Month: April 2021

Uncategorized

Afternoon Slump, Dewey’s 4PM Check In

Maggie Hemlock

I’m feeling a bit of afternoon slump, but I am working on my 4th book of the day. I think I prefer what I’ve done the past few years of finding a nice door stopper of a book and reading it as far as I can and then finishing it up in the week that follows. I wanted to do it that way this year, but just didn’t have a long book I was in the mood for.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve enjoyed most of what I’ve read today, but I didn’t feel as brain laggy when I stuck to a single long book. Anyway, I’m at 5 hours and 18 minutes of reading time for the readathon so far and I’ve read about 830 pages in total.

Since I last checked in I finished Anna North’s Outlawed and it wasn’t exactly what I expected. It had a slow start which slowed me down a bit – I like a book I can sink into. Save the slow burn for later in the book. lol

I’ll probably get about another 3ish hours in before I check in at 8 and get read for bed. If things go the way I think they will and I read tomorrow morning before 8AM too I’ll probably hit around my normal 10 hours of reading. I normally do well in the mornings and lag in the afternoon, and then get a good chunk of reading done in the evening.

Outlawed by [Anna North]
Uncategorized

Dewey’s 4 Hour Check In

Maggie Hemlock

About 11:45 I came up for air, because my lunch arrived. I’ll be having leftovers for dinner, but those wings are sooo good.

So, let’s talk books. I’ve finished up 3. Read 2 completely, and about the last 80 pages with of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi that I’m reading with a group of friends from r/bookclub over on Reddit.

I also finished Scott O’Dell’s Island of the Blue Dolphins & Josh Malerman’s Bird Box. (The first nostalgic and the latter creepy AF!)

So onto some stats (It’s almost 12:30 right now.)

I’ve read 515 pages across 3 books in 3 hours and 4 minutes. I’m on track for my normal amount of reading for one of these readathons. Next up is Outlaw – I don’t remember who it’s by right off the top of my head but it’s the one BOTM featured not too long ago.

I’m off to take a few minutes to decompress my brain and then dig into the next book! Happy reading!

Uncategorized

Get ready! Get Set! Almost! (Another Dewey’s Readathon Post)

Maggie Hemlock

With just 10 minutes left until the start of the readathon I’m logging off my laptop until my check in at noon. I’ll probably post to my Facebook in the mean time. You can check in there to see what I’m up to in between blogs.

I’ve been waiting for this all year and can’t wait to get comfy on the sofa with Fenrir. She’s currently in her favorite bookish spot waiting on me.

See the source image

Happy reading!

Uncategorized

Good Morning! My Little Plan for Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon

Maggie Hemlock

There is a little less than 3 hours before Dewey’s officially starts. Lucky for me, I’ve always been an early riser. So, I have some time blog and entertain the cat and wake up enough brain cells to sink into a novel.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Readathon click here.

https://i.imgflip.com/496pky.jpg

Coffee. It’s always first on my list to get ready for anything. I’m probably more a coffee based organism than a water based one at this point.

Before the readathon starts I have a few things to get done around the house, I want to squeeze in a quick work out so I don’t get all stiff too early in the day, and of course I need breakfast and stuff. I’ve been eating breakfast rather late in the day, but today I’m eating early so I can read 8-12 without stopping to cook. I have a meal prep that will either be lunch or dinner and I plan to order out for the other meal if the rain isn’t too bad. If it is, I won’t put my poor delivery guy through that. I live on the third floor of an apartment with no elevator. While I’m getting everything done this morning I plan to listen to the last 45 minutes or so of the audiobook of Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology. I’m not counting it for the readathon since it’s not time, but I just want to get it finished up anyway. I really like his take on the stories.

Norse Mythology

Once the readathon starts I plan to check in at noon, 4, and 8 EST time. After 8 I’ll be getting ready for bed and will resume reading and probably squeeze in another hour or 2 tomorrow morning. I don’t think I’ve ever broken 10 hours of reading in one of these in the last 3 or 4 years I’ve done them. I’d like to, but there are only so many hours in the day. So, we shall see how it goes.

