Last week Peekaboo did a really wonderful guest post about ARC life (or why being a rabid book fan is actually really hard sometimes). In her post Peekboo makes some really great points, and I included some thoughts of my own at the end, especially about stress and burnout. (Especially as I sit here looking …
Continue reading Discussion: ARC Life (the actually really great flip side)
Since it's summer I figure it's pretty much the ideal time to talk about beach reads. For me, beach reads are books you can relax with on the beach or by the pool; books that are light and witty and bright. Contemporary romances (especially romantic comedies) are the perfect beach reads for me. I don't …
Today's discussion post is a little more focused on the writing side of bookish things. I'm participating in Camp NaNo in July, and am super excited for my story idea. I plan to write several interlinked short stories based on fairy tales, set in an urban fantasy/paranormal romance AU. The common link is some interaction with …
Continue reading Discussion: Writing diverse characters as a white author
As a follow up to my April 2018 post about Diversity in Romance, I wanted to talk some more about diversity in romance - specifically main characters with mental, physical, and sensory disabilities. ***IMPORTANT: I am writing this from a place of good intentions, but you know what they say about the road to hell… …
Continue reading Discussion: Diversity in Romance part 2 – mental and physical ability
I am so crazy glad that the weather is FINALLY warming up outside! We had so many crazy snowstorms in April, it was bonkers. My goal for April was to try to get caught up on my out of control ARC requests and I did... OK I guess? I spend Readathon and the week leading …
Let's talk about readathons!! In the bookish community, readathons are ways for the bookish community to connect and make the very individual sport of reading into a team event. 🙂 Booktuber Gintare, over at Book Roast created this Harry Potter themed read-a-thon centering around O.W.L's (Ordinary Wizarding Levels, inspired by Harry Potter) which she named the Magical Readathon! …
Big things happening here in Book Otterland. I'm starting a new monthly feature in May where my BFF Peekaboo and I focus on a different fairy tale each month and talk a but about our favorite retellings across various mediums. I got it into my head that I'd really like to start writing creatively again and …
Continue reading Discussion: Posting personal writing on your bookish blog
If you're a reader of romance novels, you've most likely watched an movie adaptation of one of Jane Austen's novels at some point. Or seen The Notebook. (Because let's be honest, who hasn't seen The Notebook?) And maybe you have strong opinions on Colin Firth versus that other guy. (Personally, I'm all about Alan Rickman …
Continue reading Discussion: PassionFlix & Movies based on romance novels
If you read romance and are active on Twitter, odds are you've heard a LOT about the struggles of diverse writers of romance. I actually have just recently become more active on Twitter, and this conversation is part of the reason.Naima Simone wrote a very well-worded (and eye-opening) article about "Sales in the Diverse Books …
My TBR for April is kind of out of control… Heh. Oops. My focus for April is heavy on getting caught up on the entirely too many ARCs I went a little koo-koo-bananas on requesting. Thankfully, Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon is on April 28th. Start time is 7 am on Saturday the 28th in my …
Elley the Book Otter 