March Writing Updates and Goals

I feel like it has been a while since I did a writing update. The beginning of this year has been hectic. I cannot believe that it is already March. Where the heck does the time go?

While I could always be doing more, I feel like I have drastically increased how much I write compared to a year ago. I feel like consistency is a major key. I may only be able to write 500 words a day, but if I do that 5x a week for a month, that's over 10,000 words. I'm still not quite hitting that mark, but that's what I'm aiming at right now--500 words a day.

Here are a few of the things I'm proud of so far in 2018:

• 2 picture book drafts completed
• 1 picture book revision
• 2 middle grade short story drafts
• 31 poems written
• 9 rejections (this is a good thing!)
• Chosen to be authlete in Madness! Poetry
• Active in 2 critique groups
• completed round 2 judging for Cybils picture book/board book categories
• Read 40 books (all but 8 were picture books)

And here are a few of my writing goals for this month:

• write 1 new picture book manuscript
• write 10 poems
• revise 1 picture book
• revise and submit middle grade short story
• attend my critique groups
• outline my chapter book so I can start writing it next month
• continue to read good books

Poetry Friday - New Year Inspiration

It’s Friday! And you know what that means: Poetry! Want to know more about Poetry Friday? Click this link right here. And be sure to check out  Reading to the Core to see this week’s round up of wonderful poetry related posts, blogs and goodness. 

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Happy New Year poetry friends! Can you believe that it is 2018? I always get excited for the new year and all the potential it holds. Will there be bad times? Absolutely--there always will be. But hopefully there will be some wonderful and amazing times sprinkled in as well.

I am one of those people who always sets New Year Resolutions. But I try to make them attainable and realistic. For example, if I set a goal to exercise 365 days in 2018 and then I miss a day, then there is no way for me to attain that goal. I try to avoid those types of absolutes. 

So as it is Poetry Friday, I thought I'd share a few of my:

2018 Poetry Goals

• write 100 poems
• use more prompts for inspirationn
• not miss a single Poetry Friday post
• complete another Inktober in October

Easy-peasy, right?

So, I have found that I do much better when I pull inspiration ahead of time for a poem. When I sit down cold and just try to randomly come up with a prompt for a poem, I fail miserably. I think that is why I was successful in finishing my 31 poems in 31 days back in October--I made up a word prompt list for the entire month.  Many of the poems went in very different directions than when I originally thought of the word, so the prompt is just a launching point. 

In addition to everyday life, here are a few of the places I plan on pulling inspiration:

My husband participates in various illustration prompts on twitter, and a few of them I plan on adapting for poetry.

@pinchpunchpost gives a monthly creature prompt

@animaloonies gives a monthly inflated animal prompt (they're quite amusing)

@AnimalAlphabets gives a weekly prompt that rotates through the alphabet

Last year, I discovered Laura Purdie Salas' "15 words or less" Thursday prompts on her blog. I love the simplicity of it and I really enjoy just spending a few minutes warming up the poetry muscles. I definitely plan on participating more this year. 

Speaking of New Year's goals, here is my contribution to Laura's prompt this week.

Parasite Depression

January is always gloomy

For a parasitic roomie

New healthy declarations

Make for tenuous relations

© Rebecca Herzog 2018

2017 Reading in Review

I cannot believe that 2017 passed so quickly! I always enjoy looking back at all the books that I read and sharing my favorites. I am super proud to say that I accomplished almost all of my reading goals for the year. Here's a recap:

2017 Goals:

• Read 52 books total - Completed 53 NOT including all the picture books I read
• Read 4 nonfiction books - I did complete 3 though, which is 300% more than in 2016
• Read 8 graphic novels - Crushed this one with 11 total
• Read 4 books in genres that I do not usually read - a play, a verse novel, a biography, and a self-help
• Read 4 books originally written in a non-English speaking country - I did read three--one from Japan (Yours Sincerely, Giraffe), one from Spain (Meddling Kids, although it was written in English, not translated), and a picture book written and illustrated in Italy (Professional Crocodile).

