice. Or, at least, to make her life a little easier.
I really enjoyed Maud! She was delightfully calculating and careful not to let her façade drop, and she was lovely to watch while she rationalized and put her plans into action. The framing device of a present day Maud avoiding an investigation by leaving the country was a little awkward, since it doesn’t feel like the arc ever finished so much as it stopped. The flashbacks to her history had more complete narratives, but the framing device was less so.
This is also the not as good second book in the series, which means I now have to check out the first one at some point.
Overall, it was a lot of fun! I’d definitely say check it out for some light, murderous reading.
I am starting to think I should just make a goal to only read books that I either get directly from indie authors or that I pick up from the library for the year. It’s certainly expanding my reading and I’m checking out a lot more interesting titles this way. Including a lot more Canadian content!
Exposed follows Raven, a young woman in Vancouver, BC, who is about to be old enough to leave the crime ring that she’s grown up in. She starts to realize that her exit is not going to be as easy as she thinks, and must enlist the help of some new friends to try and get herself free of the leader of the group of car jacking teens who likely has plans for her once she ages out of his current operation.
The book is quick to a fault, not quite giving us as much time with some of the characters that I’d have liked. There was the crush from school, the small group that helped her get out and take down her crime ring family, and the people in her criminal private life. For a book this short, there’s just too many characters to feel like you get to know anyone besides Raven in the end.
It does also read a bit like someone who has visited Vancouver as opposed to someone who lives here, but that might just be because it was written before I spent a lot of time downtown. Some of the specifics threw me off and didn’t seem to reflect the city as I knew it.
Still, it’s a fun and quick read! It’s an interesting idea and I do like Vancouver in stories. I wish there were more of it, and will definitely look into more of her stuff if I find it.
As I think I’ve mentioned before, I had originally intended to write Cloned Evil as a serialized series but just couldn’t get the arcs to come together into anything fully cohesive. I had middles, I had ends, I had a couple beginnings, but I didn’t have all three for any of the arcs. I didn’t even have two for most of them! But here are some of the loose ideas I did have that I might possibly explore during this publishing break:
Gigi meets her sisters and Red immediately tries to murder her
Bea gets mad at Red and accidentally gives her an accen
Rescuing mom from prison at 9 years old after Aunt Jez training them
Aunt Jez and mom talking about Eve
Their babysitter for when Aunt Jez and mom are busy
Bea and Mars meeting for the first time
Let me know which ones interest you the most! Who knows, you might see it one day!
Let’s get back to some fiction and back to the long list of books I have randomly bookmarked in the library! Today’s selection is a mystery thriller that had a podcast angle that I’m pretty sure I picked out because I was in a true crime phase.
The book mostly follows Anna, a babysitter in Herron Mills who bears a striking resemblance to a missing girl named Zoe Spanos. Though she is there to turn over a new leaf, her resemblance to Zoe is affecting her and everyone around her until the day they find her body and Anna confesses to the murder of this girl she has never met. At the same time, we follow Martina, a girl with a true crime podcast specifically about Zoe Spanos and her quest to find the truth on behalf of her best friend and Zoe’s younger sister.
I honestly would not categorize this as a mystery and would not recommend going in with the expectation of figuring out what happens before they reveal it. Clues aren’t left so much as they are revealed at the time of the twist that they cause. The truth of the cause of death and motive isn’t even revealed until the epilogue, so it will be very frustrating if you’re going in with the intent of solving it.
It is an interesting story, but I did find Anna’s memory and her spiraling moments where she is having memory issues to happen more in line with when the story needed it to happen as opposed to being an actual character trait. I also didn’t find that the podcast element really added anything to the story, though that may be more because I didn’t think the way that they showed a podcast in writing to be as engaging as an actual podcast and that it lost something in the translation.
Overall, though, it was an interesting read. I thought it was a fine read, not one I would go back to but one that I was entertained by while I was there.
Despite the fact that I have historically just not liked self help books and books about how to live a better life, I keep reading them. I keep vowing not to do this anymore, but I had a moment and put a hold on this one at the library, forgot about it, and it was recently available for me again. So back in I go!
