Posted on by susannevalenti · 13 Comments

The planets have aligned!

Has anyone else heard the story about the planets aligning in the sky at the moment? I got so excited when I heard it on the news that I rushed to window to have a look but sadly all I found was clouds 😪

But it has put me in the mind frame for writing an alien based book 😳 so maybe I’ll let that idea simmer in the deepest corners of my mind for a while…

Have any of you seen the planets? I’ll be looking out for them over the next few days with my fingers crossed!

I’m not generally one for omens but something about this happening makes me feel excited about what’s to come ☺️ 

   

Posted on by susannevalenti · 27 Comments

Funny reading inventions 🤓

I was skimming through the Internet when I came across one of these little beauties and it really made me laugh. I couldn’t help but think of all of you and thought I’d share 😊 I don’t know the official names of them so I’ve come up with names that I found appropriate 😋

The neck saver specs

   

How many times have you found yourself alternating between craning your neck and losing all the blood flow to you arms when trying to read in bed? Have no fear, the neck saving specs are here!

The arm saving stand

  

Now this might look a little precarious but if you’re willing to risk a broken nose if it fails then the arm saving stand could be the answer you’re looking for. I’m not entirely sure how you turn a page without getting a book in the face but that’s half the fun!

The duvet book

  

This is a great one for slow readers with lots of disposable cash. Just get your duvet covers printed up with different pages of your favourite books and change the sheets regularly (making sure you get the order correct)

The one handed book holder-opener

  

So you wanna read but you don’t want to use both hands – the one handed book holder-opener is your new best friend!

The I’m-not-sure-why-you’re-spending-this-long-in-the-bathroom hands free reader

  

I think the name says it all 😂 and at least its hygienic!
I hope you liked my silly post, have you come up with any inventions that can make our reading lives easier? xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti · 33 Comments

Offering ARCs ☺️

Hey guys, book 3 in my Cage of Lies Saga: Broken is going to be released on January 31st and I’m offering you all the opportunity to have an ARC in exchange for a review! And if you haven’t read the first two books in the series I’m more than happy to give you a copy of those to review too! 

Cage of Lies an action packed dystopian ya series with some romance thrown in too and I’ve been overwhelmed with the reviews I have received already which you can check out on Goodreads if you’re interested 😊

So here is the blurb for Broken:

Since all of her hopes were dashed, Maya is struggling to adapt to her new life. Where dreams and wishes once kept her going now there is only the burning desire for revenge. She’s changing, hardening into the person she needs to be to hold it together but sometimes the cracks still show. She wants nothing more than to go back and become the person she used to be but sometimes she can’t even remember who that was. Nothing will be right again until she resets the balance. Blood will pay for blood and she won’t give up until the final drop has been spilled. Some say she’s taking it too far, others say it isn’t far enough. 

  
If this sounds like something you would like to read just drop me an email at susanne3587@hotmail.com and let me know if you’d prefer an ePub or PDF and if you need copies of the earlier books too ☺️xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti · 24 Comments

Why you should take a writing break every now and then! 📚📝

So you may or may not have missed me recently 😳 and I’ve missed you guys too! I decided to take a little break from writing my books because my brain was getting overloaded and somehow that extended into my blog too 😁 but it’s a new month and my writing flow is back in force so here I am with a little post about why I believe taking a break can be important…

1. Brain overload. Sometimes you can get too close to your story, your characters, your world and rather than helping it actually makes it harder to see everything! You become so bogged down in the details that it’s hard to make the big decisions. 

  

2. Internal autocorrect. This is an odd one but I find that if I proofread my work again and again in a short period of time, my brain starts to autocorrect the errors meaning that I don’t pick them out! The work is so familiar to me that I don’t notice minor typos or missing words because my brain autocorrects when I read them 😲 (this meme isn’t really right but it was so funny I had to use it)

  
3. My TBR. This is actually my favourite reason to have a writing break because I can spend that time reading! My TBR is out of control and this month I managed to read the first 3 Game of Thrones books 😍

  

4. You can actually read it like a fan when you go back! One of my favourite parts of writing is when I do a read through and have forgotten something I’ve written! And especially if I love it when I read it!! I’m the biggest fan girl going and there’s nothing better than being a fan of your own work 😆

  

5. Sometimes not thinking about your work helps you come up with the best ideas. I find that parts I may have found clunky to read will suddenly be easy to resolve when I found them impossible to fix before. Plot holes are  filled, characters are fleshed out, bad guys have made their moves and everything suddenly just falls togetherness!

  

So there you have it – I’m back with a bang and I’m on a crazy writing splurge 🎉 let me know if any of this works for you too or if you find anything else that helps ☺️xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti

Halloween book tag 🎃👻

  
Thank you so much to imanadventurest for tagging me to do this great new tag which they created! Check out their blog because it’s brilliant!

👻 Favourite scary read for Halloween:

   This book isn’t out and out scary but it has a creepy feel to it and I just couldn’t put it down so it is definitely my favourite!

🎃 Scariest book cover. Like ever.

   I love Brandon Sanderson’s covers and this one creeped me out so much before I read the book and probably even more since lol

👻 If you could pick any author to go trick or treating with, who would you pick?

I want to go trick or treating with J K Rowling and I want to go trick or treating at Hogwarts and I don’t’ think that’s unreasonable!

🎃 If you could dress up as any bookish character for Halloween, who would you be?

   I think I might even have to do this next year!

👻 If you could find anything from any book in your trick or treat stash, what would you hope to find?

