#ScribesAndMakers May 15: What's going well with your creative work so far this month?

Not output-wise per se, but the work of supporting creativity is going well! Work is picking up again after a dry spell so I'm less anxious, and while that leaves me less energy and time to write (I'm always typing for work and would be doing it incessantly if I also wrote in my free time), it does mean I'm relaxed enough to read and buy books again, from reading the items in my feed to grabbing a discount on #BookBub or an ARC on #BookSirens. Not being constantly on edge and getting input/inspiration or just having fun are all great for my creativity in the scheme of things.

For a limited time, The Last Gift-Knight is still free to review with a BookSirens membership. Check it out today, along with all the other titles in the Heroic Fantasy ARCs You'll Love bundle.

https://booksirens.com/bundle/heroic-fantasy-arcs-you-ll-love-may-2026-batch/LWM1W06

#TheLastGiftKnight #BookSirens #fantasy #BookStodon #IndieAuthor #IndieBooks #sff

Book reviewers, looking for a cute and relaxing cozy mystery?

Check out A SLICE OF MYSTERY on BookSirens!

Perfect for fans of cozy mysteries and awkward heroines with a side of tech.

https://booksirens.com/book/U683XNE/H69X2N2

#CozyMystery #CozyMysteries #CozyMysteryBooks #Bookstodon #Books #BookSirens #BookReview #BookReviews

RE: https://indieauthors.social/@dylanmadeley/116233785282830759

This book still needs reviewers via #NetGalley or #BookSirens or #ReedsyDiscovery or #BookSprout or direct through me (only the last option requires you to fill out a simple Google Form so I can track who I email copies to).

Links in blog post! Help appreciated!

I'm not picky about who applies via NetGalley, either. So far, 25 Requests, 25 Acceptances.

#Bookstodon #Indieauthor #Indieauthors #Indiebooks

The full wraparound cover art revealed, followed by an emphatic appeal.

"Wraparound cover art: The Last Gift-Knight"

https://dylanmadeley.com/wraparound-cover-art-the-last-gift-knight/

#Bookstodon #WritingCommunity #blog #coverart #comicarts #indieauthor #indiebooks #TheLastGiftKnight #NetGalley #BookSirens #BookSprout #art #fantasy

#WritersCoffeeClub 14 What's a service or skill you'd like to offer your fellow writers?

I give passionately detailed, scrupulously honest, sometimes off-the-wall zany feedback that authors have generally enjoyed and found helpful, and I've made great writer friends this way. In fact, giving feedback is something I enjoy so much I do it as a hobby for free reading material, as book-buying funds are limited lately. I'm among the top 1% of #BookSirens reviewers by volume, which is somewhat surprising given that I've only written 13 reviews to date and only occasionally request books. https://booksirens.com/reviewer/FYZ1FTR

Also, if you're looking for feedback or sensitivity reads on Korean history/language/culture or modern law/legal profession I'm probably your girl. I've helped a writing friend rename their Fantasy Korean character and have written reams on Korean history and culture in books. When it comes to premodern Korean history subjects I am likely to get very emotional and wordy to the point of being intimidating, I have strong feels in this area.

Spent a quiet evening cuddling with kiddo and reading, here's a reaction shot of current reads:

The Gutenberg Galaxy by Marshall McLuhan (1962): I got into this one for research purposes and may start skimming past this point for relevant insights, since European medieval manuscript culture isn't of particular interest for my purposes. I got some usable points out of it on sensory interplay and pre-literate minds/societies, but boy howdy is the writing reductionist and racist at times.

Write for Money and Power by Amy Suto (2025): Got the ARC from #BookSirens and she's got some great, pointed critiques on publishing institutions. Not sure if her methods will work for me, but maybe I'll learn a thing or two.

There Is Confusion by Jessie Redmon Fauset (1924): Oh Joanna, you DIDN'T! Maggie omg, noooo 😭 Peter and Joanna are so sweet, awwww. But Joanna how COULD you, I wish I could hate you, ugh. And now they tentatively flap their wings in their different ways, I'm aching already at the ways the world will hurt my brilliant, vulnerable babies 💔 #amReading

#ScribesAndMakers June 23: Do you like to look at the creative projects of others as much as you like doing your own?

They're very different activities but I think they even out to about the same, yeah. I like giving feedback and promoting others' work, and doing my own is more like hard work that I'm resigned to until I hit The Zone. I reviewed @yilinwriter 's book of poetry translations and enjoyed the process a lot. https://exchanges.uiowa.edu/reviews-1-1-1 I'm also signed up on #BookSirens to read free advance copies & leave reviews. (I also tried NetGalley but alas, no personalized feeds and the DRM just didn't work out with my reading habits.)

If you like your literary fiction with gorgeous prose and more than a touch of horror, grab Lynn Hutchinson Lee's ORIGINS OF DESIRE IN ORCHID FENS. There are just 6 review copies left on Book Sirens!

The book is also currently on Netgalley, till the end of the month.

https://booksirens.com/bundle/literary-fiction-arcs-you-ll-love-march-2025-batch/90TGEF6

#booksirens #literaryfiction #horrorbooks #darkfantasy #ecofiction #canadianbooks #canlit #canadianauthor #canadian #arc #freebook #reviewcopy #bookreviewers #books #bookstodon