Welcome to the June 2021 roundup!

Well, the first half of this month was spent in our 4th lockdown, and the rest living with restrictions in place as we slowly ease out of it. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the rest of Australia, with many other states, including my home state of NSW, being plunged into their own lockdowns as the Delta variant takes hold here. We’re lucky so far that there haven’t been any deaths, but with a poor vaccination rollout, we could be dealing with these issues for a while, at a time where most of the world is opening back up again.

I don’t know if having to stay home was supposed to make me more productive, but it really didn’t.

While I did finally manage to send my Blackbirch 3 MS to some betas at the start of the month, I haven’t done any creative writing since. If you read last month’s roundup, you’ll know a surgery I’d been waiting 2 years to have was postponed again. While I’m still waiting to hear when that will go ahead, a second surgery scheduled on the 25th of June thankfully did and I had to do some prep and organizing ahead of that, which pushed being creative low on my to-do list.

Now I’m recovering from that major procedure and hoping that when I return to my writer’s desk, I’ll be able to slip back into a more regular routine.

I hope you had a more productive month than I did. If not, fingers crossed next month brings less stress and more creativeness for us all.

What I’ve Been…

Writing

Blogs – With Blackbirch 3 in the hands of my first round of betas, I concentrated on writing a handful of blogs to see me through my surgery recovery period, and I did find myself missing being in my book’s world.

Reading And Watching

Fixtures & Fittings (The Blackwood Family Saga Book 2) by Julia Blake – For the second book in this series, we get a peek at the life of Blackwood son, Marcus. He runs the family business and leads a playboy life of riches and no family responsibilities. When a tragic murder rocks the Blackwoods, he finds himself the guardian to his traumatized 7-year-old niece, and suddenly a supermodel girlfriend and clinical modern apartment don’t mean as much as they did. To help his niece heal, Marcus wants to find a family home, and the perfect house might also come with a new relationship. Like the first book in the series, this is a quick read. You will need to care about the characters, however, as unlike book 1 which focuses on a kidnapping, all the action of this book is in the final few chapters. Thankfully, Julia Blake is a master at making you care about her characters and I read through to the last page to see how Marcus faired when up against a killer and falling for someone he never expected to.

Wynonna Earp – Seasons 1-4 (Stan) – My older sister suggested this series to me, and although it did take a few episodes to get into (I felt the humor came off as forced and made the acting cringe-worthy in the first season), I kept watching and was glad I did. It’s like a grown-up version of Buffy, with a chosen one (Wynonna, the Earp Heir) having the gift to use Peacemaker (Wyatt Earp’s gun) to dispatch demons. There’s a curse to break, a rag-tag friends-to-family squad that comes together over the four seasons, sarcastic comedy, love, and heartbreak.

You can find my book reviews on Goodreads. Be my friend and share your books/recommendations with me!

If you’d like to add the Blackbirch books to your “Want to Read” shelf and/or check out the reviews, click the following images!

Taking Photos Of

Winter Walks! It’s getting frosty in the morning, but I’ve kept up my walks (pre-surgery) and come across a lot of beautiful birds and foggy landscapes.

On The Blog…

In case you missed any of my posts, or want to read them again, here are the latest blogs.

• May 2021 Roundup
• Questions To Ask Your Beta Reader
• Writing Tips For Action Scenes

Writing Tip Of The Month…

#WritingTipWednesday posts are added to my social media feeds every week and here is the most popular tip for this month. It’s taken from my blog post, The Next Project Reset.

For more tips, visit my Writing Tips Pinterest Board.

Blackbirch Review Of The Month…

I’ve run out of teasers, so I’m switching to Blackbirch review highlights!

This 5-star review is for book 2 in the series, Blackbirch: The Dark Half. If you’ve read either of my books—and haven’t done so already—please consider leaving a review. It could help another reader find their next fave book.

If you’d like to read the books released so far or find out more about each novel, here are the links:

• Blackbirch: The Beginning (Book 1)
• Blackbirch: The Dark Half (Book 2)

Quote Of The Month…

I’ve hoped you’ve enjoyed my June Roundup. Let me know what you’ve been up to in the comments and I’ll respond when I’m back after recovering from surgery.

— K.M. Allan

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