Last Updated on May 4, 2020 by ThoughtsStained

Hello, lovelies!

While March felt like it lasted twelve years, the fact that this week is the start of May is beyond me. The world is a trash fire in many ways right now and there isn’t a ton of things to update on, honestly. I’m still trying to find a new routine, my job is going to be remote until at least August, so I’m trying to mentality prepare for that and I’m trying to balance writing and editing for clients and reading on top of everything else, and haven’t found that perfect balance, yet. Oh, and my back spams have started back up again, making it hurt to walk for longer than 10 minutes. I’m seeing a chiropractor once a week and doing my own stretches, but I’m very eager for this pain to stop, as I miss being able to just take my dog and walk and walk and walk.

Anyway, here’s how the month treated me creatively, over all:

What I Read

**I guess all I needed was to be a judge in a contest with a deadline this month and still six books to read to really get my butt in gear, huh? 😳**

Blade’s Edge by Virigina McClain [review]
Spark City by Robert J. Power [review]
Kalanon’s Rising by Darian Smith [review]
The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang [review]
Never Die by Rob J. Hayes [review]
Blood of Heirs by Alicia Wanstall-Burke [review]
The Burning White by Brent Weeks [RTC]

What I Hauled

ARCS

**Thank you so much to Titan for this review copy!**

Eden by Tim Lebbon

Library Snags:

**Nothing this month**

Purchased:

Blood of Heirs by Alicia Wanstall-Burke
Starbreaker by Amanda Bouchet

Received for Review:

**Nothing this month**

Gifts:

**Thank you to Whispers and Wonder and Blackstone Publishing for this wonderful gift!**

The Absinthe Earl by Sharon Lynn Fisher

What I Posted

In this section, I like to share posts that I personally wrote this past month that I either really enjoyed writing, am really proud of or wish might have gotten a little more attention.

🏰 Looking Forward to a New Normal: A really long rant about how I hope the world will change for the better.
🏰 The Pursuit of Productivity: Or, how I realized just how enslaved I am to the idea that productivity equals happiness.
🏰 An SPFBO Goodbye: A farewell to the SPFBO as I step away from being a judge after two years!

Reading Challenges Update

A new section I decided to add this year, so I can actually keep track of the challenges I signed up for (so I’ll hopefully actually complete them this time around).

2020 Discussion Challenge: 1/12 Discussion Posts

• None this month! This month was very review heavy, as I needed to get caught up and finish judging for SPFBO. Hopefully, I’ll get back to writing discussion posts soon!

Year of the Asian Readathon: 1/20

• I am FINALLY making progress on this Readathon! And what a book to start off on, damn.

StartonYourShelfathon: 2/143 (0/67 ARCs)

• Is this…progress I see? 👀👀👀

Goodreads: 13/150

• I need, at least I read an incredible amount of books this month, right? Hoping, now that SPFBO is finished and I’ve finally finished my Lightbringer reread, that I can finally start making progress on the books on my shelves!

Intentions Update

Another new section! To try and hold myself accountable, I’ll be sharing where I’m at on the goals I’ve made for myself this year, all of which I detailed in this post.

Write two novels, edit one and write for me ✔️✖️

I did have a massive breakthrough that made writing so much easier. But SPFBO and client editing took up a lot of my time, so I’m hoping to write more in May.

Productive Routine That Promotes Self-Care ✖️

I’m slowly starting to come up with a new routine with this lockdown. Slowly, but surely.

Six Clients ✔️

I might have reached six clients!?! In only May (granted, I haven’t started working with all of them, but I’m really excited about this)?! I am ECSTATIC!

Read More ✔️

Seven books in one month? Who have I become?

Cook New Recipes ✔️

I tried to make French Toast for the first time on my own and it went okay! I also know that my boyfriend and I made something new, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it was.

Cherish Connections and Friendships More ✔️

I have spoken with more friends since lockdown started than I usually do, um, ever. One positive I hope to carry over, after all of this is over!

Less Social Media ✖️

Still need to work on this. In a bad way.

Finish Home Projects ✖️

Whelp, we were doing a good job on this. Maybe we’ll get some more done in May?

Wear My Style More ✖️

*shrugs*

Take More Pictures ✔️

*thumbs up*

Posts I Enjoyed

Curious what blog posts I really enjoyed around the blogsophere this month? Check them out here:

⚔️ Shameless plug, but the Muses (that’s me, Joyce @ The Writes of Passage and Meredith @ M.A. Crosbie) got together for the first time via video chat and had a lot of fun!! Here’s a post about it.

⚔️ May @ Forever and Everly shares 20 books to read by authors of color!

⚔️ Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books writes another amazing post, this time centered on planning book content for your blog! Definitely gonna want to bookmark this one, friends.

⚔️ Kat @ Novels and Waffles shares what she likes and what she doesn’t about book tours and I agree 110% on all four reasons! Oh, and she also wrote a bomb post about SEO Friendly blog posting and I definitely bookmarked it for later.

⚔️  Chuck Wendig @ TerribleMinds continues to write the most relatable content, my gosh.

⚔️  Amber @ The Literary Phoenix talks about productivity in a time of a pandemic and how it’s okay if you’re not being productive.

⚔️ Beth @ Just B More shares some awesome sustainable tips to carry forward in honor of Earth Day!

Oh, and wash your hands, yo.

Cheers.