10 Spooky Books to Read this October

October is here, and that means it’s the season for cozy sweaters, changing leaves, and spooky books! While some people devour horror books by the likes of Stephen King, I tend to be a scaredy cat, and I’m not ashamed to admit it! So I tend to prefer books that are spooky, but not so scary they’ll keep you up late at night. If you’re like me, I’ve rounded up ten books that will be the perfect addition to your October TBR!

FYI – I participate in an affiliate program with Bookshop.org that supports independent bookstores, which means if you use some of the links in this post to purchase books, I get a small commission at no extra cost to you!

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

So many people would list Maggie Stiefvater as one of their favorite authors, but I have yet to read any of her books. That ends this month! I’ve heard her series The Raven Cycle is one of her most beloved, and with a spin-off coming out in November, it’s perfect timing. I’ve been told it’s a little spooky, and the story starts with the main character Blue seeing ghosts with her clairvoyant mom, so that seems promising!

The Au Pair by Emma Rous

This is another one I keep hearing about, so I’m excited to finally read it. I love a story full of family secrets, and it seems like this one will deliver. The day Seraphine and her twin brother were born was also a day of tragedy in her family, but now that Seraphine is an adult, she discovers an old family photo that reveals everything may not be as it seems.

Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab

This is the second in Victoria Schwab’s series about Cassidy Blake, a young girl who can cross into the world of ghosts, and her adventures as she visits some of the most haunted cities in the world. It’s technically a middle grade, but I got a little spooked reading the first book in the series, City of Ghosts, so I think it’s just the right amount of ghosts! To find out more about the book and Victoria Schwab, read my interview with her!

The Line Between by Tosca Lee

Tosca Lee’s newest series combines a manipulative doomsday cult and a deadly outbreak of a disease similar to rapid early-onset dementia, and I am here for it. Wynter escapes the cult she was raised in, only to enter a world on the brink of the destruction she’s been taught to fear her whole life. The sequel, A Single Light, just came out in September, so you can binge-read both now!

Feathers by Madeline Nixon

This book stands out a little bit in the list for two reasons. One, it’s not a novel, but a collection of short stories about ghostly encounters. Two, they’re creative non-fiction about the author’s experiences with the otherworldly. I connected with Madeline on Instagram a while back, and I am excited to finally be reading her book! I’m always looking to read more creative non-fiction, so this is at the top of my list.

The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman

The description of this book gives me the same vibes as the movie The Village, which I loved, so I’ve been looking forward to Christine Lynn Herman’s debut novel. The town of Four Paths has long been terrorized by the Gray, a shapeless monster lurking the woods just outside the community. When Violet Saunders is forced to move to Four Paths, the Gray is growing stronger, and she finds herself pulled into the lore of the town.

The Witch Elm by Tana French

I read this book a few months ago for a book club, and it certainly gave us plenty to talk about. After Toby goes to his uncle’s house to take care of his uncle and recover himself from a near-death experience, a dark secret is uncovered that leaves Toby questioning if he truly is a good person, or if he is just very good at forgetting. This book had me reading late into the night, but it’s also much more than just cheap thrills–it explores the characters deeply and questions whether being a good person is a choice, or just luck.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Okay, first of all, this cover is gorgeous. I’ve heard mixed reviews of this book, but the description calls it a “feminist horror story” so how can I not give it a shot?? The premise also sounds really interesting–it’s about a boarding school off the coast of Maine, and the girls quarantined there after a vicious disease called the Tox ravages the island. When Hetty ventures into the wilderness in search of her best friend, she learns there is more to the story than the girls have been told.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

If I’m listing books I’m excited to read in October, you know Leigh Bardugo’s new release has to be included! Bardugo is the author of the Six of Crows duology and the Grishaverse trilogy, both YA fantasy. This is her first foray into the adult genre, and it pulls from her time as a student at Yale to explore the secret societies of the university. It sounds deliciously dark, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

The Witches of New York by Ami McKay

This one just sounds fun and witchy. Set in the 1880s in New York City, it’s about a pair of witches who own a tea shop serving high society ladies interested in magic, seances, and the supernatural. When their new assistant shows a proclivity for magic, they’re delighted, but her powers may not be enough to prepare her for the darkness that lurks in the city.

What is on your TBR for October? Let me know in the comments!

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Featured photo by Neven Krcmarek

Ghosts, publishing, and which character would get you arrested: An interview with author Victoria Schwab

Hello all! I am so excited to share my interview with bestselling author, Victoria Schwab! Schwab, or V.E. Schwab, writes fantasy, sci-fi, and paranormal books for audiences of all ages. She’s best known for her magical worlds, honesty on Twitter, and cat-ear headbands. Her newest release, Tunnel of Bones, is the sequel to her middle-grade book City of Ghosts that follows Cassidy Blake, a girl who can cross into the world of ghosts, as she visits some of the most haunted cities in the world for her ghosthunter parents’ TV show.

On her book tour, Schwab visited Tattered Cover in Denver, and I was able to meet her and fangirl in person. She was every bit as clever, funny, and kind as you’d imagine, and it was such a joy to get advice from her and watch her play bookish Never Have I Ever!

Talking with Victoria Schwab! I feel like it looks like we’re arguing in this picture, but I’m just really passionate about how much I love her books!

Schwab was also awesome enough to agree to an interview over email! Shout out to Kristin Dwyer for arranging it all. It was such an honor to get to ask one of my favorite authors about her writing process and her experience in the publishing industry. Without further ado, here is the interview!

You recently celebrated ten years since your debut novel sold. What have you learned in that time? How has publishing changed from then to now?

