Author: byjehunter
I'm the author of the Black Depths and Artifacts of Avalum series. I'm also a reader and I love posting young adult book reviews and blogging about everything related to books. In the morning, I can be found drinking coffee and wishing it was still dark outside. In the afternoon, I'm stuck at my day job, and in the evening, I'm probably working on my latest creation.
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all my readers out there. I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for reading my blog and following along with me on my many journeys. I appreciate each and every like and follow I received. Whether you be in Canada, the USA or far beyond the waters, I hope everyone has a great weekend and finds sometime to give thanks and spend time with loved ones.
This weekend I’m hoping to get a bit of reading done. Reading the entire Reckoners Series by Brandon Sanderson is how I dream of spending my weekend, but between all the visiting with family and turkey and cupcake and pie eating, I will probably only get through a few pages.
I will be away from the blog for a couple days for the holiday, but will be back next week to blog away. Hopefully, by the time I return, all the snow will be gone and we can get back to autumn! But still, I could resist one last gorgeous winter picture.
JEH
365K in a Year Update #4
This week was a good week (winter storm aside). I wrote every day, and only one day did I write less than my goal of 1K words. It was Saturday, and I really wanted to write that day. I managed 200 words, it was late at night, and I was so exhausted from a long day, but I have to admit, I just quit. I flopped down on my bed and I said, “I can’t do it.” Which was WRONG, I could have done it. So I’m going to try really hard not to do that again. Overall, I wrote over 13K words this week, which is over my goal of 7K. So I’m pretty happy with that. As for the gym goal… Let’s not even talk about that one. I hope to do better with that next week too.
Today, the snow kept falling. And will keep falling. This was the view out of my day-job-office window. Yikes! Good thing I LIKE to stay in and write.
This week I’ve been working on the draft of Twisted Currents, which will wrap up the Black Depths Universe before NaNoWriMo 2016. I had a bit of a breakthrough yesterday, which made me feel really good about where I stand with this project. I’m also going to start my NaNo prep next week, after the Thanksgiving long weekend, during which I’m sure not to get much work done at all. Though I do hope to do a lot of reading.
So how about you? Do you have writing goals? How are they going?
JEH
Winter Has Come
It is October 5th, 2016, and here (in central Saskatchewan), we are getting our first winter storm of the season. Wahhhhhh! Winter is often five months long here, but six!?!? Anyway, I’m trying to enjoy all the good things that come with snow, like pretty pictures, extra hot coffee, soup season, scarves, and a great excuse to cuddle up with my favorite books. So, in ode to this early arrival, I thought I would to an extra post of pictures about the storm, because if you take the time to look, it really is beautiful, even if I spent half the night awake, frightened that my house was about to blow away.
The Beginning of the Storm. It just started as wind and cold rain. But in the morning I woke up to this:
It is colder, windier and, of course, snowier than yesterday, but I have a few reason I can’t feel too bad about it: 1. Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins, and 1. Warm Blankets and Good Books.
Oh yeah, and the Mexico trip I booked for January. My snow break can’t come soon enough.
JEH
How To Write Like A Caffeine Fueled Jackrabbit Without Losing Your Mind
In my previous post, I described my September New Year goal of writing 365,000 words in a year (or 4-6 books). I’m going to accomplish this goal by writing 1,000 words of fiction a day (no, these blog posts do not count), which will take me approximately 30 minutes a day (excepting those days which I struggle and must wrestle with the mud covered monster called Writer’s Block). As I’m sure I will have some days where writing 1,000 words will feel impossible, I will need days when I can pound out 5K or even 10K (the 10K is likely to be saved for vacation or my favourite month, NaNoWriMo (also known as November)).
So, on those days when you really need to write 10K words—or for the entire month of NaNoWriMo—here are some tips to fuel my creativity, increase my word count, and Write Like A Caffeine Fueled JackRabbit Without Losing My Mind:
- Find a really comfortable chair (I do mean chair, not upright bed, there is a difference).
2. Decide upon your drink of choice and keep it near by. I find a slightly caffainated tea works the best, since it doesn’t cause my hands to shake when I drink it pot after pot.
My Favourite Cream of Earl Grey Tea
Raw Coffee Beans
3. Write the first sentence of 8-10 scenes you want to finish that day.
4. Buy an amazingly cute kitchen timer that you can’t resist playing with. Set it for 5, 10, or 30 minutes, and do nothing else until it buzzes.
6. When your self-doubt success sucker shows up, close your eyes tight and say “I CAN DO THIS” five times loudly. Soon, you will see that Self-Doubt Success Sucker pushed right back into the ground (inevitably, he will pop up again, so be sure to repeat this step whenever necessary).
7. Keep easy to fix food nearby for a quick fuel-up.
8. Find a buddy to check in with, be it a fellow writer, a friend, the NaNoWriMo Forums or the Twitter Universe. Be accountable to someone.
9. Think about the worst job you’ve ever had, picture yourself going back there. If that isn’t motivation to finish doing something you love, I don’t what is.
10. Pick a reward for when you reach your goal, and don’t allow yourself to have/do it until you’ve accomplished what you need to. Whether it’s a new journal, a pretty photo from Stockphoto that you want to use for your cover art, going for a run or out for a drink, hold off until you’ve accomplished your “work” for the day.
