Yes… I know. We’re now more than halfway through February – though when that happened I couldn’t say. I seem to be permanently temporally challenged these days, so please bear with me…
Reading
I read fifteen books in January and DNF’d another. They were:
Witch – Book 2 of the Doppleganger series by Marie Brennan – end of series
AUDIOBOOK Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
AUDIOBOOK Dark Summer by Ali Sparkes – children’s book
Guns of the Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky – my outstanding read of the month
Broken Flyght – Book 2 of The Flyght series by S.J. Pajonas – indie author
Termination Shock – Book 1 of the Interstellar Enforcement Agency by Gillian Andrews
AUDIOBOOK Over Sea, Under Stone – Book 1 of The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper – children’s book
The Last Smile in Sunder City – Book 1 of the Fetch Phillips Archives by Luke Arnold
A Longer Fall – Book 2 of the Gunnie Rose series by Charlaine Harris
Sweep With Me – an Innkeeper Chronicles NOVELLA by Ilona Andrews – indie author
The Zero Curse – Book 2 of the Zero Enigma series by Christopher G. Nuttall – indie author
Bone Silence – Book 2 of the Revenger series by Alastair Reynolds – end of series
Crownbreaker – Book 6 of the Spellslinger series by Sebastien de Castell – end of series
Ribbonworld – Book 1 of the Balcom Dynasty series by Richard Dee – indie author
AUDIOBOOK Ancestral Night – Book 1 of the White Space series by Elizabeth Bear – audio read of the month
Writing
Overall, I wrote just over 17,500 words on Mantivore Warrior during January. I am only now beginning to realise just how exhausted and low I’d become by the middle of last year – writing Warrior has been so much fun in comparison to the last two books, which turned had into something of a struggle. In fact, looking back, everything had become a bit of a struggle… I realise that one of the main ongoing challenges for me will be to adequately take care of myself, so I don’t burn out. Sorting out my dreadful sleep habits and getting more exercise would help – though the rainy weather this winter really hasn’t helped.
Blogging
It’s with great reluctance, I’ve decided I need to ease back on my blogging. I do enjoy it – but it’s not just the writing that takes up time, it’s also the visiting and commenting. Apologies all around – right now, I’m aware I still haven’t got the balance right and I’ve fallen behind with visiting other folks. I’ve kept up with the Friday Face-off and the Sunday Post, but I’ve stepped back from Teaser Tuesday. I will still be taking part from time to time with Can’t-Wait-Wednesday – but only when it suits my writing timetable, which has to take priority. But I love being part of such a lovely corner of social media – you guys are absolutely wonderful and I love being able to discuss books – so I refuse to give it up!
Brainfluff 
Blogging does take up a lot of time, and its completely understandable when you need to take a step back. I will still be looking forward to your posts when they pop up😁
Thank you, Tammy:). I really hate doing it as I so enjoy browsing and chatting and folks – but there just aren’t enough hours in the day, anymore…
Wow, 17,500 words is excellent.
I’m not surprised you’re taking it a bit more easy with the blog tbh. It’s very time consuming and I have no where near the number of commitments you have. I sometimes find that I’ve spent over 2 or 3 hours just blog hopping and responding to comments. You definitely need to find a happy balance.
Lynn 😀
Yes – that’s it, exactly. I love browsing and chatting to other folks – but it does hoover up time! Which I simply don’t have…
Blog-hopping takes indeed a LOT of time – something that’s always in scarce supply, what with life commitments and all the rest. Since I’ve started blogging I’ve seen the number of people I love to follow grow exponentially, because there is nothing more pleasant that finding oneself in the company of like-minded, delightful people, but keeping up takes TIME, and we can’t always devote what’s needed to this kind of enjoyable activity. Finding the right balance is difficult, but since it’s a problem we all share, you can be assured that we also perfectly understand 🙂
Thank you for your kind understanding – it’s such a lovely community! And one reason why I really don’t want to completely step away from it…
Those not into blogging don’t see there’s way more than writing and posting our post on the blog, but we bloggers get you, Sarah. All too well! Engaging with the community is supposed to be fun—not stressful—so definitely find the pace that suits you best and always remember that we get it and you’re not alone 🙂
Oh thank you so much, Silvia – and that’s the kind of response that makes me fight so hard to keep hold of my links with this community!
I totally understand where you are coming from with the blogging Sarah. I am way behind on commenting and reading blogs. I am trying to balance my life more and something has to be cut back. So, you blog when you can, visit and comment occasionally and do what you need to do.
Bless you for your kind understanding, Carla:)