BOOK REVIEW: Herding Cats, Sarah Andersen

 ★★★★

If you've read one of Andersen's previous collections, you know what you're getting with this one. The "scribbles" subtitle is accurate, as
each comic is only a page. The first two books were also delightful, and this one follows through on that as well. Because of the length of the pieces, there's no earth-shattering material. Instead, they're short strips that capture the reality of being an adult today.

That can be good and useful in and of itself. It's nice to know I'm not alone in struggling with adult tasks or self-worth. None of us really knows what we're doing, but hey, a lot of us take comfort in books and pets and friends and comics like these.

That's not to say there isn't depth. The comics tackle issues like anxiety, introversion, time management, sexism, politics/the social landscape, and global warming. There are lighter topics, too, like how summer is hot, being a bookworm, bonding with fictional characters, and the little joys of life, like scissors sliding across wrapping paper.

Where this collection veers away from the path of the first two is the discussion that closes out the book. In the last few pages, Andersen intersperses the comics with prose in order to advocate for creativity. She discussing the realities of being a creative person on the internet, where everyone has access to your work but not everyone has good intentions, and she calls for creative types to, simply, keep making stuff, a message that's always nice to hear.

In my opinion, collections like these are best in small doses. pick it up, read a comic or two, have a chuckle or appreciate how relatable or cute it is, and repeat the next day.


Thanks to NetGalley, Andrew McMeels Publishing, and Sarah Andersen for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK REVIEW: What She Doesn't Know, Andrew E. Kaufman

While reading this, I was hovering around three stars. I didn't love it, but it certainly kept me reading. However, the more I read, the more frustrated I got.

I had issues with the writing style. I actually love present tense, which not many people do, so that wasn't what tripped me up. It just didn't feel as polished as it should have been. There's a lot of info-dumping. The dialogue is unrealistic at times. Every time Riley yells, it's in all-caps. There's no real setting of scenes, just sentences like: "It's been a few days since Riley left her sister that apology message and still no response." But every chapter (and each scene is a new chapter) opens similarly. A lot of the moments that should be emotional don't land, such as: "She applies the makeup, but even that can't fix the damage caused by a life wasted, a life destroyed. Then a tear--the kind that expresses what words never could--rolls down her cheek."

BOOK REVIEW: Soul of the World, David Mealing

I'm writing this review because I loved this book and great books deserved to be talked about! It's no secret I love epic fantasy. I enjoy a ton of genres, but there's no shaking epic fantasy from the #1 spot. However, it's a very frustrating genre because it's been so focused on straight white male protagonists. To me, and to many other readers, that's tired and boring by now. I don't need the genre to be reinvented. I just need it to be more inclusive, and I'm very happy with this one.

I picked up Soul of the World on a whim. I knew I wanted a big, thick fantasy, but honestly, I often shy away from male authors. That's the majority of the genre, though, so I grabbed this one in B&N one day and decided to buy it because I was excited by the prospect of two of the three main characters being women (and the other being a man of color, but I didn't realize that just from reading the back cover).

Basically, the story takes place in a new world across an ocean from the old, so very much inspired by Europeans coming to North America. In this new world, there are indigenous tribes, colonies of Sarresant and Gand, and a wall that divides the two. The plot isn't easy to distill into a sentence or two because there's just so much going on. There's very cool magic and revolution and a shifting of gender roles and giant animals and gods with mysterious motivations.

Writing Update, February

February's been . . . interesting. Every once in a while, I hit a wall creatively. I think it's because I don't like to take breaks. So, I finished the draft of book two in mid-December, and by the middle of January, I'd added 30,000 words to a romance manuscript to finish it. Even though I did a lot of reading at the beginning of February to help cleanse my palate, I tried to jump straight into other projects instead of giving myself a breather, and it didn't work out that well.

My main goal was to write four short stories to submit to anthologies before March 1st. I wrote and submitted two. 50% isn't bad, but I'm a little disappointed. I also had the goal of increasing my science-fiction manuscript from 9,000 words to 30,000. I increased it to 10,000 words. At least that's some forward momentum, even if it's slow.

One thing I'm going to try to do is outline the sci-fi novel more deeply. Right now, the outline is a page long and just major story beats. It'll help to flesh that out, figure out more about the characters, and do some world-building before I really dive into the manuscript.

I've also decided to indulge myself in my pet project, which is an epic fantasy with a cast that's almost entirely female just 'cause that's what I wanna write. From the outline, it's going to be a long, long book, so the number-one rule is that I can't get consumed in it. I'm only going to write a bit here and there when I need help getting into the flow. And I'm giving myself permission for the first draft to be terrible. Because it will be, and I don't want to scare myself away from writing it because I want it to come out perfectly the first time.

