I, like most kindle owners, have accumulated a vast collection of ebooks. Most of which I’ve never read. They are books ranging in those I picked up because they were free, because the cover looked interesting, or even because I just wanted to support an author I found interesting on a podcast or youtube channel.
This massive collection of ebooks needs to be paired down. I thought I’d start with the shortest books, and move forward.
Now, I couldn’t just read books and take nothing from it. Goodreads gives a little insight into my reading habits, sharing most of my audio book and reading history. But I’m not only reading for fun (sure, most of it is for fun, but not ALL of it). I also like learning from my book choices because I am a writer as well. The best way to improve writing is to read books, and actively see what works, and what didn’t work for you. So I’m going to start with the shortest book in my kindle TBR, and move my way up. And along the way I’m going to share what I’ve learned from it.
A couple of things to note about kindle readers in general. I have a Paperwhite and a Fire. I prefer the Paperwhite to read, the e-ink is easy on the eyes, and good even in a dark room. The Fire is just too bright for me, and needs to be charged a lot more. It also has a lot of distractions since it is a tablet, even if it is a slower model.
I also have a kindle app on my phone which I often use when I am out of the house. Still, it’s a small screen, and also bright like the Fire, and it has the distractions of games and technology as well.
All kindles allow you to collect your books into collections so that you can easily find specific categories. They also allow you to sort by read, not-read, and downloaded. What it does not allow is the sharing of collections between devices, which I just found out today after putting a large part of my books into collections via the online website. That means you have to go through the process of adding books to a collection directly on the Paperwhite, and then again for the Fire, and again for the phone. When you are doing this as you add books that isn’t as bad, but when you have a huge collection and you just want to sort books…well…tough luck, I guess.
Also the kindle doesn’t allow you to sort by page count. This is partly because page counts on kindle aren’t always accurate, but I suspect they do not want to encourage you to read by page count, or deem it as unnecessary. There is a reason a lot of readers prefer to sort their books on Calibre. The features of the kindle haven’t changed in quite some time, and it shows.
In order to get book lengths I used Goodreads. Goodreads allows you to add your books directly from your amazon purchases. Then you can add them to a to-read list and sort them by length. I found that of the 900 books on my to-read list only a dozen of them didn’t have page lengths. The rest were comparable to the amazon page length count.
Goodreads did not import all of my books, and I know I’ve added random books from series I liked that I do not own, so this isn’t a perfect match, but it is helpful. Once I had this list I was able to go into my kindle and download the specific books that I was looking for.
Beyond the lack of collections across platforms, and sorting by length, the kindle is a useful tool. Having my books available on the go, on my phone, and on most devices, is incredibly useful. And using Goodreads, or Calibre, to augment the kindle helps to sort and find exactly what you’re looking for. So… on with the reading!
First up: The Miscellaneous Adventures of Princess Leona by V.C. Coll.
According to goodreads I read 33 books in 2020. I was expecting to read more while in the hospital, but honestly I was too busy just sleeping. But I still read a great many good books last year, so here are some of my favorites.
Of the books I read five were comics, and six were short stories. Several of them were audio books, too. The vast majority of them were also litRPG since I’m still enjoying that genre quite a lot.
Polyglot() has got to be my favorite from last year. Told from the point of view of a girl dropped into a game world who doesn’t know who she is, or how she got there. Only she isn’t a girl at all. She’s an NPC, and not any ordinary NPC either.
The style of story telling, the world building, magic system, and character development of Polyglot() just stuck with me. I listened to it via audio book, and they chose a great narrator for the book. I will probably listen to this one again sometime.
The other books worth noting came from five different series that I have been reading.
Axe Druid – A band of brothers fighting mobs and magic on another world.
The Crafters Dungeon – A dungeon that likes crafting more than fighting.
Bone Dungeon – A ridiculously funny dungeon made of bones.
CivCEO – Civilization meets litRPG
Awaken Online – A litRPG that follows a necromancer.
I finished Bone Dungeon this year (as the trilogy was completed this year.) I also read through all of Awaken Online and The Crafters Dungeon that is currently out. I’ll be finishing CivCEO in 2021. I haven’t decided if I’m going to go back to Axe Druid yet. It’s definitely a fun one, but I prefer the audio books because they are well read. The other books I read the book instead of listening.
I would recommend all of these series. The crafters Dungeon is great because it focuses on the crafting more than the fighting. Bone dungeon has a good sense of humor, and a bit of intrigue behind the scenes. CivCEO is completely unlike anything else I have read focusing more on commerce and trade than any other book so far. And both Awaken Online and Axe Druid are just really fun adventures.
