Last Updated on August 31, 2020 by ThoughtsStained

Hello, lovelies!

I hope you are all hanging in there, as much as you can. The promise of fall weather lifts my spirits up and excites me, but the closer we get to the election in November, the more I dread that Trump will win again and America and our democracy will be destroyed as we know it for a fascist dictatorship who will have consequences across the globe (especially when it comes to climate change). It’s hard to balance spiraling and not becoming overwhelmed with self-care and activism, but it’s an important balance to find that I’m still working towards.

Otherwise, August was a really busy month for me. Some highlights include:

• Got confirmation that my job will allow us to work from home the rest of the year
• Had the busiest month of the year at my day job, which was 10x busier thanks to the pandemic
• Dyed my hair red and black!
• Finished my 6th draft of BLOOD PRICE!
• Bought another bookcase (oops) and finally sent in my latest two LOTR pieces to be framed, so I can hang them up that I got last Christmas (double oops)
• Still dealing with a lot of lower back pain, down side
• Plus side, got my IUD removed finally and am trying FAM birth control method for the first time!
• Played a lot of Apex and started Greedfall
• Read some books and blogs

I hope you’re taking care of yourself! It’s a really hard time and some day are going to be better than others. I hope you’re able to hold your head up, continue to find the hope and the positive in life and conquer your bad days.

What I Read

Velocity Weapon by Megan O’Keefe [Review]
Forever Your Earl by Eva Leigh [Review]
The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso [RTC]

What I Hauled

ARCS

**Nothing this month!**

Library Snags:

**Nothing this month**

Purchased:

I, ah, normally don’t buy this many books all in one month, but, um, here we are. 

Jade City by Fonda Lee
To Catch a Rogue by Bec McMaster
My Fake Rake by Eva Leigh
Scandal Takes the Stage by Eva Leigh
Whispers of Shadow and Flame by L. Penelope
The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang
You Only Love Twice by Bec McMaster

Received for Review:

Thank you so much to the author, Dorian Hart, for sending me these books to review!

The Ventifact Colossus
The Crosser’s Maze
The Greatwood Portal

Gifts:

My boyfriend got me a copy of Chaos Vector and I am so pumped!!!

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.

🏰 Freelance Editing 1 Year Anniversary!
🏰 Self-Published Fantasy Reading Month List!
🏰 Allyship Check-In: No 6

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: 6/12 Discussion Posts — With the help of the Let’s Talk Bookish prompts, I am now confident I’m going to knock this goal out of the water and I’m so excited by that!

• Write What You Love
• Readings Habits: The Proud and Needs Improvement — An Inspired Post!
• Tropes I Want to See More Of
• Let’s Talk Bookish: Reviews and Self-Published Books
• Let’s Talk Bookish: Online Personas and Book Blogging
• My Quest to Become a Better Blogger

Year of the Asian Readathon: 2/20 — It’s been too long since I’ve made progress on this challenge, but I’m really excited for some books on my radar!

StartonYourShelfathon: 12/143 (6/67 ARCs) — I know now that I am nowhere near going to complete this the way I hoped, but then again, 2020 is so bloody far from anything I hoped, I’m not going to beat myself up about it and still work towards making progress on my backlog and my ARCs!

Black Lives Matter Reading Bingo: 0/10 — Just added this one and am excited to read some books for this challenge, as well!

Goodreads: 23/150 — *sighs*

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 FINISHED EDITS ON BLOOD PRICE! So, edit one novel is completely done! I am definitely not going to write two novels by the end of the year, I’m like, 95% certain, but I am planning to start drafting one, so I’m pretty excited about that.

Productive Routine That Promotes Self-Care ✖️

I don’t know why this is so hard, but here we are.

Six Clients ✔️

BOOYAH, completed this! And I’m so excited for all of the clients I have booked to work with throughout the rest of this year (still taking more, though, of course).

Read More ✖️

I mean, I did read three books instead of one this month, but I’m still nowhere near what I meant when I had this goal, so I’m not counting it.

Cook New Recipes ✖️

Honestly, I’m counting the fact that I cooked at all a win.

Cherish Connections and Friendships More ✔️

I had a phone call with a beloved friend who I hadn’t heard from since FEBRUARY and it completely made my week. Plus, getting better at texting back (sorta) and trying to hang onto that.

Less Social Media ✖️

I WILL CONQUER THIS DOOMSCROLLNG, DAMMIT.

Finish Home Projects ✖️

Having even thought about it, really. Might be time to make a new list…

Wear My Style More ✖️

My style has evolved into two pairs of yoga pants and tank tops and I am so okay with it.

Take More Pictures ✖️

Also haven’t really thought about this, but need to do so!

Posts I Enjoyed

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

⚔️ Chuck Wendig @ TerribleMinds shares my daily schedule since the pandemic started and it’s, ah, a thing.

⚔️ Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense shares August Releases by Latinx authors!

⚔️ Fadwa @ Word Wonders writes a very important post about the struggles of international bloggers and how publishing is systemically set up not to support them (which is not okay and something that needs to be addressed within publishing).

⚔️ The Self Pub Team shares how to participate in Self-Published Fantasy Month, happening in September!

⚔️ Aayushi @ My Bookish Banter shares a MASSIVE list of amazing resources for bloggers!

⚔️ Caitlin @ Caitlin Althea talks about the importance of book blogs and how to support them, by also sharing a lot of bloggers’ posts to help support her post, so it’s a great place to start if you’re looking for more blogs to follow!

⚔️ Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books talks about fake engagement in book blogging and offers tips how to be authentic and genuine. An honest and open post that I super appreciate! Also, her shining a light on book bloggers work and what we really do post makes me feel SEEN and just…please read this post, friends.

⚔️ Shealea @ Shut Up Shealea has returned to blogging!!! I am a not so subtle fan of her work and I am SO excited. Go give her blog a follow, if you don’t already! Also, she’s already killing it with her posts, including her 7 things she wished she’d known before book blogging, which I agree with 110%.

⚔️ Sofia @ Bookish Wanderess announces Latinx Book Bingo!!

⚔️ May @ Forever and Everly shares her tips and tricks on how she uses a Reading Spreadsheet through Google Sheets! And honestly, I wish I had this power to create my own like this, because it’s incredible!

⚔️ Lauren @ Love Yo Shelf shares an really incredible post on allyship in the book community that I think everyone should read, but especially white bloggers.

And that’s a wrap for August! For September, I’m planning to:

• Find a solid routine to help me better manage not only everything that’s on my plate, but also my own mental health
• Read a lot of self-published books for Self-Published Fantasy Reading Month
• Start plotting out my new fantasy romance series
• Try out a new planner!
• Walk my dog a lot and hopefully enjoy the cooler weather (please)
• Figure out the best way to talk about the election with my Republican family members
• Play a lot of video games
• Prolly buy an oversized nerdy sweatshirt to snuggle into all fall
• Therapy

I hope you all have a wonderful September (well, as well as you can, given it’s 2020). Take some time for yourself and make sure your own well is full or replenished.

Cheers.