  Dwayne Johnson, I think it would be more of a trick or treat sack but if I found him in there I’d be pretty pleased ☺️

🎃 In what fictional world would you like to go trick or treating?

I think you’d get a pretty interesting stash in Middle Earth

👻 what book villain would you not like to meet alone in a dark alley on Halloween?

  Voldemort would be pretty much the worst person to run in to, he’d just kill you no matter what!

🎃 would you rather dress up as a vampire, zombie, werewolf or shadowhunter?

  It would be easier to look good as any of the others but if I’m dressing up I think I’d rather go all out as a zombie!
👻pick a candy (just one) from Harry Potter that you would love to find in your stash

I’d go with Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans because they are technically every candy anyway!

🎃What is your favourite Halloween candy?

I just like dairy milk chocolate lol I never want anything else’s!


I hope you all had fun reading my answers and I’d like to tag anyone who would like to do this great tag! Don’t forget to link back to Book Adventures if you do as it is their original tag! Xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti · 3 Comments

3 quotes 3 days day 3 (round 2)

  
The rules:

  1. Thank the person who nominated you.
  2. Post a quote for 3 consecutive days (1 quote for each day)
  3. Nominate 3 new bloggers each day (I’ve done this before so I won’t be nominating anyone but if you’d like to do it then please do!)

Thank you to Story and Somnomancy for nominating me ☺️ you should check out their blog!!

So here’s my quote for day 3:
  

This was tough because it was impossible to pick a favourite daryl quote because they’re all so good! I love him, I love the show, I love this quote, enough said lol 

If you’d like to do this tag then take this as me tagging you! xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti · 4 Comments

3 quotes 3 days day 1 (for the 2nd time 😋)

  

The rules:

  1. Thank the person who nominated you.
  2. Post a quote for 3 consecutive days (1 quote for each day)
  3. Nominate 3 new bloggers each day (I’ve done this before so I won’t be nominating anyone but if you’d like to do it then please do!)

Thank you to Story and Somnomancy for nominating me ☺️ you should check out their blog!!

So here’s my quote for day 1:

  

There aren’t many books that I can quote from memory but somehow I can think of many, many Harry Potter quotes and they hold as much magic as they did the very first time I read them…

I tag you if you haven’t done this one yet and I’d love to see your quotes too ☺️xoxo

Posted on by susannevalenti · 3 Comments

My life in books tag 📖

I was actually tagged to do this one! So thank you Caroline for tagging me and you should check out her blog too!
1. Find a book for each of your initials

  

S: Switched by Amanda Hocking. If you haven’t read these books yet then it’s about time you crawl out from under your rock and get on with it! Plus Amanda Hocking is very inspirational to me so this is the obvious choice ☺️

  
V: Voice of the Gods by Trudi Canavan. I LOVE this series! If you’re into ya fantasy then you should definitely check these out. It’s been a few years since I’ve read it but the characters and their story have stayed with me

2. Count your age along your bookshelf – which book is it?

  

I’m an alphabetiser so there’s nothing random about my shelf but at number 28 sits this little beauty. If you haven’t read this prequel then I definitely recommend it (I just wish it had been a trilogy too)

3. Pick a book set in your city/state/country.

  

I went for the Slated books by Teri Terry, they are set in sunny England and are a really great dystopian read.

4. Pick a book that represents a destination you would love to travel to.

  

Hogwarts. I want to go to Hogwarts *stamps foot impatiently* my owl must have gotten lost…

5. Pick a book that’s your favourite colour.

  
I like grey. Maybe this is strange but I just like grey and I love Game of Thrones so here’s my winner.

6. Which book do you have the fondest memories of?

  

My dad used to read The Hobbit to me when I was very little and it’s where my love of books began.

7. Which book did you have the most difficulty reading?

I can’t really think of one that I would call difficult but I tend to find classics kinda boring 😳

8. Which book in your tbr would give you the biggest sense of accomplishment when you finish it?

  
The Game of Thrones books. Im about half way through A clash of Kings (book 2) and I’m loving it but I watched the tv series first (I know that’s not okay but it was on my tbr and the series looked so good and I caved) I’m reading them now that the series has caught up with the books but because I already know the basic plot I’m not rushing to read and find out what happens next so it’s taking me a little while to get through. Plus this is by far the biggest series on my tbr which I’m not already at least part way into yet!

I hope you enjoyed my answers ☺️ As usual I’m tagging everyone who wants to do this!  

Posted on by susannevalenti · 2 Comments

Free!

Tomorrow, my second book Linked is going to be released and in celebration my first book Chained is going to be free for the day! 

  
And if you feel like really helping me out, I’ll be doing a post about this tomorrow on my Facebook page and a like and share would really help me get the word out! 😍 it’s tough promoting a new book and I’ve been very lucky so far with my sales and reviews but I would love for even more people to find out about Chained and even better: for them to get their copy for free!

Here is the blurb for anyone who needs to know more:

Terrified of the contamination and the creatures it has created, humanity hides behind The Wall. No one knows what lies beyond the wasteland. Maya has never thought much about what might still be out there, lurking in the forgotten places. But when she’s thrust into the unknown, she is forced to question everything she has ever been told. Not everyone outside died, some of them became something… else. As her heart is torn in two, every choice she makes is harder than the last. What she discovers will change her forever. She knows she will probably die, but Maya has seen enough of death and she won’t let it have her without a fight

Thank you guys in advance and I’ll be reminding you all to get your freebie tomorrow ☺️ xoxo