It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years! I feel like I’ve certainly changed, and so has the industry. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that you hope for everything and expect nothing, that the one thing in your control are the words you put on the page, and everything else is unstable. Publishing is a constantly shifting beast, and rather than try to make sense of it, you focus on your work, you show up, and do your best, and try to let go of the outcome.

Your debut novel, The Near Witch, was re-released earlier this year. Can you talk about the experience of having a first novel not do as well as you’d like, and then getting the chance to have it be released again?

I won’t lie, it was very surreal. I’d tried to make peace with it going out of print a few years ago, but it always felt like an unfinished sentence, so to have it come back again in a way gave me the closure I needed. It’s been really wonderful, getting to watch readers discover it.

Your newest release, Tunnel of Bones, is a middle-grade novel, but you also write for adult audiences. What tips do you have for writers looking to write for a large age range like this?

I do! In fact, I write for young readers, teens, adults. I like to think of books as having a younger age threshold but no upper age limit—the hope is a good story appeals to everyone. And I don’t really change my writing depending on age. I simply write for a version of myself, be it 10-year-old me, 17-year-old me, 25-year-old me, or 32, which is my age right now. I ask myself what I want(ed) to read.

Finally, the two questions I ask all authors who I get to interview:

What is your favorite writing resource? Book, podcast, Twitter account—whatever helps you improve or inspires you as a writer!

Honestly, social media is both a blessing and a curse. It puts all advice, good and bad, on the same level. I think it’s important for aspiring writers to seek out a broad spectrum of resources, but not to take any of them as prescriptive. The only thing that works, is whatever works for you.

Which character that you’ve written would you choose to go on a road trip with?

Oh wow, that’s a hard one! Probably Lila, from Shades of Magic, or June, from Vengeful, since they both are good at getting where they want, and what they want. Though in the case of Lila, she’d probably also get me arrested.

Be sure to check out Tunnel of Bones as well as the rest of Victoria Schwab’s work!

Have you read Tunnel of Bones? What is your favorite Victoria Schwab book? Let me know in the comments!

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Book review: The Immortal City

In the heart of Venice, a woman is sacrificed to a forgotten god, sparking a mystery lost for thousands of years.

Dr. Penelope Bryne is ridiculed by the academic community for her quest to find the remnants of Atlantis, but when an ancient and mysterious script is found at a murder site, she flies to Venice determined to help the police before the killer strikes again.

Penelope has spent her entire life trying to ignore the unexplainable and magical history of Atlantis, but when she meets the enigmatic Alexis Donato, everything she believes will be challenged. Little does she know, Alexis has spent the last three years doing his best to sabotage Penelope’s career so doesn’t learn the truth—Atlantis had seven magicians who survived, and who he has a duty to protect.

As Alexis draws her into the darkly, seductive world of magic and history, Penelope will have to use her heart as well as her head if she is to find the answers she seeks.

With the new MOSE system due to come online, and Carnivale exploding around them, Penelope and Alexis will have to work together to stop the killer and prevent dark magic from pulling Venice into the sea.

Thank you to BHC Press and Netgalley for giving me an eARC of The Immortal City in exchange for an honest review.

If you loved that old Disney movie Atlantis about the dorky professor who was CONVINCED Atlantis was a real place and turned out to be right, then this is the book for you. That said, it’s definitely a different spin on the Atlantis tale—in The Immortal City, Atlantis was real, but then, because of various magical reasons, was destroyed. Only a few magicians survived, and they’ve spent thousands of years struggling to keep Atlantis secret while also maintaining the knowledge they’ve gained from being basically immortal.

It was a fun read, and while it wasn’t a new favorite and I probably won’t continue reading the series, I enjoyed how Kuivalainen wove together mythology and history and unexplained phenomena.

What I liked

Found family characters

Let’s be real, if a story includes characters who don’t have any biological family so they’ve formed their own friend family, I’m gonna love them. The magicians of Atlantis embody this. They’re such a great representation of a group of friends who have been together for a long time and have sooo much history—except in this case, it’s thousands of years of history. Relationship drama, trauma from the fall of Atlantis, saving each other’s lives…it’s all just part of the friend group backstory. It was really fun to see the characters being so distinct from each other but also play off one another really well, and feel like a real friend group.

The setting

The story is set in Venice, and anything set in Venice means bonus points from me. It’s a beautiful city, and Kuivalainen did a wonderful job describing it. Part of the plot occurs during Carnivale, so it was really fun to read about all the celebrations and costumes. In addition, one of the big responsibilities of the magicians in the story is maintaining the Archive, which is the repository of magic and really all knowledge gained in the millennium since Atlantis was destroyed. But it’s also magical itself, and chooses favorites and will reveal books it wants you to read, and I loved how the Archive and house it’s in had personality and was character in and of itself.

What I didn’t love

There wasn’t anything that I outright hated, but there were some aspects that fell flat for me.

Penelope and Alexis

While I liked reading about all the secondary characters, the two main characters were just meh for me. I really wanted to like Penelope, the professor who has spent her career trying to prove the existence of Atlantis and been shunned. She goes to Venice to help solve a murder that includes ritualistic writing related to her Atlantis studies, and is almost like a kickass female version of Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon. But…she was also kind of annoying. She was so impulsive, and didn’t think anything through—the whole ‘going to Venice thing’ wasn’t because the police asked her to. A detective emailed her a question about the crime scene, and instead of responding, she hops on a plane to Venice. Like, okay?

