Tag: books

Books for February 2019

A few days into February and I thought it would be good to share some of the books I am looking forward to. These four books, coming this month, are set to be great reads. Here are my sought after books for February.

1. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

On the Come Up is Angie Thomas’ sophomore offering. Her first book, The Hate You Give, was a bestseller that was made into a film. Ms. Thomas writes biting fiction that reflects the often dangerous world of young black kids. On the Come Up was published on February 5th and tells the story of young Bri striving to be a great rapper. Her road to stardom is fraught with looming homelessness, and the reality of becoming who you are meant to be. Furthermore, it seems to be a honest look at the struggle of staying solvent when you are poor and working class.

2. An Unconditional Freedom by Alyssa Cole

An Unconditional Freedom is the third and last installment of Ms. Cole’s Loyal League series. These books take place during the time of the American Civil War and centers on slaves and freed slaves interacting in the turmoil of the times. In this book, we meet a freed man who is kidnapped and sold into slavery. He is eventually freed and joins the Loyal League, a collection of spies working to take down the Confederacy. I have enjoyed the first two books, which you can find here, and look forward to An Unconditional Freedom. Only problem is I have to wait until February 26th!

3. Separate by Steve Luxenberg

This book has a long subtitle, and I didn’t think it would fit in the heading. Specifically, Separate: The Story of Plessy v Ferguson, and America’s Journey from Slavery to Segregation, is the actual title. I wonder why that couldn’t have been shortened. It is a mouthful! This Supreme Court case ushered in the devastating idea of “separate but equal”. And if you know anything about American history, you know how disastrous that was. It set a dangerous precedent with far reaching implications. The book covers around 50 years in the lives of those involved with the case. It sounds fascinating for this history fan and drops on February 12th.

4. The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison

I adore reading Toni Morrison. Her books always stretch my brain and makes me feel. A really huge deal in my world. This latest book, due February 12th, is a bit of a history of Toni Morrison collection. It includes essays, speeches, and meditations from the author over the past 40 years. That’s also its subtitle. The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations is the full name. Ms. Morrison has a sharp mind and a sweeping view on race and how it impacts us. I’ve never read her nonfiction work, so I look forward to this peek into her mind.

4 Ideas to Spark Your Creativity

Hello to all my creatives, this post is for you. I mostly write and am working on a new novel. This is slow going, because I am still working on how to structure a story and keep it going till the end. It is much harder than it sounds, but all writers are constantly getting better… what we like to call ‘perfecting our craft’. I imagine many creatives have a similar stance. So, today, I want to talk about a few ways I like to spark, or even reignite, my creativity.

  1. Change of scenery. I work at a desk in my home office and by office, I mean the corner I keep my computer and desk in. Because of have young kids, this doesn’t always lend itself to productive actions. It also means a lot of my writing gets done in the evening, especially during the summer. When I really need to keep going with the story, I like to grab my laptop and try the park or even the ubiquitous coffee shop. Some like it for the people watching, that they then use in their writings. But mostly, I use it as an opportunity to zone out to the sound of my keys and the voice of the story. 
  2. Change of story. This might sound counter to what you are trying to accomplish at that time. Yet, often putting down your current project to start or continue another, gives your brain a chance to stretch in a different way. Then when you come back to the current work, your words may flow a bit better. As a writer, my brain is often thinking about characters in the background, so leaving and returning often has given my brain time to work on any problems without me being totally present. It is like when you get those flashes of insight and great ideas when you are in the shower. Mostly, that’s because you are not laser focused on the problem and have moved on. So, then your brain can work out the sticking points.
  3. Change of background. This one sounds weird and really similar to changing your scenery. But I use it in a different manner. Background for me is often the sounds of a home with kids arguing, televisions going, and interruptions even though I am supposed to be in a ‘no talk to Mommy’ zone. Some people write with music and have whole play lists devoted to their book. Or they just use it as white noise so they can focus. If you usually work to background noise, maybe try working in a place where there is no noise. Maybe you will hear that character who couldn’t get through your background. If you normally work in a  mostly quiet environment, you can try music, or the television on a channel that doesn’t distract you but, can focus you. You don’t have to have a work in progress (WIP) play list, you could just put on a music genre you enjoy. The different stimuli may spark a new idea or direction, or just focus the one you are on.
  4. Put it down and pick up a book. Sometimes we can get so caught up in the story we are trying to create for the page that when we get stuck, we feel like we can’t stop. We have a goal and are adamant about reaching it. Yet, that isn’t always realistic, so when all else fails me, I pick up a book. Most writers I know love to read, and they don’t just read the types of books they write. Going off into a new world provided by a book just gives me a respite from the work of writing.

Now, these four ideas are certainly not unique and you may have heard of one or all, but I hope you got some new ideas about how you can avoid the occasional burn out of perfection. These are mostly ideas for writers, but I can see where others could adapt the ideas for their own use. Let me know what types of things you use to spark your creativity and keep it alive. I look forward to hearing from you.

