Author: cherylmahoney

I'm a book review blogger and writer. I have published four novels, The Wanderers; The Storyteller and Her Sisters; and The People the Fairies Forget; and The Lioness and the Spellspinners. All can be found on Amazon as an ebook and paperback. In my day job, I'm a Marketing Specialist. Find me on Twitter (@MarvelousTales) and GoodReads (MarvelousTales).

2022 Reading Round-Up

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations2 Comments

The start of a new year means it’s time to look back at the past year of reading.  I read 96 books this year, a drop from the days before I had a toddler, but not bad, considering!  And if you factor in picture books, I’m sure the number is at least double…!  Here’s a look at the details.

1) Best of…
I’ve been splitting my “Best of” books for the past several years, so that I can highlight the ones that were best in very specific ways.

1A) Best Premise: The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North – Hope is the main character of this one, and no one remembers her.  Within a minute of seeing her, everyone forgets.  Basically like the Silence in Doctor Who, for my geek readers!  Fascinating to see how this plays out and how she lives her life.  The book turned into something of a heist/thriller, but I was mostly fascinated by the idea.

1B) Best World Building: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers – I loved this peaceful, philosophical book set in a future utopia where everyone looks out for each other and for nature. Robots achieved sentience a couple centuries before the book opens and, instead of conquering humanity, basically said “good luck, guys, we’re leaving” and disappeared into the wilds. This is the story of the first robot who comes back, and the tea monk looking for purpose who meets it.  Honorable mention also goes to Finder by Suzanne Palmer, for a very weird and interesting sci fi story set mostly on a web of asteroids and space stations.

1C) Best Romance: I loved Grace and Stephen in Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher.  I also loved…pretty much every romantic couple in Kingfisher’s books that I read this year.  I give the edge to Grace and Stephen though because I love that Grace is a perfumer who can’t quite remember what he looks like after they first meet, but vividly remembers how he smells (like gingerbread!)  Kingfisher’s thing in romances seems to be powerful men who are very, very conscious about things like consent and not intimidating the women they’re attracted to, and I am so there for that.

1D) Best Characters: I’m giving this one to Kingfisher too, for her cast of misfits in The Clockwork Boys and its sequel, Wonder Engine.  Slate the cranky forger, Caliban the angsty paladin, Brenner the assassin, and the Learned Edmund are all just wonderful.  Another good romance as well, which winds up with “well, I suppose, if only for the handkerchiefs” and it’s perfect. Continue reading “2022 Reading Round-Up” →

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (December, 2022)

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews1 Comment

Happy almost Christmas!  I’ll be doing a round-up of reading for the past year soon, but for today, time to look at recent reads for the last month of the year.

I’ve read a couple of very interesting nonfiction books.  First, Deep Work by Cal Newport, about boosting concentration and focusing on priorities.  It had some interesting insights, though the focus was a little narrow towards either academia or office work.  Second, The Skeptics’ Guide to the Future by Dr. Steven Novella (what a name for an author!), a look at what the future might hold in science and technology.  The book mostly looks at current science and scientific theories and tries to extrapolate forward, with some glances at science fiction ideas too. I liked that it was predominantly hopeful about the future – although I have to wonder if Dr. Novella doesn’t worry about mad scientists destroying us because he is one…!

Continue reading “What I’ve Been Reading Lately (December, 2022)” →

Writing Update (December, 2022)

On By cherylmahoneyIn Writing1 Comment

After a very busy November, writing has slowed down a bit in December.  However, I did finish the first draft of my NaNoWriMo project, otherwise known as Thorns Saga #3!  I did 50,000 words during November, and finished out the project with only another 5,000 words.  I plan to expand significantly in the revision process, so after I finished drafting I read back through it and made notes on additions and new details.  Not sure when I’ll actually do the revisions, but at least I have the plans for them.

After that, I turned back to Thorns #1, to hopefully finally get this finished.  I have one chapter to write still – my most recent revision pass involved moving things around and I need a new chapter to fill a hole, and it gives me the chance to intro some characters who will be more important in later books.  So that’s what I’m working on right now.  Then one more complete review and we should be about there!  I’m hoping to get this one out into the world in the first half of next year.

With that in mind, I’ve been working on a different project that’s not strictly writing, but is related – I’ve been doing cover designs for all five planned books in the series.  So far they’re turning out very nice, so I’ve been enjoying that!  Can’t share them for a while though… 😉

I’m aiming to finish the new chapter in Thorns #1 plus a few other edits by the end of the year, then plan to primarily work on Thorns #2.  Lots of drafts in process!  Hopefully I can get some complete soon. 🙂

NaNoWriMo: End of the Month Update

On By cherylmahoneyIn NaNoWriMo, Writing2 Comments

It’s December 1st, meaning NaNoWriMo wrapped yesterday – and I’m pleased to say that I hit my 50,000 word goal!  This is the first time I have since the pandemic and having a toddler, so it feels especially significant to have got back to that level of writing.

I did a lot of planning throughout the month, trying to build up word cushions before days that I knew would give me less opportunity to write, and that worked really well. I wound up with an easy final day, only needing 835 words, or half of a typical NaNo day.  I finished the month out with 50,076 words, so I’m very pleased with that!

I’m also pleased that I’m most of the way through the novel draft.  I think the total will end up only around 55K words, which is shorter than many of my first drafts in the past.  It seems to be how this series works though – the very first “complete” draft of Thorns 1 was a 27K word novella, Thorns 2 was 67K words at first draft, and Thorns 4 is 62K words.  So 55K is a little short, but not by a lot, and I already have ideas of about four chapters I want to insert, just as a start!  This may also be a slightly shorter novel than some of the others, which I’d be fine with too. Continue reading “NaNoWriMo: End of the Month Update” →

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (November, 2022)

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews2 Comments

With NaNoWriMo in progress, my main focus this month has of course been more on writing than reading, but I’ve been through a number of books too.  Can’t write all the time!

I’m continuing my reread of Catherynne Valente’s Fairyland series, with Books 3 and 4, The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and The Boy Who Lost Fairyland. I particularly enjoy Book 4, which shifts the perspective to the point of view of a changeling brought to the strange land of Chicago.  Seeing our world translated through a lens of Valente’s particular brand of fantasy is truly brilliant.

I continued my read of reincarnation books as well – first with The Next Together by Lauren James, which seemed so very promising.  A couple meets and falls in love in four different lifetimes, and the novel interweaves all four timelines.  Unfortunately it never quite wove together as much as I hoped, and the ending felt very rushed.  I then reread The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North.  I enjoyed that one very much the first time, a bit less on the second – I’m coming to think that a lot of reincarnation-type stories rest heavily on concept, and that doesn’t lend itself well to multiple reads.  I did enjoy this one still, though, just not quite as I remembered. Continue reading “What I’ve Been Reading Lately (November, 2022)” →