2017 stats:

13 Adult Fiction
15 Middle Grade
11 Graphic Novels
7 Young Adult
3 Nonfiction
3 Chapter Books
1 Poetry Collection
Tons of Picture Books (I did not track this in 2017, but it was a lot)

Reading Goals for 2018:

• Read 200 books, with at least 52 of them being chapter books or above (this is basically the same goal as 2017, but I want to track my picture book/early readers in 2018)
• Read 4 nonfiction books
• Read 4 contemporary fiction books
• Read 4 books in genres that I normally do not read
• Read 25 of Jane Yolen's books as this year her 365th book will be published (you could read one a day if you wanted!)

Favorite Books of 2017 

(click on the image to see them on Amazon)

November Goals 2017 - AKA Heck Yes!

So guess who completed every single day of Inktober? This girl!

*actual clip of me dancing

Yeah, I'm just a little proud of that one. It wasn't easy, especially towards the middle of the month, but I did it. National Novel Writing Month is up next. Hopefully, I can keep the momentum going.


Last Month's Goals Review

• Write 5 poems for anthology (I just couldn't crack it and the deadline has now passed. Cue sad trombone music)
• Outline 5 chapter books (well, this kind of happened. But not all 5...)
• Finish RIP reading challenge (finished 3 of the 6, still working my way through them)
• Inktober Poetry (Done done done! See happy dance above)
• Continue doing Poetry Friday
• Submit Madam Fang (Yes! I finally submitted it! It is submitable now!!)

All in all, last month wasn't too shabby. Here's to a new month and new goals!

November Goals

• Win NaNoWriMo (hit 50k words)
• Write 2 chapter books in my Monster Girl Squad series (25k each)
• Finish reading 3 books
• Edit Madam Fang back matter (the non-fiction part)
• Put list of publishers/agents to submit Madam Fang
• Submit Madam Fang to at least 2 more places

October Writing Goals + Exciting News!

So, before I get into my goals recap, I have a bit of news. I have been selected to be a judge for the Cybils Awards! I will be helping judge in the Fiction Picture Book and Board Book category.

For those who don't know, the Cybils Awards are given each year by bloggers for the year's best children's and young adult titles. You can learn a bit more at www.cybils.com. I am so incredibly honored and excited to participate.

September was a bit discombobulated with Irma passing through and all that entailed. John and Sammy both were out of school for over a week, which threw my groove off a bit. Don't get me wrong--I loved having them home, but it also meant a little less writing time. Overall, I am pleased with my writing progress.

September Goals

• Read 4 books
• Continue weekly book reviews
• Continue weekly poetry reviews
• Submit to poetry anthology
• Submit freaking Madam Fang already (it's edited and so close! I have until the 15th of October)
• Finish Zine 
• Hold Book Giveaway
• Pick and start outlining my NaNoWriMo book

October Goals

• Write 5 poems for anthology
• Outline 5 chapter books
• Finish RIP reading challenge
• Inktober Poetry (post forthcoming)
• Continue doing Poetry Friday
• Submit Madam Fang

September Writing Goals

Another busy month has come and gone. Things were especially hectic with school starting back up for my daughter, and my husband teaching again this semester. We're starting to get into the groove though, so that is good.

Before I do my usual recap, here are a few highlights from August that weren't originally listed in my goals for the month

• I submitted two poems to some children's magazines
• I applied to be a Cybils judge
• I joined NetGalley so I can start receiving and reviewing ARC (advance reader copies of books)

I didn't do too bad on my August goals. Can't seem to crack that darn Madam Fang though.

August Goals Review

• Finish final draft of Madam Fang and submit it for publication and Rising Kite contest (So, I'm almost through the final draft. Rising Kite is due the end of September)

• Continue weekly book reviews

• Continue weekly poetry reviews

• Start working on my Zine (This is due October 1st, so I'll be hitting this hard in September.)

• Hold book giveaway

• Read 3 books

• Daydream a bit more about potential story ideas

September Goals

• Read 4 books

• Continue weekly book reviews

• Continue weekly poetry reviews

• Submit to poetry anthology

• Submit freaking Madam Fang already

• Finish Zine

• Hold Book Giveaway

• Pick and start outlining my NaNoWriMo book

So there you have it! Another month in the books. What are some of your goals for the upcoming month?

