July Reading Plan

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Hello! Once again, life has shifted my plans. Some personal stuff has been going on, but also I am deep into Crystal Lake's Author's Journey Novella Writing Course and am enjoying it immensely. Not only does my novella benefit from the eyes of experienced editors, but we get regular webinars on a variety of writing topics. 

My novella is a retelling of the Sisyphus myth (the guy who pushes the rock) and his adventures in the Underworld. It feels good to possibly be able to finish a long form Greek Myth retelling. I'm about halfway to my projected word count and actually have the rest of the story plotted out. More to come as I continue...

But, this blog post is about catching up. I have decided to do something new - a reading plan for the month of July. Usually, I read by the seat of my pants. I pull books on whims, start new ones without finishing the old, bounce around, realize an ARC is due... etc. No real plan. But I was watching a fun Youtube channel - Cliff's Dark Gems and he does monthly "Piles of Possibilities" and shares the books he plans to read. In his July list, he shares an ambitious 8 books. I'm going to aim to match him with 8 books of my own, and I'll check in at the end of the month to see how I did.

a stack of books
Photo by Mahendra Kumar on Unsplash

Already On the Go

One of my "toxic traits" is starting new books before I finish the ones I am already reading. So, the first books I'm going to tackle are the ones I'm partway through reading.

1.  Wearing the Lion by John Wiswell

This is a hilarious retelling of the Hercules myth where Herc is a wimp and thinks Hera loves him. I've only just begun this one, but am eager to continue. (Currently on page 31/376) - Out now

2.  The Knave of Graves by S. J. Shank

A dark story of necromancers in a small town. Enjoyable so far. The tension is just starting to build and I'm curious to see where it goes. (Currently on 10% done) - Coming in July (ARC)

3. Hush Don't Wake the Monster

An anthology of stories I've been carrying around for a while now. Part of the Women in Horror series, all of these tales are inspired in some way by Stephen King. I've read the first two stories in the volume and they definitely bear the markings of a good King story.

 

Promised ARCs

I suppose another "toxic trait" of mine is promising to do too many book reviews. Knave of Graves is not the only ARC on my list. July will be a good time to get caught up on some of these.

4. Vampire Hunters from Speculative Publications

Historical/mythological figures recast as vampires? Including Agamemnon? Sign me up! This book comes out July 22 and when I got the chance to secure an ARC, I went for it.

5. Theatre Macabre by Sèphera Girón

A collection of dark poetry from a fellow member of HWA Ontario. I'm starting to branch out and push myself to read more poetry, so I happily agreed to read this one. 


The Rest

For the rest, I'm going to go with some variety:

6. Zine: Volume 1 of Frost Zone Stories

I have already read some of these books as I was part of the slush team, but I haven't read through the final selections yet. And with Frost Zone Stories Volume 2 on the horizon, I want to revisit these first.

7. Audio: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Moreno-Garcia is an author that I have long been intending to check out. Everything I hear about her and this book is fantastic.

8. Anthology: We are All Thieves of Somebody's Future

Another gem from Air and Nothingness Press that I need to dive into. All of the stories are based on using up the last of a precious resource of some kind. I'm sure I'll need a tissue box next to me as I read this one. 


All right, that's the plan. Come back in a month and see how I did. I don't know if this is going to be a regular feature here at Melody Writes. I'll decide at the end of the month.

 

As always,

Thanks for reading! 

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