Category: Best of the Bunch

  My Goings On in May: I am officially done teaching. Even though my oldest is still technically being homeschooled, she’s taking all her classes at the local community college now, and I’m not really teaching her anything anymore. My middle child is headed to public high school next year, so I won’t be teaching her classes at the co-op next fall. And my youngest has always been in the special education program at our public school because I just don’t have the know-how or the resources to teach him. So, that means I’m done. Forever. (Well, probably—I mean, you never know.) It’s really sort of bittersweet. I watched The Rain and Fear the Walking Dead while doing the elliptical. I ended up writing a whole post about subtitles vs. dubbing for The Rain. I’m loving the series and only have one episode to go. I was happy to see they just renewed… Read more »

  My Goings On in April: April was a bit better than March on the blogging front. I’m still blogging less than I used to, but I felt okay about the amount I got done, all things considering. Some of my homeschool co-op classes ended. My two acting classes are over, and we had our final performances. The kids did a great job! My middle school language arts class was supposed to be over, but the kids asked to keep meeting, so I gave them an optional extension (which over half the class took me up on). We’re reading Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu and comparing it to “The Snow Queen,” which it’s based off of. My One Year Adventure Novel class has just a couple more weeks to go! I started watching Fear the Walking Dead and A Series of Unfortunate Events while doing the elliptical. I’ve only watched the first… Read more »

My Goings On in March: I barely blogged in March! I’m feeling a bit behind on just about everything lately, and it came through in my blogging. I think this was the least number of posts I’ve put up in a month since my very early days of blogging. On the positive side, school is ramping down for our homeschool co-op, and I should have a lot more time once that happens. And since my two youngest kids will be attending public school next year (and my oldest takes most classes at the local community college), I should have A LOT more time on my hands in the future. So, starting in fall, I hope to get a schedule down for myself that I can stick to. I wish I could promise that for the summer, but I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep! I found a few… Read more »

My Goings On in January: I’ve been working hard on editing my MG project. My goal is to have it done by February 15th because that’s the date I’ll find out if I made it into the writing workshop I applied for (and if I get it, I’ll have to send the book off to them). Teaching! Homeschool co-op classes started back up at the beginning of the month, and they’re keeping me busy. My One Year Adventure Novel kids are writing a chapter a week (they’ll have written 12 chapters total by the end of the semester). They’re finding that writing is harder than they expected, so I’m trying to encourage them to just keep going! Lots of changes with school this month. First off, we visited the local high school for 8th grade orientation and made the decision for my daughter to attend there next year as a freshman…. Read more »

  I decided to make this month’s wrap-up post quick since there are so many year-end wrap-ups going up. I couldn’t bear to leave my December reviews (and other posts) out in the cold, though! Features & Discussions: 2018 Book Blog Discussion Challenge Sign-Up – Come join us and discuss books in 2018!! Looking for a List of 2018 Reading/Book Blogging Challenges? Look No Further! – This list is HUGE and you should definitely check it out! Why Can’t I Seem to Read Lately? Let’s Discuss. Do I Like Some Books Better as Audiobooks? Let’s Discuss. Bookish Naughty or Nice Tag Top 10 of 2017: New-to-Me Authors Top 10 of 2017: Favorite Females 2017 End of Year Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up – Link up your December wrap-ups AND all of your year-end wrap-up posts (Top 10 lists, etc). Top 10 of 2017: Best Boys in Books  2018 Reading Challenge Sign-Ups and Wrap-Up of… Read more »

  My Goings On in November: I won NaNoWriMo!!! My book isn’t finished yet, but I got my 50,000 words n and I’m motivated to keep going! I attended an SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) writing conference, which gave me some great ideas on things I need to work on with my middle grade novel. Of course, then I proceeded to start NaNo, so I didn’t manage to work on it at all. But, yeah, I’m going to get on this in December. I didn’t manage too much else—For instance, I did exactly zero working out in November. My husband and I started watching Orphan Black and The Good Doctor—really enjoying both of them. Features & Discussions: October Wrap-Up Round-Up Giveaway (with a Make Me Read It Twist) Serial Box: A New Way to Read? My Thoughts on The Fisher of Bones and ReMade… Introducing My 2017 NaNoWriMo… Read more »

My Goings On in October: I watched Season 7 of The Walking Dead (while doing the elliptical) and now I’ve moved on to finally catching up with Game of Thrones (I’m at the beginning of Season 3). I’m also watching iZombie with my husband and mom and we watched all of the current episodes of Ozark. My daughter had her first swim meet of the season. I finished editing Orion by Raeah Wilding (AKA Allie Juliette Mousseau). I went to the Adam Silvera/Lauren Oliver event at Anderson’s Bookshop. Instagram: Features & Discussions: October Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway Quick Recap of the Adam Silvera/Lauren Oliver Author Event September Wrap-Up Round-Up Giveaway (with a Make Me Read It Twist) Realistic Depiction of Mental Health in YA: Let’s Discuss. My Unpopular Opinion About Banned Books Week: Let’s Discuss! October Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up My 2017 Reading Progress: I’m now one behind on my… Read more »

  My Goings On in September: I went to the 6th Annual Novel Cuisine Luncheon. I never did end up writing a recap for the event, but it was lots of fun and there were plenty of fantastic books AND lots of fantastic food! Our homeschool co-op is in full swing, so I’m now teaching four classes. Yikes! (I should point out that three of these classes only meet once a week, so it’s not as crazy as it sounds). Most Popular Posts: My top post for this month still seems to be the Spoiler-Filled Discussion of Three Dark Crowns, but second was my Spoiler-Filled Discussion of One Dark Throne. I’ve puzzled over my stats for a while now, and I think I might write a post about it… Next was my August Wrap-Up Round-Up Giveaway (with a new interactive Make Me Read It twist) – I was really happy… Read more »

  My Goings On in July & August: At the very beginning of July I won the opportunity to get editorial feedback on my MG manuscript from a Penguin UK Children’s editor (via the Authors for Grenfell Tower auction). Then, at the end of August, I got that feedback back, and it was incredibly positive! (Click the links to read more since I’ve already gushed about both of these things.) I took my kids to various camps and the swim season ended. My oldest decided he doesn’t want to swim anymore. Sigh. My oldest started drivers’ ed, which is incredibly scary to me. Both on an emotional level and literally—you forget how nerve-wracking it can be when you first start driving!  We had a Japanese exchange student stay with us for a month. He spoke the least English out of any of the exchange students we’ve had in the past,… Read more »