August Writing Goals

Whoa. So July went by super fast. I have been having so much fun posting book reviews and writing a bit of poetry, that I forgot to give an update on how my writing goals went for July. Overall, I am pretty happy. There's always room for improvement, but that is life. So, without further ado, here's the update!

July Goals Review:

• Finish final draft of Madam Fang and submit it (Oops...yeah, I dropped the ball.)

• Write 2 instagram poems (I have successfully posted poetry every week for the last 4 weeks!)

• Write book review (Yup. Lots)

• Run book giveaway (Heck yes! And there's another going live this Saturday)

• Daydream more about potential story ideas (I was able to do some brainstorming, but not as much as I would have liked)

• Finish 5 books (finished TWELVE! Thank you BookTubeAThon!)

August Goals:

• Finish final draft of Madam Fang and submit it for publication and Rising Kite contest

• Continue weekly book reviews

• Continue weekly poetry reviews

• Start working on my Zine

• Hold book giveaway

• Read 3 books

• Daydream a bit more about potential story ideas

BookTube-A-Thon 2017 TBR

This past week, I discovered this awesome thing called BookTube-A-Thon. Here's a quick video about what it is specifically:

Basically it is a week-long reading marathon where everyone tries to read as much as possible. There are daily challenges and reading challenges and it just seems like it will be so much fun.

I decided that I wanted to do a KidLit spin on the challenge, so all of my books come from the various children's and YA categories. In the spirit of the event, here is my very ambitious reading goal for the coming week.

Here are the 2017 Reading Challenges:

1. Read a book with a person on the cover. (Earthling)
2. Read a hyped book. (The Wonderful Things You Will Be)
3. Finish a book in one day. (Eerie Elementary)
4. Read about a character that is very different from you. (Miss Popularity)
5. Finish a book completely outdoors. (Nightlights)
6. Read a book you bought because of the cover. (Tom Swift)
7. Read seven books. (If I manage to finish, I'll have read 15 books!)

Young Adult Books: 

Middle Grade Books:

 Chapter Books:

Graphic Novels:

Picture Books:

Supporting Authors

I love to read. Always have and hopefully always will. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to buy very many books (thank goodness for libraries). But this leaves me wondering: how I can support my favorite authors? I want them to be successful, so they can continue to feed my habit. 

I ran across this article a few weeks ago, and it got me thinking. I'm already doing quite a few of the things in the list to support my favorite authors, but I want to do a bit more. So, I've decided to do a regular book giveaway.

I want the giveaways to be fun and to happen fairly regularly (funds permitting). Hopefully, my reviews will steer a few more readers towards some pretty great books. Keep an eye out for upcoming giveaways!

Exciting Times + July Goals

OK. So I’m actually really excited about a few things.

1. John and I are collaborating again
2. An editor is interested in seeing the completed manuscript for one of my picture books
3. I got 3 more rejections (totaling 8 for the year)
4. I’ve decided to do a semi-regular book giveaway (starting this month)

1. A few weeks ago, John and I attended an SCBWI workshop. It was great to get out together for the day sans children. Thank you in-laws! I will be writing a separate post specifically about the conference, but we learned a lot and were inspired. It’s been awhile since John and I have tried to work together on a project, but we received some positive feedback, and so we’re going to give it another go. Hooray!

2. At the conference, attendees had the option of having the 1st page of their manuscripts anonymously critiqued in front of the group. While there were a few things mentioned that could make my manuscript stronger, overall the feedback was good.

Afterwords, John and I were speaking with an editor and John mentioned that my manuscript was the dinosaur one. The editor said he thought it was great and to go ahead and send it his way. Now, I honestly do not think anything will come of it—the editor is mostly looking for chapter books, not picture books--but it was flattering all the same.

3. I got 3 more for the rejection pile. While it is always a tiny bit disappointing, I also take a lot of encouragement from them. I now have 8 rejections under my belt this year. That’s over 1 a month! And you know what that means? It means I am writing and I am submitting my work. I can’t control when something will be accepted, but by writing, submitting, and receiving feedback, I will get better.

