Books Read in August

 

 

 Before I started writing this blog post, I was thinking about what a rotten month August was. Not only did one friend cut me off after she saw a Facebook comment of mine which she believed was about her (and she thought I was lying when I told her it wasn’t), but I also lost another friend when she lost her battle with cancer.

 

But then I realized that some good things happened this month too. I returned to self-publishing my books, starting with my children’s book Little Raccoon Finds the Dream Forest. It’s actually the first time I have self-published a children’s book in this size, and both my older son and I spent some time checking it out as well as talking about the experience. (He also writes children’s books and he has one coming out next year.) I’m thrilled with how it turned out and I can’t wait to share this book with other children when I do readings at schools.

 

Another good thing that happened was that a long-awaited anthology was FINALLY published. Hooray! Tales from the Hearth is a collection of folk horror, woodland horror, creature feature and supernatural horror stories. My story in this book, “The Hosgach,” is based on the idea of a grief monster. It is meant to show how grief can consume the very life of those who are too deeply caught up in it to be able to carry on.

 

Also this month, I was pleasantly surprised to see that, when I checked my book sales at the end of the month, ten of my poetry books were purchased. That's so awesome! It definitely made me happy. I guess that is a sign that I should write more poetry books. 

 

And, miracle of miracles, I FINALLY got the August issue of the SPARREW Newsletter out today. Boy, I’m not kidding when I say it’s an all-day effort to get it online! I started working on it at 7AM and finished a little after 11PM. I don’t think I want to continue with publishing it on the last day of the month. I might go back to doing that the last weekend of the month.

 

And I certainly had some good things happen this month. I had stories accepted for publication in anthologies, had an essay accepted for publication in an anthology, and I started writing poems for a new poetry book I am co-writing with my oldest. 

 

This month, I managed to read 11 books and I finished reading one. I added the anthology to this list because, technically, I read the book when I was proofreading it. It definitely has a place on the list of books I am reading this year. Anyway, here are the books I read this month. Some of them were for the book reviewing gig. 

 

97. Tales from the Hearth Anthology edited by Chisto Healy

98. FINISHED READING: On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed

99. Reckoning! by David Vincent

100. The Smell of Commitment: Grief Therapy for the Soul: A fictional biography in verse by Mina Shaw

101. The Spider and the Sword: A Marcus Novel by A.W. DiMarzio

102. West Dimension, Poems by Gia Rose

103. Sophie Moon and the Honeybees by Szilvia S. Jennings

104. Shadows of Kingshaven: The Aether Saga, Book One by Jason Grabow

105. Bloom & Grow by Peter Donnelly

106. Oh Marty by Deen Chris

107. Fatherhood Meanings by Jack Love

108. Enemy of the Future: A Trip Stewart Adventure (Book 1) by R.E. Trout

109. The Practice: Shipping Creative Work by Seth Godin