Alexis is the Atlantean magician and the second point of view in the book. Again, I didn’t hate him. But I wasn’t super excited about him either. He’s some perfect magician almost-god who’s spent his thousands of years protecting the other magicians, meaning he has some serious emotional walls built up that Penelope—of course—comes in to knock down. It could have made for some really interesting character development, but instead the focus is on the fast-moving relationship between Penelope and Alexis, and less about their growth individually. Which leads me to…

A lot more romance than expected

Don’t get me wrong. I love a good romance novel. It’s not necessarily my go-to, but I enjoy them, and love rooting for characters to get together when there’s a romance thread in a book I’m reading. But I came to this book expecting more about fantasy and magic, and it ended up being way heavier on the romance between Alexis and Penelope. Even that wouldn’t have been as bad, except it felt like their relationship moved super fast. There was some fun flirting and “does he like me or not” vibes at the beginning, and that was a good romantic tension. But then all of a sudden they’ve decided that they’re soulmates and are completely obsessed with each other, and it felt like a big jump.

The complicated plot

While I loved the premise of the book, the execution of the plot itself was a little confusing. I’m not sure if I just took too long to read it or if all the weird, Atlantean names threw me off, but I was constantly confused which characters were which and how everything fit together. I think for other readers it probably wouldn’t be a problem, but I felt a little lost throughout the book.

The Immortal City by Amy Kuivalainen releases on September 19. Click here to preorder!

Are you looking forward to The Immortal City? Let me know in the comments!

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Why it’s a good thing you’re scared to share your writing

I’ve never had a kid, but I imagine sending out a piece of my writing into the world is a lot like dropping your child off for their first day of school.

In short, it’s utterly terrifying.

You’ve done everything you can to make sure they’re prepared, but what if it’s not enough? What if everyone makes fun of them?

In writing, that often translates to a reflection on you as the writer. What if everyone thinks I’m not enough? And laughs at me for thinking I can write?

I touched on this topic a little in my newsletter last month, but now I want to talk a bit about why it’s actually a good thing that you feel so scared to share your writing.

It means you care about your writing

If you don’t care about your writing, no one else will. That’s just how it works. You have to be your first fan. Not that you can’t have doubts or anxiety, but you have to care enough to write your story, or it simply won’t happen. How many people do you talk to who say, “Oh, I’d like to write a book—someday.” For most of them, that ‘someday’ means ‘never’ because they don’t care enough to do it. Which is fine! There are (hopefully) other things they just care about more.

When you share your writing and it scares you, it’s because you care about it. You want people to like it. You wouldn’t feel so scared if it wasn’t something that mattered to you. Then you could laugh at it and treat it like a joke, whether people love it or hate it. But that pit of anxiety that opens up whenever someone asks to read your latest story—it may not feel great, but it’s actually good, because it shows just how much your writing means to you.

It means you’ve put a piece of yourself in your writing

Think about writing a paper for school. Typically, you’re doing it because someone else told you to, and it’s about a topic unrelated to you personally. Presumably you have some investment in it because you want a good grade, but, most of the time, you probably don’t feel that overwhelming sense of vulnerability that makes sharing creative writing so scary. That’s because it doesn’t feel like sharing a piece of you—it’s just an assignment you’re required to write about a predetermined topic.

But the thing that gives your writing that spark is when a part of you is on the page. Whether it’s using your own life experiences or writing about a topic you care about or creating a character you love, your fingerprints are all over the writing you do because you want to. That’s what brings it to life! But it also means that when you share it, it feels like asking other people to judge you and give feedback on you. Even though that’s not what they’re doing! But feeling scared like that means you’ve put your heart into your writing, and that’s exactly what needs to happen if other people are going to care about your story the way you do.

Of course, even though these things are true, it doesn’t mean that you’ll always get the feedback you’re hoping for. We can care about our writing and embed a piece of ourselves into it, and it can still need work. But being scared doesn’t make you a bad writer. Often, it means you’re doing something exactly right. So don’t let that fear stop you from sharing your writing, because that’s how we improve.

How do you deal with feeling scared to share your writing? Let me know in the comments!

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Featured image by Nick Morrison

The power of fiction: How reading helps us deal with grief

A few weeks ago marked the first anniversary of my grandmother’s death.

It wasn’t unexpected, but, of course, it was still hard. For several days before she passed, I knew she wasn’t in good health, and I felt suspended in a state of anxiety because I lived several states away and hadn’t spoken with her recently. What if I didn’t get to talk to her before she died? I already regretted not spending more time with her throughout my life, and now I was faced with a possibility that I might not get to say good-bye. It made it hard to go to sleep, worrying that I would be woken up by a call from my parents, telling me I was too late.

There was one thing that calmed my anxiety: The Baby-Sitters Club books. It had been years since I read them, but there was one story that kept coming to mind: Claudia and the Sad Good-bye. If you’ve read the books, you probably still remember this one, as it’s one of the saddest in the series. Claudia’s grandma, after having health problems and hospital stays throughout the first half of the book, dies suddenly in the middle of the night—when Claudia goes to sleep, she’s fine; when she wakes up the next morning, her parents have to tell her Mimi passed away.

Granted, this story may also have fed my fear of waking up to that dreaded phone call, but it was the second half of the book that really stuck with me and comforted me. Claudia is, understandably, angry and struggles as she deals with the grief of this unexpected death. She’s mad at the doctors, and even a little mad at her grandma for leaving her (Claudia also felt her Mimi was the only family member who truly understood her, making her absence even sharper). As she begins to heal, Claudia ends up talking to a photo of Mimi, expressing her anger, sadness, loneliness, and mix of other emotions. It doesn’t fix everything, but it’s a start.

And this gave me some small amount of comfort. I know The Baby-Sitters Club is fiction, written for kids half my age. But still, something in it told me, if Claudia can find a way to deal with her grief, so can you. I ended up being able to talk with my grandma before she passed, but still had all the emotions that come after someone you care about dies. And that story of Claudia was there. It had been over a decade since I read it, but that message of hope and comfort had been ingrained in me, coming up when I needed it most, even after lying dormant all those years.