4. I am a devout library patron. I love books, but I do not buy many books for two main reasons. 1. I read so much that I would be broke if I bought every book I read. 2. I rarely reread books so they would just line my walls. But I would love to show more support for the authors and books I enjoy. So, I have decided that I would like to do a regular book giveaway. I’ll pick a book that I have recently enjoyed, and then I’ll send it off to whoever wins the giveaway. Look for more details in the coming days. The inaugural book is a great one. I can’t wait to share it.

June Goals Review:

• Go to writing conference
• Get draft of picture book done before conference
• Have final draft done by end of month (nope)
• Write 3 poems for an instagram poetry competition (not even close)
• Get caught up on my reading goal (still happy-I read 6 books, taking the deficit from 4 to 2)

July Goals:

• Finish final draft of Madam Fang and submit it
• Write 2 instagram poems
• Write book review
• Run book giveaway
• Daydream more about potential story ideas
• Finish 5 books

Reset Refresh Rebound

2 months without a post. What have I been up to, you may ask?

Read 5 books. All were good. Really enjoyed What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by  Randall Munroe. It is basically the book version of Randall’s blog and is hilariously informative. I also enjoyed reading with my daughter Yours Sincerely, Giraffe by Megumi Iwasa. I picked up Bird Box by Josh Malerman because I was nominated for a Bram Stoker award. It was entertaining and a bit creepy. I am actually excited that this one is being made into a movie because the book is very streamlined and adaptable, in my opinion.

I also went and saw Alien: Covenant. I know a lot of people are not happy with the direction that Ridley Scott has taken the prequels, but I am loving them. Watched Boss Baby with the family too. Enjoyable and funny.

Writing over the past few months has been hit or miss. I’ve submitted 4 pieces to various magazines over the past few weeks. And I have a writing conference coming up that I am excited about. I failed abysmally at my poem a day goal back in April and I don’t have any final book drafts completed. But at least I’ve been working.

Here are my June goals:

• Go to writing conference
• Get draft of picture book done before conference
• Have final draft done by end of month
• Write 3 poems for an instagram poetry competition
• Get caught up on my reading goal

March Writing Update

So I normally don’t toot my own horn, but I’m quite proud of myself. I hit every single one of my writing goals that I set last month. How about them apples!

The biggest highlight of the month was participating in Madness! Poetry. What an absolute blast. I ended up losing in the 2nd round to a really good poet. But my poem about a dinosaur salon still won the kids’ vote, so I’m really happy about that. I would love to participate next year. Currently, the ‘Elite Eight’ are battling it out and voting is open. If you have a sec, you should check out the remaining poets’ poems.

The poetry competition has inspired me to participate in NaPoWriMo. I’ll be attempting to write a poem a day for National Poetry Month in April. How great will it be to have 30 new poems under my belt?

Here are a few highlights from the past month:

• Wrote 2 poems
• Competed in Madness! Poetry and made it to Round 2
• Submitted to 2 literary magazines
• Received 2 rejections
• Scratched out a 2nd draft of a picture book
• Read 3 books
• Wrote on the blog every week
• Attended my online critique group and a new in-person group

And here are my goals for the upcoming month:

• Write a poem a day in April for National Poetry Month
• Get 4 very rough picture book drafts done for Camp NaNoWriMo
• Write on the blog every week
• Read 4 books 
• Submit flash fiction piece to 2 more places

February Update

February has been a good writing month despite the last week being a bit emotionally rocky. I don’t know if it’s postpartum, or just my normal ups and downs, but I’ve been a bit rough, and that’s okay.

Overall, I am super happy with my progress. I am slowly finding ways to make time to get my butt in the chair and write. Mostly, this is between the hours of 10:30PM-3:30AM. It's slow going, but I am improving.

