#ROW80 - Final Sunday Check-In

The #ROW80 Challenge comes to an end on Wednesday and this is my last check-in post so I thought I would recap my original goals and let you know how I got on.

• Take part in Camp NaNo during July and write at least 20 pieces of flash fiction or 10,000 words. - I have 11 stories ready for second drafting and the foundations laid for 15 more, and my word count was 6,184.
• I will spend Aug editing the pieces I have written and either submitting them to magazines or putting together my own collection. - Not started yet. With all the curve balls thrown at me in my personal life during August and September editing my short stories and (as you may have noticed) writing blog posts were the first things that had to be put aside.
• Read and review 11 books. - Completed, but two of the reviews are yet to go live. I am also part way through two more.
• Complete the 750words.com challenge for the month of August (use the site to write a minimum of 750 words a day). - Completed
• Work through the kinks in my WIP and progress with that, or finally lay it rest and start work on another novel. - Reading a couple of craft books has revitalised my interest in this WIP and I am having more and more ideas by the day on how to unstick it. This past week in particular has been a real boost and I am feeling more confident about it again.

Although I didn't achieve all of the goals I set myself, #ROW80 has been a great experience. With everything that has been going on it would have been easy to do nothing this past couple of months, but knowing that I had to check-in with everyone once a week gave me the motivation I needed to get stuff done. You can't beat the feeling of accountability to get you through the procrastinating! The support of a great community of like-minded individuals has also been a huge help.

How about you? How did you get on this week? Let me know in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you. And remember, if you want to visit others in the #ROW80 blog hop you can use the links below.

9th Sunday Check-In - #ROW80

I have had to take even more time off this week but I am hopeful that there is now an end in sight and in a couple of weeks everything should be back to normal (fingers crossed). Unfortunately, in a week where I really can't cope with much more stress and worry, my 11 year old cat Jinx decides to disappear. She hasn't been seen since Thursday afternoon and I am starting to fear the worst, it really is going to break my heart if she doesn't come back.

With all that has been going on my blog is starting to suffer, so I apologise for the lack of regular posts. I also haven't got a great deal of work done on my wip (not outside of my head anyway). I have read another two books from my review list however. Here's hoping next week is a better one.

How about you? How did you get on this week? Let me know in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you. And remember, if you want to visit others in the #ROW80 blog hop you can use the links below.

Review of Mountain Charm by Sydney Logan

Description (from Amazon)

Cover links to amazon.co.uk

“True love and sweet whispers, till death do us part;
Send someone to love my Appalachian heart.”

At the age of thirteen, Angelina Clark followed in the footsteps of her ancestors by casting an Appalachian love spell, which promised she would blossom into a beautiful and gifted woman who would find her true love. A young Angelina had been thrilled to participate in the sacred ritual, but through the years, her father’s untimely death and her mother’s failing health have shaken Angelina’s magical faith to its core. As her twenty-first birthday approaches, she refuses to practice her supernatural gifts and no longer believes in the love charm.

That is, until Dylan Thomas arrives on her front porch.

Dylan, a Nashville writer, travels to the mountain town of Maple Ridge to unearth the family’s supernatural secrets. While her clairvoyant mother is convinced that Dylan is her daughter’s soul mate, Angelina refuses to see the nosy reporter as anything more than a nuisance.

Despite their constant bickering, sparks fly.

Dylan admits he feels strangely drawn to Angelina and is in no hurry to leave Maple Ridge or publish his magazine article. Fearful that his emotions are being influenced by the spell, a stubborn Angelina struggles to fight her own budding attraction to the reporter.

The two inevitably grow closer just as her mother’s health begins to deteriorate, and Angelina is faced with the possibility of selling the family’s music shop to pay the mounting medical expenses. Desperate to help the woman he loves, Dylan explores his own family tree and finds support from an unlikely source. Can he finally prove his love is real—spell or no spell?
A story filled with love, friendship, family, and just a hint of Appalachian magic, Mountain Charm will leave you spellbound.

My Review

Mountain Charm is beautifully written romance with just a hint of magic.

I raced through this book, unable to put it down for long, and I finished it in a day. The characters are all really well fleshed out and I felt like I knew each and every one of them within pages of them being introduced. Overall, a heart warming tale that will leave you with that nice warm fuzzy feeling inside, I highly recommend this book. I have already added the authors other books to my TBR pile.

I give Mountain Charm 4 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating System:

1 star: I will never post a 1 star review because this means it was so bad I couldn't finish it, and I don't won't publicly rate a book I haven't read all the way through.

2 stars: I may have liked the story but it was badly written or it may have been a boring story well written. Something about it kept me reading but I didn't enjoy it.

3 stars: A good, enjoyable read. If the description appeals to you I'd recommend reading it.

4 stars: A really good book that I thoroughly enjoyed and may even read again. I will want to read other books by the same author. Highly recommend.