3 Books of My Late Summer Reading To-Do List

Have you been reading this summer? I spend a lot of time reading, a host of genres. Really anything that captures my attention I will try. I even have that terrible feeling of guilt to finish books I don’t really like. So, I generally have a never-ending books to read list that grows daily as I find more interesting stories I want to give a try. This summer I meant to catch up on some books I had on my list from earlier in the year and read one parenting book in regards to my 2e children. Well, like many of you probably, summer was a blur of fun, pools, beaches, camps, and video games. While the kids did all of that, I found myself gravitating to quick and fun reads with tons of HEAs. So, I didn’t get to some of those books I originally planned on, but I read other great stories, so it isn’t a bust! Now, as we have only a few weeks before back to school here in Central Florida, I am re-committing to finishing these three books.

  1. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi – this book has had a lot of great buzz. Many writers I enjoy following made me aware of Ms. Adeyemi before the publication in February. Then I saw the viral video of her unpacking her first box of bound books and I knew I wanted to be a part of her expansive love of words. This fantasy tells the story of one girl’s journey to reintroduce magic to her world along with fighting the ruling monarchy. Grand new world with interesting characters and qualities, check. There are wonderful takes on mythology, religion, and culture, so sign me up to be immersed in this newly imagined world where a girl is fighting to save us all. And, it is now a summer read on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, which is awesome exposure for the author. This is a must read on my list and I can’t wait to jump into Orïsha through the pages of this novel.
  2. Cedric The Demonic Knight by Valerie Willis – in the vein of transparency, I personally know Ms. Willis but haven’t read her work before. This is the first in the Cedric Series and was published a few years ago. Here we get to go on another adventure into a fantasy world built with folklore, myths, and history from the 12th century. It is filled with beasts and demons, where Cedric battles himself in an epic choice quest. I always find it fascinating the many ways writers use and interpret folklore and myth. I am excited to finally read this fantasy world.
  3. The Explosive Child by Ross W. Greene, Ph.D. – as you know through many of my posts, I have twice exceptional (2e) kids and sometimes that means things don’t go so smoothly. One of the psychiatrists in our lives suggested I read this book to better equip myself and our family with understanding behaviors, identifying triggers, and solving problems in a proactive manner. I have read the first couple of chapters and I see us in almost every paragraph. So, I look forward to reading this popular parenting guide that has been useful to so many others and recommended by those we entrust with our physical and mental health.

Now that I have this goal, I’m planning to finish by September 30th. Stay tuned to see if I can do it.

Readying for NaNoWriMo

If you don’t have any idea what NaNoWriMo means, don’t fear, I will explain and you can read about my first involvement here. NaNoWriMo is an acronym for National Novel Writing Month. It is also a great website where you can be supported in your writing endeavors and share your dreams with other dreamers. At the NaNoWriMo site, you can sign up to participate in writing a novel in one month, track your writing progress, get support, and connect with writers online and in person. If you find yourself signing up, look me up and be my friend, I am JansheaAuthor there.

One of the biggest wins for me last year was discovering the rich bounty of writers in my area, and all the wonderful, supportive ways I could be involved with getting better at crafting stories. In the other months that I am not participating in NaNoWriMo, I can participate with local writers and online ones with the continuing writing camps held and months dedicated to polishing up your new masterpiece.

So, we are only in the month of September, why would I bring up NaNoWriMo now? Well, we have a bit over a month to decide what will be working on in November and many of us are still trying to figure that out. Some of us have pages of ideas and partially fleshed out stories, some of us write works for publishing year round and may know what is next on the schedule. Yet many of us could benefit from a little time to decide on a subject matter and start outlining a broad picture to work from. Now, I am not a huge outliner before writing, but in spending time crafting, I have found it a great help to have an overview of storyline, characters, setting, time, and possibly theme. It is much easier than you might suspect to forget the details when using names, dates, or familial connections. It brings the story to a screeching halt when writers get distinguishing details wrong during the course of a book. Readers are discerning, while the writer sometimes misses things from constantly reading the story. You can probably guess, I found this out the hard way in my own work.

As such, I am starting the thinking, deciding, and big picture work for this year’s NaNoWriMo. I found those little reminders and ‘atta girls’ doled out when participating, really felt good and helped with goal setting. Sometimes writers get lost in all the ideas and have a terrible time focusing. Occasionally I am even paralyzed to inaction from too many thoughts and poor focus. So, if you are like me, try starting now and set some small goals in preparation for the marathon of NaNoWriMo. If you are more put together as a writer than I am, feel free to share your skills in getting there! Either way, I hope you spread your wings with your writing this year. May you soar to a new level in  your writing.

I am starting with subject matter. I will spend the next week deciding exactly what subject I plan to tackle this November. What will you work on to prepare for NaNoWriMo? Let me know in the comments. I look forward to hearing from you.