Now, a year later, I’ve been able to reflect and realize how this points to the power of fiction. There’s no debate about reading being important—it seems like every “successful” person emphasizes that. But they often mean reading non-fiction, whether it’s self-help books, business strategies, or memoirs of other “successful” people. And those are great! But I think we, even subconsciously, relegate fiction to second-tier reading, meant for relaxing or escaping. While those are two vital functions of reading fiction, we often forget that it can be extremely helpful in other ways as well.

Studies have shown that reading fiction can reduce prejudice, increase empathy, lower stress, and more. This is incredible, if you think about it. Translating these weird squiggles of ink on a page of paper into words about people, places, and situations that are entirely made-up can have an actual effect on our mental, emotional, and physical state. Honestly, it feels a bit like magic to me. Fiction changes the way we think, how we interact with other people, and how we treat ourselves, and that means it is powerful, even if we don’t always recognize it.

One of my favorite quotes about fiction comes from fantasy writer G.K. Chesterton: “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” Fiction empowers readers of all ages to know that whatever they are going through, someone else has experienced it too, and they’ve made it to the other side. Whether it’s the death of a loved one or being bullied in school or dealing with infertility, there is story after story about someone who has survived it.

It might be tempting to dismiss them as “just” fiction—how can a made-up story help someone with a real-life problem? I can’t explain the science or psychology behind it. All I can tell you is that more than ten years after reading a book about a fictional death, it was that story above all others that grew into a blossom of hope in the midst of a desert of grief.

What stories do you turn to during hard times? Let me know in the comments!

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Featured image by Nong Vang.

Using social media to build your author platform

If you’ve been involved in the writing community for a while, you’ve probably been told that you need to start creating an author platform. But what is that? How do you even start? Now in addition to being a great writer, you’re expected to be a social media star as well?

It might seem like a lot to take on, and if you try to do everything, you’ll end up being overwhelmed. But there is a reason why part of an author’s job has grown to include social media. And even though it may seem like a lot, it’s definitely doable when you break it down. So today I’m going to do a deep dive into how social media can help you build your author platform.

Why?

Before we get into the particulars, let’s talk about why it’s valuable to have a social media presence as an author. For one thing, it’s not really your choice—unless you’re a big name, most of the responsibility of promoting your book will fall on your own shoulders, not your publisher’s (and of course this is even more true if you’re self-publishing). You can complain about this all you want, but the fact is, publishers have limited time and money, and it’s good business sense to put it into someone they already feel confident in. The good news is that social media makes it easier than ever to connect with readers and other writers at little to no cost to you.

That said, if you approach social media with a “sales” mindset, it’s not going to work. You’re not going to enjoy it, and honestly, you probably won’t make many sales. Social media is more about making a connection and building relationships, not tweeting out links to buy your books a dozen times a day. That will only serve to turn people off, not draw them in. Rework your mindset to view social media as an opportunity to make new friends and meet people you never would have the chance to meet otherwise, instead of seeing it as a burden that you have to do to sell your book.

A final point on the why: it’s not to get an agent. Somehow, there’s this rumor that how many followers you have will affect whether or not an agent will sign you. For fiction writers, this just isn’t true. I’ve heard that for non-fiction, having a strong online following can play into it, but if you’re writing fiction, no decent agent is going to look at your query and think, “This is a great story and writer, but they only have 300 Twitter followers so there’s no way it’ll work.” Possibly, if you have a huge following that is also engaging with you, an agent might be more willing to take you on (Like the booktuber Christine Riccio and her debut novel Again, but Better). But again, this shouldn’t be your motivating factor when it comes to using social media—otherwise it becomes a burden, and that sense of obligation will come through to readers and be unappealing.

How?

Now that you’ve got your motivation in the right place (or, you’re working on it, at least), lets talk about how to actually use social media in a way that isn’t overwhelming. You’re a writer, not an influencer, so social media really shouldn’t be where you spend the majority of your time. Instead, try to find ways to maximize your efforts so they’re the most effective and efficient.

Pick 2-3 to focus on

You don’t have to do everything. Really. There’s too much out there, and if you try to build a platform on every social media available, you’ll barely have time to eat, much less do anything else. So choose one or two main ones to focus on. These might be ones you already have accounts on and decide to transition to a more author-focused account. Primarily, they should be ones you feel comfortable with and enjoy being on. For me, this is Instagram. I love the visual aspect and the fact that I’m not limited to 240 characters, and that there are a variety of ways to interact. My other primary is Pinterest—this is how I get most of my blog traffic, so even though I’m not making a ton of direct connections, I can clearly see how it’s bringing readers into my community, so it’s worth it to me to keep it updated.

If you want to use more than two, consider them secondary accounts, meaning that if you don’t post to them regularly, it’s okay. For me, these are Facebook and Twitter. I already had a Twitter account, so I just focused it more on my writing life, and I made a simple Facebook author page. While I use them sometimes, if I go a week without posting, I don’t beat myself up over it.

When choosing your social media, think also about where your readers are. If you’re writing YA, you might go with Instagram, since that tends to be a younger audience. On the other hand, Facebook has the oldest audience age on average, so that might be the best place to connect with adult readers.

Schedule your time

The one thing that is agreed upon about social media is that it’s all-too-easy to get sucked in and suddenly realize you’ve spent two hours liking photos and retweeting articles. If you’re doing it for an author platform, it’s even easier to justify doing it. But social media is not where your time is best spent. So set a clear limit for yourself and schedule it into however you plan your day. This will prevent you from spending hours scrolling, which isn’t actually that helpful to your platform, and instead force you to make the most of your social media time—commenting, posting, and actually interacting with other readers and writers, rather than just passively viewing.