Here are a few things I was able to accomplish this past month:

• Wrote and submitted 3 poems 
• Received 2 rejections
• Posted on the blog each week
• Attended my online critique group
• Read 1 book
• Wrote a flash fiction piece

And here are my goals for the upcoming month:

• Polish my picture book manuscript
• Read 4 books
• Post every week on the blog
• Submit 3 pieces of work

Devious Distractions

I’ve been thinking a lot about what distracts me from writing. Hmmm…I guess thinking about what distracts me from writing is also distracting me from writing, but that’s not the point. The exercise showed me that 90% of the time, it is my own internal struggles that keep me from getting my big butt in the chair to write. I came up with 3 main categories of devious distractions.

Unexpected Necessities -10%
1st, the external 10%. These are things that arise that I hadn’t planned but that I have little control over. My 3 month-old decides to  take a 15 minute nap instead of his normal 90 minute nap. My daughter misses the bus and I have to drive her to school. I forgot to pick up milk and bread so I have to schlep all the way to the store. I can’t do much to prevent or avoid these types of situations. But thankfully, these unexpected necessities do not interrupt me too often.

Guilt - 20%
I have the most supportive husband in the world. He is always trying to help me carve out time to read. “I’ll cook dinner tonight. You go write.” Or “I’ll get the baby to sleep. Go write.” But this is what my brain says: “He’s been working hard all day long…how could you make him make dinner?” Or “The baby screaming really has to be tough on him…just go and put the baby to sleep. He couldn’t possibly want to do this…he’s just trying to be nice.”

It’s hard for me to accept that it’s OK for me to just step aside and let John take the reigns. I don’t know why it's so difficult—he really is awesome at doing it all. Logically, I know know I should rejoice in these moments, but it’s just so hard to accept the help. So what do I do to overcome this frustrating internal diversion? Well, for starters, I try to take him up on his offers. I also try to be as supportive and encouraging of his endeavors as his is of mine.

Feeling Blocked/Fear of Failure - 70%
Yeah, this is the big one. When I’m mind-numbingly scrolling through facebook instead of writing? It’s because I feel like I’m not good enough or not in the right head space to write. What about when I’m organizing all my files or making a pretty excel sheet of my writing plans? Well, actually I’m waiting for the muse, and it’s like watching a pot boil. Oh, but what about all the extensive research I do? Yeah, most of that is just to dodge writing.

It is boggling how much time I spend avoiding something that I desperately want to do. But if I never do it, then I will never fail. Or at least that’s what I tell myself.

Lately I’ve in attacking this problem in a number of ways. For one, I am trying to start submitting my finished work for publication. This past week I have sent out two poems. The feeling of accomplishment of having something submitted has motivated me to write more.

 Another thing that I am doing is having multiple projects going at the same time. If one project is seeming a bit more daunting today, I just pick up anther stick in the fire and work on that. I have probably spent more time writing in 2017 than I have in the last 3 years combined. Its a good feeling.

While I have a ways to go before I find myself able to write for hours and hours on end, I feel like I am making progress. And that’s what it’s all about, right? What distracts you from doing what you want to do?

January Writing Update

As a way to be more accountable with my writing, I will give a quick little update here on the blog at the end of each month. This past month has been a success, I believe. I was able to attend an SCBWI writing conference in Miami, which was great.

I took a picture book intensive at the conference from the marvelous Jane Yolen and her daughter Heidi Stemple. To be honest, I was a bit star struck. But once I was able to gather my wits, I was able to learn so much. If I had to pick the most pertinent point I learned, it would have to be how to deal with writer’s block. Many times I just sit in front of the computer, or don’t even sit down at all because I am just stuck.

Jane Yolen has a simple solution: have multiple projects going at once. That way, if you’re a bit stuck on one, you have something else to work on in the mean time. This is helpful for me, especially in these early stages of my writing career because it is so important to be writing—that’s how I will get better. So, with that in mind, here are my January accomplishments and February goals.

This month is is was I was able to accomplish:

• Rewrite a picture book manuscript
• Post on the blog every week
• Organize and attend an online critique group
• Read 4 books
• Successfully run a Kickstarter Campaign

These are my goals for the month of February:

• Post on the blog each week
• Attend online critique group
• Read 4 books
• Submit something to Highlights magazine for publication
• Edit picture book + write rough to a new one
• Begin work on novel

101 Things in 1001 Days

What would January be without the obligatory post about goals? I love making goals. I make them often, even if I don’t always follow through with each one. This year, I have decided to try something a little different.

