Weekly Goals 1-2-21

 Can you believe it's February already?  Crazy!

This week (and probably the rest of the month) is going to have to be about doing publicity and marketing stuff for the release of Chasing the Taillights.

It would be really nice if this book sells better than my other ones.  Even nicer if this book drives sales to the other ones.  So it's worth putting a little time and effort into letting people know it's out there.

It means my planned revision on my NaNo book will have to wait until next month, but that's okay.  It also means pausing my querying on Standing too Close, but that's probably not a bad thing either.  I think my query needs a little tweaking anyway.

In non-writing stuff, I'm planning to get my hair cut really short on Friday.  I accidentally grew it long last year because of the lockdown, but now I'm ready to cut it off.  I've been dyeing my hair since I was a teenager, but I've grown out my roots and am going to allow myself to go gray now.  For a while, anyway...  We'll see how I like it when I see it!

So, that's my week. What are your goals this week?  

Celebrate the Small Things 29-1-21 - Cover Reveal!

 

This post is part of Lexa Cain's blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to sign up!

What am I celebrating this week?

Cover reveal!

Yes, this is the cover of my new book that will be out on 26 February.  Isn't it pretty?

You can add it on Goodreads if you like...

Here's the blurb:

Lucy and Tony share nothing except genes. Tony’s the champion diver destined for greatness. Lucy’s biggest concern is getting Cute Guy from the burger joint to ask her out.

After an accident kills their parents, the siblings are forced to rely on one another—and decide whether to reveal their secrets.

Lucy can’t tell Tony what she knows about the accident for fear of destroying the tentative bond between them. If she doesn’t confess, she might lose her mind. If she does, she might lose the only person she has left who loves her.

Tony has problems too. Between diving practice, classes and concealing the crush he has on his best friend Jake, Tony needs to find room in his life for his sister, but his own stability dwindles with every passing day.

As the siblings struggle to overcome a lifetime of past conflicts and jealousies, they discover they might have more in common than a love of rock music.

If you are interested in reading and reviewing it ahead of launch day, just let me know!  I will have ARCs available next week.

What are you celebrating this week?

Books I've loved: Bang

 

I read this book over the weekend in about two hours.  I couldn't put it down once I started.

It's about Sebastian, an ordinary kid with a terrible event in his past: when he was four, he shot and killed his baby sister with a gun his father left lying around.

Obviously this event has been crucial in his life - even if he doesn't actually remember it.

Everyone in town knows he's the kid who killed his sister, so it isn't something he can get away from.  Every time the conversation gets close to guns, awkwardness ensues.

The event tore apart his parents' marriage too, so now he lives with just his mother, avoiding talking to her as much as possible and trying to take up as little space as he can so he won't remind her of the tragedy.  It's not a great way to live, but Sebastian has a plan to end it all.  He's just waiting for the right moment.  He has already picked the place.

But then Aneesa moves in down the street and everything changes.  She doesn't know about his past.  She even seems to like him.  So does her family - a big change from his best friend's family who tend to treat him with suspicion.  

With his best friend away for the summer, Sebastian and Aneesa start spending time together, building a You-tube channel to show off Sebastian's pizza-making prowess.  As they work together, they grow closer and Sebastian starts to see that he's not the only one whose life is impacted by things he can't change - Aneesa is a target because she's Muslim.

As they grow closer and the channel becomes more and more successful, Sebastian finds himself thinking about his plan less and less.  His fans online don't know who he is, don't know his terrible secret.  For the first time he can live without everything being shadowed by that one act. He even feels hopeful about the new school year and the future, possibly for the first time.

But nothing stays secret forever, and when Sebastian's identity is exposed online, it's just the beginning of a downward spiral that sends him running back toward his initial plan all over again.

This wasn't a long book, but it packed a lot in.  Sebastian was heartbreakingly real - too young to fully understand everything he heard and saw around him, yet old enough to see how horribly it affected everyone.  It has made him quite self-centered in many ways, but not in an unpleasant way.  It was more for protection, to keep himself from being hurt by things people said to him, and the way people acted around him.

There was a nice twist toward the end too, something I did not see coming at all, although maybe I should have...  I won't spoil it for you though.

So, I'd recommend this one.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

One shot ruined his life. Another one could end it.

Sebastian Cody did something horrible, something no one—not even Sebastian himself—can forgive. At the age of four, he accidentally shot and killed his infant sister with his father’s gun.

