I am the type of person who gets really excited when I finish a great book and feel like I need to share its amazing-ness with the world. However, I never really had any close friends who were as enthusiastic about reading as I was when I was growing up. They would listen politely as I talked about this book I thought they would enjoy, only for them to reply with, “Sounds interesting” or “That’s nice” without another thought.

One of my best friends has been a great book buddy. We have the same tastes and would share books and discuss the things we liked in each one back in our high school days.

While I love that bond, I wanted to talk with more people about the novels I was reading, the worlds I was exploring, and hopefully learn of stories that would become new favorites.

Then last April I stumbled across this wonderful little community that I didn’t know existed on the Internet.

That community was BookTube.

Here were people sharing their opinions on books and getting all hyped up over their respective fandoms. And something told me to give it a shot.

I did try to film a video back during Labor Day weekend last year (which was forever ago), but I got so nervous and camera shy that I put it to the side.

I’ve figured, “Okay, it’s a new year, time to give this another shot.”

So while I work on overcoming the camera shyness, here’s a quick little video of some of my favorite covers. I’m curious to know what your favorites are so please share them in the comments either here or in the comments on the video 🙂

 

 

Love always,
Lauren

So I recently finished my final edit of my first book (at least until I send it to an actual editor who will tell me whether it sucks or not). I am currently a mess of emotions. Excited. Relieved. And a little worried.

When I started this book, it wasn’t like all the other stories I had started before. This one really pulled me in. It was like the characters were real and that I was actually with them, following them around, hearing all their jokes, experiencing the events of the book with them. Especially with my main character. She spoke to me so clearly that it’s hard to imagine her not being a real person with real problems that needed to be fixed.

I have plenty of other ideas. In fact I’m working on my second book now (not a sequel, but features a few of the characters mentioned in Book One). But I wonder if I will ever feel like that again, have my entire world wrapped up in a character, a setting, a story…or is this a one-time thing?

I really hope not. Because that feeling was amazing. To be swept up in a world, to actually interact with the characters, see the things they were seeing, feel the things they were feeling…it’s addicting.

Are there any other writers out there who feel that way? I know there must be.

If you are writer (whether it be published, fan fiction, or for your own enjoyment) and have felt something similar, please leave a comment below. I would love to talk about it with you.

Have a great week, lovelies!