by Nikki Amare | Oct 3, 2018 | What I'm Reading
I just finished a new book by author Lindsay Buroker. Fractured Stars is another great space opera seemingly set in the same universe as her Fallen Empire and Sky Full of Stars series. Although this book is said to be a standalone, I seriously hope there are more books to come for these characters.
One thing I really liked about this book was that the main character, McCall Richter is firmly on the spectrum. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t interesting or a complex character. Ms. Buroker has a talent of creating unique and multifaceted characters that come alive on the page and this book is no exception. Her females are always strong, smart, and wholly likable. They also typically have a certain quirk that endears them to their love interest.
Lindsay Buroker is one of my all-time favorite authors and I highly recommend checking out this book or one of her many other series. If space opera isn’t to your taste, don’t worry she writes in several different genres. She even writes romance under the pen name, Ruby Lionsdrake. One thing all of her book have in common is strong story, great characters, and a touch of her unique sense of humor.
I don’t normally recommend books that are exclusive to a single retailer. The reason I’m making an exception here is because there are other ways to get her books before they go on sale by becoming a pateron on her Patreon page. She releases books early through the Pateron site, and in multiple formats. She also typically takes her books wide once the initial three month enrollment period is over.
by Nikki Amare | Sep 26, 2018 | Musings
I should be working on my book right now, but instead I’m working on every thing but my book. Or at least it seems that way. Part of the reason is, I’ve been so hit and miss with my writing that I’m finally at a point where I can’t remember what’s happening in the book, let alone where it’s going. I’ve been saying for the last month that I need to sit down and reread everything from the beginning, but so far I’ve read the first chapter like six times. I did manage to get to the second chapter the other day but that’s as far as I’ve gotten. I need about six hours to just sit down and read through it, maybe make myself some notes or an outline or something so I’ll know what happened in previous chapters. I already know it’s most likely going to go through considerable revisions before I send it off to my editor. Once I get everything packed up and we’re ready to leave, I’ll be able to finish this book in no time. But I also thought we’d be done or close to being done by now and well… we’re not even close.
Is it possible for stuff to breed while I’m sleeping because I swear that’s what’s happening? Every time I clean out a room it seems like there’s more stuff in it the next day. I’m currently working on my office. I’ve already got three boxes of books I plan to donate; some to the public library and some to the school library. I also have four bags of office supplies I’m going to donate to the local elementary school. It’s mostly loose leaf paper, notebooks, three-ring binders, and some pencils and things. It’s not a ton of stuff, but I’m sure the school will appreciate it nonetheless.
I still have books to go through. So many books. Which really shouldn’t surprise anyone since I’m pretty sure every author/writer has a good sized book collection. I actually think it might be a requirement. But, like everything else in this house, I’m only keeping the stuff I absolutely love—that includes books. I’m getting rid of some of the books that I have multiples of or various versions (ie. Paperback and Hardback). Still, I think deciding which books to donate has been the hardest part of this move for me yet. I love them all, but I know I won’t have the room for all of my books in the new house. Honestly, I don’t have enough room for all of them in this house which is why a good portion of them were already in boxes in the bottom of the closet. My bookcases were already full and I didn’t have any more room for more bookcases. So it’s time to let them go and hope that they find another reader to love them. Maybe they will inspire a new generation of authors/writers they way they did me.
by Nikki Amare | Sep 19, 2018 | Musings
We’re in the process of trying to move. This means going through a lifetime of boxes and others things we’ve packed away. There are boxes I’d packed when I moved out of my apartment and in with my husband many, many years ago. Boxes I’d forgotten I even had, as they’d been put in the closet and then over the years had been shuffled from one place to another. Since I haven’t needed anything in those box in over ten years most of the stuff was thrown away. But this whole process has really opened my eyes to the amount of stuff (ie. junk) we store. I mean, there are things I’m not even sure why I had in the first place, let alone why I kept it all these years. There are things we have multiples of because my husband is bad about never putting things back where he got them. We’re really trying to get rid of things and only keep the items we really want or need. I’m tired of having a house that has more storage space than living space.
Part of us moving is to make our lives easier. I want a smaller house, one that is easy to keep clean and doesn’t have a ton of extra space for storing things. I mean, obviously we’ll have storage but only for the things we actually use, not a lot of room to add things we don’t need. Ideally we’ll start the one thing in, one thing out method where you can’t buy something unless you get rid of something else. This will be much either for me than it will be for Hubby.
