Happy New Year! For the past three years, in addition to a New Year’s Resolution, I set a reading resolution for myself. This year’s goal was 40 books, and I met my goal right before Christmas (you’ll see 45 on the list, but 5 were rereads, so I’m not really counting those). In this post I offer my list in the hopes you’ll pick one of them up in 2019. I listed my top 5 Nonfiction picks, then my top 5 Fiction picks (sooo hard to narrow that down), but the rest of the list is in no particular order. I can honestly say I enjoyed every book . . . I’m kind of a book whore 🙂

1. Born A Crime by Trevor Noah *NF
2. Everybody Always by Bob Goff *NF
3. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell*NF
4. The Glass Castle: A Memoir  by Jeannette Walls *NF
5. Enrique’s Journey: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother *NF
6. Simon vs. The Homosapiens Agenda
7. Violent Ends
8. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
9. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
10. One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
11. Olivia Twisted by Vivi Barnes
12. Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West
13.  Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
14. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
15. THE LEAVING by Tara Altebrando
16. BEHELD by Alex Flinn
17. Unwind (Unwind Dystology)
18. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
19. Unbelievably Bound by JC Reimer
20. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
21. The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World’s Most Notorious Nazi
22. Side Effects May Vary
23. Under the Feet of Jesus
24. Emergency Contact by Mary H K Choi
25. Love Does by Bob Goff
26. Positively Beautiful by Wendy Mills
27. Faultlines by Lucienne Diver
28. Keeping Her Secret by Sarah Nicolas
29. Fences by August Wilson
30. Maus by Art Spiegelman *Reread
31. Looking For Alaska by John Green *Reread
32. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse *Reread
33. My One Word by Mike Ashcraft & Rachel Olsen
34. The Stand by Stephen King *Reread
35. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut *Reread
36. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
37. Visual Note-Taking For Educators by Wendi Pillars
38. 180 Days by Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle
39. Write What Matters: For Yourself, For Others by Tom Romano
40. Books for Living: Some Thoughts on Reading, Reflecting, and Embracing Life by Will Schwalbe
41. Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha) by Tomi Adeyemi 
42. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
43. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
44. Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom
45. Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

My goal for this year is 45 books! What’s your New Year’s Resolution? (Mine is to be content . . . there’s lots to be said for being content in our daily lives, and I’m looking forward to living with a word that reminds me to do that.) Any book resolutions? Cheers to Happy Reading in 2019! May the words you read open up new ways of thinking, inspiration, and possibilities!

At times, it seemed like there was no end to the horror that was/is 2017. To quote Star Wars: “So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause.”

Not only did the world seem to be falling apart, my youngest daughter turned 13 in January. I firmly believe there’s no harder job in today’s society than raising a teenage girl. And our oldest daughter started her senior year of high school! So I didn’t write much. I tried to write a novella, but my heart just wasn’t in it. Time with my kids is too precious. The other hard part about being a parent is letting them go, no matter how crazy they make you sometimes!

The only book related thing (outside of reading a ton of novels & pestering all of my students to read them) I really did was plan a literacy festival for my high school. I organized classroom visits for 15 YA authors with $8,000 in grant money received. Then the last hour of the day, the entire school headed out to the football field for food, games, activities, & prizes. Students got to get their books signed by the authors and take pictures with them there. It was a great day, and we’re hosting our 2nd annual festival in March. If you’re a teacher and would like more info on putting on author events for your school, feel free to email me! Or if you’re a YA author in the Florida area (or don’t mind traveling to Southwest Florida even though we can’t pay you) who would like to participate in future events, then please contact me!

So as I look back on 2017, with all its successes/failures, was there anything I would do differently? Yes. I think it’s the same thing I remind myself every year, every single year. To remember to slow down and enjoy the journey. This may seem like a small thing to many, but since I’m a task-oriented person, it’s sadly not an easy thing for me.

How was your 2017?

This has been another post for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, the brainchild of Head Ninja, Alex J. Cavanaugh. Feel free to join us the first Wednesday of every month! Purpose: To share and encourage.

Today is the most important of all holidays, especially with the reboot of the Star Wars saga this past Christmas. And if you didn’t know, Disney plans to release a new Star Wars film every December through 2019! I saw a tweet about this from YA author Victoria Aveyard:

“Mother, tell me what Christmas season was like?”

“We don’t speak of it. We call it Star Wars season now.”

Instead of Merry Christmas, it’s May the Force Be With You.

Hahaha! Of course, we’re being facetious. But to celebrate today, I’m teaching the Hero’s Journey to my eighth grade English students since Luke’s journey is one of the most famous examples. I thought it might help you with your story to see the specific plot points that conform to the structure.

The Call: Luke Skywalker receives the message from the Droid R2D2 that princess Leia is in trouble. He sets off to find Obi Wan Kenobi.
The Decision: Luke finds Obi Wan and learns of his Destiny. Luke’s decision is rendered irrevocable when his uncle and aunt are killed and his home is burned.
The Preparation: Luke sets off to aid the rebellion. Along the way, he gathers a crew of companions and learns the ways of the Force from his mentor Master Yoda. The concept of a Mentor is a reoccurring motif in the Hero’s Journey.
The Obstacles: Most of the second and third movies show intermediary steps that Luke must accomplish in order to become strong enough to defeat the Emperor. Along the way, he encounters a “Shadow,” an evil figure that mirrors those things the hero most fears or dislikes about himself. In Luke’s case, that “Shadow” is Darth Vader. During “The Obstacles” portion of the story, Luke is separated from his friends and forced to face the ultimate evil alone.
The Climax: Luke faces the “Shadow” and is able to overcome the Emperor without falling to the “Dark Side.”
The Return: Having overcome the enemies and returned peace to the galaxy, the major characters are reunited. Luke returns to his friends a changed man ready to move forward. In the final scene, Luke sees the ghosts of his fallen mentors Obi Wan, Yoda, and (in the remastered version) Anakin Skywalker, his father. In the final shot, Luke turns his back on the ghosts and returns to his friends.

Are you celebrating May the Fourth Be With You? If so, do share! 

This has been a post for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, the brainchild of Head Ninja, Alex J. Cavanaugh. Feel free to join us the first Wednesday of every month! Purpose: To share and encourage.

18 Things and 18 Truths are just 99 cents today in honor of my birthday weekend! And for the first time, 18 Thoughts is on sale for just $2.99! HURRY! Sale ends in 15 hours 🙂

Hi, all!

How was your weekend? Mine wasn’t too shabby . . . read to/gave away books to kids at the hospital with the Lee County Reading Council, packed up nonessentials in the house, tried a new restaurant with friends that had great burgers/BBQ, and attended my book club. Still only halfway through this month’s pick though, The Goldfinch. Anyone else pick up this Pulitzer Prize winner and have trouble getting through it?

Anyway, the real reason for my surprise blog today is to invite you to Teshelle Comb‘s Big Book Giveaway and Sole release event on Facebook. I’ll be there from 7-8pm, giving away ecopies of my books, and she has lots of other cool stuff going on from 11am-1am, so stop by if you get the chance!