Kara's Book Cravings: Two Degrees

 

This is another book sale find. Or maybe I found it at a thrift store. I don't remember, but I do remember being intrigued by the cover. I'm also a big fan of anything that's doom and gloom and destruction, so of course I'd be interested in TWO DEGREES by Alan Gratz. 

This book really straddles the line between MG and YA because each section follows a different set of characters through a different natural disaster: a hurricane, a forest fire, and polar bears getting too close to humans due to global warming. 

To say this book is action packed would be an understatement. Every page was full of high stakes adrenaline, life and death scenarios, and very vivid imagery. I was on edge quite a bit while reading this book. There's a horse involved, but I can tell you that the horse is fine! No animal deaths, which is good for me, because if that had happened, I would've stopped reading. 

This book was clearly written with a purpose, and that was to educate kids about the climate crisis. While that topic is certainly important, this book hammered it home a little too hard, in my opinion. By the end, I felt like the author was force feeding me a lesson. As an adult, I don't like that. I can't imagine younger readers will, either. BUT! The facts about the climate crisis were included seamlessly and in a very engaging way. 

Kara's Book Cravings: Daybreak on Raven Island

 

Twitter strikes again! While scrolling aimlessly, I stumbled upon a list of middle grade books, and the first one I found was...

Daybreak on Raven Island by Fleur Bradley is a spooky, paranormal-ish mystery. Set on an island that houses an abandoned prison (inspired by the real-life Alcatraz), a group of students are on a field trip. Told from 3 different points-of-view, each character is struggling with something that skews their worldview and their reasons for jumping off the ferry and staying behind on the island. One wants to make a scary movie. Another desperately wants new friends and feels obligated because the wannabe movie maker stood up for him against bullies. And the third lives by the idea of "no one left behind." 

The pacing for this was spot on, and the mystery wasn't exactly easy to unravel, which isn't a bad thing at all. Not to mention, the twist at the end was masterful, and I certainly didn't see it coming! I'm still thinking about it days later, and that's a sign of a good book. 

This book packs a very strong social commentary about race, social injustices, and prison reform. While I agree with the sentiments presented, it felt very heavy-handed, especially with how some of the ideas were given in dialogue. It just didn't ring true to how kids this age generally speak to one another. 

Overall, though, this was a great read, and I'm glad I bought it. 

Has anyone else read this? Or anything else by this author? Should I read more of Fleur Bradley's work?

GOALS: 2023

It's once again my favorite time of year -- GOALS!! I absolutely love setting goals for myself and seeing just how much I can accomplish in a year. And after the (surprisingly) productive 2022 I had, I'm more excited than ever to see what 2023 has in store. So, let's do this!

STAY HEALTHY!

Yes, this is absolutely the first thing on my goals for 2023. I'm finally in a good place with my Fibro and all my meds, and I want to maintain this. I'm no longer actively trying to lose weight, but I will continue to eat healthy and stay active. Encompassed within this goal is to keep my family as healthy as possible, too. Thankfully, my daughter seems to be adjusting to her disease and the recent medication change very well, and I pray that she continues to improve and do well. 

KEEP ON WRITING & PUBLISHING!

Obviously! I mean, this is what I do after all. Unlike previous years, though, I don't have any firm plans in mind of what I want to write and publish--and admittedly, I was freaking out about this for a while, but then I realized it doesn't matter. I don't need to have my writing planned out for the entire year. That's the best part of being an Indie author: I can write whatever I want, whenever I want. So rather than list out all the projects I think I might want to work on (and let's face it, I *always* veer away from my list anyway), I'm going to aim to write and publish another 5 books this year. I'm going to make this a mix of YA and adult. 

TREAT MY BUSINESS LIKE A BUSINESS!

I realize this might sound a little bit odd, and I do treat the act of writing and publishing like a business, but it's all the other stuff that goes with it that's lacking. I need to become better organized with my marketing, expenditures, and time management. I'm confident that doing so will also help me in the long term with my output and overall creativity.

EXPAND MY AUDIENCE!

Back in 2021, I'd sold licensing rights to my series to a couple of serial reading apps. I have a list of others that I want to explore and potentially contract with so that I can continue to expand my audience. I'll also be looking for new fun ways to help spread the word about my books. 

READ!

