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Wow as a writer and multi award winning poet, I am so glad that I just found your channel and I agree wholeheartedly with content. In order for me to write well, I have to read well ie literature diet and watching my genre intake. In order for me to think well overall I walk up to 40 kilometres plus per week. Walking clears the mental cobwebs and for the most part solidifies some mind bending creative narrative. So much so I have to jot thoughts down as soon as I am back home in the front door. I live for walking, reading, writing. I don’t smoke or vape, detest the thought of gambling my hard earned dosh and found alcohol to be a total thief of creativity and bore. Work on what you believe in. Believe in your work.😊

So glad you are excited about Christine Lauren. They are fantastic. My wife is producing their new film.

i really loved this video so new subscriber! but also you’re so beautiful 🩵

Hello fellow book adventurer! I've been questioning if I want to do the midyear book freakout tag, so while viewing some others, I found your channel! I'm not a big romance reader and I must admit, the books I have read don't generally have characters that...would be great partners haha. But I have read Eimly Wilde and I love the characters in this book. It was delightfully fun and interesting. I'm looking forward to the next one! I'm looking forward to see if you can recommend some fun romances for me! Subscribed and thrilled for adding new books to my tbr 😅😊

I’m usually a winter reader but I’ve been LOVING reading by the pool this summer! This is just the list I needed ☀️ I recently finished Just for the Summer which is another perfect summer read

It’s so ironic cause the pool calls me but my reading yells at me to read in the summer

I tried searching for local writings groups not too long ago... online groups scare me because I hate talking "over the phone", but I found an in person group that meets once a month only it seems to be heavily male dominated which also intimidates me lol think I'm just adverse to meeting new people even though I want a writing connection with others!

“Writing can be a very lonely practice”. Um…yeah, that’s why I love it. 😂 I always click on these writing group videos to see another frustrating facet to writing. I’m happy to hire people. They’re not flaky or unhelpful.

Fan from india Plz do videos for screenplay Especially twist writing in oldboy and fi8 club plz

This is super helpful! Thanks! Last fall I started a local writing group where we get together once a month to sit and write. I realized that I needed to take my own writing more seriously and if I wanted writing accountability, chances are others wanted that too! It's been super helpful, even though the group only has 2-3 people who come each time. Now I am trying to think about what it might look like to add in a critique element to the group or at least the option for critiques.

If you want to sell me your book: What's the story about? How did you find the story? did you have fun writing it? How does this story relate to you? my two-cent😊

This topic is one that I feel like I’m always asking but never knowing where to find the info so this video was such great timing 😊

I just bought Emily Wilde and I’m so excited to pick it up!!! Okay I’ve seen THREE people talk about the Paradise Problem today… I need to pick it up!!! I haven’t read Happy Place or Funny Story yet but I definitely consider myself an Emily stan. My new crush is Bo from Out on a Limb!!!

So it's a little embarrassing how similar my answers might end up being to yours. I read both my first Emily Henry and first Becky Chambers this year and loved both of these authors a lot, so there will be a lot of overlap, lol 1. Fav book of 2024 so far: Monk and Robot duology (can't possibly pick just one) 2. Fav sequel of 2024 so far: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy 3. New release you haven't read yet: The Heiress's Daughter by Anne Gracie. It's a Regency type romance by one of my favorite authors in the genre, but I'm forcing myself to wait to buy it until I've reduced my TBR just a tiny bit. 4. Most anticipated book for the second half of the year: I'm actually very excited for yours, lol. 5. Biggest disappointment so far: In the Company of Witches by Auralee Wallace. I'd read a different witchy book late last year (The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches), which I really enjoyed, and I thought this would be kind of similar but cozy mystery style. Was completely unprepared for the major theme of navigating grief. I ended up DNFing it because I just wasn't prepared for it. Could have just been poor research on my part before buying, but I was still disappointed. 6. Biggest surprise so far: Not a specific author, but I've been surprised by my newfound interest in medical history books, lol. 7. New fav author: Got to be either Becky Chambers or Emily Henry, though I'm not sure I've read enough of either one of them to declare it definitively. But assuming their other books are similar to the ones I've read so far, I feel pretty confident they'll both be new favorites. 8. New fictional crush: I don't think I have one for this year! I've read a few romances, but I didn't get a crush on any of the characters this time around. 9. New fav character: Got to be Mosscap! So wholesome! 10. Book that made you cry: I am apparently your opposite. I cry at almost every book I read, happy or sad. I didn't used to be this way, but I just don't hold back anymore, lol. 11. Book that made you happy: Ah, man, lots of them! Happy Place and The Monk and Robot duology definitely top the list though. 12. Best book to movie adaptation so far: I've watched the Reacher and Bridgerton tv series, but I didn't feel really great about either one of them. I really prefer the books in both cases. 13. Best post/video of 2024 so far: I don't know! It's really hard for me to remember when I watch/consume things and how much I liked them for things like this because I don't keep a spreadsheet like I do for reading. 14. Most beautiful book of 2024 so far: Monk and Robot duology for me 15. Book(s) you need to read by the end of the year: I don't have any MUST reads for the rest of the year, but I sure do have a full TBR shelf right now, lol. Thanks, this was fun! I'm definitely going to be picking up Emily Wilde's when I allow myself to buy new books after hearing you liked it so much. I feel like we have pretty similar reading tastes based on what I've seen on your channel so far, so I feel good about my chances of liking it.