So, there are my new goals! Stay tuned for whatever progress I end up making. And an extra bit of good news: I sold a short story today. It's supposed to come out tomorrow, so I'll keep you updated!

BOOK REVIEW: The Queen of Ieflaria, Effie Calvin

The Queen of Ieflaria, by Effie Calvin, is the first book in a fantasy series. Esofi, a princess of Rhodia, has been betrothed to Albion, the heir of Ieflaria, since they were young children. When Albion dies in an accident, Esofi travels to Ieflaria with the intention of marrying the new heir, who turns out to be Adale. Adale, as second child, had never intended on becoming queen and, as such, is found lacking, enough that her two cousins throw their hats into the ring for becoming heir and, consequently, Esofi's betrothed. There's also the small matter of dragons attacking Ieflara and the Ieflarian people not having strong enough magic to repel them. Esofi is a gifted mage and has brought Rhodian battlemages with her to help Ieflaria fight this threat.

BOOK REVIEW: It's Not a Date, Heather Blackmore

It's Not a Date is about Kade Davenport, a tech entrepreneur and investor who is a stickler for punctuality and doesn't let herself get close to anyone, and Jen Spencer, CEO of Creative Care, which aims to pair people who need to hire care for elderly or sick relatives with private-care workers. When one of Creative Care's board members falls ill, Kade is called in to substitute, and Kade and Jen find out they have very different management styles even while sparks fly.

Throughout the read, I was hovering between 4 and 5 stars, but by the end, I was completely charmed by this story. Honestly, I didn't understand some of the stuff about investments and venture capitalists, but it never took away from my enjoyment of the story. I could still very much understand where each woman was coming from and the stakes each was facing.

A lot of Jen's concerns about being a female CEO in the tech industry are real-life issues women face. Her colleague was pushed out of her CEO role for becoming pregnant. Jen thinks that Kade, who basically has no private life, has set an example for successful businesswomen that essentially advises women to value their job over their family. And Jen worries that having to leave work unexpectedly to care for her grandmother, who has dementia, will hurt her prospects in the field.

On Kade's end, she has some very real trauma from her youth that she's never gotten over. Because of this, she's never been in a relationship and only has one real friend. Jen, through her kindness, helps her grow as a person.

This is what I loved most about this book and what ultimately won me over--how Jen and Kade are written. There's always going to be miscommunication and angst in a romance, but it's very subtly done here. Their differences arise from them being completely different people, but I always understood both points of view. There were multiple points where their differences could've been used to amp up the angst. Instead, Blackmore often has the character or characters in the wrong take time to cool off and understand on their own why they were wrong. It's very refreshing.

I also want to say that the ending scene was one of the most satisfying romance ending scenes that I've read. It tied things together in a lovely way.

There were a few things that didn't quite work for me, however. I see from a lot of people's reviews that they loved the beginning set in Maui. While I enjoyed it, I found myself questioning the authorial choice to devote an entire 12% to it. I think it could've been pared down, but I realize I didn't enjoy it as much as some others because I don't care too much for instant attraction. I like when characters have a bit of a struggle getting there.

I also thought the points of view were a little imbalanced, especially toward the beginning. We spent a lot of time with Kade first then lots with Jen before it evened out. Perhaps I would've found the beginning 12% more interesting if there had been more of a balance. Along these same lines, sometimes it took a paragraph or two to figure out whose point of view we were in. These types of things definitely aren't deal-breakers for me, but they could be improved upon in the next book.

I'd definitely recommend this to romance readers, especially those who enjoy f/f romance, and I'll be looking forward to more stories from Blackmore.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bold Strokes Books, and Heather Blackmore for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Writing Update, January

You might have noticed that I added another manuscript progress bar to the right side of the page (and yes, I'm keeping the YA post-apocalyptic one even though I haven't worked on it in a while). The first draft of book two is currently with readers, so I find myself mostly twiddling my thumbs while I wait for their comments. To keep myself productive, my main focus over the next few months is (hopefully) going to be this manuscript, tentatively titled To the Edge of the Galaxy.

While I've written sci-fi short stories, this is the first sci-fi novel I'm embarking upon. I'm more familiar with SF movies and television than I am with SF novels (and the other way around for fantasy), so I'm also going to try to prioritize reading SF over fantasy in the foreseeable future. If you have any books you think I should read, feel free to suggest them.

My goal is to finish the first draft by the end of April. I'm shooting for 70,000 words. I have almost 9,000 right now, which means approximately 20,000 words per month. That's certainly doable, providing I don't let myself get distracted by shiny new ideas. I'm posting here to keep myself accountable.

Although I have some words already, I'm very much still feeling this project out. I originally envisioned one point of view, but now I think two might serve the story better. I'm dealing with all the exciting and scary questions that come with starting a new novel. I'm excited to see where this journey will take me!