I was on a friend’s blog (Hi Lorren!) a few weeks ago and ran across a post about the Day Zero Project. Basically, it is 101 goals accomplished in 1001 days. I thought that it sounded super fun, and a different way to approach my New Year’s resolutions.

I found coming up with 101 things a bit challenging because I had a specific set of ideas for what types of goals would make my list. When selecting things for the project, I kept three points in mind:

• The goal had to be measurable
• The goal had to be achievable
• The goal had to be fun

While scrolling through the list, you’ll see that it is somewhat organized by type. For example, the first 13 have to do with learning something new over the next 1001 days; numbers 42-52 all have to do with food, etc.

Periodically, I will do follow-up posts on completing this enterprise. I will also add a tab to this page so you can follow along with my progress. Starting today, I have until Oct. 19th, 2019 to complete everything on the list. Seems doable, right?

What would you put on your list? Which of my goals seems most fun and/or intriguing to you? Leave me a comment below!

1. Learn how to do a hand stand
2. Get CPR/First Aid certified
3. Learn to solve a Rubik’s cube
4. Learn 5 new songs on the Ukulele
5. Practice Irish tin whistle for 10 hours
6. Learn to identify 10 new constellations
7. Learn how to identify 20 new plants
8. Learn to identify 10 new birds
9. Attend a writing conference
10. Complete 4 edX courses
11. Learn how to swing dance
12. Teach kids enough Portuguese to have a basic conversation
13. Submit a novel for publication
14. Self-publish something
15. Submit a short story to a magazine
16. Submit a picture book for publication
17. Write 10 poems
18. Organize a critique group
19. Finish 2 novel drafts
20. Watch 26 horror movies that begin with each letter of the alphabet
21. See 10 movies in the theater
22. Attend a musical performance
23. Go to the theater
24. Write my Washington representative about something I care about
25. Write in my journal 101 days
26. Write and send out a Christmas letter
27. Write a letter to Sammy for her 16th birthday
28. Write a letter to Ben for his 16th birthday
29. Write a letter to John for our 15th anniversary
30. Write a letter to 3 people who have been influential in my life
31. Read 101 new books
32. Organize a book swap
33. Reread the Harry Potter series
34. Pay off credit card debt
35. Buy a scratch off ticket
36. Run a 5k
37. Go ice skating
38. Do the entire Legacy Trail
39. Do the entire Venetian Waterway Trail
40. Go roller skating at a rink
41. Finish a triathlon
42. Try 10 new fruits or veggies
43. Try 50 new recipes
44. Eat at a new restaurant
45. Make ice cream
46. No eating out for a month
47. Eat ice cream at Nokomis Groves
48. Eat sushi
49. Grow an avocado plant from a seed
50. Give beets another try
51. Buy something from a Farmer’s Market
52. Host a dinner party
53. Visit MOSI
54. Go to the Marietta Museum of Art & Whimsy
55. Visit Mote Marine Aquarium
56. Visit Gatorland
57. Go to Disney World
58. Visit a haunted house
59. Go to a Medieval Fair
60. Go to the Shark Tooth Festival
61. Do an Escape Room
62. Go to a classic car show
63. Visit a national park
64. Visit 5 state parks
65. Go on a cruise
66. Visit the Keys
67. Go on a getaway with John
68. Go to the Ft. Lauderdale temple
69. Spend 10 hours doing genealogy
70. Do a temple session in Portuguese
71. Finish my Grateful List
72. Update family photos in collages
73. Volunteer for 20 hours
74. Donate Blood
75. Buy a stranger something from their Amazon wish list
76. Take 365 selfies and put them together in a video
77. Post 101 jokes on social media
78. Go hunting
79. Go fishing
80. Go birdwatching
81. Watch sea turtle lay eggs
82. Watch sea turtles hatch
83. Go lobstering
84. Snorkel with manatees
85. Go scuba diving
86. Watch a meteor shower
87. Watch sunrise on the East coast and the sunset on the West coast on the same day
88. Find 101 shark teeth
89. Make a sand castle
90. Build a blanket fort
91. Go kayaking
92. Attend a drum circle
93. Go to a Ray’s baseball game
94. Go to a roller derby bout
95. Ride a roller coaster
96. Finish a sewing project
97. Paint a picture
98. Make something out of wood
99. Make a glass spoon rest
100. Get a massage
101. Put together a puzzle (750+ pieces)