Since I don’t consider myself much of a morning reader these days (I’m usually writing in the morning) I’m going to start with something a bit nostalgic and YA. I last read Scott O’Dell’s The Island of the Blue Dolphins when I was approximately 8 years old and in third grade. My teacher, Mrs. Maynard has this little library we could borrow from and AR reading had just began and it’s one of the few books that stick out from my early reading. I haven’t read this book in almost 24 years, but I do remember finishing it in a Saturday afternoon as a kid. So, it has to be easy reading for 32 year old me in the morning, right? lol

After that I’ll grab a book from this stack or grab one of the books I’m reading along with some lovely people from r/bookclub over on Reddit. I have two that we’re finishing up this weekend if I need a break from what’s in the stack.

Happy reading today! If you’re reading for Dewey’s too what’s first on your list?

P.S. I forget how distractable I am in the morning. Every time I went to grab a photo or link I got distracted. It’s taken me almost 45 minutes to write this little blog.

Uncategorized

It’s Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon Tomorrow! And I’m more than ready!

Maggie Hemlock

Guys! I am so worn out mentally as I know many of you guys are too. I’m more than ready to take a day to do nothing other than read and eat snacks and have a better reason than ever to ignore my phone.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Dewey’s it’s basically a day that we all take off to read as much as we can in 24 hours. No, you don’t have to read the whole 24 hours. You’re human after all. I for one, will still be sleeping tomorrow night. Sleep is an important part of my self-care. I lost too much sleep in my 20s to continue that craziness into my 30s.

I won’t talk in depth about the books I’m planning to read, because I’ll post here with updates/thoughts throughout the day tomorrow. If you’re wondering this is the stack I’ll be grabbing from. Yep, 3 of them are from BOTM. They’re not a sponsor or anything, but if you love books give them a looksee. I’ve found some of my favorite books so far this year in their selection.

My Dewey’s TBR Stack

This year I flip flopped between if I wanted to dig into multiple books or just start a really long one like I’ve done the last few times. I don’t have any massive books I’m currently in a hurry to read, so I stuck with grabbing some I’ve been meaning to read or reread for a while. The only one that is a reread is the top one. I last read it in 3rd grade.

Are you participating in the readathon tomorrow? If so, what’s your list?

What I’m Writing: Nothing. Just finished up a book.

What’s in editing: Nothing. Just finished one up.

What I’m Reading: Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Uncategorized

Schedule? What’s that? (Camp NaNo Updates and a Mini Rant About a Certain Neighbor)

Maggie Hemlock

So, as those of you following along know my sleeping schedule has shifted over the last month or two between some personal happenings and EVIL Daylight Savings Time. I have something in my mid-late morning that is just about an every day engagement. On my old schedule I was done writing way before that time of day hit. Now, waking up between 5-6 not so much. It’s just an hour or an hour and a half later I’m waking up, but apparently I can write a lot in that time.

So, yesterday, feeling a bit defeated that I slept through the alarm again – I decided I’d try an experiment. I did a bunch of the side work stuff and got some chores around the house done – my usual afternoon stuff. Then I sat down to write in the afternoon. It felt weird. There were interruptions – I live on the corner of my apartment building – next to the steps. I have a neighbor who lives at the other end – who doesn’t own a car that is parked at that end of the building or anything – but insists on going up and down my side of the building for EVERYTHING. I swear I think the asshole uses it for cardio some days the way he goes up and down repetitively. I have my reasons for being annoyed with him for many other reasons – but I don’t feel like getting political on this blog.

So, the real problem is my usual writing area is against that outside wall. Usually that’s not a problem – I write in the morning. I do my side work in the kitchen in the afternoon. So, short of going out to ask if he had a personal vendetta against me having peace and quiet (I have mysphonia. So sound gets to me in weird ways) I moved into the kitchen. Except I wasn’t comfortable enough to zone out and write. I was about to give up and call the day wasted and the experiment a flop. Then I rearranged the living room a bit to make it work with the laptop. I swore it felt like I had spent the whole afternoon trying to work around other people – which always annoys me. It’s why I live alone. It’s me and the cat and everyone else can buzz off while I’m trying to work. It had only been about half an hour in which I wrote about 300 words from the two places I tried. I felt like a bit like Rory Gilmore on her the campus of her university trying to find a place to study.