I was gifted a year of Kindle Unlimited for Christmas … seriously, if you have a reader on your Christmas list that’s a FANTASTIC gift to give them. I plan on using it to whittle down that TBR list of mine. (and all my books are on KU too.)
Till then… happy reading.
September is almost over. I’m back in Texas and I’m already hoping for winter, and miss the rainy days in Seattle.
But I’m healing. We just drove another 3000 miles south from Seattle, down through LA, and over to Texas. It took four days this time because I wanted to see my daughter who lives in CA. Worth the extra time.
Also, I’ve finished the rough draft of Dragon’s Blood. I’m working on edits, but I should have it out next month. Now is a great time to read Dragon’s Flame if you haven’t yet.
If you’re looking for a shorter read I have two books free this weekend. An anthology, and a short story.
Stars End : Four short stories about life, and death, in the future.
The Camera : A tales from the crypt style short story.
I can’t wait to get Dragon’s Blood out there. It feels like it’s been a long road to the end, but it’s more about the journey than the writing, I think. This year has been filled with crazy things, for all of us. The world has changed, and only time will tell if it’s for the better or not. And because of a lot of these changes (some personal, a lot global) things got slowed down a bit.
Slowing down isn’t always a bad thing. Taking your time to enjoy the smell of the roses, or really savor that meal, or enjoy spending time with the ones you love…all of it is important so that life means more than pushing buttons. I hope that part of all the craziness moves forward with us.
Until then, keep on reading!
I have two short stories for free this weekend.
The Mirror, a tales from the crypt style story.
The Costume Shop, an R.L. Stein inspired novella.
Pick them up today and give yourself a short read to take up a night. Enjoy.
We finally saw the Joker today. I say today, but it’s the first time in a long time that we’ve gone to a movie within the first week of it coming out.
I’m going to tell you my thoughts about the movie in general, without spoiling anything, then go a little more in depth with it from behind a cut, so if you haven’t seen it yet, and you don’t want spoilers, don’t click the link for more.
The basic overview is, I liked it. It’s a slow burn movie that slowly amps up the drama and action as it goes until you’re in the thick of things and you didn’t even realize it.
This movie is not a “super hero movie”. There are no super powers, no amazing acts that couldn’t be explained, no huge fight scenes nothing like that. Just a man, and the slow decent into madness. And certainly no heroes.
But parts of the movie are rather brutal, and at times the imagery is unsettling. The way Joaquin Phoenix moves his body, and laughs for no reason, just set your nerves rattling. He is absolutely the star of this movie, able to do something so absolutely horrifying by just being there.
Is it worth seeing in theaters? Yes, if you don’t want spoilers because there are bound to be some online. There are no super amazing FX shots, or grand beautiful sets to watch. On the contrary it’s visceral, dirty, and dingy throughout. But sitting in a dark theater with others around you wall you watch this mans life turn into a beautiful train wreck….there’s something amazing about it.
Lastly, before the spoilers, The Joker is more thought provoking than most super hero flicks. There is no true moral, no clear path through the plot line. There are more questions at the end then answer, and it is all an amazing thing to watch, and may draw you in to see it again.
Now for the spoilers.
Yesterday I finished writing Costume Shop, which I’ve been working on for a couple years. It’s a Halloween story, so I always worked on it in the fall. I’d write a few paragraphs then Halloween would be over and I’d move on to something else.
This year I had the beautiful art done by my daughter to spur me on. I really wanted to get it done, and out, so that everyone could see it. So I finally finished it.
Which brings us to the next part; editing. And I only have one more day to do that before we get in a car for a week long journey to LA, and twitchcon.
I’ve already done a bunch of editing, so it’s only a matter of going back over it once or twice and cleaning it up, but still…. I have to actually do it.
If I manage it Costume Shop will be available this weekend. It is an RL Stein style chapter book for younger readers. I might even do a few more in this style…. We will see.
For now I am mostly packed for twitchcon. Gregg has a few finishing touches to do tomorrow, and then we start driving. Well I start driving. I’m sure he’ll take the wheel after a much needed nap.
I’ve been working on the new cover for the first book in “The Half Blood Sorceress” series. Book one, Dragon’s Flame, is finished. Well, the first draft is. I have a few things to clean up before sending it off to the editor, but I am hoping to have it out soon (in relitive terms).
The back of the book:
A tragedy. A secret. A journey to find the truth.
Sybel watched as her mother burned on a funeral pyre, but she never expected her father to push her into the flames. When Sybel survives the pyre without a single burn she’s banished from the village for reasons she doesn’t understand.
With more questions than answers, Sybil’s only hope is to make a treacherous journey to find the wise mages of Kemoor. As she ventures out beyond the edges of her village she finds a world filled with dangers; massive creatures, vindictive humans, and an ice cold wind blowing from the north. A wind that is far more sinister than anyone suspects.
