Before My Second Cup: 9/8

On Fall, Projects, and Cozy

This past week, I finished Golden Son by Pierce Brown from his Red Rising series. If any of you aren’t familiar with these books, Red Rising is a sci-fi fantasy that follows a low-born member of the futuristic, Roman-styled intergalactic Society infiltrating the top of the food chain in an attempt to inspire an upheaval of the class system. It’s very reminiscent of Dune in terms of sci-fi that feels like fantasy, and it mimics the legends of Greek heroes and gods extremely well. Brown writes like a poet and paces like an action movie director, resulting in a book that is both fun and beautiful to read.

I won’t be going into spoilers here because if you haven’t read this series, I highly recommend that you do. It had been sitting on my TBR for about two years until our friends read it, recommended it, and gave me such an intense feeling of FOMO that I finally got around to reading it. I haven’t been able to put down the series since. With two kids, books to write, and a platform to build, it’s a miracle I’ve read the first two books in two weeks. The last time I read a book that fast was probably in college. I didn’t realize how much time I had in those days.

The good thing is, these books plus the delicious fall weather we’ve had rolling its way into the PNW has put me in the perfect mood to write. The bad news is, I still have to finish editing Lost Legacies, a novella I finished back in April, I have to format Dead Ends: Volume 2 for print, and I have to attend to my non-writing to-do list as well. None of these are real complaints, though. It feels good to be busy. With school having started up today for my eldest, my schedule has freed up enough to make me feel more confident in tackling each of these tasks.

For anyone chasing after that cozy fall feeling, I can’t recommend enough this little book I picked up a few years back called Cosy: The British Art of Comfort by Laura Weir. It’s a cute, little book that teaches you how to build the perfect cozy environment, and it doesn’t require perfect weather conditions, either. And for those who struggle with seasonal depression, it can be a great tool in making the most of your surroundings to help your day-to-day on the drearier days of winter (on top of taking! your! vitamins!). My husband got the firewood shelter built to keep our healthy supply of firewood protected from the rain, and I’ve got soup and scone recipes locked and loaded. The seasons really are what you make of them.

My recommendations for fall: a healthy TBR + a library card, tea restock, a movie marathon list, baked good recipes (if you’re not a baker, make friends with your local bakery), weekly viewings of The Great British Baking Show, a good lofi playlist for work, and daily strolls when the weather permits it (and, no, rain does not mean you can’t go for a walk; that’s what raincoats and boots are for). If you have any questions, you can find me huddled in a dark corner with Kleenex while I try to format my book cover for the thirty-fourth time.

Cheers,

S. Guild