Summer Reads (July & August Book Wrap-Up)

OK, I will admit, I have been lacking on the blog posts this summer. The Sims 3 was my excuse in July, but this month was vacation and moving into the dorms at college and then getting settled into a new routine, so...yeah. Only three posts this month. But I'm going to try and do better next month; I even have something fun and special planned, so be sure to stay tuned!

Writing
In July I finished typing and posting the final chapters of "Dude, This is No Vacation" over on Wattpad. I posted the epilogue (and its cliffhanger) on the morning I left for a one-week vacation, so I didn't get to see anyone's reaction until I got back. The response was overwhelmingly - and a little surprisingly - positive. I was elated to hear that so many people enjoyed my first TMNT fanfiction. It was definitely a weight off my shoulders (for reasons I will state next month). This will be my last time posting stats for "No Vacation." As of right now, they have mostly come to rest at 5,162 reads; 402 votes; and 107 comments. Not bad for a first attempt at writing TMNT!

In September I will begin posting "No Vacation's" successor, titled, "Dude, Worlds Are Gonna Collide." I'm excited for all of the things I finally get to reveal to my readers with this one. I'm hoping it will be more exciting, intense, and character-growing than the first. It's about to get real.

I still have not really looked into writing outside of fanfiction thus far, but especially now that school has started back up again, I would really like to get serious about it. That, and NaNoWriMo is rapidly approaching, so I get to start planning for this year's novel, "Rise of Sarama." I'm super excited to return to the world of Soren and Mira that I created almost a whole year ago. I'm also really stoked to read what I wrote last year in preparation for the sequel. I might wince several times, but that's okay. It's part of the process.

Reading
In July I did not read very much, but I picked up the pace again in August, coming to a total of seven books for the two months combined. These are the novels I read:

• Beauty and the Beast: The Only One Who Didn't Run Away by Wendy Mass
• Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine
• Quarantine: The Loners by Lex Thomas
• Kathryn: Days of Struggle and Triumph by Donna Fletcher Crow
• Rules of the Red Rubber Ball by Kevin Carroll
• Elizabeth: Days of Loss and Hope by Donna Fletcher Crow
• The Truth About Us by Janet Gurtler

Quarantine was more of a thriller than the "killer of a thriller" that I read in June, Project Cain. Apparently it is a modern take of Lord of the Flies. If that's the case, I'm way more inclined to read the classic novel because Quarantine was amazing. It was a perfect blend of suspense, action, and horror. Both Kathryn and Elizabeth were books that I would not have chosen for myself, but my grandma saw them and got them for me, so of course I gave them a try. They ended up being pretty good! They were equal parts romance and historical fiction with great morals woven in as well. I literally just finished the final book on my list about two hours before beginning this post. My goal was to read 15 books this summer (June, July, August), and The Truth About Us was the 15th. Mission accomplished!

That's all I have for now! Next month I'm starting another special series of posts that you'll probably be interested in. (I bet you'll NEVER guess what the focus will be this time...wink wink!) Haha. See you in September!