I'm sorry! I can't believe it's been a full month since I last blogged! To give you the short version, my family and I had a pretty rocky start to the year with family stuff and illnesses. On top of that my business is currently the busiest it's ever been, which is a really good thing and something I'm so happy and proud of, but it does often mean that I'm working longer hours and haven't been able to read/blog as much especially because I've been spending more quality time with my family on weekends. This does mean that I've been neglecting My Endless Shelf and you wonderful readers. I am hoping to get back into a more regular blogging schedule now and also to catch up on the many unread emails in the My Endless Shelf inbox. The other reason brings me to my first bit of 'news' - I'm writing again (YAY!) What I'm WritingSome of you might know that I wrote my first novel in 2017 and then after finishing the first draft I sort of put it to one side and just left it, not intentionally but, you know, life... Well, my number one goal this year is to finally publish some of my writing. My lifelong dream has always been to be a full-time author, writing (and reading) are my two passions and I'm so sick and tired of making excuses and of life just getting in the way of me trying to realise my dream, which is why, since the beginning of February, I've been spending as much time as I can outside of work and family time to write and to edit my novel. Editing is sooo hard! I thought that writing, actually getting those ideas and characters out of my head and onto paper, would be the hardest part but I couldn't have been more wrong. Editing just takes so much more time than writing because there are just so many editing 'passes' that need to be done and I'm a complete beginner with the whole process. I'm getting there, very very slowly, but still making progress which I'm really happy about. I'm also writing more because sometimes I just need a break away from the soul-crushing reality of editing and it also helps to keep me creative. There's only so much I can take of various ideas and voices ringing in my head before I just have to start writing them down. I mentioned on Twitter recently that I'd written a short story. What started as a 'quick' creative writing exercise based on a prompt somehow turned into a several hour writing sprint where I could not stop typing and that resulted in a 4,000+ word short story. After a bit of research, I decided to publish the story on Wattpad because I like the simplicity of the platform and also because editing 4,000+ words is a hell of a lot easier than editing 100,000+ words and so I'm working through the story chapter by chapter, editing it and uploading it to Wattpad. So far, I've had a small number of readers and a positive response but I'm hoping for more readers & feedback once the full story is live. If you're interested, it's a contemporary romance with a hint of magic. It is LGBT and centers around a f/f relationship with both bi and lesbian rep. If you'd like to read the first 3 chapters, of The Midnight Cab which are now live, you can do so over on Wattpad by clicking the link above - I hope you enjoy it and I'd love to know what you think. I'm releasing a new chapter every few days (hopefully with another this weekend) and so the full story will be available very soon for those of you who prefer not to start an unfinished story. Depending on the response, I might also post the story up on the blog. What I'm Reading/Reading Slump!In the gap since my last blog post I attempted to read at least 4/5 different books in various genres but none really stuck, even though I know that at least two of them are amazing and I do want to read them. I've found myself in a pretty big reading slump, I haven't had one like this for such a long time where I just haven't felt motivated to read at all. I'm guessing it has a direct link with my mental health because over the past month I've been so mentally exhausted and all I've wanted to do is sleep. Fingers crossed, I think that I'm slowly coming out of the slump now, I re-read one of my favourite romance novels (Checkmate by R.L. Mathewson) and I've also been doing quite a lot of reading on Wattpad. I ventured into poetry which is an odd one for me as I'm not usually taken by poetry and I'm currently reading Bite Me by Alicia Wallace which is a paranormal (vampire x werewolf) m/m romance and I'm really enjoying it so far. Next up, I'm hoping to finish one of the books I started last month and will do my best to have some reviews posted as soon as possible. NYALitFest 2019In other news, the NYALitFest is taking place in two weeks and I'm so excited!! After the incredible time I had at their Supernatural and Fantastical in YA event last year, I cannot wait to attend their main festival on March 16th! I've booked tickets for pretty much every panel, and it's not too late if you want to come along. You can book your free tickets here! The theme this year is Mental Health & Inclusiveness in YA and the author line-up is just fantastic including; Melinda Salisbury, Alice Broadway, Samantha Shannon, Bali Rai and Alexandra Sheppard. There will be panels and workshops covering; Creative Writing, YA Thrillers, Inclusiveness in YA, Mental Health and Feminism in Fantasy. There will also be author signings throughout the day and stalls filled with bookish goodies and run by several fantastic publishing houses including Bloomsbury, Macmillan, Walker and, of course, the organisers of the event, UCLan Publishing (I have everything crossed that I can grab some beautiful books for review and/or to giveaway on the blog!) There's loads more going on in the day too - click here for the full programme! I'll be updating Instagram and Twitter throughout the day if you want to follow along with what's happening and I will do a blog recap after the event. I can't wait to meet everyone and catch up with the fantastic people I met last year (although I will try not to turn up 4 hours early this time!!) Other Stuff...In other news, thanks to the lovely folks at Penguin Random House, I'll be hosting a giveaway very shortly for a paperback copy of Jack of Hearts by L.C. Rosen. This unapologetically honest LGBT YA is a great read and you can find out exactly what I thought of it in my review. Stay tuned for the giveaway coming soon! I think that's all for now - this turned out to be a much longer post than I'd intended!
So, over to you! What are you reading at the moment? I'd love to know your recommendations! As always, happy reading! Comments are closed.
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About Kay (She/Her)
Book addict, film mad, music lover, business owner, writer and mum (not necessarily in that order), living in the UK. About Sophie (She/Her)
Sophie loves books (obviously). She has a passion for photography and spotting wildlife, and is interested in anything made with passion and creativity. THIS BLOG IS SPOILER FREE!
Rating system: 5 Stars - AMAZING!! 4.5 Stars - Almost perfect! 4 Stars - I really loved it 3.5 Stars - I liked it alot 3 Stars - I liked it (I don't typically review books that I rate below 3 stars)
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