Now the girl who would not burn must trust in unlikely allies to save her life, and discover the truth…
And the best part is I’ve already written most of book two. I’m hoping to have books one and two out this year, with the third one next year some time. I have at least a five book arc for this series.
The Half Blood Sorceress is not part of the same world as my Witch’s Trilogy. In the Witch’s Trilogy there are many sentient creatures created by the elements. In The Half Blood Sorceress series there are three races; humans, dragons, and ifrits. The world building of these two series was so completely different. Peyllen (the world of Witch’s Trilogy) took years to flesh out. But because of all that world building the mythos of Peyllen is an entire series of it’s own that I’m still writing.
The Half Blood Sorceress is different in a lot of ways, and so is the experience of creating the world, and writing the stories. I honestly can’t wait to get it out and hear what others have to say about it.
I’ve been really busy the last few weeks plotting and writing the first few chapters of my new series: “The Half-Blood Sorceress.”
I am so excited about this series! I first got the idea back at NorWesCon in the art gallery. I found an artist that had absolutely magnificent work. I mean he does paintings for several of the big publishers, he was that good. And at the bottom of his display was one loan painting. I overheard him talking to someone else about how he just had to paint that one night, even if it hadn’t found a home yet, be he was sure that the right author would come along to give it a story.
“You could write that, you know,” Gregg said.
“No, that covers too awesome for me,” I said, and kept walking.
Three feet down the hall and I looked up at him and said “You suck!”
“See,” he said, “told you that you had a story for that picture.”
Not a story, as it turns out. A whole SERIES! All based on this one painting, or rather the girl depicted there.
Of course, I asked the artist how much it would cost for me to use that as the cover… As it turns out, WAY more than I can afford at the moment. However, this painting is the one I need for book six, so there is still a chance I could do it. I just have to get writing, and see how things work out.
So what is this story about? A half-blood sorceress? What does that even mean?
Well that’s coming, but today I’m going to tell you a little bit about the world. First: a map. I’ve been working on it on and off for a while, but the world has no name yet. I would absolutely love my readers to name this world for me. And no, I won’t be naming it Mappy McMapface, sorry.
What should you know about this world? Here there be dragons! Four of them, in fact.
Nyasama – Earth dragon
Anulaer – Air dragon
Ningirsu – Water dragon
Alshadu – Fire dragon
Together, the four dragons created the world, then slept in various places around the new planet. Every now and then the dragons wake and travel about the planet they created in human form, interacting, causing mischief, or doing something extraordinary.
This book isn’t about the dragons, though they do have an influence on the world at large. No, the first book is about Sybel. She finds herself in an awful place in time, watching the mother she loved waste away, and then learning a horrible secret that thrusts her out into a world filled with magic and darkness that she did not know existed.
I am currently seeing how the first book goes. I’m already 14k into the initial writing, and loving the way it’s going. I want to write one book a month, with a month for editing, formatting, etc. I just have to see how I can handle it since I’ve never pushed myself to do something this massive before. I’m only looking at 50k words per book, but I haven’t even gotten a third of the way into this one so I have no idea if that estimate will fly right out the window.
All I know is, I love this world. I love the characters. And I love the story. I’m more passionate about this story than I have been about anything in a couple of years. I want to see it live, and I want others to love it too.
So look for more snippets about the world, and maybe some snippets from the actual novel soon.
I’ve always enjoyed building maps, and world building in general. I have a few dozen of them stashed among the pages of old hand written story ideas, their edges smudged over time, and words sometimes faded out 
till it’s illegible. But the concept, the idea of the map is still there.
The journey of Peyllen started with a young girl leaving home for the first time. That was the first book that I wrote in the series, the first book I finished in the series. But it won’t be released for a long time. There are many stories that come before that one, and it will have to be rewritten in its entirety before it ever sees the light of day. But the idea behind it, the world and the magic, remain. You might have already taken a peak at it. It is the same world that my Witch’s Trilogy came from.
The very first iteration of Peyllen was a scratchy pencil drawing on a spare piece of paper.
I scanned and copied it into Gimp and started adding outlines, colors, adjusting the land masses, and giving it more definition. I added “The Sea of Tears” since it did not appear on the original maps (though the idea was always there).
Peyllan has grown, taken shape and mass of it’s own in my thoughts. And the stories have grown as well.
I’m getting to the end of book three in the trilogy. I think I’ll take a short break from Peyllan after that to work on a few other projects, but eventually I’ll be back. There are ten more novels in this world waiting to be told. And I bet by the time I’ve finished some of them I’ll find more stories lurking in the world. Maybe some from areas yet uncharted on the far side of the world.
Author Crissy Moss 