I set out this year to chill out, read slower, process fully, and enjoy the moments sparked by story. I love being able to think on a story in my own time, allowing it to fill up my mind in moments of downtime. So, naturally, I read a whole 61 books compared to last year’s…
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Shows About Girlhood are Cathartic, Powerful
I was watching Pen15 with my husband on the couch, our cat curled up between us. A scene came on where Maya has started her period and pulls out a tampon for the first time. It’s about the size of a rolled-up bath towel. I laughed out loud so hard that my cat lept off…
This Legacy Trope Reinforces Toxic Masculinity
You’re watching your favorite action series. The male hero is kicking ass left and right. Their on-again-off-again fling has been off-again for some time, and just after he’s secured the future of the universe (yet again), she returns. What a surprise it is to see her! She came back, and she still cares for him….
Nova’s 2022 Reading Roundup
Hello out there! It’s been a minute. I’ve been focusing on plotting the novel and reading my heart out, but I haven’t given much love to my blog here, which I strive to utilize more in 2023. Speaking of resolutions, how many of us met our reading goal? I set my bar low so I…
After You
I’d like to think I know you now, Like the end makes clarity. Like the end of a book, the wrap-up, the meaning unveiled. But this end is only the last chapter of the meaning I make of you. You live in me now, how I saw you, Your echo that cannot produce anything…
The People We Leave
Every night and morning, I dream. Everyone dreams while they sleep, but some don’t remember them. I remember too much, perhaps. I wake with an ache somewhere deep inside me, the only cure to fall back behind the curtain, back into my dream. Because there, I find something beautiful. I think of dreams as a…
The Woman of Mystery Thrillers
You know the titles. The ones that indicate the gender of the protagonist or victim in some short, vague line. The Girl on The Train. The Woman in the Window. Gone Girl. The Wife Upstairs. Then She Was Gone. The Woman in Cabin 10. Her Perfect Bones (WTF?!). It’s an ongoing book trend that has…
Nova’s Favorite 5 in Fiction
In my daily writing sprint with Paperbacks & Co., our group discussed the following question: What is your favorite novel? It was a short answer session because writers like us don’t have one favorite novel. We’d be lucky to narrow it down to ten. But I thought I’d try anyway to sit down and share…
Writing Unique Bad Habits
I’ve been brainstorming bad habits and traits to make my characters more messy, more real. In my writing group, we talked about smoking as a bad habit that is, unfortunately, such a great affectation to write. You move both your fingers, your mouth, it affects the way to take in air, and let it out….
LYFM: First Draft Insights and Thoughts
I want to do a quick update on my Leaving You For Mars journey, now that I’ve finished my FIRST FULL DRAFT. This is the first novel I’ve written, so just getting here has been a big accomplishment. A few quick takeaways: Draft 1 is 134,652 words long (474 pages in the PDF I’ll be…