So earlier in June 2024, I took on the Read-What-I-Own challenge. I set my number at 20 books, meaning I must read 20 of my TBR books before buying anything new. Audiobooks, Kindle, and physical books all count. Well, I fell off the wagon as I've ordered some from Awesome Books but, other than that, I'm doing well. I've read 6 books between June 3-16 so that's pretty good. I'm not going to tell you how many books are in my Amazon cart right now. I'll buy some of those as Kindles when I finish my 20. I've also done another general unhaul of books I've read and know I won't be re-reading so I've freed up space already. I'm enjoying the process of winnowing out what I own.

Yesss I love seeing readers’ TBR stacks! It helps grow my TBR, can’t let that start to wilt can we 😂🌱📚

This is wonderful! Such a great and concise list!

That's so cool!

Love these tips!

The writing process and your favourite parts/things about the book!

I recently switched from word count goals for drafting/number of chapter goals for editing to a purely time based goal system, and I couldn't believe how much better I liked it. I always thought word count would be better for my brain because then if I stay focused and finished faster, I could just be done. But you're very right in saying that it makes bad/hard writing days so much worse and definitely led to more burnout. I don't have very scheduled days currently, so I just have a timer on my computer for the amount of time I want to write that day. I start and stop it when I start and stop writing until I get up to my time goal. Then I'm done for the day, regardless of how much I've actually gotten done. I'm sure I'd do much better with an actual schedule, but it's just not possible right now due to other commitments on my time that are either higher priority or higher urgency. Maybe someday! I do like the idea of writing out priorities and how much time you have/would like to allot to each. I tend to give attention to the things that are right in front of me at the moment, which probably isn't the best way to make good use of my time OR to prevent burnout.

#5 was a gamechanger for me! 🥰 Word count goals got pretty toxic for me, especially around Nanowrimo time (seriously, 1667 words a day??). Now, I promise myself to write 100 words a day and give myself A LOT of grace! 🙌🏾

AHHH, PERFECT TIMING! ❤ I stayed up until 3am to finish my WIP and woke up at 5am with an idea for my new WIP's outline 😅 Haven't watched the whole thing yet, but I'm 100% that you can cure my (impending) burnout! 😂

This was helpful! I like to pretend that I’m immune to burnout, even though I have a career and kids and exercise is a big priority as well. The most helpful was to acknowledge how long I can write at a time. I push and push and PUSH past my limit a lot and it has been taking a toll lately.

I don't know about your library but mine has ebooks and audio books. I usually have 4-6 books on the waitlist at any given time, the good thing about my library is that if I'm not ready to read it I can delay it by up to 2 weeks and someone else can get it. I use my kobo for the ebooks. Also at least in Canada, some libraries allow you to have digital library cards. I have my provincial card (Nb) and Nova Scotia's digital card. If you own a Kindle I don't think you can use it with your library, but Kobo works for most countries, not sure about the UK though.

3 books in 3 years with a full time job!! Wow!

Good stuff here. I wrote my first novel in 2011 during NaNoWriMo and haven’t written since because it was such a stressful situation. But now I want to try again with more sustainable practices. Hyperfocus is both a blessing and a curse.

