Hello! If you haven’t checked out any of my shows on WhatNot yet, then this is your chance! The Lost Library’s big romance show is tonight, with book bundles starting at just $1 per book! There will be some giveaways, too, so I’d love it if you’d come and join me. You can find my show here, and if you haven’t signed up for WhatNot yet you can use my link and get $10 to shop with! If you do stop in, let me know how you found my show. Thanks!
Filed under Books
Welcome to Thursday Things, where you might find a rant, a rave, a question, or just about anything else! Let’s scrounge around in the junk drawer of my brain and see what we can find!
I have to be honest: It’s really hard for me to not finish a book. I feel a rather heavy obligation to go right on to the very end. There have been a few that I DNF’d (Did Not Finish).
One was so poorly written that I couldn’t get through the first page. Sentence structure, grammar, you name it. It was just bad. I hate to say that, and I’m certainly not bothered by a typo here or there, but we all have our limits.
Another one, a few years ago, had some events happening in it that related far too closely to some bad events that were currently happening in my life at the time. I chucked it across the room, cried for a bit, and then got a different book to read. That was pure circumstance, and I don’t blame the author.
Most recently, I read a collection of short stories that I just couldn’t get into. It was by a well-known author, and there were a few good stories in there, but it just didn’t keep me wanting to read more. It stalled me out on reading for a while, actually, and when I hadn’t read anything for over a week I realized it was time to stop.
What makes you decide not to finish a book? Let me know in the comments!
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Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective. Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous. Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world. You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please consider using my links to do your shopping and help me out at no extra cost to you!
Filed under Books, Thursday Things
Welcome to Thursday Things, where you might find a rant, a rave, a question, or just about anything else! Let’s scrounge around in the junk drawer of my brain and see what we can find!
Is there a book that you wish had a different ending? Maybe the whole thing was pretty great, but then the ending was a disappointment?
I think I’ve encountered a few of these, but the first one that comes to mind is The Magicians by Lev Grossman. It’s been quite a few years since I read it, and I don’t remember all the details at this point (not that I’d want to spoil it for you), but I remember feeling rather let down at the end. I know that it’s the beginning of a series, and maybe I’m missing something by not reading the rest, but I can’t say that I wanted to after the first.
What about you? Is there a book ending you’d change? Let me know in the comments!
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Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective. Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous. Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world. You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please consider using my links to do your shopping and help me out at no extra cost to you!
Filed under Books, Thursday Things
Folks, it’s been a while since I put a book out into the world. I’ve been really busy with my freelance work, and that’s a lot of the problem. I’m not complaining that I get paid to write! But writing on the computer all day makes me not really want to write on the computer all night. You can’t blame me, right?
I can make all the excuses I want, but I think it’s time to finally work on the third book in The Dragon Keeping Chronicles! If you’re not familiar, you can check out The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keeping and Once a Wanderer. Honestly, this wasn’t even meant to be a series at first. I had only thought about the first book, but the story insisted there would be more! Then I thought the second book would be it, but no! There’s more! And, to be honest, there just might be a fourth.
I’ve already written the rough draft of Book #3, but this is what it looks like right now:
Yeah, not exactly ready to go to print! With a little bit of work, I hope that it soon will be. Wish me luck as I get it all typed up, and we’ll see where this series goes next!
Have you read any of the books in the series so far? Let me know what you think!
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Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective. Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous. Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world. You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please consider using my links to do your shopping and help me out at no extra cost to you!
Filed under Books
I’ve had a book log for a long time that keeps track of everything I read, but I thought it’d be fun to do one just for 2023! Here it goes!
January
Sanctuary – Nora Roberts (review here)
The Arrangement – Lyn Stone (review here)
One for the Money – Janet Evanovich (review here)
The Map of True Places – Brunonia Barry (review here)
Cooper’s Wife – Jillian Hart
Inner Harbor – Nora Roberts
February
Chesapeake Blue – Nora Roberts
Final Command – Warren Norwood
Filed under Books
Hey everyone! I’d just like to take a moment to let you know about an upcoming book available for pre-order: An Enemy Like Me by Teri M Brown. Her previous book, Sunflowers Beneath the Snow, has already won numerous awards and recognition. You can pre-order An Enemy Like Me on Amazon or through Teri’s website.
