Out of Lockdown (I hope)

I’m hoping that the end of lockdown is nigh! I hope to keep on reading and writing (well, maybe do more writing) once things open up.

Dragon’s Word Update

I ran out of a little bit of steam. I’m working in the middle, which is a hot mess. My characters sound like assholes. I managed to update the POV from 3rd person to 1st in most of my manuscript.

Serious To-Read Backlog!

I have too much to read! I’m trying to mix it up with traditional, indie/small, and self-published books.

Books I read in the last few months:

  • A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
    Maas is brilliant and does it again with this evocative book. I hated Nesta in the 1st book so I had my reservations. The theme of not being enough resonated hard with me throughout the book. Well-done.
  • Foreverafter: An Odd Adventure by K. J. Quint
    This is my first MG book in a long time! I really enjoy Quint’s writing and imagination. It felt so freeing.
  • Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft
    Saft writes beautifully! The setting was great. The plot was a bit thin and I didn’t care much for the guy, but very minor stuff in an otherwise great book.
  • The Dreamworld Duology (All That We See or Seen and A Dream Within a Dream) by Kristina Mahr
    One of my favorite books yet! Mahr writes so beautifully. Without giving too much away, this is definitely for you if you’ve ever fallen in love with someone in your dreams!

Notable Book/eBook Acquisitions

I love hard copies. For ebooks, I have a Kobo Clara, which I love to death. I chose Kobo 1) because there were some library loans that were not available in MOBI (Kindle) format and 2) to stick it to “the Man” (Amazon), which at times feels like a losing fight.

Since I’ve been lurking in the #writingcommunity on Twitter, there were some books that were only available in Amazon, and even further there were books only available in Kindle. So I caved and bought a Kindle, which felt ridiculous and redundant given my Kobo. However, I think I will save money in the long run by not having to purchase hard copies (as much as I want every hard copy!) and to support the writers where I can. It’s especially nice when the writers have their books for super cheap and everyone wins (I believe?)!

Below is a list of acquisitions from some really amazing and talented people I follow on Twitter:

WonderCon@Home 2021 Acquisition

I got the steampunk Legacy series by Michelle E. Lowe.

Short Story Writing and Submissions

I’ve submitted to two places and got rejected at one of the places so far! I’ll confess I don’t have much hope on my stories being accepted. This is mainly to get my feet wet! I’m keeping an eye on the market and where I think my stories may fit and have much, much tinkering to do with the stories I have in my arsenal.

I’ve been trying to figure out 90s vibes for one of my short stories. With the help of two of my friends on Twitter, I wrote this for inspiration:

The Los Angeles haze tempered bright city lights, tinting her plaid shirt in sepia shades. She knocked back her no-name-brand soda, feeling strangely nihilistic and adrift in the City of Dreams. The city offered no apologies.

My Tweet: https://twitter.com/ChloeLerit/status/1373365143694807041

Bass Works!

I joined a musical collaboration for “Valerie” with the Musicians’ Club of San Diego! It was a lot of fun and “Valerie” has a great bassline. As always, this newbie bass player so honored to play with such talented musicians.