C.J. Milbrandt's Blog, page 8

The new BINGO board has been posted to #MGCarousel, and I’m already sifting through my To Read pile to find titles that fit the squares. It’s a fun challenge. Join in?

Grab your own BINGO board at Middle Grade Carousel >>

Picking and Choosing. I read lots of books last year, and most were pretty good, really good, and even crazy good. These count as highlights:

Are you following me on Goodreads? Please do! That way you’ll know what I’ve been reading & what I’ve been writing. CJ on Goodreads >>

I love books. Buying them. Shelving them. Reading them. Writing them. For last year, I squeaked through with exactly 100 books, which was my reading goal. Here’s my BINGO board from Nov/Dec:

Not too shabby! I’m already a handful of books into the new year, with reading challenges aplenty to spur me on. More about those in future posts. ~CJ

Now and Next. With an eye toward filling squares on my BINGO board, here are the books I’ve nudged to the top of my To Read pile!

Curious about what I’m reading next? Follow me on Goodreads.

Middle Grade Carousel. The BINGO challenge this time around is for two months, which makes me optimistic that I’ll be able to achieve multiple rows. I’ve already gotten a start, but here’s the bare board. Pick up yours at #MGCarousel >>

New Audio Chapter. Deuce has updated with a new audio chapter for patrons starting at the Journeyman tier. This is my Galleries of Stone prequel, which details how Aurelius Harrow (against staggering odds) came to meet Ulrica Harrow. The uphill girl & the dockside boy become hunting partners, friends, and … as you all know … more.

You can simply read along by joining the Deuce tier ($5/month), making this a subscription story. Yes, eventually (once the tale is all told), I’ll publish both...

Audio Update! My Patreon have just seen an audio update to Deuce, a Galleries of Stone prequel. Interested? You can read along if you join at the lowest tier ($5/month). Audio chapters drop every other Wednesday and can be accessed if you’re at the Journeyman tier (or up). Eventually, the book will publish to print/digital/audio … but patrons get to see the story unfold as I write it! CJ on Patreon >>

Many thanks to everyone who supports my stories, wherever they can be found. ~CJ

Travis Baldree. Did you know that the narrator for Galleries of Stone has become an author in his own right? (A wildly successful one, in fact.) He was kind enough to blurb the trilogy, and the quote now appear on both the print/digital edition covers.

This selection of books would give me another BINGO for August. We’ll see if I can fit in that much reading time! #TopRow

Small Towns with Strange Traditions. While these books are probably most properly sorted into the Magical Realism genre, I’d refine their sub-genre based on setting. All of these stories occur in towns with special rules. Locals know what to do, but newcomers? Beware!