About the Book:
How does a man show his love – for country, for heritage, for family – during a war that sets the three at odds? What sets in motion the necessity to choose one over the other? How will this choice change everything and everyone he loves?
Jacob Miller, a first-generation American, grew up in New Berlin, a small German immigrant town in Ohio where he endured the Great Depression, met his wife, and started a family. Though his early years were not easy, Jacob believes he is headed toward his ‘happily ever after’ until a friend is sent to an internment camp for enemy combatants, and the war lands resolutely on his doorstep.
In An Enemy Like Me, Teri M. Brown uses the backdrop of World War II to show the angst experienced by Jacob, his wife, and his four-year-old son as he leaves for and fights in a war he did not create. She explores the concepts of xenophobia, intrafamily dynamics, and the recognition that war is not won and lost by nations, but by ordinary men and women and the families who support them.
About the Author:
Born in Athens, Greece as an Air Force brat, Teri M Brown graduated from UNC Greensboro. She began her writing career helping small businesses with content creation and published five nonfiction self-help books dealing with real estate and finance, receiving “First Runner Up” in the Eric Hoffman Book Awards for 301 Simple Things You Can Do To Sell Your Home Now, finalist in the USA Best Books Awards for How To Open and Operate a Financially Successful Redesign, Redecorate, and Real Estate Staging Business and for 301 Simple Things You Can Do To Sell Your Home Now, and Honorable Mention in Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Award for Private Mortgage Investing. In 2017, after winning the First Annual Anita Bloom Ornoff Award for Inspirational Short Story, she began writing fiction in earnest, and published Sunflowers Beneath the Snow in January 2022. Her second novel, An Enemy Like Me, launches in January 2023. Teri is a wife, mother, grandmother, and author who loves word games, reading, bumming on the beach, taking photos, singing in the shower, hunting for bargains, ballroom dancing, playing bridge, and mentoring others. Learn more at www.terimbrown.com.
Filed under Books
This month’s giveaway is for a Kindle copy of Remembering Calix. It’s a short sci-fi romance that I hope you’ll enjoy!
Calix wakes up in the wildlands of Alcor, unsure of exactly where she is. More importantly, she doesn’t really know who she is. Pairing up with a wanted criminal who insists on helping her, she journeys through the wildlands and into the city to discover her past and change her future.
Entering is easy! Each action earns you an entry:
-leave a comment here on this post
-leave a comment on the giveaway post on my Facebook page
-share the giveaway post from my Facebook page
-join my mailing list
Not sure what to say? Any comment will do, or you can tell me what your favorite planet is!
The contest will stay open through the end of February! There will be another one coming soon, so be sure to check back!
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Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective. Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous. Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world. You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.
*This giveaway has closed*
Let’s kick the weekend off with a giveaway! I recently had the chance to interview Natalie Dale, author of newly released A Writer’s Guide to Medicine. She was generous enough to offer a free Kindle copy of her book to one lucky reader!
Entering is easy! Each action earns you an entry:
-leave a comment here on this post
-leave a comment on the giveaway post on my Facebook page
-share the giveaway post from my Facebook page
-join my mailing list
Not sure what to say? Any comment will do, or you can tell me what your favorite animal is!
The contest will stay open for one week! There will be another one coming soon, so be sure to check back!
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Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective. Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous. Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world. You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.
Hi and Happy Monday! It’s time to do another giveaway! This week it’s an autographed copy of Once a Wanderer, written by yours truly! This is the second book in the series, and you can find the first one here.
Entering is easy! Each action earns you an entry:
-leave a comment here on this post
-leave a comment on the giveaway post on my Facebook page
-share the giveaway post from my Facebook page
-join my mailing list
Not sure what to say? Any comment will do, or you can tell me what your favorite animal is!
Congratulations to Keith W., winner of last week’s giveaway!
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Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective. Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous. Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world. You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.
Hi and Happy Monday! It’s time to do another giveaway! This week it’s an autographed copy of The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keeping, written by yours truly!
Entering is easy! Each action earns you an entry:
-leave a comment here on this post
-leave a comment on the giveaway post on my Facebook page
-share the giveaway post from my Facebook page
-join my mailing list
Not sure what to say? Tell me what your favorite Christmas move is! This giveaway will run through December 12th.
Congratulations to Jennifer G., winner of last week’s giveaway of Dragon Oracle Cards by Diana Cooper.
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Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois. She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University. Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective. Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous. Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world. You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.
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