RL Reads & Writes

  November Is National Novel Writing Month… What Are You Doing For It? Hello my fellow writers! November quite literally right around the corner, and, if you did not know, it’s also National Novel Writing Month! This blog post is mostly explaining what that is, and what I’m going to do for it. What Is National Novel Writing Month? It is, quite basically, a month where you try to write a 50k word novel. There used to be an entire site where you would participate, called NaNoWriMo, but it was disbanded last year for several safety reasons, and something to do with AI. So, if you’re going to participate this year, you’ll have to find another site, or, alternatively, just join in the challenge and tell people about it!  While the goal that has become synonymous with NaNoWriMo is writing 50k words, you don’t have to adhere to that. You could aim for 10k words, 80k words, or even do something editing related. All you have to do is set a writing related goal.  Will ...

 My Review of Haley Hartman's Burn the Dawn   I got an advanced reader copy of this book for free from Booksirens in exchange for an honest review Burn the Dawn is a young adult fantasy with a fast-paced plot that I rated 3.5 stars. Don't get me wrong, the book was really good, I especially enjoyed the world-building and plot twists, but it just felt like it missed something in relation to the characters. Trigger warnings: Closed door scene w/ build-up, violence, death, dark themes. Tropes Young Adult Fantasy Assassin FMC Military Commander MMC Plot Twists Seirens / Harpies My Thoughts Worldbuilding: The world felt really fleshed out, I could picture all the kingdoms, and I really enjoyed the idea of Callings for seirens. The magic was well-thought out, and it was just... really good world-building. Plot: It felt a little slow at the start, but it quickly picked up and only lulled a few times. I really enjoyed all the plot twists, and with each new one, I was hooked in again...

  My Review of Iyanna Wilson's Free Falling   I was given an advanced review copy of this book for free from Booksirens in exchange for an honest review Free Falling is a young adult fantasy mystery that I rated 2.5 stars, but rounded up to 3 for Goodreads. To prefice my review, I will say that a few rounds of revision would have definitely made this a 4 or 5 star read, since I really liked the concept. Tropes Young Adult Fantasy Slow Burn Mystery Political Intrigue Royalty My Thoughts Worldbulding: I liked the idea of a Matriarchal society and a new monarch being chosen everytime the old one died, and the importance of Timekeepers. I also really enjoyed the concept of Fisher's Port, a floating city. I honestly just felt like a little bit more description and history of the place would have benefited it. Plot: The idea of the main character being accused of murder and ending up becoming the Matriarch as a punishment was cool, and I enjoyed the aspect of the mystery, but it so...

My Review Of Cait Monroe's Shield Sworn   I got the advanced reader copy of this from Booksirens in exchange for an honest review Shield Sworn is a young adult historical fantasy that I rated 4.25 stars. Honestly, my only qualm with the book was the language, mild suggestive content, and sensitive content (which was handled very well). Trigger Warning: There are mentions of sexual assault, r*pe, and vulgarity, directed toward women. It was handled well, but readers sensitive to this should take caution. Tropes Young Adult Historical Fantasy Roman-Inspired History Norse-Inspired History Slow Burn Enemies-to-Lovers Survival Reluctant Allies My Thoughts Worldbuilding: I really enjoyed the world-building in this book. It felt like it was taken out of a history book and changed just enough to make it sparkle. My favorite part of it was either the Roman or Norse influence in the story, or maybe the tribes, as they are depicted as how many societies have seen tribes like those over the y...

  Let’s Have A Talk About Imposter Syndrome Hello my fellow writers! Sorry I haven’t posted anything writing-related in a while, I've been busy… but let’s talk about Imposter Syndrome.  I have recently been feeling very overwhelmed when it comes to writing, and experiencing a lot of imposter syndrome, which made me realize… I should write something on this. Every writer has or will get some feelings of imposter syndrome, and knowing what to do when you get it is necessary. What Is Imposter Syndrome? The Merriam-Webster definition of imposter syndrome is this: [“]a psychological condition that is characterized by persistent doubt concerning one's abilities or accomplishments accompanied by the fear of being exposed as a fraud despite evidence of one's ongoing success[.”]  In a sentence, it's this: feeling like you are not good at writing (in this case), and that you are a fraud, despite the fact that you are not.  It’s a choking sense that makes you want ...