Celebrate the Small Things 15-5-20

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 my birthday!

So I'm celebrating that today.  We moved into Level 2 of the the COVID-19 response yesterday which means things are starting to re-open.  Since one of my sons is working tonight and the other is going to sleep over with his best friend who he hasn't seen for 8 weeks, my partner and I are going out for dinner.  Will be interesting to see how the restaurants manage the strict social distancing rules.

We're going to have dinner with our parents on Sunday which will be the first time I've seen my parents since the lockdown began.  My partner went and visited his dad last weekend, but the kids and I stayed home.  He's in his 90s and there's no point taking any chances.  So Sunday will be the first time we've all been together since mid-March.

Cinemas are opening up again too, although at limited capacity.  If my local one is open this weekend, I might go and see a movie.  I know there's not going to be anything new on, but there were a few things I hadn't seen before the lockdown that might find their way back on screen.

We're going back to the office on Monday which I'm looking forward to.  I'm sick of talking to the little discs on Teams...  Only three days a week to begin with so there are never too many people in the office at the same time, but it will be nice to be around people again.

We've had no new cases of the virus in three days now, so I'm feeling hopeful that the severe lockdown our government put in place has done its job.  But I guess we'll find out over the next couple of weeks, once people start moving around and mingling again.

What are you celebrating this week?

Books I've Read: Finding Balance

There was a lot to like about this book.  It deals with two different experiences of being a cancer survivor which is not something I've seen in a book before.

Mari can't hide the fact she's had cancer.  It took one of her legs and because of the nature of her amputation, a prosthetic leg isn't comfortable or the best option for her.  She's used to people looking at her as she navigates the world on her pink crutches, and even deals with the odd fall now and then with humor and grace.

Jase had leukemia as a young child and barely remembers the experience.  When he started high school, he made the conscious decision not to tell anyone about it after dealing with some vicious bullying in middle school.  The only time he ever really thinks about being a survivor is at the summer camp for cancer survivors he's been going to for years.  A summer camp where he and Mari are best friends.

When Mari transfers to Jase's school, he's terrified their cancer connection might be discovered and his secret revealed.  So instead of helping Mari settle in, he's a jerk to her.  But he can't deny the attraction he feels for her.

Mari is hurt by Jase's attitude to her, and further humiliated by his girlfriend's ignorant and insensitive remarks.  She and Jase were so close at camp.  What happened to change that?

The book navigates these two survivors' stories as they struggle to understand their feelings for each other and a world that sees each of them differently.

I liked the way this book explored the idea of visible and invisible disability and how people view them differently.  It's not a subject I've seen covered often in YA books and it's something so many people deal with every day.  Jase was a jerk through a lot of the book, but I felt like this behavior was realistic given his past and his desire not to been seen through the cancer lens.  His growth through the book was the most significant and it was gratifying to see the way his friendship with Mari changed his perspective on the world and his place in it.

Some of the characters, particularly Jase's ex-girlfriend Lindsay and her friends were painted a little too broadly for my liking.  They were too clueless and too mean to feel realistic. I mean, at seventeen you should know cancer isn't contagious...

But overall, this was an interesting book that I enjoyed reading.  I didn't even realize it was the second book in a series until after I'd finished it!  Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read it in advance.

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

Jase Ellison doesn’t remember having Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia when he was three years old. His cancer diagnosis only enters his mind twice a year. Once at his yearly checkup at the oncology clinic and when he attends Camp Chemo in the summer. No one in his “real” life knows about his past, especially his friends at Atlanta West Prep.

Mari Manos has never been able to hide her cancer survivorship. She wakes every morning, grabs her pink forearm clip crutches, and starts her day. Mari loves Camp Chemo—where she’s developed a healthy crush on fellow camper Jase. At Camp, she knows that she’ll never get “the look” or have to explain her amputation to anyone.

Jase wants to move on, to never reveal his past. But when Mari transfers to his school, he knows she could blow his cover. That’s the last thing he wants, but he also cannot ignore his attraction to her. For Mari, she only wants to be looked at like a girl, a person, and not only known for her disability. But how do you move on from cancer when the world won’t let you?

New Release: A Quick Bite by Patricia Lynne

My friend Patricia Lynne has a new book out today, so I'm celebrating her release here on the blog.  It's a delicious collection of bite-sized stories about all your favourite horror creatures.  Each story is only 200 words long, so it's the perfect book for dipping into while waiting in queues - something I have done more of recently than I ever remember doing before.  All at a safe 2m distance, of course!

Blurb

Vampires.

Werewolves.

Zombies.

These monsters tickle our imagination.

Sink your teeth into a collection of tales about paranormal creatures that go bump in the night. Each story is told in exactly 200 words and designed to give you a quick bite no matter how busy your day is.

Are you hungry?

Excerpt:

Waiting Game

It was a well-known fact that vampires only came out at night. They prowled the shadows, snatching any fool dumb enough to venture out after the sun had set.

Parents taught their children about the danger. Which prompted teenagers to dare each other to face the darkness. Most of the youths chickened out once they were standing at the open door with inky blackness stretched out before them. Those who didn’t were found dead and drained the next morning.

Only through vigilance did the village survive. Don’t go out after dark was beaten into the residents’ heads. Sometimes literally.

They hoped that by denying the vampires victims, the undead would be leave in search of easier prey. The villagers didn’t think about others who would suffer when that happened. It was a matter of survival, and those people would have to learn if they wanted to live. At least, that’s what they told themselves to ease their guilt.

But the vampires weren’t going anywhere. Immortality granted an abundance of patience. They just had to wait long enough, and the villagers would become compliant. They would forget why they feared the night. They would come out. And then...the feast would begin.

