June 12, 2023 Reflection
A look back on the week behind me and setting my sight on what is ahead.
A garden of homes
tulips, roses, irises
A family of harvest mice
bellies full of pollen
blankets of petals
dew drop baths
When the sun peeks through the petals
the mice stir
nibble a snack
sip a drink
Peel apart the petal
head out to the world.
Poem inspired by "I was today years old..."image I found from a writing prompt (can't remember where!)
Welcome!
Okay, so I have had a blog for quite sometime…2016 to be exact (read my first post
-goodness that TBR…was long forgotten) and I have struggled with the NEWSLETTER aspect of it. I feel like with blogs, you are best to use a newsletter so that way you always get alerted to new posts! At least, that’s how I manage them. I used Bloglovin’ for quite some time as a way to follow blogs as well, and that worked until it didn’t (I am not sure why though). Then, I tried installing a widget and all the things on Wordpress AND long story short, I am here.
Substack.
I hope this works as a place to connect with people who love books, KidLit, and creating as well as a place to share my own creations (blog, YouTube, writing).
So, if you are still here, still reading, WELCOME! I am so glad you decided to take this journey with me. Make sure to subscribe (and if I emailed you and you don’t want to receive these, please ignore).
Alright, let’s get to the good stuff.
Reading Life
Recently Read
Let’s talk about the books I finished this past week. Now, keep in my mind I have been reading some of these, I didn’t necessarily start AND finish this week. Also, remember that reading is all about enjoyment and fulfillment and is individual to each person!
You can read more about my thoughts about these books on my blog! All of these were amazing reads, but if I had to pick one that I absolutely LOVED it would be…The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton. Now, I read some really important books here that I do think everyone should read, but I am choosing India’s book as my favorite because I was absolutely head over heels in love while reading it. The banter. The pirates. The magic. Ugh! And I am not really a huge romance reader, but this one was just the bees knees. I look forward to reading the next book (just waiting on the library to release it to me)!
Option Pile
What do I want to read this week? Well, I am a mood reader-or just a really unfocused reader who picks up book after book and is pretty much all over the place. Is that a mood reader? Then that’s me.
So, a glimpse at the books I HOPE to finish…but who knows what will happen!
The book on this list that has my full attention right now? MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW BY STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES. Holy moly this book! I honestly went in not knowing anything-I had gotten it from a list for indigenous authors I believe-and when it kicked off with horror….yep. Sold. I am so into this world and the character Jade. She is…something. It’s adult though, so since I like to promote KidLit the most, I would say the next book that has me turning pages is SUSPENDED BY JASON REYNOLDS AND ZEKE PEÑA. The story line is so interesting to me-it is Miles Morales getting suspended from school. There’s verse. There’s prose. There’s illustrations. It’s pretty amazing. Jason Reynolds is my hero. But, that’s another post in itself!
Book Journaling
I like to draw/sketch/note as I read (or after) and I had fallen out of that habit. So, this summer I have tried to carry my notebook around (which I love this stinking thing so much) and am finding my thoughts transferring to the pages with ease, and excitement!
Here’s a glimpse of my recent doodles and notes.
Do you annotate or journal with your reading?
Writing
Last week, I finally (finally) finished reading my draft of my dystopian novel in verse! I had put this aside last August…and was too scared to reread for a long time. I sent it off to friends to read, received great feedback, and then shut down. This was my first time experiencing people critiquing a big body of work and I think it was overwhelming.
Tell me how to get over this fear! Or if you also struggle with revisions after critiques.
But, here we are. Summer is here. I am off work (I am a teacher) and I am ready to dive in.
So, I finished reading and I am honestly so proud of myself. I am proud of the writing I did, I am proud I picked it up again. I am proud of myself for sending it to people to critique.
This week, I attending the Writing Brave Summit hosted by Brooke Adams Law and am so excited! I hope this summit gets me motivated and ready to write and revise.
YouTube
I have two YouTube Channels, one about reading and writing for me as an adult-so it can cover all kinds of topics and one that is just for kids and educators.
Here are my recent videos!
Mrs. Bookdragon- 30 books in 3 months
Legit KidLit-Kate Fussner (MG Novel in Verse) (and a giveaway on TWITTER!)
The End
Thank you for reading to the end. Thank you for thinking about subscribing. Even bigger thank you for replying or commenting.
I am still a little self-conscious about all of this and not sure where exactly I want this substack to go or what I want it to be. Like I said, I have a blog, I don’t want to give that up, but I want to stay in communication better with people and so…maybe this something added?
I am going to drop a couple polls down here too to help me get a handle on what I am actually doing…