Month: May 2023

The State of the Reader: 5/31/23

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<–The State of the Reader: 3/8/23         The State of the Reader: 6/14/23–>

A biweekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Books Purchased: 11

Total: $90.47

Books Finished: 0

Books DNF’d: 1

Title: Dark Planet Warriors: The Complete Serial
Series: Dark Planet Warriors
Author: Anna Carven
Date Added: March 35, 2023
Date Started: March 31, 2023
Date DNF: May 14, 2023
Percentage Completed: 70%

Cover of Dark Planet Warriors: The Complete SerialMedia: eBook/Kindle/Library

Oh my god this book was bad.  It was so bad.  SO SO bad lol.

“Why did you read so much of it then, TSN?”

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The State of the Writer: 5/28/23

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<–The State of the Writer: 4/16/23         The State of the Writer: 6/11/23–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 1

Project: Story/Series
Working Title: The High Archon (The Truth Seeker Chronicles)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,282
Status: Reorganizing
Progress: Preparing to review draft

I’ll talk about my horrendous schedule later below, but right now my goal is to get back to drafting.  My last post was almost a month ago, and once again I got lost in the weeds of worldbuilding.  I had to step back and ask myself what my goal was and why I’d stopped drafting in the first place, and while the answer was I needed more background, like the obsessive I am, I went overboard.  Yes, I might need these extensive notes at some point, but I don’t need all these details right now, and I could work on some things concurrently as I’m drafting.  So the plan is to review what I have written and figure out what I directly need to hash out and if I haven’t already then do so.

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The Stillness of the Sky by Starla Huchton (Flipped Fairy Tales #2) (DNF)

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Title: The Stillness of the Sky
Series: Flipped Fairy Tales
Author: Starla Huchton
Date Added: August 16, 2017
Date Started: November 21, 2018
Date DNF: November 23, 2018
Reading Duration: 2 days
Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tales (Retellings), Romance, Young Adult (YA)

Cover of The Stillness of the Sky by Starla Huchton (Flipped Fairy Tales)Pages: 322
Publication Date: January 7, 2015
Publisher: Self
Media: eBook/Kindle

Once upon a time, my life was certain: it was insignificant, and it was cruel. But I refused to let it define me, no matter how great the cost.

Once upon a time, I made a wish. The world I knew grew wider than the sky and higher than the stars, and I listened to the voice within me, reaching out for freedom.

Once upon a time, my wish became my fate, and my destiny the hardest lesson to learn: kindness may be the most difficult path, but it can save entire kingdoms.

This is a “Jack and the Beanstalk with a different gender retelling,” which has never been one of my favorite fairytales.  I don’t hate it, but I could never be completely on Jack’s side.  I mean he did break into someone’s house and steal their shit so why wouldn’t the giant be angry about that?

As with most fairytale MC’s the mother is absent, though this time not dead.  She left when Jack was younger, leaving her with an abusive and alcoholic father, though apparently this was by Jack’s own choice, because if she’d gone with her “who would’ve taken care of the animals” 🙄.  Of course there needs to be a catalyst for a story (had Jack gone with her mother there wouldn’t be a plot), and I think Huchton is trying to say it wasn’t that the mother didn’t want her, but rather Jack made her own (poor) choices, but it’s pretty infuriating.

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