We’re planning to build a house. And when I say build… Hubby and I will be doing the actual building. We want this house to be what we want and since we have the skills, it makes more sense to do it ourselves. Plus, it will mean more that way. And I want things to mean more. I want the things I have in my life to mean something to me. We’re not planning to build a big house. There are only two of us and a small dog so it’s not like we need a lot of room. Plus, part of the point of moving is to be able to be outside more. We want a healthier, happier, more sustainable lifestyle.
Hubby is looking forward to having a garden and being able to grow our own food. He’s tried several times here but it’s so hot that most things don’t want to grow and if they do they are often lacking the flavor we’d like. So having a big garden is something we’re both looking forward to but it will be his baby as I have a black thumb. I grew up on a farm where we had huge gardens and plants everywhere, yet I did not inherit that gift. My grandmother was one of those people who could take a plant you were sure was dead and within a few months it would be green and full and beautiful. My mom is the same way.
Me, you give me a nice health plant they say you can’t kill and that sucker will be dead within six months easy—probably sooner. So the garden will be all his.
But that means I’ll be making a lot of pickles. While I did not get the green thumb, I did learn how to can and pickle. I’m looking forward to having a pantry full of glass jars instead of metal cans.
So as I go through things here, I keep those things firmly in my mind. I picture the life I want, the one we’re trying to build, and it makes it a lot easier to throw out that thing I don’t really need—and if I take it will me will probably end up in a box in the closet forever—but have been hanging onto for some reason. I have a few sentimental items I plan to keep. Things that remind me of a certain time in my life or of someone I lost. For the most part, however, I find myself getting rid of things I never thought I would. Instead of making me sad, as I thought it might with somethings, it’s actually freeing. I’m giving myself permission to leave the past behind, to focus on the future, and to become who I really want to be.
by Nikki Amare | Sep 12, 2018 | Musings
If you read my last post then you know I’ve been on vacation. I’m back home now and I have a ton of things to catch up on. Hubby made a lot of progress on the packing while I was gone, which is good because it gets us that much closer to being able to move. My vacations wasn’t really a vacation-vacation. I went home to visit family, since it’s been awhile and once we move it will probably be a few years before I’ll be able to get back. I had a nice time and got to spend some quality time with my parents. They’re no longer together so I split my time between the two of them while I was there.
I was supposed to be back a few days before I actually got home. Tropical Storm Gordon hitting the Gulf Coast had the airlines cancelling my flight so I had to rescheduled for a few days later, which my mom was fine with since she never wants me to leave.
While I was up there I decided it was time for a change and chopped all of my hair off. Hubby was a bit surprised at how short it is considering it had been below my shoulder and I’m now sporting a pixie cut. I’ve shaved like thirty minutes off of my morning routine since it takes me like five minutes to dry and fix my hair now. And that’s only if I blow dry it instead of letting it air dry which is what I have been doing most of the time. Then I use the flat iron to deal with a few problem areas and it’s done. So the new me has short hair and more time. You can’t beat that.
My mom took me to the state fair while I was up there. It’s been forever since I went to a fair of any kind. Of course as a kid I loved the rides. As an adult the food tends to draw my attention more. I probably ate more than I should have and I definitely didn’t eat healthy. I weighted myself when I got home and while I haven’t lost any weight, I haven’t gained any either, so I will consider that a win. Especially considering how often I ate out while I was up there—something we hardly ever do at home. I guess it’s a good thing I also did a lot of walking.
The day I was supposed to be leaving my mom took me to this little tea house downtown called, Tea’s Me. It is one of those places that if I lived nearby I would be writing it in all the time. It had a cozy, comfortable, and inviting atmosphere. They have a mix of regular chairs and couches and while the place is small there’s still plenty of room to move around without worrying about bumping into someone else. The staff was very friendly and the food was excellent. They have a variety of teas and I wish I would have had time to try them all. If you ever find yourself in the Indianapolis area and you like tea, I highly recommend you check out Tea’s Me.
Now that I’m home, I will be focusing on trying to find some kind of schedule where I can write for an hour or two in the mornings and then spend the rest of the day packing. I’m not really a morning person so I’m not sure how well the writing in the mornings is going to go, but I’ve got to make more time for my writing if I’m ever going to finish this book. I’m already way behind in my writing/publishing schedule. This book should have already been finished, so I’ve really got to buckle down and write! But I really need to get things packed and moved into the storage unit so we can sell these houses too. So September is going to be a busy month for me.
What are your plans for the month? Anything exciting?
What kind of changes have you recently made?
by Nikki Amare | Aug 29, 2018 | Musings
There won’t be a new post this week or next week because I’m on vacation and forgot to schedule the posts before I left. I promise to have a new post up the week of September 10th.
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The new website is in the works and will hopefully be ready to launch by Halloween.
