I never even posted my October Wrap Up and suddenly November is over? Am I being punk’d? No, this is real? Ok, cool-cool-cool. Um … let me wrap this up quickly. 

HIGHLIGHTS

Hubs’ PT scan came back ALL CLEAR. He got to ring the bell at his oncologist and everything. We know nothing in this lifetime is guaranteed, especially not cancer, but for now he’s cancer free. We’re ECSTATIC about this development. Honestly, with this news, who really cares about the rest of it. This one bullet point made the whole month amazing. 

A Spark of Magic released! It’s available RIGHT NOW. You can snag your signed copy in time for a great holiday gift or buy the ebook and have it delivered right away. Get it, read it, review it. It’s a good one. 

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I read 10 books in October and another 9 books in November. I’m sure I’ll come back to those details in a second (we all know I can’t resist talking about what I read). 

Oh, speaking of reading, I hit my 104 books for the year goal at some point since the last time I posted. I’m sitting at 109 right now (I think) so that’s pretty good. 

I started posting videos again to the AuthorTube channel. So far there’s been 2. They’re a really different style than what I was doing before, so check them out and make sure to let me know what you think! Here’s that link (ahem: subscribe). https://www.youtube.com/c/TabathaShipley 

I have ONE BOOK LEFT on my cute graphic of books I absolutely wanted to get read in 2021. So that’s exciting! In celebration, I added that 1 book to my December TBR. It’s going to happen. I’ve decided. 

READING DETAILS

Because we all knew I was going to come back to it. 

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• 6 eBooks, 6 Paperbacks, and 7 Audiobooks made for a total of 19 books in two months
• 4 of those were review requests, 6 of them were purchased outright, 3 Advanced Reader Copies, 6 were borrowed from the library
• 10 Fantasy, 4 Mystery/Thriller, 2 Science Fiction, 2 NonFiction, 1 Horror
• 4 Middle Grade, 6 Young Adult, 9 Adult
• Ranging in publication years from 2006 to 2021, ranging in pages from 172 all the way to 586. 
• 8 independently published
• ZERO 1 or 2 star books, 7 3-star (good but niche) books, 8 4-star (great for their genre books), and 4 5-star amazing genre crossing books. 

In October I gave the book of the month winners box to The Lucky Diamond by Valinora Troy. This adorable MG Fantasy gave me Narnia vibes and just felt FUN. It’s the first in a planned series and I’m excited to see what comes next in this world. 

In November I gave the book of the month winners box to Omnihumans by Tom Leveen. This high action science fiction book reminded me of the X-Men, introducing an intriguing race of gifted humans and the cops who police them. 

In the head to head between Scars of Cereba, my book of the month from April, and The Lucky Diamond I had to give the slight advantage to Scars os Cereba. Both have future potential with the series but the lessons on Scars will stay with me longer and linger in my head. 

Scars of Cereba had to go head to head then with the bracket two leader May Day. In this case, I gave the edge to May Day. May Day had so much going for it with an intriguing take on vampires that I hadn’t seen before and I just knew I wasn’t going to easily forget that one. 

In the head to head between May’s book of the month, The Last Imperator, and Omnihumans I gave the advantage to Omnihumans. Both books were well written but Omnihumans is the beginning of the world journey, which means I have that new world glow right now for that one. 

WRITING PROJECTS

• If I’m being brutally honest, both months were abysmal for writing. I wrote a pathetic total of just under 16000 words COMBINED for the two months. Keep in mind that I’ve written that number of words in a single month before and still called THAT unproductive. It’s shocking, really. 
• In October I wasn’t really feeling any of the projects. I’d stalled out on The Apocalypse Project and needed to put that on the back burner. I spent some time scribbling in the idea journal, but nothing concrete came of that. 
• Then in November, I decided I would spend a little time working on the Fraun short stories. I did edit the two that already are written (they’re even better than I remembered) and did some work on a third one. 
• Then I was seized by this GREAT IDEA. Seriously, it’s really got a hold of me. So I wrote a scene I needed for that (it really is only one scene), called it the SUPER SECRET PROJECT when talking about it online, and dug into the work required for that one. I’m excited about it. Honestly, the ONLY reason I’m not shouting it from the rooftops is because I’ve been SO SLOW lately and I know people will want this one once I tell them what I’m doing. So stay tuned. When it’s ready, I’ll let the world know. 

WHAT’S NEXT?

4 books to read. This will wrap up the cute little graphic, polish off the last of the ARCs I have waiting in NetGalley, and seal up those final 2 promised reviews. 

If this graphic is to be believed (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA) I would also have to finalize the Apocalypse Project AND the short story anthology. Then I would have to pick a new idea and fully draft it. Then I’d have to fully edit four books, post a ridiculously impossible number of YouTube videos, and totally revamp my blog. I think we can all agree that is NOT going to happen. 

So, instead, I’m willing to let the graphic be “close enough”. I’m going into December willing to let myself get whatever feels right done and let the rest slide. I’m going to look forward to 2022 and start deciding what will get published then. I’m going to enjoy my book events, post a few videos, have fun reading, and write whatever I want. That’s the new goal. 

Anyway, thanks for all the support. I know I’ve been a bit quieter as the last year changed our entire family focus on what really matters. But you’ve all stayed right here, reading the blog and waiting for new releases. You’ve supported me when I posted something and bought tbe books when they came out. You’re awesome and I appreciate you. 

See you soon!

-Tabatha