I found myself pleasantly surprised by this one, probably because it’s the first one that spoke my language. That language being that of a product designer. The book is largely filled with anecdotes and approaches to take to help you research and discover a new path in life if you are stuck, and to reframe the questions so that you can better get answers.
I’m sure some of this is because I work as a product designer by day, but I found it to be interesting to see how those research methods I am used to or familiar with could be repurposed for self discovery and planning for the future. I also quite liked the idea of trying things out in smaller capacities first and iterating on it once you get a better understanding as opposed to heading all in on a plan without doing the research or a trial run.
I’ve heard that these kinds of books are very hit or miss and it just requires you to find a book that speaks to you. I think this was the one that ultimately was done in a way that worked for me. I don’t know that I’ll take everything in it verbatim, but it did provide an interesting starting point for how I am going to approach the new year! It was definitely worth checking out.
With more and more people getting into audiobooks, and with Audible advertising just about everywhere these days, I’ve seen a lot of conversations about whether or not authors should make their books available in audiobook format. It’s a new and exciting thing, so should you get in on it?
Why you shouldn’t make audiobooks
It’s expensive
There’s a bit of cost upfront if you are hiring a voice actor to read your book. Hiring someone will ensure that you have someone who can help you create a quality product, but the cost can be daunting.
People don’t consume audiobooks in the same way as ebooks or physical books
This is not to say everyone, but generally speaking, audiobooks are more likely to be played in the background while the listener is performing another task. The focus is often not entirely on the book in the same way, which means that more complicated narratives may not work as well in the format.
Why you should make audiobooks
You could do it yourself
If you have a good reading voice and the ability to produce quality audio, you could do your own audiobook reading. It is time-consuming, and you will likely need to learn how to produce your own audio, but it could be done!
You’ll reach a new audience
There’s a growing audience of people who consume only audiobooks. This can be viewed as an entirely new audience, one that might have never checked out your work before without access to this format of your books.
There’s less competition
Currently, the audiobooks market is not as flooded with content as either the paperback or ebook markets. It’s still largely considered early for the market, which means getting in now will provide more opportunities for anyone trying to get in.
Will I be doing audiobooks?
I will not be doing audiobooks of any of my novels any time soon. I have certain auditory processing issues that make it really hard for me to listen to anything for a long time, which is kind of required for audiobook production. It may happen one day! But I don’t see those coming any time soon.
Also, I just don’t have a very good reading voice. I would need to train a little if I were to produce it myself, or I’d need to sell a whole lot more books if I were going to hire someone.
Write Your Story: Unlock Your Creative Potential
Are you ready to embark on a journey into the world of storytelling? Look no further! Introducing Write Your Story, a comprehensive resource designed to fuel your imagination, enhance your storytelling skills, and bring your characters to life. Whether you’re an aspiring writer, a seasoned author, or simply someone who loves crafting stories, this workbook is your ultimate companion.
I have been bullet journalling for years, but I’ve never really looked at the book from the guy who started it all. I looked at the articles and now have a significantly different system in place than the ones I started with, but I figured might as well get a refresher on what the actual system’s intent.
The book takes a bit of a sandwich approach to explaining the method. At the start, it’s a lot of very practical tips, tricks, and steps to set up your very first bullet journal. The ideas are great, and it gets you set up to start with the habit and start to see the ways in which it can work for your life. The end also has a lot of practical advice, particularly when it comes to talking about the boom of the aesthetic bullet journal practice that makes it look as if you have to be an artist in order to do it.
You don’t, by the way. You just need to find a way to make it work for you.
The middle took a bit of a strange turn. The framing of it is to talk about the other ways you can use a bullet journal other than just keeping it as a planner and to do list. It feels like a loose framework to talk about how the method has been motivational and substantially changed the lives of the people who have used it, which felt weird. It’s a way to keep organized, which can be life changing? But it felt like a bit much.
Overall, it’s great for if you want to get started and try it out. Now is a fantastic time to try out new things, and this is one of the rare self help things I think can actually be practically useful.