Zombies are real!

We all love a good zombie apocalypse movie where the good guys fight off hoards of zombies and save humanity. But are zombies really that far-fetched? Maybe not if you look deeper into mother nature.

Have you ever heard of Ophiocordyceps? It is a fungi. Harmless right? Not if you’re an ant. When an ant come across these fungal spores in nature, the fungus infects the insect and spread through its body. Fungal cells in the ant’s head releases chemicals that hijack the insect’s central nervous system. The fungus can then force the ant to climb high. There, it kills the ant and a stalk grows out of the back of the ant’s head so spores can be released to infect more ants on the grounds below.

Sometimes, nature is more scary than fiction.

Buy Links

Amazon

About the Author

Patricia Josephine is a writer of Urban Fantasy and Sci-Fi Romance books. She actually never set out to become a writer, and in fact, she was more interested in art and band in high school and college. Her dreams were of becoming an artist like Picasso. On a whim, she wrote down a story bouncing in her head for fun. That was the start of her writing journey, and she hasn't regretted a moment. When she's not writing, she's watching Doctor Who or reading about serial killers. She's an avid knitter. One can never have too much yarn. She writes Young Adult Paranormal, Science Fiction, and Fantasy under the name Patricia Lynne.

Patricia lives with her husband in Michigan, hopes one day to have what will resemble a small petting zoo, and has a fondness for dyeing her hair the colors of the rainbow. 

Social Media Links: 

Website

Patreon

Twitter

Facebook

Newsletter

Goodreads

Amazon Author Page

Smashwords

Weekly Goals 11-5-20

I actually did a bit of writing over the weekend.  Quite a bit.  I'm well on my way to fixing an issue in the middle of one of my books.  Or at least, hopefully fixing the issue.

So this week's goal is to keep up that momentum and try and finish this section of the story.  I know what is going to happen.  I just need to write it.

Today we find out if the country moves down another Alert Level which will mean things begin to resemble normality.  It won't be normal, but at least it will be closer than it is now.   We'll be able to go back to the office a few days a week and restaurants will re-open, but with limited capacity.  Hairdressers will re-open too and I bet they will be doing a roaring trade the first few weeks.

It's my birthday on Friday, but I kind of feel like it's still going to be a lockdown birthday....

What are your goals this week?

Celebrate the Small Things 8-5-20

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?

I just looked at my calendar and realized it's been seven weeks since I last went into the office.  Seven weeks since I left my suburb.  Seven weeks since I spoke face to face with another person not in my family.

That's crazy!

I can't quite believe it.  And more to the point, I can't believe I haven't gone nuts.  I'm a social person. I like people.  Even people I don't know.  I enjoy sitting places and watching them, making up stories about them or just clocking their quirks.

Is it any wonder I've been struggling to write?  I haven't seen anyone other than the people I see when I go out to exercise, and even them, we largely avoid each other, walking out into the street to allow the requisite two meters of social distancing.

This week I had my first take-out - Indian from the little hole in the wall curry shop at the end of our street.  It was delicious.  Partly because it's the best Indian food in town, but also because I didn't have to cook it.  We'll do some take aways again next week because it's my birthday.  Will have to think long and hard about what I want to make sure I'm not disappointed.

What are you celebrating this week?

IWSG - May 2020

It's the first Wednesday in May so it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group!

This month's question is:

Do you have any rituals that you use when you need help getting into the ZONE? Care to share?

I don't really have any rituals.  I'm someone who writes whenever I have time to write, so I don't feel like I have the time to indulge in any rituals.   I just grab that moment of free time and get to it.

That said, there are a few things I do to make sure that when I sit down to write, I can actually get going without warming into it too much.  For instance, I never leave a project at the end of a chapter or section.  I always write at least a few sentences or paragraphs of the next so when I get back to the MS, I'm not facing a blank page and have a few lines to lead me back into the story.

When I'm drafting, I don't like to stop and do research so if I hit a point where I might need some information I don't have at hand, I'll leave myself a note in the text and highlight it in yellow so I can find it later and fill in the details.  My early drafts are littered with things that say FIND OUT WHAT THE KOREAN WORD FOR GRANDMOTHER IS  or LOOK UP THE LITERACY RATE IN AUSTRALIA IN 1886.

Another thing I do to make sure any writing time I have is constructive, is not to keep going if I'm stuck. If I can't figure out what happens next in a section, I'll just stop writing, open up a new scene in Scrivener and move on to a point in the story where I do know what happens. Usually writing something further down the book's timeline helps me figure out what to do in that earlier scene. And if it doesn't, it often tells me I was moving in the wrong direction with that earlier scene and may need to re-write some or all of it so it does help move the story along.

So, I don't think I've really answered the question, but hopefully some of these tips for making sure any writing time you snatch is productive are useful for you.

What rituals do you observe to help get in the zone?

Weekly Goals 4-5-20

Can you believe it's May already?  It's my birthday in two weeks!  Fingers crossed we're out of lockdown by then...

I didn't do much writing over the weekend.  I just couldn't face being in the same space I spend all week working, so I did other things.  I cooked.  I read. I watched movies. I went for a couple of long walks (which is good because it's pouring rain right now, so I doubt I'll be going walking today).

But now, of course, I'm feeling guilty because I had all those hours I could have been writing and I didn't really use them.

This week's goal is to do some writing.  Even if it isn't a lot.  I have a project I'm revising and I need to finish that before I'm letting myself dive into making the changes to Standing Too Close I know I need to make.  And that I really want to make.

So this week's goal is to try and finish that revision.  I've done the heavy work.  I just need to add a bit here and there, and change a POV in one section to balance the narrators.  Nothing that will take too long.

What are your goals this week?