Set goals for your usage

This is related to the end of the point above. If your reason for using social media is just a vague sense of obligation, you’ll end up wasting your time. Instead, brainstorm a few specific goals for using social media. Maybe you want to find a writing community, learn what readers are looking for, connect with agents, or something else. Whatever it is, let that guide both which social media platforms you use and how you use them.

Do your research

Possibly the most annoying thing about social media is that each platform is unique. This means that once you choose your site, you need to do specific research about how its algorithm works and how to make the best use of your time and effort. There are plenty of resources if you Google your chosen platform, so I’m not going to get into specifics here. It may seem overwhelming when you first start researching, but really, getting this information should be empowering. It means instead of throwing out a post into the social media void and hoping people find it, you are equipped with the information of what posts work, when to post, how to increase engagement, and more. And if you ever do feel overwhelmed by trying to figure it all out, it’s okay to take a break!

Remember writing is the most important thing

Social media platforms were designed to keep us on the website or app and suck all our time away. And, again, if you’re using it for author reasons, it’s easy to justify. But all the social media connections in the world won’t help you if you don’t have a book! Keep writing as your priority, no matter how tempting social media is.

Bonus tips

I said I wouldn’t go into particulars of social media platforms, and I don’t want to. But I do have some tips to get you started that come from what I’ve learned from using each platform.

Twitter chats

To connect with other writers, join weekly and monthly chats that allow you to discuss writing in general or you WIP. It’s kind of the only thing keeping me on Twitter, but they’re a ton of fun. Some of my favorites are:

Story Social, hosted by @kristen_kieffer every Wednesday evening

Story Dam, hosted by @StoryDam every Thursday evening

Humble Writer Brag, hosted by @chelseamberlynn the last Monday each month

IG stories/DMs

Another reason I like Instagram is that it’s very easy to get to know people one-on-one. It’s hard to develop a friendship by just commenting on posts (not impossible, but it definitely takes longer) so instead I focus more on replying to people’s Stories. This automatically starts a direct message chat with them, allowing you to have a more normal conversation. Again, you’re trying to make connections, not sales. Whenever the first thing someone sends me is a link to their book/product/service, I immediately block them. But when I post a picture of the book I’m reading and someone replies that they loved it, that’s a natural conversation. Or there are plenty of templates that allow you to post fun facts about yourself—I love it when I see someone with the same strange fear or fun quirk as me, and we connect over that. If you don’t want to be one-on-one in a chat, keep an eye out for digital book clubs or buddy reads, which are a group chat about a book you read together.

Schedule pins

Pinterest can be time-consuming, but there are lots of third party sites that allow you to schedule pins ahead of time. Tailwind is my favorite, and I just use the free version. This free email course is a great starting point for using Pinterest, and this blog post goes more into how to use Tailwind for free.

Facebook groups

The best way to make connections on Facebook isn’t actually by starting your own author page, but by joining other groups. Facebook may be dying, but groups in them are thriving. Just be sure to read the guidelines before you post! Some are only for readers and ban any sort of self-promotion, while others only allow promotion on certain days. If a group consists solely of posts with links and promotion, don’t bother joining—it’s a waste of time. My favorite groups include Create If Writing, Ask a Book Editor, Your Write Dream, and Fiction Writing.

Okay, are you still with me? I know that was a long post, and if you’re still reading, kudos! The very fact that this post is way longer than most of my others may intimidate you when it comes to an author platform, but I promise, it doesn’t have to be scary! Just do one task at a time, even one task a day if you need to. Choose your platform. Create an account. Post your first post. Turn it into bite-sized pieces, like any other big goal, and it’ll get done sooner than you think. Most of all, don’t pressure yourself. I’ve definitely let myself get caught up in the numbers game, and it makes it not fun. It’s okay to take a break when you need to, and if you keep bringing yourself back to the goal of making friends and connections, not getting the most followers or book sales, you’ll be fine.

Which social media platforms do you use the most? Has it helped you connect with writers and readers? Let me know in the comments!

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Featured image by Robin Worrall.

5 things I learned in my first year of blogging

Almost exactly one year ago, I posted my first blog post!

*insert confetti and lots of cake*

So, in the grand tradition of other “blogiversary” posts, I thought I’d share some things I’ve learned while blogging this year.

If you don’t take yourself seriously, no one else will

I didn’t have a huge audience when I started blogging—or really any audience. No one was anxiously waiting each week for my post. No one would hold me accountable. Except for me. I committed to publishing a post each week, and I stuck to it. Because I was dedicated, my audience grew and I gained a readership, but only because I treated my blog professionally. No one is going to give you anything, so you have to set standards for yourself until you achieve your goals.

But also, it’s okay to take a break

Okay, part of that paragraph above isn’t quite true—I haven’t posted every single week this past year. A few times, life got busy, between traveling, work stuff, and various other things. Still, my instinct was to push myself harder and get a blog post published. After all, I had made a commitment, and I should stick to it no matter what, right? Not true. Sacrificing my health or time with my family isn’t worth it just to get a blog post up. The tricky part is knowing yourself well enough to tell when a reason for taking a break is legitimate, and when you’re acting out of fear or laziness.

Just ask. The worst they can say is no

Y’all, I have met some cool people from this blog! Award-winning authors, writers of some of my favorite books who also happen to be social media darlings… I also have had the chance to read lots of my favorite books as ARCs, before they’re released. None of that would have happened if I had been too afraid to ask. It can be intimidating, you might feel like you’re being a bother, but you just have to go for it. It’s always worth asking for something you really want. You never know what might come of it!

