Author Archives: Cindy

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About Cindy

- Introvert attempting social-interaction while searching for inner balance - Working on developing my author career - Fitness/Health lover continually drawn to the dark side that is Doritos and Chocolate Chip Cookies - I'm here to connect- talk to me in comments :)

First Drafts Can Suk it!

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Writing is hard. Like, seriously.

One of my favorite quotes come from All The Bright Places and comments on said fact.

Writing is so difficult that writers, having had their hell on earth, will escape all punishment hereafter.

And first drafts. Seriously, they can suk it. Like, all of it. They make me wonder if my brain even works. Do I sound like this big of a moron when I speak? I need to stop speaking. Like, when you go back to some quickly jotted notes, and you can’t decipher your own writing, that’s what a first draft is to my thoughts. I’m reading what must be a sentence. There’s a period at the end of a string of words. That’s a sentence, right? But this makes all kinds of sense that is nonsense. How am I supposed to EDIT this into coherency when there isn’t even a base coherency to be found?!

But, somehow, it gets there. Probably with multiple missed chances at brilliance. Those pure moments of genius that didn’t form themselves well onto the page because my meager human existence struggled to decipher, it and it’s now lost forever. Who knows? Maybe my basic fun, adventure novels were meant to be more, if only I’d trained my brain to translate from the muses better.

It’s a question I often see on author posts, asking what part of the processes is their most and least favorite. I could never answer. Well, I can now. First Drafts can SUUUUUK it.

Needless-to-say, I’m a little bit with the struggles right now on my current first draft. It’s not even that I don’t know where its going, or where it is, or what I want to happen. I have a plan for this story. I’ve even written the ending. But I just can’t get the words onto the page.

Maybe I should be the one sukkin it. Maybe I’m just having an aversion to work, because the first draft, I think, is where the most work goes in. The literal creation of something from nothing. I like when it’s finally here, when I can go in and fine-tune, when I can sculpt a clean product from the ragged suggestion of it. That means, finishing this first draft. *insert annoyed, toddler-tantrum expression here*

What do you think? Are you sukkin first drafts, too? Or you just think I don’t have the chops? Go on, be honest 🙂

And here. Let’s all suck it…

Kingdom of Shadow and Light

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Book Review

Kingdom of Shadow and Light

By: Karen Marie Moning

Dark Fantasy
4 Stars

From the moment MacKayla Lane arrived in Dublin to hunt her sister’s murderer, she’s had to fight one dangerous battle after the next: to survive, to secure power, to keep her city safe, to protect the people she loves.

The matter of who’s good and who’s evil can be decided by the answer to a single question: Whose side are you on?

Now, as High Queen of the Fae, Mac faces her greatest challenge yet: ruling the very race she was born to hunt and kill—a race that wants her dead yesterday, so they can put a pure-blooded Fae queen on the throne.

But challenges with her subjects are the least of her concerns when an ancient, deadly foe resurfaces, changing not only the rules of the game but the very game itself, initiating a catastrophic sequence of events that have devastating consequences and leave Mac questioning everything she’s ever learned and everyone she’s ever loved. Now begins an epic battle between Mortal and Fae, Seelie and Unseelie, would-be kings and would-be queens, with possession of the Unseelie King’s virtually unlimited power and the fate of humanity at stake.

From the exquisite, deadly gardens of the High Queen’s court, to long-forgotten truths found in the Sacred Grove of Creation, from the erotic bed of her enigmatic, powerful lover to the darkest, seductive reaches of the Unseelie kingdom, Mac’s final journey takes her places no human has been before, and only one human could possibly survive . . .

One who’s willing to sacrifice everything.

What a bittersweet read this was for me. The Fever books are a favorite of mine. I revisit them when I need to curl up and get away. Having them come to an end is both exciting and heartbreaking.

It was a good ending; everything tied up nicely (this is hard to review w/o spoilers. Just trust me). A stressful read, in the best way, I was gripped from the first page, my heart shredded in terror at what might befall these favorite characters. Easily 60% of the book flew by as I raced to see where Mac and Barrons and the rest of the gang would land. So many heart-wrenching stomach drops along the way.

While I was very pleased with this read, I thought a few points might have been fleshed out more. A more drawn-out tete-a-tete with the villain, for one. Still, it was a satisfying ending, just a little too fast for me. This is a common complaint from me, though. I always want more!

I do feel the need to go back and re-read the previous Mac book. Sometimes, I felt she was a little too impulsive, too reactionary. I think she grew out of that a bit from the last book, but maybe I remember it wrong…

If you haven’t read the Fever series and love Dark Fantasy, dark romance, brooding males, strong females, and modern magical cross-overs, this series is for you. And you don’t have to wait like I did for the next books to come out! All 11 are lined up and ready.

Happy Reading! 🙂