Friday Freeday: Back From Vacation

Happy Friday!

This is usually the week I post a Tuesday Tales, but I was coming back from vacation on Tuesday. My agenda for this vacation was to do absolutely nothing, and it was wonderful. I flew down to Cocoa Beach with my friends, and we ate, slept, and lay out on the beach. I did some laps in the hotel pool, and aside from walking everywhere, that was the only exercise I got. So the only bad side to that is getting back into the routine. Disconnecting was exactly what I needed. I should've taken a couple more days off, especially yesterday, which was my birthday.

It was also IWSG Pit Day! I gave in and threw a few pitches out there. I didn't do as well as earlier pitches, but I did get a few likes, so I'm going to research and send out a few queries. This time around, I wanted to see if I'd get as many without my comp titles (FINAL FANTASY + GRACELING) because while I feel it's still true, it's an outdated comparison, one, and I think a lot of people who liked the comp were really looking for more Graceling than Final Fantasy, two. So, I think my experiment worked.

My sister took me to the movies for my birthday, and we saw Sorry to Bother You. I'm not going to give anything away. Just know it's amazing and extremely crazy and very relevant.

So that's all. I hope you all have a great weekend! Mine is a little busy, but hopefully I'll get to unpack.

Wednesday Words: Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson



Happy Wednesday! It is the day before a VERY needed vacation for me, but it is also the 2nd Wednesday of the month, which means it's time for Wednesday Words, where I share with you all what I'm reading.

This week that is Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson.


First off, I love this cover. It's a little mysterious, the shadow is ominous, and the light play is captivating and dark! Right up my alley. The blurb also starts off pretty dark.


TRIGGER WARNING AHEAD: infant death.
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Mary B. Addison killed a baby.

Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: A white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it? She wouldn’t say.

Mary survived six years in baby jail before being dumped in a group home. The house isn’t really “home”—no place where you fear for your life can be considered a home. Home is Ted, who she meets on assignment at a nursing home.

There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary must find the voice to fight her past. And her fate lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But who really knows the real Mary?



I haven't gotten too far into the book, but Mary is currently in the group home. There are many girls in there with her who did petty crimes, but if Mary did commit the crime, then they might not want to mess with her. I can't wait to see how this book turns out.


I'm also reading on my Kindle and sometimes struggle with choosing random lines while keeping my place, so I will share a line from the page I am currently on:


New Girl is crying. Real sobbing, snot-nosed tears. I'm jealous; I haven't cried in six years. The tears are frozen inside with the rest of my emotions. She probably doesn't think she did anything wrong. I was that girl too once.


Now I want to know what the new girl did, but I'll know soon.


What are you reading this week?

Insecure Writer's Support Group


Happy July! Happy 4th, and welcome to the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group (whoops, this was supposed to go up in the 3rd)! Visit Alex J. Cavanaugh and the IWSG site to join the rest of us as we share our insecurities.

#IWSGPit is actually on my birthday this year. I'll most likely spend the next 3 weeks wondering if I should come out of my "I'm done with pitch contests" retirement to do it. I have so many jumbled thoughts in my head about whether or not I'm ever going to be published and how, and the pitch contests tend to get my hopes up really high and then drop them mercilessly. I'd rather not begin that process on my birthday, so we'll see what happens.

And on that note, the IWSG Day Question this month is: What are your ultimate writing goals, and how have they changed over time (if at all)?

My main goal is still to get published. I'm working on not being hyper-focused on one project no matter how much I love it. I have to keep writing other things.

The good thing about IWSG falling on a day off is that I'll get a chance to actually visit other posts this month, so I hope to see some of you soon!