October is one of my favourite months of the year – it marks the beginning of a run of my favourite things, Halloween through to Christmas. My wedding anniversary is this month, which is always nice to celebrate as an excuse for some more cake. And perhaps because I’ve been working in a University since I left school, this time always seems ripe with possibilities for new starts and new discoveries. It’s a strange contrast wanting to at once settle down and get comfy, and get out and explore and start something new.
I tried to get a lot more blogging done this month too, although I wasn’t signed up for Blogtober. Here’s a round-up of all my posts!
BOOK REVIEWS
The Boneless Mercies – April Genevieve Tucholke
This is pitched as a rewrite of Beowulf, but I think it’s more inspired by – certainly if it is a rewrite of Beowulf, it only just about covers the first third of the poem, and I think that takes away from the character of this book.
The Gods of Love – Nicola Mostyn
Greek Gods + Modern day = interest on my part. The descendant of Eros, God of Love, is a divorce lawyer. And she gets dragged into something her very pragmatic, unromantic brain isn’t quite ready to process.
Mary Balogh was hailed as the successor to Georgette Heyer, so there was absolutely no way I wasn’t checking out this rags-to-riches story. It’s the first in a series about the family too, so I had fun picking out who is going to be next to have their romance.
Daughter of Light and Shadows – Anna McKerrow
This book was pitched as a sexy faerie romance but it didn’t quite hit the spot for me. There was definitely sex, but it never quite hit sexy.
A Pocketful of Crows – Joanne Harris
This is such a delightful little fairy tale for dark winter evenings. Short and perfectly formed, it’s so atmospheric and ideal for this time of year.
BLOG POSTS
Just in case this post doesn’t have enough for you to get your teeth into, I had some pretty neat posts in September too!
October held World Mental Health Day, and I wanted to take the opportunity to speak frankly about my own mental health difficulties, because I still sometimes feel ashamed of them. People will only stop feeling ashamed if they become normalised, and these things will only become normalised if we talk about them.
How Long Should a Debut Novel Be?
Ever wondered if there’s a sweet spot for novel lengths? There is, particularly if it’s your first novel.
Beta Reading vs Proof Reading vs Editing
Once you’ve written your book, there are a few stages of editing it has to go through on different fronts.
If you’ve got a book that you hate, that fills you with disgust, maybe it’s not all bad. Maybe there are some points in its favour. Maybe this post could help you feel a bit better about its existence.
The Stevenson Award and Legacies in Publishing
Professor Iain Stevenson died in 2017. He left behind him a Master’s degree, hundreds of trained publishers, and a lecture series and award set up in his name.
