August 2026 Writing Update + What I Read in June and July 2026
Photo by Kristel Hayes on Unsplash
What did I do in June again? Besides self-publish my very first novel ever, Our Secret Intentions?! Which can be found here and here? Hmmm…. Let’s see…
Solaris had a flute recital. She played beautifully, of course.
I went to San Juan, Puerto Rico! During a water shortage. Apparently, it sadly happens there quite a bit. It was strange vacationing somewhere where virtually every public place we went to – restaurants, bars, you name it – had no working public restrooms available. Thankfully, we still had running water in our hotel, but on our very last day there, the toilets stopped flushing. And then at the airport, they stopped flushing there too.
I have no idea how the people of San Juan deal with this on a regular basis. It disrupts business and negatively impacts the people who live there. Having running water is a right, not a luxury. The old infrastructure is to blame. In talking to the people who live there, I could feel how stressful it was for them. Water trucks would come in and help with supply, but it’s not enough. We stayed in a hotel where, for the most part, everything was running normally, but for everyone else, where were they supposed to use the restroom?
It wasn’t all bad. I went sailing for the first time. That was fun and scary and exciting and relaxing. Scary because sometimes the boat would tip to one side and we’d get pretty close to the water, but the sailboat owner assured us it wouldn’t tip over. We also got massages. Went to the beach. Walked the cobblestone streets of San Juan. Shopped. Ate lovely food. Relaxed by the pool and hot tub. Overall, it was a wonderful vacation.
My daughter Solaris worked as an intern at a summer camp for most of the summer. On Father’s Day, we celebrated with my husband, my in-laws, and some bomb prime rib.
My friend and neighbor bought a copy of my book, and I signed my very first copy on July 4th, so that was pretty cool. In July, we also visited the Georgia Aquarium with some friends. Since moving back to Georgia, I think I’ve been there four, maybe five times. It never gets old. Packed? In the summer? Yes. But still a good time.
My sister celebrated a birthday in July and we went to this all-you-can-eat Korean-style buffet. Good. So good.
Just last week, I went to both of my kids’ school open houses and am excited for them to go back to school next week. Though still kinda bummed that this summer seemed to fly by.
What else did I do these past couple of months? I’ve been all about my socials. Gotta be on my hustle! I reached out last week to a few local indie bookstores to see if I could display my books at their stores under a consignment agreement. Which is basically renting out books you own to bookstores in hopes that they sell, and if they do, the store gives you an agreed-upon cut of the sale. And if it’s successful, we keep going, baby!
Writing-wise? I reworked four micro-drama scripts – a black romance, an A.I. Robot romance, a horror and an institutionalized script – into feature screenplays. I got up to chapter 3 of Book 2 of the Bloodlines That Burn series. And now I’m working on turning my vampire novel into a screenplay. I’m more than halfway done. Yay!
What’s next for Our Secret Intentions? I’m looking into creating a hardcover version through IngramSpark and an audiobook through ACX. Also, I’ll be figuring out how to sell my book directly from my website.
And here’s some exciting news! An indie online bookstore, The Booktasy Box, that specializes in selling book boxes to its subscribers, reached out to me on TikTok, read my book, liked it, and decided to feature Our Secret Intentions in their book boxes this month and feature me as indie author of the month!
After all that, did I have time to read? Absolutely! I read and/or DNF’d 15 books in the past two months. I read 5 books in June, one of which I rated 4 or more stars. Also, I read 10 books in July, three of which I rated 4 or more stars, and three of which I DNF’d. Let’s get into it!
My June Read
The Traitor Queen (Book 2 of The Bridge Kingdom series) by Danielle L. Jensen
I listened to this on Audible in June. You can read my review for Book 1 here.
I’m still not a big fan of war books or descriptions of action in battle, but I was invested in the romance part of it. We start out where the King, Aren, is still pretty pissed at Lara and trying to pretend he doesn’t care about her. But he does. He so does.
She and her sisters come to rescue him and take him on this quest. I didn’t really care about any of the quest. For me, I just cared about them fighting their feelings or her trying to prove her loyalty. She’s still trying to fight for his people, even though they don’t consider her to be one of them because she came in as a spy and they don’t trust her. She doesn’t expect their trust, even after they accomplish what they’re trying to accomplish. Aren’s right-hand man forces him to choose her or his kingdom. So much drama and fighting. And complicated love. Overall, it’s well written. It’s just not my favorite genre. But if you’re into action-adventure, war-type stories with romance sprinkled in, I’d definitely recommend this one.
4/5 stars
My July Reads
The Inadequate Heir (Book 3 of The Bridge Kingdom series) by Danielle L. Jensen
I listened to this on Audible. It’s long and felt long. But what a story! Some of it definitely could’ve been cut. But their love. Their forbidden love? Well done. Keris was quite an MMC. He hated war. Hated violence. Threw up when he was responsible for violence. He’s in this impossible place his father put him in as heir to his throne. He hates his father because he killed his mother in front of him.
And then there’s the FMC, Zarrah. The king killed her mother in front of her and made her watch her rot. Zarrah was trained by her aunt, who was really all about war, and didn’t care when Zarrah was captured by the enemy. One thing I didn’t understand. Why have Keris get down with some other woman early on in the book just to kill her moments later? They even had a cute banter going on. Shrug.
When Keris meets Zarrah, he knows who she is, but she doesn’t know who he is until after they have quite the sexcapades. Once she finds out, she doesn’t trust him or think he’s a good man. She thinks he did all this to get into her pants and learn his enemies’ secrets. Which is so not true. He fell for her. And she him. But immediately after they do it, she leaves and gets captured. He has to pretend to keep her prisoner. He orders someone’s death who put hands on her. He had to make it seem like she was more valuable alive than dead.
Their love was beautiful to behold. It was just slow for me at times. Don’t love all the war strategies. The couple from book one was in this a little. It was a story from Keris’s POV while the king was still alive, even though we know what happens to the king from Book 2. Don’t know if I love that angle, a retelling of events, but from someone else’s POV. But I’ll read the next one. Gotta see how this forbidden union plays out.
4/5 stars
The Endless War (Book 4 of The Bridge Kingdom series) by Danielle L. Jensen
I listened again on Audible. The conclusion to their beautiful love story. The two main leads spent a lot of time apart because she was imprisoned. There’s this weird guy who wore people’s faces, and I was like, ‘ok, I guess?’ And then the other prisoners who had to resort to eating people was sad.
When Keris and Zarrah were finally united, he promised he wouldn’t touch her because she still questioned what she had been taught about him, the enemy. A lot goes down that I don’t want to spoil here. I just love their love story. Though it took a long time to get through. Still, it was beautifully written. Keris was an amazing MMC! Swoon!
4.25/5 stars
Bloody Cruel Monster (Book 6 of the Sick Boys series) by Lucy Smoke
I read this on Kindle Unlimited. You can read my reviews for the other books in this series here and here.
It was a hard turn when Braxton went from hating Clover to loving her. But eventually it became believable. She got kidnapped by that Hades guy who wanted her to work for him. Some kid who was imprisoned with her, she helped get him out. Even though he was forced to drug her in the beginning. There was one of Hades’ goons who tried to help her, Leo. I wonder what he’ll do in the last book. They keep him alive for a reason.
Do I think that the two main characters belonged together? They enjoyed screwing each other. And eventually she let herself love him when he was vulnerable and shared his past with her. It was exciting at times. It sure kept my interest. Overall, a good read. Though all the blood play and biting and leaving marks during sex was a lot and not necessarily hot to me.
4.25/5 stars
Thanks for reading!