Now, ten years later, Sebastian has lived with the guilt and horror for his entire life. With his best friend away for the summer, Sebastian has only a new friend—Aneesa—to distract him from his darkest thoughts. But even this relationship cannot blunt the pain of his past. Because Sebastian knows exactly how to rectify his childhood crime and sanctify his past.

It took a gun to get him into this.

Now he needs a gun to get out.

Weekly Goals 25-1-21

It's a month until Chasing the Taillights releases, so this week is where I need to start amping up publicity and start looking for reviewers.  Hopefully I'll have ARCs this week as well as cover art so I can get started on that.

So that's the plan for this week, provided I get the materials I need.

It's a holiday today, so it's going to be a short week at work, which could mean things are a little crazy.  So I'll make the most of the extra day off today!

What are your goals this week?

Celebrate the Small Things 22-1-20

 

This post is part of Lexa Cain's blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to sign up!

What am I celebrating this week?

It's Friday and it's a long weekend for us here because Monday is Wellington Anniversary Day.  So yay!  I have absolutely nothing planned except cooking dinner for my father-in-law on Sunday, which is just the way I like it.  The weather looks like it's going to be good too, so some gardening might be a good idea.  Laundry and house cleaning too.  

And lots of reading. Maybe even a movie...

I got a sneak peek at the cover art for Chasing the Taillights and it's SO pretty!  Hopefully a cover reveal will be upcoming in the next week or so.  I can't wait to share!

What are you celebrating this week?

Books I've Read: The Knockout

Netgalley let me read this book early and I'm grateful for that.  I mean, look at that cover!  It's gorgeous!

The Knockout is about Kareena Thakaar, a seventeen-year-old Indian American who does't quite fit the mould of perfect Indian daughter.  She fights Muay Thai and is making a name for herself in the sport. If she can raise enough money, she can fight in the US championships.  And if she does well there, she might even make the Olympic team.

She needs to focus and she needs to train.  But it's not easy.  Her father is sick and she's all too aware of how much his continual medical treatments and hospitalizations cost.  And then there's Amit, the super-smart, perfect Indian valedictorian who inexplicably needs tutoring in computer science.  Amit, who makes her feel all kinds of things she's never felt before.

Kareena has always considered herself not Indian enough.  Indian girls don't fight, yet fighting is what she's good at.  Indian girls are involved with the Indian community and go to the mandir.  Yet Kareena's family don't go to mandir and her mother is too busy working two jobs to join the other aunties in their gossip and matchmaking.

As Kareena struggles to balance the things important to her, she also struggles to figure out who she is.  

There was a lot to like about this book, but it fell flat for me.  I wanted to really root for Kareena, but she never really became a fully formed character for me and her constant negativity about herself was draining.  She only needs to look around at the friends and family who support her to see that she isn't actually lacking in any of the ways she seems to think she was.

It was also difficult to believe Amit's character, especially the high-level programming job he has.  The kid is seventeen.  He's not going to be given access to patient's medical records, even in the line of duty. And who hires their seventeen-year-old nephew to do something this high-level anyway? Not to mention he's just too nice, especially when Kareena is anything but toward him.

The writing wasn't fantastic either, which is perhaps why the characters fell flat for me.

So overall, while I loved the premise and the Muay Thai fighting, this one just isn't as good as it could have been.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

A rising star in Muay Thai figures out what (and who) is worth fighting for in this #ownvoices YA debut full of heart.

If seventeen-year-old Kareena Thakkar is going to alienate herself from the entire Indian community, she might as well do it gloriously. She’s landed the chance of a lifetime, an invitation to the US Muay Thai Open, which could lead to a spot on the first-ever Olympic team. If only her sport wasn’t seen as something too rough for girls, something she’s afraid to share with anyone outside of her family. Despite pleasing her parents, exceling at school, and making plans to get her family out of debt, Kareena’s never felt quite Indian enough, and her training is only making it worse.

Which is inconvenient, since she’s starting to fall for Amit Patel, who just might be the world’s most perfect Indian. Admitting her feelings for Amit will cost Kareena more than just her pride–she’ll have to face his parents’ disapproval, battle her own insecurities, and remain focused for the big fight. Kareena’s bid for the Olympics could very well make history–if she has the courage to go for it.

Weekly Goals 18-1-21

 I'm going to keep things simple this week.  Last week felt a million years long and the weekend was not enough to re-energize.  So this week I'm not setting myself any goals other than to get through the week in better shape than I did last week.

Going back to work after vacation is hard...

What are your goals this week?