December 2021 Self-Love Sunday

Dearest Readers, Did I miss two consecutive months of Self-Love Sundays? Yes. Did I start posts each month and abandon them? Also yes. In all honesty, I have been finding it very difficult to come up with anything kind to say to myself the last few months. My inner critical voice has been difficult to …

Self-Love Notes to my September Self

Dear Readers,  It has been almost a month since I wrote my last blog post, which just so happened to be a self-love not to myself for August. What a month September has been. I feel like it started out on a bit of a shaky footing but ended up sagging to the ground the …

Us in August – A Self-Love Note

Dear Readers, How have you been? I have had a busier August than usual, having traveled (by vehicle) to see my nieces and nephew. According to Google Maps it was a 28 hour drive, but that did not figure in pit stops. And with my sister as my travel companion, there are pit stops a …

A Self-Love Note in July

Hello again dearest readers, It has been a month since I have posted last. I would like to say it is because I have been so busy with other things (such as writing up a storm on one of my manuscripts) but that would not be the truth. One thing I have discovered which has …

A Happy Birthday Month Self-Love Note

Dear Readers, Now that title was a mouthful! How are you doing? How is June treating you wherever you may be? June has been a busy month for me as I have finished two manuscripts, entered two short stories in a competition and received my second dose of one of the C19 vaccines! I have …

I Always Knew – Writing Prompt Wednesday

I always knew he'd find me eventually. I just didn't know it would be like this. A small part of me, a teeny-tiny voice in the back of my mind hoped he would. It would mean he had never stopped looking for me. Never given up. But in reality, finding me was an accident. Perhaps …

In the Silence – Writing Prompt Wednesday from Jericho Writers

Dear Readers, I hope this post finds you well and that the new year has started out as well as humanly possible. Anything is better than 2020 right? Today I decided to participate in a Writing Prompt I had received from a newsletter sent via Jericho Writers entitled: Three writing prompts to try before the …

The Spine – A Book Shop Meet Cute

His warm breath at her neck sent a shiver skittering down her spine. To be this close to him. To feel his thumbs graze... "Ma'am?"  The words made me flinch. Not necessarily due to their connotation but more likely due to the fact that they just interrupted a really good part.  I did what most …

The Stack – A Book Shop Meet Cute

It wasn't the first time I had seen him there among the stacks of Rarity, my favourite book shop. But it was the first time I heard him laugh. He didn't even look up from what he was reading, not in the least bit nervous about who saw him or what it was he was …

Unsigned: A Book Shop Meet Cute

I wasn't supposed to be working today. Technically I wasn't working according to the regional manager. I was assisting with an author's Q&A that I was luckily given time off in order to attend. 'You can't imagine how busy events like this can be,' the echoes of his voice still reverberated within me. 'The very …

Writing Prompt Wednesday – Flash Fiction Challenge

Do you want to meet? I couldn't stop myself before typing my reply: Did you seriously just ask that question? You're being absurd. Absolutely absurd. I watched the three-dot text bubble appear on the screen before disappearing. Waiting for the response. Absolutely absurd had been a bit much even for me. But at least I …

“The world did not end in a bang, or a whisper, but rather, one scream at a time…”

  The world did not end in a bang, or a whisper, but rather, one scream at a time. Its chilling sound rattled me from my sleep. I hadn't even realized I had closed my eyes. Had it been a scream? It had to have been? My thoughts stumbled around in a foggy confusion. It …

“The human mind is truly the scariest thing of all.” – Writing Prompt Wednesday

  "The human mind is truly the scariest thing of all." I quickly scanned my surroundings. The words appeared to float around me, their source unknown. And I could almost imagine the letters hovering in my current space, a space devoid of anything except my own body. My voice was weak from disuse and I …

Ring, Ring – Writing Prompt Wednesday

"This is impossible," I whisper into the phone immediately followed by, "Why am I whispering?" There is a tick in the throat of my own voice before it repeats the words I first heard upon picking up. "Listen carefully. I... we don't have much time. We... I..." Another hesitation which I know is followed by …

