Nothing screams summer like a captivating, can’t-turn-the-pages-fast-enough, beach read!

After spending several months researching Irish history and working out some plot lines for a future novel, I tried to write a few different times this summer and after rewriting the same sentence about twenty times, decided it wasn’t the right time.

I took it as a sign that I was meant to read instead!

Athough I only made it to the beach a few times this summer, these books were so good, I brought them with and read them on the go and yes, replaced Facebook time with reading instead:)!

I love reading all different genres so the pile includes a good mix (and FYI, The Girls Guide to Hunting & Fishing is a metaphor, in case you’re actually looking for hunting and fishing advice)!

Though summer reading was mostly leisurely, it was also productive. I love reading different author’s books and earmarking pages that can better my own writing. Whether it’s the way the author writes dialogue, sets the scene or builds tension between characters, I try to study various ways this is done so I can implement it myself. I also read several books that taught me some things I don’t want to do in my writing (those books didn’t make the picture)!

So, after a summer of sun, (breweries), gardening, (wineries), and relaxation, I’m looking forward to some fall writing in the coffee shop with a pumpkin spice latte in one hand and a pen in the other:)