Not meeting your resolutions – and why it doesn’t matter

You know when you look back and realise you’re not meeting your resolutions? Well, that’s me right now.

No more excuses in 2020: it’s time to start fulfilling dreams.

Oh, the poor, naïve innocent me of last January, who hoped for a strong 2020.

As we’re coming to the end of the year, I took a look back, for curiosity’s sake, about how my goals for 2020 have gone.

Fair to say, they’ve failed. In spectacular ways.

It was interesting reading, though. They reflect a lot of what I mentioned in my post a couple of weeks ago: finding my way back to myself, and focusing on my passions again.

Checking in (with myself)

I planned a monthly update for today, but it’s been so long since the last, I thought it would be a little random. Instead, I want to dive into something far more personal. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, and checking in with myself.

Have you ever felt yourself on the brink of making a change, finding out who you are, and not knowing which way you’re going?

That’s how I’ve been feeling recently.

Book Review: The Head in the Ice by Richard James

Publisher: Sharpe Books

Date: 2020

Genre: Historical/Mystery

Plot: Who would send a madman to solve a murder?

Just released from a Lunatic Asylum, Inspector George Bowman is in no shape to lead an investigation, but the discovery of a severed head in the frozen waters of the River Thames sees him back in service at Scotland Yard. As he delves into the dark heart of the city in search of answers, the memory of the death of his wife threatens to derail his investigation and place his very sanity in peril.

Bowman must confront his demons and the part he played in her demise before he can solve the case; a case that leads him across Victorian London in pursuit of a killer.

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Book Excerpt: The Summoned Ones by Darryl A. Woods

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We’re going for something a little different on the blog today. It’s been a long time since I posted an excerpt and I figured it was time to change that.

Today, I’m taking a look at The Summoned Ones by Darryl A. Woods. Without any further ado, here’s the opening of the book:

Book Review: The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence

Publisher: HarperCollins

Date: 2020

Genre: Fantasy/Young Adult

Plot: In the ice, east of the Black Rock, there is a hole into which broken children are thrown.

On Abeth the vastness of the ice holds no room for individuals. Survival together is barely possible. No one survives alone.

To resist the cold, to endure the months of night when even the air itself begins to freeze, requires a special breed. Variation is dangerous, difference is fatal. And Yaz is not the same.

Yaz is torn from the only life she’s ever known, away from her family, from the boy she thought she would spend her days with, and has to carve out a new path for herself in a world whose existence she never suspected. A world full of difference and mystery and danger.

Yaz learns that Abeth is older and stranger than she had ever imagined. She learns that her weaknesses are another kind of strength. And she learns to challenge the cruel arithmetic of survival that has always governed her people.

Only when it’s darkest you can see the stars.

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Book Review: Strangers by C.L Taylor

Publisher: Avon Books UK

Date: 2020

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Plot: Ursula, Gareth and Alice have never met before.

Ursula thinks she killed the love of her life.
Gareth’s been receiving strange postcards.
And Alice is being stalked.

None of them are used to relying on others – but when the three strangers’ lives unexpectedly collide, there’s only one thing for it: they have to stick together. Otherwise, one of them will die.

Three strangers, two secrets, one terrifying evening.

The million-copy bestseller returns with a gripping new novel that will keep you guessing until the end.

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Television Review: Supergirl, Season 3

Show: Supergirl, season 3

Company:  DC Entertainment

Date: 2018

Plot: Kara is grappling with the sacrifices she’s made and deciding if she should give up her human identity altogether.  Being human and vulnerable is hard.  Maybe she’s better off embracing her alien DNA and only being the “Girl of Steel.” As Kara struggles with her path forward, she continues to work with the DEO to battle all threats to National City, including new villains, Morgan Edge (Adrian Pasdar), and the “Worldkiller,” known as Reign (new series regular Odette Annable).

Book Review: The Wrongful Death by Kenneth B. Andersen

Publisher: Joffe Books

Date: 2019

Genre: Fantasy/Young Adult

Plot: An unfortunate chain of events makes Philip responsible for the untimely death of the school bully Sam—the Devil’s original choice for an heir. Philip must return to Hell to find Sam and bring him back to life, so that fate can be restored. But trouble is stirring in Lucifer’s kingdom and not even Philip can imagine the strange and dark journey that awaits him. A journey that will take him through ancient underworlds and all the way to Paradise.

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Book Review: Sword of Shadows by Jeri Westerson

Publisher: Severn House

Date: 2020

Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery

Plot: London, 1396. A trip to the swordsmith shop for Crispin Guest, Tracker of London, and his apprentice Jack Tucker takes an unexpected turn when Crispin crosses paths with Carantok Teague, a Cornish treasure hunter. Carantok has a map he is convinced will lead him to the sword of Excalibur – a magnificent relic dating back to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table – and he wants Crispin to help him find it.

Travelling to Tintagel Castle in Cornwall with Carantok and Jack, Crispin is soon reunited with an old flame as he attempts to locate the legendary sword. But does Excalibur really exist, or is he on an impossible quest? When a body is discovered, Crispin’s search for treasure suddenly turns into a hunt for a dangerous killer.

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5 things to do without a screen

No commuting means shorter days and more energy to do everything, right?

Unfortunately, wrong.

I’ve been struggling with exhaustion after spending so long staring intently at my screen lately, without physical meetings to break things up.

Everything has suffered: my blog, my writing, even catching up on T.V. I’ve been tired; my eyes sore; my head pounding. Looking at a screen is the last thing I want.

But that point about shorter days? I need to stay occupied and while I didn’t have the energy to learn a new skill, I have found different things to do.