The Panagea Tales – Series Review

Buckle up literary lovelies! I am about to pull you down a fantastical rabbit hole with my series review of The Panagea Tales by McKenzie Austin! Goodreads Synopsis for The Panagea Tales Box Set: The Complete Epic Fantasy Series - Enchanted pocket watches, vengeful gods and goddesses, and a world built by iron and steam: …

It might look like I accidentally ended up here, but I promise you, I didn’t…

It might look like I accidentally ended up here, but I promise you, I didn't. Even though I sit here shivering against the wall my knees tucked up to my chest, I remain fully in control even up to this moment.  I want him to think he is in control. I need him to.  He …

A Blank Page

If you could be a blank page or could start your story afresh, what would you write about yourself? How would you begin? With a: Once Upon a Time... or One dark and stormy night... or perhaps even an In a galaxy far, far away... What would you choose? What would your opening line be? …

To trigger or not to trigger…

** This post discusses difficult subject matter! ** Literary Lovelies, I've been debating whether or not to actually post this. I have gone back and forth between scheduling it and unscheduling it. But I think I am just going to pull the metaphorical trigger. (Trigger pun very much intended.) So here we go... Are there …

Discussion: What should or shouldn’t be on a book cover?

Dear Readers, A topic has come to my attention which I would like to discuss with you: What does and doesn't belong on a book cover in your opinion? Are you okay with quotes from reviews? If so does it matter if they are from other popular authors or newspapers or other publications forms? Are …

Self-Love Sundays

Dear Readers, we meet again! How long has it been since we last communicated? TOO LONG! That's how long. I am coming to you this Sunday with a once-a-month Sunday plan to share a little self-love with ourselves. Not the usual conceptual self-love pampering but one with an Honestly Austen twist, let's write something about …

From the perspective of the page

Dearest Readers, For the vast majority of my life, I have been teased for my tendency to provide human characteristics to inanimate objects as well as animals, otherwise known as personification. I am sure I have even dipped my toe into the depths of anthropomorphism, which according to dictionary.com is the: The attribution of human …

For the Love of Prose

Goodreads Synopsis: A house built high on the moor,  A golden age, ended by war,  A house left empty, falling to ruin.  During the Edwardian period, the wealthy Kearleys entertained important guests at their summer home on the moors; enjoying lavish parties showcasing the house and its views of the mountains.  By the 1950s the …

Whose Story? – Chapter 1

You may not know literary lovelies that I not only write this lovely blog for you all, but I have within the last year finished a novel. I have titled it: Whose Story. I would like to put the first chapter on here (a much longer post than my usual) for you all to read …

Writing to oneself a love note in May

Dearest Readers, How have you been? How has the month of May been treating you? I am squeaking this Self-Love Sunday note to myself in right under the wire. Why? You may ask. Did I not find myself being as kind to myself as I *cough *cough usually am? (Insert eye roll here.) May has …

The Book of Truths – Writing Prompt Wednesdays

The book slammed shut, a dust cloud emitted from the pages like a cough. She stared at the cover. Her rapid blinking hoping to push back the tears that wished to fall in an attempt to drown her. It had been a ridiculous tale. A blank book that could only retain the truth. A fable. …

For Self Love on a Sunday in April

Dear Readers, Believing it is nearly the last week of April is both shocking and a long time coming. How is it that in the midst of a pandemic time is able to move in such inharmonious ways? The minutes during the day seem to languish but the day appears to end within a blink …

Self-Love Sunday March

Dearest Readers, How have you been? March is a busy month for me, as four out of the six of my family members all have birthdays this month. It is exhausting and yet fun. (One of the reasons why I am not a fan of cake - as every March for many, many, many years …

February Self-Love Sunday

Dear Readers,  It felt a bit like kismet to have Valentines Day land on a Sunday this year. So, I decided if I did not write myself a self-love Sunday note on February 14th, what would be the point of writing one at all?  Before I start though, I wanted to ask how has the …