Summer Colds and More Posts

...What is this? Is this a...post?

Why, yes, yes it is.

I know. I promised I would put something up for Go Set a Watchman, and then I didn't. That's just me, isn't it? Handing out promises and then never banking on them? Well, my excuse is a good one this time. I had - yet another - summer cold. On Sunday, I thought I had allergies because the weather had changed and then Monday I woke up with a sore throat, snot launching itself from my nose, and the strength of a newborn baby. Basically, I looked like this for three days:

It was no good.

My computer is still being a little weird, but I'm going to go with it for now. Until I can get some money to buy a new one (and stop drooling over the gorgeous MacBooks, which are definitely not in my future), this one is just going to have to last. Thank god for Dropbox and Google Drive and external hard drives and all those other things that I'm supposed to be backing all my stuff up on every day...and I don't. But I did when my other hard drive failed, and I think I said that before. So no worries! I still have all my writing and everything that goes with it. I apologize to anyone that I ever laughed at when they complained about their computer crashing and they never backed up. I'm so, so sorry.

Anyway, this is going to be pretty quick because this week has been a dead week. I've been thinking of things to write, of course, but with the computer and the cold and the fact that my office is Hades during the summer, I haven't even given my laptop a thought. Now, of course, I have a semi-open weekend and I've been reading a few books, so I'm going to get some posts ready for next week. Who knows, I might just have three up! I know for sure I'll have two up, because I have two books in my queue that I'd like to talk about (oh, three, really, but I don't want to get too crazy here), so I'm going to get those up next week. FOR SURE. TAKE THAT TO THE BANK AND CASH IT.

Anyway, I'm going to finish up my cold today (I schedule these things) and hopefully finish up my book that I've been so excited about for awhile, but this stupid summer cold. I have less than a hundred pages, so what am I doing updating this thing? I'm getting out of here!

See you Monday!

PS - Happy birthday, Harry Potter! Oh, and JK Rowling, too, I suppose.

Max Colton's Road to Wonderland by H.A. Robinson

Hey everyone! I have a computer again (for how long, who knows, really), and now I'm back with another installment of the always fantastic Road to Wonderland series. This time around, we get into the mind of Max Colton (written by H.A. Robinson, one of my new favorites), the privileged son of a wealthy architect. We've met Max before, but now we get to learn about his life prior to Izzy and Paris, and how he is trying to reach his own Wonderland.

Check out the awesome trailer before reading about it! https://youtu.be/22tkijOBq1M

Growing up with certain expectations and your entire life mapped out for you is never easy, but when the bar is set impossibly high, most would give up.

Not Max Colton.

Even as a child, his father is unrelenting. Discipline, rules and rigid control are all he knows. Nothing Max does is good enough, and no matter how hard he works, approval and recognition are always just out of reach.

From boarding school to university, Max gets a glimpse of the freedom he’s always been denied, and learns unexpected things about himself along the way. When he somehow finds himself thrust back under his father’s iron rod of control, that freedom proves harder to let go of than he anticipated and he finds himself caught in a balancing act between his lifelong battle for his father’s approval and living out his own hopes and dreams.

With loves found and lost and his friends at his side, Max has to navigate through the world one step at a time. People aren’t always as they seem, and every stone unturned reveals a new challenge, bringing him closer to a future that has always seemed elusive and uncertain.

A future that holds success, freedom and love he never expected to have.

A future that will offer loyal friends and a home that isn’t confined to a building.

A future that leads him to Wonderland.

It's no secret that I love this series. Each time I receive an email about a new book, I jump on the chance to review it. This group of authors have created characters with such depth and real worldliness that I get sucked in every time I start reading a new part. I think I've mentioned this before, but here I go again: the way they connect these stories is amazing, and the way that different authors write the same character is so smooth, like they all know what the other is thinking.

Max, by far, has to be my favorite character (do I say that for all of them? Oh well). He's sweet and real, and wants nothing more than his father - a hardass that couldn't have any chill if he lived among polar bears - to be proud of him. He works hard in school, in work, in life, and doesn't stop until his dreams are made real, even if that means throwing aside a few things he thought he truly loved. Max discovers things about himself that might not be considered normal with others, but he loves these particulars, and they make him happy. But that's his downfall: trying so hard to be happy that he's blind to those around him that are trying to hurt him.

I think my favorite part about Max's story was the end. This books don't follow a certain pattern, but I think I had become used to certain characters making certain decisions that seemed obvious (I'm trying so hard to be vague here so I don't ruin anything, so sorry if I sound insane). Max does not follow this same path, and that made me even more excited for the next installment of this series. I want every character in here to eventually be happy, and now that there are three lives I'm invested in thanks to this ending, I need the next installment now, thank you.

Get This Book!

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1GZNLX6

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1HEWvFX

About the Author

H. A. Robinson is a jet-setting billionaire with a home on each continent, who spends her free time saving kittens from trees and babies from burning buildings. A graduate of Hogwarts and a frequent visitor to Narnia, she drinks coffee in Central Perk and tames dragons in Westeros.