You don’t have to do everything

As I’ve grown Penn & Paper, there’s always that part of me that wants to do more. Should I start a YouTube channel? Maybe a podcast? I could start posting more than once a week. While all of those things would be amazing, I also have to take into consideration that I have a very limited amount of time. I work a day job, that I hope will soon be full-time, and I have lots of other activities in my life that take up time—including my actual writing! Beyond that, I only have so much creative and mental energy. While I hope one day to expand, right now I have to be very picky about doing only the things I truly love to do and that are within my limits. The overachiever part of me balks at that, but I’ve learned throughout my life and especially in this past year that, in the words of the immortal Ron Swanson, it’s better to whole-ass one thing, rather than half-ass a bunch of things.

Take risks and challenge yourself

Again, I’m sort of contradicting my earlier point. Even though I can’t do everything, I don’t want that to be an excuse to stay in my comfort zone. Starting a blog felt like a risk, and I want to keep growing and pushing myself. About six months in, I started an Etsy shop. I’ve really dedicated myself to growing my bookstagram. These things aren’t easy, but they’re challenging me in a different way than writing does—they’re more visual and about design, and I both enjoy that type of creativity and want to learn more about it. So don’t be afraid to try new things, because even if you fail, you’ll still have gained invaluable experience that can end up helping you down the road.

There you have it! Truly, thank you to everyone who has read my blog, signed up for my email list, shared a post, all of it. It’s been such a great experience and I can’t wait for what the next year will bring!

If you want to help me decide what the future of Penn & Paper will look like, fill out this survey!

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Featured photo by Corinne Kutz

Book review: Ellie and the Harpmaker

In the rolling hills of beautiful Exmoor, there’s a barn. And in that barn, you’ll find Dan. He’s a maker of exquisite harps – but not a great maker of conversation. He’s content in his own company, quietly working and away from social situations that he doesn’t always get right.

But one day, a cherry-socked woman stumbles across his barn and the conversation flows a little more easily than usual. She says her name’s Ellie, a housewife, alone, out on her daily walk and, though she doesn’t say this, she looks sad. He wants to make her feel better, so he gives her one of his harps, made of cherry wood.

And before they know it, this simple act of kindness puts them on the path to friendship, big secrets, pet pheasants and, most importantly, true love.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Berkley Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

As soon as I read the synopsis of this book, I knew I needed to get my hands on it. Who wouldn’t love to stumble across an eccentric harp maker in the beautiful English countryside? Sign me up! Ellie and the Harpmaker didn’t disappoint. It’s a cute romance with quirky characters and some unexpected twists.

What I liked

The descriptions

Everything from the wood of the harps to the leaves in the trees comes to life through Prior’s descriptions. Whether she’s using Dan’s unique perspective to describe something common in a new way, or showing us how unusual something seems through Ellie’s eyes, I was completely caught up in the writing style. I had a vivid mental image of what the settings looked like, how the music sounded, and, more importantly, how all of it made the characters feel.

Dan’s character

The book is told from two perspectives, alternating between the two protagonists. I quickly fell in love with Dan. He is such a different kind of lead in a romance story, and it was fun to get to know him better throughout the book and see how he reacted to the curveballs thrown his way. It’s never explicitly said, but it’s pretty clear that he’s autistic. While I do have some questions (I’ll get to those later…) I really appreciated having an autistic main character, and as the romantic lead, no less!

What I didn’t like

Ellie’s character

While I loved Dan, Ellie’s chapters were a struggle at times. She is married to Clive, who is clearly emotionally abusive. This is apparent to the reader from the start, and it quickly gets old to watch Ellie be so oblivious to how horrible he is. I understand that, sadly, this is how many abusive relationships are. The victim is in denial and continues to justify the abuser’s actions, even when it’s clear to everyone else in their life that there’s a problem. But this is a line that has to be dealt with carefully in fiction. I think The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary did an amazing job of showing the problems with a relationship while also keep the reader engaged. The thing that The Flatshare did differently than Ellie and the Harpmaker is that the reader, at first, isn’t aware of how horrible the relationship was. We’re getting the victim’s perspective, and believe along with her that he wasn’t all that bad. It’s only as the character slowly realizes she was in an abusive relationship that the reader sees it too. Compare that to Ellie, when it’s painfully obvious from the get-go. Ellie is also a bit flat, so I struggled to have sympathy for her when I saw Clive treating her poorly. I just got frustrated and bored.

The treatment of women

There are several moments of unnecessary competition between women or Ellie being rude toward women. She describes her best friend, who has dark skin and hair, as “exotic,” which seemed . . . weird. When she and Clive go on a double date with Clive’s friend from work, Ellie is immediately judgmental and dismissive of the other woman. She judges her for being plus size and how she is dressed. Um, excuse me? Am I supposed to hate Ellie’s character, because this is pushing me in that direction. And finally, Ellie is immediately competitive with Roe Deer, Dan’s girlfriend. And sure, Ellie thinks Dan is cute and starts to get feelings for him, so I understand her being a little jealous. But it all spirals out so quickly, and before Ellie even knows Roe Deer is dating Dan, she sees a picture of her and once again makes a snap judgment based on what she’s wearing. Nearly every female relationship in this book left me with a bad taste in my mouth—even Ellie’s best friend, Christina, has a primary plotline of disliking her son’s new girlfriend.

What I have questions about

The autism rep

I mentioned above that Dan is portrayed as autistic. What I can’t figure out is what research Prior did for writing an autistic character. Dan’s chapters are written in a very childlike way, and the phrasing feels a little forced, as if trying paint in clear letters to the reader: THIS GUY IS AUTISTIC. I don’t have any close friends or family with autism, so I’m certainly not the best judge of this. But when I compare it to other books with autistic characters written by autistic authors, like Helen Hoang and C.G. Drews, the voice of Dan seems very one-note, almost verging into stereotypical. And maybe he’s just on a different end of the spectrum than other characters I’ve read. Again, I don’t have the experience to say anything definitively, but I do have questions, and would like to hear the thoughts of people with autism on the representation here.

Ellie and the Harpmaker comes out August 6. Click here to preorder it!

Are you excited to read Ellie and the Harpmaker? Let me know in the comments!

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Guest Post: 4 tips to figure out what kind of book you should write

Hi y’all! Today I’m excited to bring you a post written by Lucia Tang, a contributor at Reedsy. She talks about different methods to decide which idea to pursue for your next writing project. I’ll be starting a new series following along as I start writing a new novel, so I thought this would be a great foundation as I dive deeper into the book writing process!

Some writers are lucky: each idea emerges fully formed inside their heads. They’ll close their eyes and see the shape of it, shimmering in the air. All they have to do is follow, like sailors tracking a guiding constellation. And at the end of their writing journey, they’ll have a manuscript.

But maybe your writing process isn’t such a well-charted voyage — it’s a much dicier expedition, like flailing around in waters unknown. Maybe you want to write a book, but you don’t know what kind of book to work on.

Fiction or nonfiction? Short story collection or full-length novel? What genre are we talking, and does genre even matter? I mean, Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Fifty Shades of Grey are technically both romance novels, right?

If your brain buzzes with these kinds of questions every time you sit down to write, you won’t get much more than a keyboard smash of frustration. But don’t worry. Try out the following four methods of nailing down what kind of book you should work on, and you’ll be able to move onto the fun part — writing.

The fanfic method: Think about what you like to read — and watch, and listen to

E.L. James made her fortune with repurposed Twilight fanfic, turning sparkly vampire Edward Cullen into billionaire bondage enthusiast Christian Grey. You could borrow her approach, playing with someone else’s universe and filing off the serial numbers so you won’t get sued. But this method isn’t really about that. It is about writing as a fan in a more general way, with an eye to the kind of stories that get you excited.

Writing a book means making a temporary home in a certain textual universe: it helps to settle down somewhere you like. So think about the stories you tend to consume, and reflect on what draws you to them.

Maybe you’re addicted to mysteries because cracking them alongside the sleuth feeds the puzzle-solving part of your brain. Or maybe you keep picking up romance novels for your commute because you find their over-the-top love scenes totally hilarious.

Don’t limit yourself to books, either. Think about your favorite podcasts, the TV shows you binge, even the kind of music that fills up your Spotify playlists. Look for inspiration across all media, and you’ll get a nuanced, three-dimensional sense of your own tastes. That way, you can develop an idea for a book that you’d love to read — and hopefully, to write.

The resume method: Consider your strengths — and weaknesses — as a writer

This approach is a little more mechanical, but it’ll help you treat writing like a job — useful if you want to turn “author” into your full-time gig someday. Think about your strengths and weaknesses as a writer: not just on the level of craft, but in terms of your temperament.

Say you get bored easily. You download a new exercise app every week, and you’ve Duolingo-ed eight different languages — but only up to lesson four. If that sounds like you, you probably shouldn’t tackle a novel right way. Instead, start with a short story. Maybe even write one for a contest, if you need a little external motivation to keep you typing away at your desk. Polish off a few of those, and you’ll have a short story collection.

If your world-building skills are scanty but your dialogue rings true, you’re better suited to literary fiction than to fantasy. If you feel anxious when you plot out a story but find yourself revisiting an incident from your own past again and again, take that as a sign to try writing a memoir. Whatever your niche, tap into it early to determine your book’s path.

The hatemail method: Respond to a book that bugged you

In some ways, this one’s the opposite of the fanfic method. But the end result is the same — a book that you, the writer, would love to read.

Just to be clear, you shouldn’t actually pen a novel-length screen about some author you hate (although something of that nature might be both highly cathartic and widely appreciated on certain corners of the internet). Instead, just think of a book that makes your blood boil. Everything it gets wrong? You’ll make sure that you do it right.

Say you’re an occasional romance reader who likes the idea of following two strangers as they fall enough. But every time you dip into the genre, you see nothing but troubling relationship dynamics, one-note supporting characters, and bizarrely unrealistic treatments of the protagonists’ jobs.

Try writing the romance you wish existed. It’s fully within your power to sketch out an affirming relationship between equals. You can give them quirky and dynamic friends — and nemeses. You can even make sure your heroine’s hotshop job as a corporate lawyer leaves her realistically busy, frazzled, and saddled with student debt.

The Costco method: Try a little bit of everything before you commit

Say you’ve run through the mental list of your all-time favorite stories, weighed your writerly skills and deficiencies, and even hate-read some truly terrible prose. But you still have no idea what you should write. Or, you’ve got too many ideas, and no way to choose between them.

Enter the Costco method. Named for the grand cathedral of the free sample, this strategy is all about trying before you buy. There’s no reason you have to pick an idea and immediately grind out several hundred pages. You can take a few of them out for a spin, in a low-stress, low-stakes way.

A full-length manuscript is about 80,000 words long. You don’t know exactly what yours should be about, but you’ve got a few contenders. So write 200 words for each of those ideas.

They don’t have to be the first 200 — beginning a story can be stressful, and this exercise is about keeping it low-key. But you also shouldn’t take them from a scene you’re dying to write. Try to pick a fairly basic bread-and-butter passage, something you know will have to be in the manuscript if you follow it through to the end.

Each 200-word chunk is only 1/400 of a whole manuscript. It won’t take you very long, but it will give you a foretaste of the other 399. Once you figure out which project you should see through to the end, you can reward yourself — write the fun parts first!

Lucia Tang is a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects self-publishing authors with the world’s best editors, designers, and marketers. Reedsy also provides tools to help authors write and format their books, as well as free courses and webinars on publishing. In Lucia’s spare time, she enjoys drinking cold brew and planning her historical fantasy novel.

Follow Reedsy on Twitter and Instagram.

How do you decide what to write next? Do you have a method not mentioned here? Let me know in the comments!

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Featured image by Patrick Tomasso

100 Days of Sunlight: A fun summer read

When 16-year-old poetry blogger Tessa Dickinson is involved in a car accident and loses her eyesight for 100 days, she feels like her whole world has been turned upside-down.

Terrified that her vision might never return, Tessa feels like she has nothing left to be happy about. But when her grandparents place an ad in the local newspaper looking for a typist to help Tessa continue writing and blogging, an unlikely answer knocks at their door: Weston Ludovico, a boy her age with bright eyes, an optimistic smile…and no legs.

Knowing how angry and afraid Tessa is feeling, Weston thinks he can help her. But he has one condition — no one can tell Tessa about his disability. And because she can’t see him, she treats him with contempt: screaming at him to get out of her house and never come back. But for Weston, it’s the most amazing feeling: to be treated like a normal person, not just a sob story. So he comes back. Again and again and again.

Tessa spurns Weston’s “obnoxious optimism,” convinced that he has no idea what she’s going through. But Weston knows exactly how she feels and reaches into her darkness to show her that there is more than one way to experience the world. As Tessa grows closer to Weston, she finds it harder and harder to imagine life without him — and Weston can’t imagine life without her. But he still hasn’t told her the truth, and when Tessa’s sight returns he’ll have to make the hardest decision of his life: vanish from Tessa’s world…or overcome his fear of being seen.

100 Days of Sunlight is a poignant and heartfelt novel by author Abbie Emmons. If you like sweet contemporary romance and strong family themes then you’ll love this touching story of hope, healing, and getting back up when life knocks you down.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Abbie Emmons through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

What book could be better for summer than one that has ‘sunlight’ in the title? This debut novel combines poetry with PTSD with fluffy romance, so it’s safe to say it’s a whirlwind. It’s an interesting balance to strike in a YA novel, but I think author Abbie Emmons does it well. While it was an enjoyable and fast read, the execution of ideas wasn’t always done well, and in the end I wasn’t able to love it as much as I wanted to.

What I liked

Creative premise

When I first read the summary, I was immediately interested. I had never heard of transient cortical blindness, and I thought the idea to have a character dealing with that meet a character who is also living with a disability is so creative. I love that it offers the opportunity to explore how different people react to tragedies and what it’s like to have strangers immediately judging you based on a disability.

Characters

I really did fall in love with the main characters, Weston and Tessa. The story is told from both of their viewpoints, and I thought they were both fleshed out characters with distinct voices. Even when Tessa is being snippy, we understand why and sympathize with her as she goes through the hardest thing in her life and deals with the PTSD from it. Weston was so caring and compassionate, but also didn’t take crap from anyone, and is basically impossible not to love.

Romance

This book promises to be a love story, and it delivers. Practically from the first time they meet, we’re rooting for Weston and Tessa to get together. Weston is determined to help Tessa realize that her life can still have meaning even after a tragedy, and continually forgives her even when she’s rude to him. Tessa’s anger is slowly thawed by Weston’s kindness, and as the reader we watch their feelings grow into friendship and then beyond.

What I disliked

Prose

While I enjoyed many aspects of the book, the writing style felt forced to me at times. It was a little too flowery, and the dialogue seemed too self-aware. These are teenagers, after all, and even though Tessa is a writer, her speech still seemed too elevated. This wasn’t throughout the novel—there are definitely large swaths of good writing. But some passages came across as awkward or unnecessarily poetic.

Predictable

When you pick up a romance, you expect a happy ending. Which is fine! It’s why we read romance. But you also expect some hardships along the way that force the main characters to have to fight for each other. There really wasn’t much of that in this book. It was almost like the author decided their separate hardships from before the novel happened were enough, and once Tessa and Weston meet, it should be smooth sailing. Of course, there were some bumps, but nothing that seemed so large that they couldn’t overcome it. It made the novel feel a little too predictable, and boring in parts.

Why did Weston go see Tessa?

The impetus for everything that happens in the book is that Tessa’s grandparents try to place an ad in the paper to hire someone to transcribe for Tessa, in hopes that writing again will help lift her spirits. She’s horrified, and they retract the ad, but Weston is the newspaper editor’s son and decides he’s going to go help Tessa anyway. It’s never really explained why Weston feels this way. I guess we’re supposed to assume it’s because he has been through something similar to what Tessa is going through, but that’s never really made clear.

Did she consult people with disabilities?

My final point isn’t necessarily a critique, but I think it’s important to point out. Both of the main characters are dealing with disabilities: Weston has had both legs amputated, and Tessa is temporarily blind. Emmons never mentions if she consulted people with disabilities when writing the novel or what kind of research she did. Obviously, that doesn’t mean that she didn’t do this, but I’ve found that authors tend to either thank the people they consulted in the acknowledgments section, or mention their research/applicable experience in an author’s note, and Emmons did neither. As an able-bodied person, I really have no idea if Emmons was able to capture the experience of living with a disability, especially one as obvious as wearing prosthetic legs. It seemed like she did a fairly good job, other than how Weston was always optimistic. That seemed unrealistic to me, but again, I don’t have any experience in this area. I would be curious to hear from people with disabilities about their thoughts on the portrayal in this novel.

100 Days of Sunlight releases on August 7th! Click here to pre-order.

Are you excited to read 100 Days of Sunlight? What other summer releases are you looking forward to?

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