I grew up on Harry Potter, the Babysitter’s Club and Nancy Drew. And then in high school I was given a Kindle and immediately dropped into an endless amount of worlds of Faeries and Seraphim. And then the smut. Oh, the smut. Nancy was lost to me when I realized there could be kissing in books. But that meant I did find Gossip Girl, Twilight, and Graceling, the first in an obscure but AMAZING universe written by Kristen Cashore filled with weird things I can’t begin to explain in a sentence (but you should DEFINITELY read it. Make this my first review).
My reading interests increasingly evolved until, without any surprise to me or anyone else, I happened upon Sarah J. Maas and her excellent second series (I wouldn’t read her first until my second pregnancy and it’s a big life regret for me). She is of course the ultimate vibe. But after spending two years writing my own story, I’m realizing she’s not the only vibe I’ve gathered and now want to create for myself.
But the realism in Romance, the conflict in Sci-fi, and the suspense in Crime all still pull at me, apparently. Because when I came back to writing in 2022, my first instinct was to write something complicated. Of course. But so do the vampires and the faeries and all the rest, because the other stories have planned to read are FILLED WITH CRAZY. But set in our world because we’ve got some cool locations. But I’m still unknown enough to admit it. I have no idea what I’m doing, except that I’m following this crazy story until my brain is satisfied it’s over. If someone wants to read what I’ve got to say, then great. Until then, I’ve got a lot of reading to become adept at the kind of writing I want to present to you, the reader.
All the writing experts say “figure out who your reader is, and market to them.” And while I very much want to find someone else out there in the world who wants to read my writing, I’m still writing just for me. Originally I thought that would mean making my book sound like the Romantasy or Romance that I love to read so much, but I’m finding it’s much bigger than that. Plus the humor and confusion that lies in the mind of the scary other gender (I’ve never written from a man’s point of view, Eep!) So it’s time to broaden my own horizons, and start reading things that will broaden my writing horizons.
When We Save the Day is a tricky blend of many genres (on accident don’t @ me) and it’s going to take a lot of inspiration to make it perfect. So I’ll be deep diving through the years and genres to find exactly what’s going to help me build the best story. so I can then give you the best story I have in me!
For the next year, I’ll range from Fantasy and Romance and all things happy endings, to corrupt governments and dystopian plot lines. There will be a few writing theory books and fiction I can’t resist thrown in, starting with House of Shadow and Flame.
I don’t read weekly, but I want to. I’ve got kids, though, so have mercy please. And some weeks I’ll read 3-5 books and post my star review on instagram! I’ll be trying to publish a review 3-5 days after finishing a book, to best process and appreciate. I will not be publishing anything negative, and will be looking at depth, craft, and surprising pieces.
Bernie's thoughts 