The Insecure Writer’s Support Group and Envy

The awesome co-hosts for this March 1 posting of the IWSG are Diedre Knight, Tonya Drecker, Bish Denham, Olga Godim (hi Olga!), and JQ Rose! And the (optional) question for today – Have you ever read a line in novel or a clever plot twist that caused you to have author envy? The answer to this is, of course, YES. In fact, saying ‘a’ line or ‘a’ clever plot twist is rank untruth. It’s more like ‘so many’ amazing, emotional, or evocative lines and ‘multiple’ plot…

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The Great Blogging Wrap-Up of 2022

Lets get to some numbery-maths for the year. I’m still at the point where I genuinely have a lot of fun breaking my blogging year down in stats. If you’re interested the 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017 breakdowns are linked. Just as a note: I’ve spent zero pennies on marketing of any kind since I started this blog in November 2016. Instead, I’ve focused on blog-hops and building relationships. That means super slow growth and also super low stress levels. (If slow is…

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Autumn Favorites: Pumpkin Spice Horror Edition

AKA my Favorite Fall Weather Reads Yes, I am one of those annoying people who love pumpkin spice and celebrate the season it shows up in everything. I admit this with zero shame, because pumpkin spice is the best. And you know what’s even better? Apples. And caramel. And caramel apples. And butternut squash, pecans, maple, cinnamon, cloves…basically every food item in autumn. I have learned how to make pumpkin spice (it’s super easy) so I can include the flavor…

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The Insecure Writer’s Support Group Asks Why I Love Romance

To be fair, no one in the IWSG asked why I love romance. The actual specific question for this month was What do you consider the best characteristics of your favorite genre? But . . . I mean. Come on. We all knew SE was going to answer ‘romance! I freaking adore romance’ and come prepared with an entire listicle of what I consider the best characteristics of romance. With GIFs galore. The co-hosts keeping us on track for October…

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SE and that Summer Classical Feel

The recent recommendation posts going up on my site may lead readers to believe that all I ever read is filthy, filthy smut. And this is 90% accurate. But I am also an intense mood reader and sometimes I’m in a different reading mood. Then I turn to either horror, or my other surprise favorite: classical literature. I know. I know. Wtf, SE? How random can you get? Just wait, it gets even less comprehensible. Because if I’m being honest,…

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SE Wants to Rip Your Heart Out

My Favorite (?) Character Deaths Calling them my favorite is both very true and completely misleading. That sensation of a heart being yanked out, stomped on, and smushed back in still smarting is one every bookworm knows. And alhough ‘like’ is a strong word for that feeling . . . it’s definitely something I’d recommend. Just so you can suffer with me. Okay. If we’re going to do this, let us get in the properly devastated mindset first: Now that…

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SE’s Recommendations Get a Little Hot

AKA my favorite summer reads Also I may have been misleading you a tad with the ‘little’ in the title. Buckle up, bookworms. Tis the season for some hot, hot stuff. Please be advised that every single series on this list would be classified in the erotic romance genre, and carries the accompanying level of spicy scenes. This is the perfect weather to sit sipping a cold drink and reading all about abductions, mail-order brides, cute hybrid babies, forced proximity,…

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SE’s Favorite Inspirational Characters

Matilda, (Roald Dahl) Matilda inspires me to believe that my habit of disappearing into my room for hours at a time to read and emerging only after my family has forgotten I exist is a worthy, nay, even noble life decision. Fitzwilliam Darcy, (Jane Austen) As a fellow socially awkward introvert, Mr. Darcy is honestly my #partygoals. We can triumph over large groups, we can survive a village assembly with resting bitch face intact, and we can become enduring romantic literary…

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Book Tropes: I’m DEFINITELY Not Seducing You.

Isn’t it the best when those mischievous feelings sneak up and, WHAM, catch our protagonist upside the head? It’s the literary equivalent to the ‘suddenly; squirrel!’ humor trick and I can’t get enough of watching it play out. Our characters are happily spatting [this is a theme I really like so I read a lot of enemies to lovers, get used to that trope showing up everywhere in my rec posts ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ] all while one of them is insistent…

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