The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news ~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.
I’ve been fairly absent from writing this week, as I took a long needed trip away to Dartmoor National Park with my partner. We usually take a camping trip every year, but due to the situation, we decided to try wild camping for the first time, which was exciting!
Dartmoor is the only place in England where you can pitch up your tent without having any kind of permission. After a week of solid rain we approached the trip with tepidity, but remarkably, we barely got any rain and had a successful trip. It was so nice to spend time outdoors and enjoying the simple things in life – finding and filtering our own water, letting our sleep patterns correspond to the sun, eating outside, and just being away from the same four walls. Everything just felt more special than it usually does. Plus, Dartmoor is pretty beautiful – especially the ponies.
I had gotten into a pretty solid routine of writing before going away and I’m now trying to ease myself back into it – which is hard. Because there’s no urgency and I have to inflict deadlines for myself and keep myself motivated, which isn’t usually a problem but when I take time off it can be.
The nights are slowly drawing in and it already feels like the beginning of Autumn – I can’t believe its been half a year of this dreaded virus. I’m worried about the next few months and feel like we haven’t had the worst of it yet.
In terms of blog updates – you may have noticed I have a new theme. I am very indecisive when it comes to themes, but I decided to go for something more simplistic. I think it works, let me know if you have any thoughts! I have redesigned my portfolio page so that it looks a bit more presentable in the hope some commissioning editor may see it and be impressed…. I will always be wishing.
I have set up a MailChimp account with the intentions of starting a newsletter to keen readers who wish to hear more from me. I’m thinking of doing a weekly newsletter that includes my reading thoughts, any recommendations I have and generally what’s happening in my life. You can sign up for that here. When I get enough subscribers I’ll brave it and write the first one.
This Week on the Blog
Book Review: How I Learned to Hate in Ohio
This Week – Elsewhere
OPINION: Post-Covid-19, We All Need to be Intersectional Feminists Empoword Journalism
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Don’t Need to Be Radical, Just Electable Backbench UK
Signs You Need to Practice Self Care — and Why It’s Important The Innovation, Medium
How to Achieve Mental Clarity by Journaling Medium
Currently Reading
Expected: September 1, 2020. Edited by Jennifer Haupt
This is kindly provided to me from NetGalley. I’m not sure how I feel about producing books about Covid yet, seeing as it’s far from over. But if it’s going to be a long journey, I guess we have to document the beginning.
I love the idea of this – a collection of essays, poems and interviews written by writers across the board. I have only read about 20% but I am already enjoying it. It’s so interesting to read about all the different (but sometimes harrowing) experiences of the pandemic.
I am currently on the grief section which is of course, a paramount aspect of the pandemic but is is an incredibly emotional and raw read. I look forward to reading the rest of this in small, regulated doses.
Expected: 29th October, 2020. Mark Watson.
TW: Suicide, depression
This is another one from NetGalley which I was drawn to because of the cover art! It starts with the character of James, who decides to send a text to everyone in his inbox, telling them that he is going to take his own life. Each chapter is told through a different person who received the text and goes through their response to his message, and then the book with lurch back to James.
Again, I haven’t read too much of it yet but it’s a hard going read for sure, mainly due to the context and how close to home it is. It’s quite hard to follow because of the sheer number of characters, but I definitely like the idea of this and hope Mark Watson manages to pull it off.
Salvation Station, Kathryn Schleich.
It’s been a while since I have read a good crime novel and I am looking forward to reading more of this one. This was kindly provided to me by Kelsey Butts at Book Publicity Services.
The lead character is a female police captain called Linda Turner, which I immediately approve of because so many crime novels/thrillers usually have male leads. Chapters alternate between different people potentially involved in the crime and they’re short and choppy which gives a nice pace to the book.
I’m enjoying it so far but just hope it doesn’t get too scary!
Favourite Articles of the Week
7 Lessons Learned by Writing Over Three Thousand Blog Posts ~ Cristian Mihai @ The Art of Blogging
How I Write 20,000 Words in a Single Day ~ Tim Denning @ Better Marketing, Medium
Why I Don’t Wear Bikinis ~ Addie Page @ P.S I Love You, Medium
The Government’s Obesity Strategy Neglects Those in Poverty and Perpetuates Dangerous Stigmas ~ Holly Barrow @ Backbench UK
I hope you all have a brilliant week and keep staying safe!
Please note – this post does contain Amazon affiliate links and if you choose to use them, I will earn a small fee but this doesn’t impact my review in anyway.
Violet Daniels 