5 stars: Reserved for books that blew me away and whose characters I can't get out of my head. These are books that I will definitely read again, possibly several times. If I read an e-book version I may even have to go buy a hard copy for my shelves. Why are you still here? Go read this book right now.

8th Sunday Check-In - #ROW80

The 750words challenge for August is finished and, despite it feeling like pulling teeth the past few days, I completed every single day. My total words for the month (not including blogging, reviews, or story planning/plotting) was 24,845 and I'm pretty happy with that.

I have read another book from my review list and am part way through two different craft books, both of which I am finding immensely helpful so far.

Yesterday was the cut-off time I gave myself for either digging my current wip out of the black hole that is consuming it or decide to let it go and move on. Unfortunately I haven't been able to rescue it yet, but the craft books I mentioned are giving me a ton of ideas that I want to try in the hope they will help me wrestle it into the light, so I am extending my deadline for another month. That should give me plenty of time to finish reading both books and impliment some of the suggestions.

How about you? How did you get on this week? Let me know in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you. And remember, if you want to visit others in the #ROW80 blog hop you can use the links below.

Review of Doors by Daniel Brako

Cover links to amazon

Description (from NetGalley)

David Druas is a successful psychologist, with a thriving practice. When he encounters Hans Werner, a client who sees imaginary doors, life takes a dark and unexpected turn.

After trying to unravel the delusion, David also notices mysterious doors. Scattered throughout the city, they lead to beautiful, terrifying and dangerous new worlds. But are they real?

When Hans Werner is murdered, the evidence identifies David as the killer. Forced to become a fugitive, he struggles to escape the deepening nightmare that threatens to overwhelm him.

As the police close in, it becomes apparent that the doors are concealing a dark and tangled truth. The question is: can David unlock their secrets before his time and sanity run out?

My Review

Doors is a really intriguing and interesting story. The book is not heavily bogged down in description but I could clearly visualise all the worlds the main character encountered throughout the story. The pace was just right and kept me reading along well after bed time. I do feel that some areas were skimmed over a little too much and a bit more could be made of it, but then again, I liked the shortness of it. There was no messing about, it was straight to the point and engaging.

The way the book ended I believe there is the possibility of a sequel, if that is the case I would definitely be interested in reading it.

I give Doors a very strong 3 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Rating System:

1 star: I will never post a 1 star review because this means it was so bad I couldn't finish it, and I don't won't publicly rate a book I haven't read all the way through.

2 stars: I may have liked the story but it was badly written or it may have been a boring story well written. Something about it kept me reading but I didn't enjoy it.

3 stars: A good, enjoyable read. If the description appeals to you I'd recommend reading it.

4 stars: A really good book that I thoroughly enjoyed and may even read again. I will want to read other books by the same author. Highly recommend.

5 stars: Reserved for books that blew me away and whose characters I can't get out of my head. These are books that I will definitely read again, possibly several times. If I read an e-book version I may even have to go buy a hard copy for my shelves. Why are you still here? Go read this book right now.

7th Sunday Check-In - #ROW80

I am still taking time off for personal reasons, but I am trying to keep up with the blog when I can and I am still on target with the 750word challenge. I have read another book from my review list and am half way through the next.

Whenever I have had a spare moment I have been going through the plot for my current wip and trying to work out the kinks. I have restarted it so many times and always get stuck at the same point, so I have given myself till the end of the month to figure out how to make it work. If I haven't solved it by then, it will be going in a drawer until I have one of those magical 'aha' moments (probably in the middle of another wip!).

How about you? How did you get on this week? Let me know in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you. And remember, if you want to visit others in the #ROW80 blog hop you can use the links below.

Weekly Inspirations #25

Image from Animal Talk

Here are my favourite links from the past two weeks. Have a great weekend.

Here's How Maria Popova of Brain Pickings Writes: http://www.copyblogger.com/how-maria-popova-writes/ …

Pan to Take It All In http://buff.ly/15ZP22D  via @LiveWriteThrive

15 Cats That Should Be Superheroes http://buff.ly/13ThAZR 

Bookshelf Porn - StumbleUpon http://buff.ly/1446CwT  Wow, I want them all!!!!

There's a reason dogs are mans best friend - StumbleUpon http://buff.ly/1d0uatv  Love these

Improving Cause and Effect http://buff.ly/16WV4xI  via @mooderino

25 Steps to Being a Traditionally Published Author: Lazy Bastard Edition http://buff.ly/18K9KkV  via @ChuckWendig

When To Show Character Emotions & When to Tell http://buff.ly/16cFPOJ  via @JodyHedlund

Why Saying "I'm Too Busy" Is Just an Excuse http://buff.ly/150OWIQ  via @JodyHedlund

10 Ways Plot Structure Influences Character Arc http://buff.ly/16yAFjG  via @KMWeiland