2016 Reading in Review: My Top 3 Books

2016 ended up being an interesting year of reading. Like previous years, I set a goal to read 52 books—one for each week. In that regard, I failed miserably with a mere 21. Between going back to work, being exhausted and sick for 9 months, moving across country, and then having a newborn at home, I just fell short. But it wasn’t a total bust because I broadened my horizons and explored a new format: the graphic novel.

I have attempted to read graphic novels in the past, but found them frustrating. Text heavy panels made the art feel secondary and sluggish. I felt like I spent so much time reading the text that I would only do a cursory glance at the images before moving forward. Simply put, the text was the driving force in the storytelling, which is fine if I am reading a novel, but why have the artwork? Clearly, I hadn’t been reading the right graphic novels.

This year, I discovered a number of graphic novels that had a perfect balance of text and art. In my opinion, a good graphic novel is a lot like a good picture book. All of the fat is trimmed off of the text so that the artwork is able to progress the story just as much, if not more, than the words. In most of the graphic novels I read this year, the text in each panel was necessary to drive the story forward, but allowed the artwork to shine and also further the plot. One graphic novel* even made my top 3 books for the year.

So, without further ado, here’s Becky’s Top 3 Books Read in 2016

Honorable Mention—Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

Normally, my reading preferences are strictly fiction. I am slightly embarrassed to say I do not remember the last nonfiction book I read before this one. Hillbilly Elegy is a memoir of a Yale Law School graduate who grew up in Appalachia and later moved when his family attempted to escape the poverty of the region.

Hillbilly Elegy resonated with me because I saw my own family is Vance’s family. I grew up in Appalachia and my family moved to Florida for many of the same reasons Vance’s family moved to the Rust Belt. And, like him, the Appalachian culture followed my family when we moved. While the book doesn’t present any solutions to the problems facing Appalachian families, it does give insight into a group that is oft-times mistakenly looked down upon and disregarded as a bunch of illiterate hillbillies.

#3—The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden

I stumbled across The Casquette Girls by accident while perusing the new Prime Reading on Amazon. I knew nothing about the book and borrowed it on a whim. My biggest problem-not-problem with the book is that I did not know that it was the 1st in a series when I started reading—and the next book in the series doesn’t come out until May! It is a Southern Gothic set in New Orleans after a massive hurricane demolishes the landscape. I especially enjoyed how Arden weaves New Orleans history into the story. This could have easily been my top choice for the year.

#2—The October Faction—Steve Niles and Damien Worm

So here’s the graphic novel* that made the list.  I loved this! The October Faction is Indiana Jones if he was a monster hunter instead of an archaeologist and if his family was the Addams Family instead of Sean Connery. The artwork is fantastically creepy. Honestly, I debated with making this my top choice of the year, it was that good. I guess I am just a sucker for good horror, and this one fits the bill. I already have The October Faction: Deadly Season (the next story arc) on order at my local comic book shop.

*To be fair, this is a comic book series but I am looking at the entire story arc—and the subsequent compiled volumes—as a completed, stand alone, work.*

#1—Shutter by Courtney Alameda

I picked this book up because it was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award and I am glad that I did! I love a fresh take on things that are overdone and Alameda really succeeds in adding some new twists to her paranormal tale. Shutter is a ghost hunter story where the ghosts are exorcised when their energy is captured on film. How incredibly inventive is that?! I can look past mediocre writing if the ideas in the book are highly original. Thankfully, this book was both unique and well written. Since Shutter was so enjoyable, I hope to read a few more from the Bram Stoker Awards list this coming year.


While I didn’t hit 52 books, I feel like I still had a successful year of reading. Below is a short summary of my reading goals for 2017.