In her dreams…

In reality, she’s a support worker living in a small town in Cheshire, who would almost always choose fantasy over reality. She’s been an obsessive reader from the moment she picked up her first Enid Blyton book, more years ago than she cares to admit, and enjoys nothing more than getting lost in new worlds and adventures from the minds of all the amazing authors out there.

She’s had the voices of characters in her head for as long as she can remember, and puts them down on paper in order to convince herself and the men in white coats that she isn’t crazy.

Connect with the author!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HARobinsonAuthor?fref=ts

Twitter: @H_ARobinson

The Road to Wonderland Series Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RTWSeries?fref=ts

And don't forget about the three other books in this series. I've done reviews for all three of them: here, here, and here!

        Izzy @ Amazon US

        Izzy @ Amazon UK

        Paris @ Amazon US

        Paris @ Amazon UK         

        Ethan @ Amazon US

        Ethan @ Amazon UK      

Of course, here's the link to the giveaway:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/95cb0282180/?

Thanks for coming everyone! I'll see you here later this week, for a rambling review of Go Set A Watchman. I'm warning you now: I had lots of feelings while reading that book.

Super Duper Quick Update

I have no computer. *cue gut-wrenching tears*

Look, I'm not dependent on my computer or anything. I can turn it off and walk away whenever I want. (Yes, I'm aware I sound like I'm deep in denial And my next step is to accept God into my life) But this week, I've been thinking of everything I want to do...and all of that involves a computer. OF COURSE. Anyway, long story short, my computer decided to die. And not just die, but die in such a dramatic way that I had to wonder if I gave birth to it. I had to order a new hard drive and it won't be here until tomorrow (keep your fingers crossed). But I will be posting on Monday no matter what, so come on over!

So have a wonderful weekend and think of me each time you power up your computer. Give it a hug. 

PS - In case you're wondering, I managed to back up all my writing and other important files. Do that, too, while you're hugging your computer. 

Story time!

Gather around, children, and let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time, there was a woman. All she wanted was to write a book, so she could share her thoughts and feelings and amazing writing skills with the world. But then problems popped up. Problems of such magnitude that she couldn't concentrate on anything else. Problems that took over her entire life and beat her down until she could barely function on a day to day basis, let alone write a book. When she did sit down to try, the words never came, because she knew there were a million and one things that she should be doing instead of foolishly writing a book that might never see the light of day.

And then what happened to that woman?

Thankfully, this story has a happy ending. The problems were solved. Silly problems they were, too. Not silly in the way that she shouldn't have been fretting over them, but silly in the fact that they could have been solved simply and a thousand years ago if people stopped being silly.

And now? What is that woman doing right now?

This might shock you, but that woman is me (GASP!). It's been a rollercoaster ride these last few weeks and I've been doing little more than eating, working, and shuttling back and forth to the vet and home. The real fun part of my problems didn't even really involved my dog and HIS SECOND SURGERY IN SO MANY WEEKS. Nope, that was old hat for me. Without going into it, I wasn't sure if I was going to have to move again (IN SO MANY MONTHS) and that stressed me out. I hate moving, and I've moved pretty much every year of my life for the last twelve years. It's been annoying and frustrating to say the least. But now my boyfriend and I are happily situated in a house where the cat can have her own room and the dog doesn't have to see her if he doesn't want to. She gets to wander the house, too, occasionally, do don't feel too bad for her. If she could live the rest of her life on her bed (HER BED), then she would be a happy, fat kitty.

But enough about my problems. What about writing?

Well, impatient person, let me tell you a thing: I've been writing this whole week. The moment that we solved our problems, I went into my office and sat down in front of my laptop. I've only stopped, really, to work and eat. I've written about 12,000 words...but not for Amory. I'm still working on her, but there's writer's block with that story. This one I'm working on is a bit more mainstream YA, and, to be honest, I might finish it up either this weekend or next week. It's helping me write again everyday, and once the writer's block with Amory ends (it freaking better), I'll get back to her. But this one I'm working on could be something, and that makes me excited rather than absolutely terrified, like I was two years ago when I sent my manuscript out. I don't know if I'll do that with this story, or if it'll be self-published, but it's so much fun. I hope you'll laugh with me when you read the story and realize that it's not fun at all.

So things are picking up on my end. Of course, that's not going to last very long because we're doing stuff around the house, so I'll have to concentrate on that. But I'm not going to stop writing. This story has made me rediscover my love for writing, like I'm doing this for the first time. And I promise to update this thing more, mainly because now I've finished a few books and can do some reviews. Oh, and be sure to come back on July 20, because I have some special in store for that day. So, yay!

I guess the short version of this post is that things happened, they were solved, and now I'm back. I'll get into the groove of things again, just in time for summer to be over. Better late than never, right?