Neurospicy authors roll call 👉

Omg Lurlene McDaniel 😂 my best friend was obsessed with those books and since she was a picky reader and I would read anything and everything, I read them so we could talk about them. They were SO SAD 😭 We were obsessed with “Don’t Die My Love” for some reason and I reread it as an adult and have no idea why I liked it so much??? So depressing! The ‘90s were a weird time 😂😂

You just earned a new subscriber! So glad I found your content. I’m working on my first novel while working full time so I really appreciate your perspective on everything!!!❤

Appreciate the reintroduction (I'm new, haha)! ❤ I love your editing style with the memes - It speaks to me 😂 Can't wait for your video on burnout! Hopefully it's another casual sit-down style 🫶🏽

This is probably a silly recommendation (because I feel like you've likely already tried it, but just in case), but have you tried Terry Pratchett for fantasy? There are a LOT of Discworld books, but it's broken into subseries and one-offs that you really can read without having read all of the other books in chronological order (or at all). Monstrous Regiment is one of the one offs that I thought was really enjoyable. Guards! Guards! is the first in the City Watch portion of the Discworld series. Pratchett books are fantasy but also very funny with great characters. I also have trouble getting into really intense, epic types of fantasy novels, but I didn't have that problem with Pratchett. Also, I finished reading Happy Place yesterday, based largely on your recommendation. I really enjoyed it! It was my first Emily Henry, and I feel like I've probably found a new top tier author for me. It's a very exciting feeling! So thanks! lol

I think it’s awesome that your book is about something you love, D&D. That’s where I get my inspiration from for my women’s fiction (even though I think you said you don’t enjoy this genre 😂😂😂). Great video!

I agree with you about Billionaire romance 🙄. It's a definite no from me too

Love this idea.

I do the same thing with library books. I placed 10 holds in two days 🫣🤣. I do a Friday night first chapter party. I read the first chapters of each book and then organize them according to interest. I write down the ones I’ll get to later and return everything but my top 3. My ADHD loves the dopamine hit of seeing I have a hold to pick up. Of course because I’m doing Camp NaNoWriMo, my brain wants to avoid planning by reading instead. Ugh. 😅

New to your channel. I'm neurodivergent too and would love to track how I'm spending my time. What did you use to make those graphs? I'm planning on starting my first novel this summer when I'm on break from teaching (I don't count my crappy 2011 NaNoWriMo romance novel lol).

I love this breakdown. Thanks for sharing. I get discouraged when I think about how I'm not sitting and writing for 3+ hours a day or something. have been trying to figure out my sweet spot on time spent on writing and all the other priorities.

I can't imagine trying to write a book a year with a full time job - amazing!

Oooh 😮 It never crossed my mind to quantify how much time I spend writing! All I know is that I'm up wayyyy too late cranking out 20 words 😂 Super interesting numbers tho, Samantha ❤

How are you doing mrs Sam . Iam Arabic lady subscriber to several British and American CZcams channels since Christmas 2019 . We are as foreigners subscribers as overseas students want to increase our cultural level, improve our English and literature lovers but , first of all make friendships with people from different countries. Iam so happy to be subscriber in your channel. I hope I can learn a lot from your knowledge as author . I read about your profile you used pen name Sam gale . You originally from USA North Carolina, now you resident in England Bournemouth, with mr Alex your husband . You own successful marketing company . I read your debut novel summer house in santorini ( island located in Greece ) plot summary Anna lives predictable life , she sleeping with her boss and isn’t reaching her full potential because for . After her father dies . She finds herself in possession of beautiful summer house that needs doing up . She fall in love with santorini and with handsome Greek cella . Iam so sorry to be little long but reading and writing both are great ways to improve our English as none native speakers. Best wishes for you your dearest ones .

Who needs Netflix when there's vlogs like this on YT? 😊✨ I also bought 22 books this month 😅 But most of them were thrifted, so... Also, I have the same hair color as you! 😊

Super insightful video!

Literally this is the first video I’ve seen from you and it’s amazing! Thank you for doing such a great job summarizing all these points. I’m also a writer so these were super helpful!

Hello! I am an author and have also just started my CZcams channel, which is exciting and kinda scary😅. Great video!

Newcomer here since YT suggested your video to me. This is so interesting. I love the breakdown of time.

I’ve read two of these books recently and loved them both. I didn’t have to read ‘The Book Thief’ for school because it hadn’t been written 😂. Would it help you to read the Elif Shafik book on audio?

5:56.800

Very helpful breakdown. Thanks!

Wow, thank you for that insight! These neat stats make my neurodivergent brain very happy haha 😊. I was surprised that only 2 hours per week would add up for you for cooking AND eating! I feel like that would add up to one hour a day minimum for me 😅. Also, I understand that these are not "functional hours" in a sense, but the morning and evening routines (dressing, showering, etc) and the times when you are "on the way" (commuting, getting somewhere, driving and so on) can take up a chunk of time. Would have been interesting to see those in comparison 🙈. Thanks again, have a great weekend!