Good luck with your writing goals! Whether it be the next book in your fabulous serious or 2016 NaNoWriMo. Do you have any other tips you would like to share?
JEH
Weekly Writing Prompt
Write a conversation between the two people below. What are they talking about? Do they know each other? How did they come to be where they are?
YA Book Review: Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
Okay, same old blurb here: If you haven’t read any of the Throne of Glass series, you’ll probably want to skip this post. If you have read TOG, but haven’t had time to finish Empire of Storms yet, read this at your own discretion. I try not to be too spoiler-y, but sometimes a little bit of information you don’t want to know might just leak out.
I’m going to start by saying that the more I read of Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass world, the more my relationship with it becomes love-hate. I love the world, I love the fast-pace action and the surprising characters and the relationships, and how—thanks to Maas’s rather different writing style—there are constant surprises. But there are a few things I’m beginning to hate. Like who Aelin is with… But, I guess not everyone falls in love with the same person. Right?
I don’t think this is the strongest book in the TOG world. My favourite is still Crown of Midnight. What I didn’t like so much about Empire of Storms is that I felt like Aelin is getting away with way too much. I mean, if I knew someone who talked back that much to almost absolutely everyone around her, I don’t know if I would really want to be her friend. And it makes me wonder if that’s why, as the books go on, there are less and less Aelin scenes.
For a few books now, my favourite character has been Manon, who is more evil by nature, so maybe she can get away with more because she isn’t supposed to be this kind of holier-than-thou character, which I feel Aelin is. The good thing is that Aelin’s attitude is kind of pointed out. Like people know Aelin is a bit… much. But like I said, it’s a love hate. I love how strong Aelin is, I love that she likes to do everything on her own. I think Sarah J. Maas’s world is so engrossing partly because of this. I think few writers can pull heartstrings like she does and keep you coming back for more (instead of slamming the book shut in disgust and refusing to read on).
I also didn’t really like all the extra S-E-X scenes in this book. I also felt it was a bit much, plus it broke with the style of the previous four books. I don’t think it was needed. TOG already has a huge fan base. I don’t think the style change was necessary, and it did not need to be that descriptive, especially for something shelved as Teen. I mean, when will Amazon and the brick-and-mortor stores put together those New Adult categories already?
But, even with all the bits I didn’t like, I will read on. I need to know what happens. I’m just not sure I’m going to agree with it.
4/5 Stars
JEH
Black Depths Book 4 Is Now Here
I had such a busy weekend preparing Doomed Seas for Release today! I’m so excited for this. Doomed Seas is Caesar’s story, and is kind of a jumping off point for Black Depths Series, which means, if you haven’t yet read the other books, it doesn’t matter. You can start right here (at least I think so, but maybe I’m wrong since I’m so ingrained in this world). I love the cover, I love my pirates, and I just love writing and self-publishing, since it means I’ve been able to control the Black Depths world from start to finish.
Now Reformatted!
Doomed Seas is currently up on Smashwords and Amazon, and as soon as Smashwords finishing the checks, it should be up on Kobo, Nook, and iBooks. I’ve made Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch (Black Depths Book 1) permanently free on Smashwords, Kobo, Nook, and iBooks. It isn’t free on Kindle yet, as I’m not allowed to set that, and I need someone to report they found a lower price elsewhere, so if any of you lovely readers feels like doing me a favour, I would greatly appreciate it.
Anyway, not that Doomed Seas is done, I can focus on the final push to finish Twisted Currents, Book 5, and the last book of this section of the Black Depths Universe (though possibly not the end, as I have a few more stories I would like to write, though it may take a long time for me to get around to them). I need to wrap up Black Depths before NaNoWriMo, because this year I have a marvellous fantasy planned that I can’t wait to write. As a writer, it’s always wonderful to be able to embark on something new, and I’m really looking forward to that.
I see that there are a few new reviews up for the books since the last time I checked. I love this! Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to put up a review for any or all of my books that you’ve read. I cannot say how much authors need and love and crave reviews! If I could give each of you a hug, I would!
Okay, later this afternoon I’ll finally have my review for Empire of Storms up. I finished it last week but just have no had enough time to put my thoughts together. If you haven’t read the latest in Sarah J. Maas series, you probably won’t want to read the post, even though I try not to get too spoiler-y. I just love talking about books.
JEH
I Love Books
Doomed Seas Cover Blurb
It will be out on Monday! As I have just a little bit of formatting to do. Can’t wait? Here’s the blurb to get you pumped up:
Doomed Seas
Caesar knows he’s running out of time to find his father, who’s been missing for over a year. When he discovers his own grandfather, Victor, is behind not only his father’s kidnapping, but the kidnapping of innocent Neptunians all over the globe, Caesar sets sail to find what Victor wants most.
In the company of his best friend Markus, and ex-girlfriend Darya, the pirates begin their journey across the seas. But things aren’t always as they seem. The more Caesar discovers, the more he questions his loyalty. Then Caesar is given an important clue to the location of the treasure Victor hunts. Can he untangle the strings of desire, history, and hope in time to find the treasure, or will this hunt be his last?
And in case you missed it, here’s the cover:
J. E. H U N T E R 