• Read 52 books total
• Read 4 nonfiction books
• Read 8 graphic novels
• Read 4 books in genres that I do not usually read
• Read 4 books originally written in a non-English speaking country

What are your reading goals for 2017? Let me know in the comments below!

Update + Some Inspiration

My march writing goals are going along quite well, although they have been slightly revised. John and I have restructured how we're approaching Mobster Monsters--we're sitting down and hashing out what each letter will be. This way I'm not writing a limerick that his illustrations have to conform to, and he's not illustrating something that I then have to write a limerick for. We have our pow wow and then break, with each of us knowing what to do for each letter. So far, we have reached the letter K.

So my revised goal for March is to get through 11 of the limericks. I am also on target to get my character sheets done for the main characters of my novel. I may, however, be putting off writing the novel until the July Camp Nanowrimo. I have a few short story ideas that I would like to get down on paper first. But I haven't fully decided yet. I'll update here once I decide.

Now on to the inspiration of the post. I was perusing some blogs and I came across two fantastic quotes by Neil Gaiman:

• When things get tough, this is what you should do: Make good art. I’m serious. Husband runs off with a politician — make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by a mutated boa constrictor — make good art. IRS on your trail — make good art. Cat exploded — make good art. Someone on the Internet thinks what you’re doing is stupid or evil or it’s all been done before — make good art. Probably things will work out somehow, eventually time will take the sting away, and that doesn't even matter. Do what only you can do best: Make good art. Make it on the bad days, make it on the good days, too.

• I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something. So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life. Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.

Its amazing how creative endeavors help me reduce stress, but sometimes the fear of failure keeps me from being creative. So I think one of my ongoing goals will be to make mistakes and not let tough things get in the way. I'll keep you updated.

Jumping Back into the Fire

My little break from writing has proven to be restful and chaotic at the same time. Our cruise was fantastic--and, yes, we did go into the Bermuda Triangle. We also made a last minute decision to move back to my hometown in Florida for the rest of the summer. I am enjoying being around family and friends.

I am also excited to start back in on my writing. And what better way to do that than Camp NaNoWriMo! I'll be attempting 50,000 words in the next 31 days. I've done very little prep for the story--some kids run into the Florida Skunk Ape while camping in Myakka State Park. It should be a fun time.

I hope is to write some updates through out the month to help keep me motivated. For now, I am off to write!

Quick Update

Life has taken over again, and thus I have fallen off the writing bandwagon. But its time to get up and dust myself off.

A quick update as to my writings: I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time last November. I decided that I would try something totally different and not plan out my novel. I started with a germ of an idea and on November 1st, I just started writing! This exercise taught me that I just do not work that way! I only clocked about 1,500 words. Abysmal, I know, but it was 1,500 more than I had on October 31st!

I am planning on participating in Camp NaNoWriMo in April and then again in July. My hope is that I will have enough of a story loosely outlined to be successful.

I really like the idea of not having every detail of my story figured out ahead of time. I think that there would be some fun in finding stuff out as I write. But I do like some bit of an outline, just to keep me on track.

I am super stoked for the Life, the Universe & Everything: The Marion K. ‘Doc’ Smith Symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy next week! I have never been and this will be my last chance to get in for free. I am excited for all the workshops they will be having, and I am especially excited that Tracy Hickman, co-author of the Drangonlance series will be there! I will make sure to update here with a recap.

As far as New Years writing goals, I came up with one: I want to have 7 working manuscripts by the end of the year. I once read on Jane Yolen's site that she tries to have at least 7 working pieces at a time. that way the always has something to work on and to submit. I think its a worthy goal.

I have also received 5 rejection letters for Sam the Bedlamite.  There are still 7 more out there, but I just heard back from the Shadow Mountain publisher and I felt that they were my best shot. Ah well. Like I have said in previous posts, the mere fact that I submitted the story at all has empowered me. Onward and Upward!

My writing group has started meeting again and they are a great bunch of gals. It is great to get together and toss ideas off one another. Our next meeting is next week. It should be fun. Lots of great writing stuff next week!