Happy Monday! I recently signed up for Disney+ so that I could watch Hamilton for the Fourth of July (excellent, by the way!) Before my month-service expired, I decided it was the ideal time to re-watch the original Star Wars trilogy after too many years. And then I made a video review!
In a year this weird, I suppose it’s only fitting that my reading challenge update is running a few weeks late! I forgot entirely at the end of June, and I’ve been meaning to get this up ever since I remembered.
Closing the libraries in March really messed with my ability to go through my To Be Read list…but the libraries have gone to curbside pick-up for a while now, getting me back on track there. And staying home has given me more time to read – though never as much as I expect!
My big goal of the year was to read more, setting my total goal for 125 books. I’m pretty much on track for that, at 67 books total.
Here’s my monthly totals:
January: 14 books
February: 11 books
March: 7 books
April: 12 books
May: 9 books
June: 9 books
July: 5 books (so far)
Now onto the specific challenges…
The Phantom of the Opera Reading & Viewing Challenge
Host: Tales of the Marvelous
Goal: Lon Chaney Level
I did remember to post the check-in post for this one on time!
Continue reading “2020 Reading Challenges – Half-way Point (ish)”
I’m in a good place for finishing writing projects right now. I made the final, final edits to Accompaniment yesterday – my proof copy arrived last week, I did some reading through it, and finished the last few edits I found as a result of that. That completes the paperback, so now I need to do the Kindle formatting, and set-up the hardback. It puts everything still on track for the September 4th publishing date!
My next project is final edits to Guardian III, which should be much smaller than the ones I did for Accompaniment, so should be finished very soon. Nice to be ahead of things on that.
Meanwhile, the Guardian prequel is out with beta-readers. A couple have already sent feedback, so I’ll probably start implementing revisions for that shortly too, to hopefully put that out some time in August…a possibly ambitious timeline, but we’ll see!
That’s my main writing focus right now – lots of soon-to-be-done revisions. I also put up a new video about Accompaniment‘s proof copy, if you’d like to check it out!
It seems like Nocturne, the first book in my Guardian of the Opera trilogy, only just came out…probably because it was just six weeks ago. But since I wrote the entire trilogy before starting to launch them, I’m very excited that Book Two, Accompaniment, will be out in less than two months! So today I’m sharing my cover – and you can already pre-order your Kindle copy.
Before I get to the cover, here’s a bit about the book, which continues the story of the Phantom of the Opera.
After the crash of the chandelier and the disappearance of the powerful Comte de Chagny, Erik’s refuge behind the mask of the Phantom of the Opera has grown more dangerous. Commissaire Mifroid has vowed to hunt him down, in whatever depths of the Opera Garnier he hides. Grieving the departure of Christine Daaé, Erik finds it hard to care about the policeman’s threat, and a slowly growing friendship with Meg Giry seems like only a minor distraction.
When Christine left Paris, Meg thought the hole in her life could never be filled. It only makes it worse that she’s known far too much as “Christine’s friend.” But conversations with the Phantom and flirtations with a handsome gentleman in the Dance Foyer mean the chance to seek a new role—and to stop feeling like a secondary character in her own life.
The first book retold the events of the original Phantom story, so I’m looking forward to hearing what people think of how I take the story forward. If you haven’t read Book One yet, it’s also available…and you won’t have to wait long for the continuation of the story!
That’s probably enough waiting for the cover too…
I really love that I was able to use the same model for Meg as I did for the first book’s cover – and it’s fun to have the iconic Grand Stairs of the Opera for the background too. I design my own covers, and I actually took the photo of the Grand Stairs while visiting Paris.
I hope you’ll order your copy of Acccompaniment!
Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is: Do you bring along books when you go on a vacation?
ALWAYS! Going on vacation is the one time I regret not having an e-reader…but it only comes up once every year or two, so I just haul along books and make the best of it. I love having something to read with me, and depending on the length of the vacation and the specific plans, I may bring five or six books!
I went to England twice for two-week vacations, and traveled alone. I brought along several books and read through most of them. I try to theme my reading to the place I’m going, if I can, so I brought several books set in London, and it really did add something. It’s awesome to read Sherlock Holmes and visit Baker Street!
I always bring and read The Little White Bird, or Adventures in Kensington Gardens by J. M. Barrie when I go to London. I stay at a hotel near the Gardens and try to go daily, and reading Barrie’s delightful book puts me so in the mood and adds to the Gardens’ charms.
I do try to make some concessions to practicality, and have been known to choose paperbacks over hardbacks, and small light books over big heavy ones while traveling. But it’s always been well-worth it to me to bring along books on vacation. I can’t imagine leaving home for any meaningful period of time without bringing something to read!