I'd like to aim for 1-2 books per month again, not including any submissions I have to read for Anaiah. I read quite a bit in 2022, and I'd forgotten how much I love to get sucked into a story. I will attempt to read every night before bed.

BALANCE: SLOW DOWN & LOOK AROUND

I'm forever making lists of things I need to do, setting deadlines, and basically working as much as I possibly can. This past year, though, I'd taken a Mother-Daughter vacation (which is going to become an annual thing), and I can't tell you how much fun I had exploring, spending time with my girls, and laughing. I want to do more of that in 2023 -- So, I'm hereby giving myself permission to slow down, look around, and just enjoy life. I'm not getting any younger, my kids are starting to spread themselves farther apart, and I'm to the point in my life where I feel like I've earned the right to really start enjoying all that I have. While I will always keep writing, publishing, and editing, this is the year I find a better balance between my professional and personal life. 

What will you do in 2023?

GOALS: 2022

It's once again my favorite time of year -- GOALS!! I absolutely love setting goals for myself and seeing just how much I can accomplish in a year. And after the productive 2020 I had, and the slightly less productive but still great 2021 I had, I'm more excited than ever to see what 2022 has in store. So, let's do this!

KEEP ON WRITING & PUBLISHING!

Surprise surprise that this is on my list. LOL. Specifically, these are the projects I'd like to work on this year:

1. Wars of the Heart Series -- This is Jax's series, and as of right now, it's a planned trilogy. I've written and edited the first book, and I'm halfway through writing the second book. Ideally, I'd like to finish all three and then publish them later this year.

2. Vampire Wars Series -- This is a brand new YA paranormal romance series that I'm launching in exactly three days with the release of The Culling as part of The Magic of Midnight Anthology series. I'd like to write the remainder of this series (I'm unsure how many books that will be right now) and release it. 

3. EON Saga -- This is the YA sci-fi romance series I'm co-writing with Rosie Somers. In a perfect world, we'd finish the series and begin publishing it this year. But a lot of that depends on her schedule, too, so I'd be happy with simply getting the second book written.

4. Relaunch Warped Remains -- Originally, I'd co-written and released this book in 2020, but due to unforeseen circumstances, my co-author and I have decided to part ways. (I promise there's a more detailed post about this coming soon!) So, now that I have all rights to this book, I'm going to re-edit it, update the cover, and re-release in March. 

5. Branch into Middle Grade -- I've done a lot of self-reflection this year, and one thing that's become apparent to me is that I'm not well-suited for the traditional adult market. God bless my agent for trying, repeatedly, to sell adult books for me, but it's just not working the way I had hoped. YA, however, seems to be doing well for me. The books I've self-published are doing well in terms of sales and the reader response has been wholly positive. Sadly, my agent doesn't represent YA, but she does represent MG, which is the next logical step for me as it's often closely tied to YA. Therefore, I'm going to write an MG proposal for my agent to shop around. I already have some ideas, and I'm crazy excited about them!

6. Self-Publish Adult Romances -- While I have no luck in the traditional market with adult romances, I know I can find success in self-publishing them. I have two series I'd like to get out this year: a small town cowboy romance and a billionaire series. I'm leaning toward creating and launching a new pen name for my adult books, but the thought of all that extra work is a tad overwhelming. But, stay tuned for an eventual announcement one way or another.

READ!

I'd like to aim for 1 book per month again, not including any submissions I have to read for Anaiah. I'll be reading a lot of MG for research purposes, and I'd like to dive into more adult romances. Though I still have a massive YA TBR, so maybe I can knock that down a little bit. 

PERSPECTIVE: PUBLISHING ISN'T THE END ALL BE ALL

For those of you who've been following along on Facebook, y'all know that I've spent the last 4 nights in the hospital with my daughter. She's been diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, which was a shock to say the least. This will obviously require some lifestyle changes for her and me, and a little bit of adjustment all around. While this ordeal sucks and has been terrifying as a parent, it's also taught me a much needed lesson -- Publishing isn't the end all be all. I'm a workaholic, and when I have deadlines or projects and I can't work on them / meet them, I stress about it. I feel like I'm letting people down, and I hate that feeling! But y'know what? Publishing won't come to a stand still simply because I need to tend to my family or I need a day off for my own health reasons. My WIPs won't cease to exist because I don't write any words on a given day. So, moving forward through 2022, I'm going to focus on keeping this perspective at the forefront of my mind. 

What will you do in 2022?