January News: Happy New Year!

Like everyone on the planet, I’ve never been happier to ring in the New Year. 2020 was a nightmare. Too much hate and division. Too many tragic deaths. Too much hopelessness. I haven’t been able to work at my part-time day job since March. An unexpected change in a friendship left me confused and sad. And I’ve been a bit lonely. But there have been some silver linings. I have more time to write. My Hero Hubby is able to work from home and he received a well-deserved promotion last year.

The roll out of the COVID vaccines has helped me see a light at the end of the long tunnel. However, the recent domestic terrorist attack on the US Capitol has me feeling anxious. I know it’s bound to be many, many months before things are set right and life begins to feel normal again. I hope it doesn’t take another year. Until then I’m focusing on the things that lift my spirits, like reading and writing.

I've chosen a word for the year: CREATE. I have so many story ideas filling up my brain. It’s time to get the words on the page instead of thinking about getting the words on the page. I want to complete more than one book this year. I want to fully outline and start writing a Georgian era romance. I’m scared to a write story set in this time period, if I'm being honest, because I love it so much. I don’t want to get the historical details wrong. My CP Bestie tells me not to worry. She thinks my writing style is a good fit for the Georgian era, and says my concern for the details means I’ll take more care to get them right. Well okay, then! I’m doing it!! #CREATE

Thanks to author Sarra Cannon, I’m now obsessed with ambience rooms on YouTube. They set the perfect mood! Inspired by ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) videos, users on YouTube have created virtual room videos one can play as background noise and visuals for studying or reading or writing. Why sit down and write in a silent office when you can imagine yourself inside a warm and ancient library, while a storm rages outside? I enjoyed the cozy winter cabin and library rooms in December. Now I’m loving the ocean ambience on a tropical beach.

BOOKS TO BINGE
If you like thrillers, you’ve got to read MEME by Aaron Starmer. This is a binge-worthy YA novel full of suspense. I couldn’t put this book down and finished it in two days. I was totally hooked by the meme mystery and how the story unfolded. Each narrator’s point of view is so well-written. The only thing I didn’t like was the ambiguous ending. Even so, I’ll definitely read more books by this author.

SHOWS TO BINGE
Bridgerton. Oh Bridgerton. You are so sparkly and perfect and addictive. I am going to watch you over and over again. *swoons*