See the source image

The living room worked out. I had a good writing session on the sofa with the cat sleeping on my feet and came in at 5,896 words for Monday. Which I’m quite proud of because I had to work so hard to find a place to write away from noisy morons. So, this is day 2 of the experiment. I think today will go fine, but Wednesday I have errands that can only be ran in the afternoon. So I’m not sure how to deal with that one just yet.

My current WIP is at 43,295

I hope everyone else participating in Camp NaNo is having better luck finding quiet to write in than I am.

What I’m Writing: Book 7 of Love by Glitter Bomb

What’s in Editing: Nothing :O

Current Pre-Orders: Love By Glitter Bomb Box Set 2 & Dead Mates Society.

What I’m Reading: Insomnia by Stephen King & The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

Uncategorized

Camp NaNo Updates: Day 2 and 3

Maggie Hemlock

I had every intention of blogging yesterday – I really did. Then I got caught up in the side job and then I wanted to do a bit of reading and a friend called me. Those are the reasons I write in the morning and like getting up before the rest of the world (or at least the people I know) are awake. That quiet time really makes a difference and the fact the time change STILL has me waking up an hour or so later than my normal time is affecting my word count. I’m slowly working on getting this back to normal without giving up too much sleep. The best tool in a writer’s toolbox is a healthy sleep schedule – well, it is if you ask me.

Brown Tabby Cat Lying on Cat Tree

My current WIP is at 37,399 words. I hoped to reach 40k words this week, but I didn’t and that’s okay. I got pretty close.

April 2nd: 4,190 Words

April 3rd: 4,029 Words

So, that makes 1/3 writing days where I hit my goal so far. Though, I did have 2/6 days overall of hitting it this week. I think I’m within a few days of hitting the plotting point and that usually kicks up my word count once I have the ending plotted out. I’m close, but no cookie yet.

If you’re participating how are you doing so far this month?

What I’m Writing: Book 7 of Love by Glitter Bomb

What’s in Editing: Nothing :O

Current Pre-Orders: Love By Glitter Bomb Box Set 2 & Dead Mates Society (Pre-order is in Amazon’s review process and the link will come soon.)

What I’m Reading: Insomnia by Stephen King & If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

Uncategorized

Camp Nano Day 1: What’s in a Title, Word Count, and a mostly lazy post writing day.

Maggie Hemlock

Good evening! I want to say it’s been a long day, but I haven’t really gotten much accomplished outside of work stuff – AKA writing. It snowed today which thrilled me until I remembered it was April and when we warmed back up that likely means a thunderstorm. Still, I love the cold and the snow. So, I’m counting it as a win for today.

I didn’t wake up quite on time today. So, I figured I wouldn’t get as much done. I’m not to the point I’ve plotted the rest of this book out or anything like that. So, I set out to write and surprisingly hit my daily word count goal of 5k+ words. Knowing I had to fess up to whatever my word count was in a blog this evening got me in the zone.

Start of Day Word Count: 24,138 words

End of Day Word Count: 29,180 words

Words Written Today: 5040 words

So, I’m happy with today’s progress. I’m about to hit a major plot point tomorrow or the next day and I’m looking forward to seeing how that one plays out.

After I finished writing and made my usual check-in phone call with a friend (they’re doing well) I mostly played hearthstone, worked a bit on a side job, and listened to an audio book. I’ve made it through today without seeing any distasteful pregnancy ‘fools day’ crap on social media. And for that I’m a grateful.

While finally getting around to putting together my new end tables I thought about titles more. Well, about one title in particular. The title of my current WIP. For a bit, I thought for sure I was going to call it Beta in the Cards or something similar. I almost always think I know what I’m going to call a book – then I change my mind 10 times with very few exceptions. Now, I’m playing around with other titles like ‘The Dead Give Their Blessing’ and ‘Matched from Beyond.’ I’m not too fond of any of them, but it’s a process that I’m not sure enough writers talk about.

With all that said – I have brownies and a Stephen King Novel waiting for me to take another peek at it. So, I’m off for the night to recharge my batteries. (Shh…. It’s really called reading but I always say I have to read to stay in the zone.)

If you’re participating in camp how was your first day?

What I’m Writing: Book 7 of Love by Glitter Bomb

What’s in Editing: Nothing :O

Current Pre-Orders: Love By Glitter Bomb Box Set 2

What I’m Reading: Insomnia by Stephen King & If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo