BSB News
The dates for our February releases are in! Cinderelleper by Ford Forkum will be released on February 14th – yes, Valentine’s Day. And An Elemental Earth, Book 4 in the Ardraci Elementals series by Carol R. Ward will be released on February 20th, which is President’s Day here in the states, and Family Day in Canada, where Ms. Ward lives and writes. Hooray for holiday releases!
Cinderelleper would make the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for that not-so-romantic someone. And if you have the 20th off, what better way to spend it than with Chloe and Zephryn in a harrowing off-world adventure?
Watch for interviews with these two authors coming soon…
Topic of the Day: Reading Time
Do you set or have reading goals for the year? I know several people who set goals to read a certain number of books per year, or certain types of books, or both, though I’ve never really done that myself. I’m not really concerned with how much I read, and I read what I like or what sounds interesting, regardless of genre. The one thing I sometimes have problems with though is finding time to read.
Last year, I set a goal to quit writing early enough to be in bed by midnight at least five nights a week so I would have half an hour to read before sleeping. I ended up getting to bed around 12:15 – 12:30am most nights, but I did read for at least 15 minutes to half an hour even on the nights I made it to bed late.
I find reading to be a good transition between working and relaxing – sort of a mental palette-cleanser when shifting from one state of mind to the other. I often use other mindless activities (*coughfacebook*) in the same way, but social media is far too…communal to relax my mind the same way that getting lost in a book for a few minutes does.
This year, I’m going to try reading more for transitional periods where I would normally surf social media as well as between my writing and sleep hours. It’s kind of a dangerous swap, since I do need to *stop* reading in time to do the next thing I’m transitioning too, but the same is true of social media. Watching real people is often a bit stressful, especially in light of the current political scene, so frustrating as closing a book I want to keep reading might be, it may be a much healthier quick break than the reality shows currently online.
If you have reading goals for the year, or a tip that might be useful to others trying to carve out more reading time, leave a comment here on the blog, or connect with us at your favorite social media hangout.
And don’t forget to browse our Available Books pages to find this week’s freebie download!
