Found on Fridays for 12 July, 2024
Things I read, watched, heard and did this week(s)
It’s been a few weeks since I did a Found of Fridays round-up, and I’ve read a bunch of books since then! In case you missed it, I went on a pretty epic overseas trip to London Singapore, Liverpool, Lake District, Northumberland, Edinburgh, Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Killarney, Cork, New York and Fire Island!
The London bit got cancelled because there was a massive delay at Perth airport which resulted in us flying 9 hours late, missing our connecting flight and getting stuck in Singapore for 24 hours. So our two night stay in Central London never was. A day in Singapore was kind of nice though.
I was SO ready to come home by the end of it. My kids coped amazingly while I was gone and I’m deeply proud of them. They are neurodiverse young adults who have never been apart from me for so long before, and they managed the household, pets and various problems that cropped up like absolute champions!
Anyway, while I was away I read a little stack of books, watched a little stack of movies, and listened to a little stack of podcasts! Read on.
What I read
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
This was a nifty surprise! A retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe, with a trans protagonist and a very eerie undercurrent. If you love fungi, stories about death and classical literature, give it a shot. Borrowed on Libby.
A Pocketful of Eyes by Lili Wilkinson
Wilkinson has such a lovely, energetic voice and a knack for creating lovable but impulsive and sometimes misguided heroines! 17 year old Bee is obsessed with crime fiction, so when a man dies during her summer job at the museum, she’s determined to solve the case. The cute uni student working for extra credit after failing an anatomy exam, Toby, enters into her scheme wholeheartedly. This is a fun, fast-paced rom-com / amateur sleuth story. Borrowed on Libby.
The Midlist Author Mindset by T. Thorn Coyle
I first met Thorn on the Kickstarter for Authors Facebook group, where she’s a moderator and gave me some great advice on my Kickstarter. I then heard her speak on the Joanna Penn podcast and backed this book on Kickstarter and I’m so glad I did. It’s just nice and gentle, encouraging, honest and very real. I love the concept of transforming my goals with moderation and realism at the forefront. I think I need to write a separate post about this! Purchased on Kickstarter.
The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham
I’ve been reading the Albert Campion books arse-about so I jumped from early Campion who had several love failures to married Campion and wondered what happened in between. This is the book where we find out! We get to meet the lady who steals his heart. But if you think you’re going to get details about the bit where they fall in love, think again. It’s typically startling how they go from friends to engaged. Also, Allingham, if you can hear me from beyond the grave, why did you have to have SO MANY characters? Enough already! My perimenopausal brain can’t take it. Downloaded free from Faded Page.
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Alternative universe, struggling working class protagonist, dual POV, magical typewriter, wartime, sparring gods. I really enjoyed the premise of this book and Ross’ execution of enemies to lovers was *chef’s kiss*. I dropped off at the end a little because reasons which I can’t tell you because it will give spoilers, but it was the same reason I lost interest in Twilight in the last book and purely a personal preference. But overall, a very cool concept and a good read. Also, a super cute cover. Purchased on Kindle.
What I listened to
I’ve been really enjoying Sacha Black’s Rebel Author Podcast, which is entertaining and informative. Sacha is a sapphic romantasy author who has the most delectable British accent and drops a lot of swears. The best episode I listened to recently was a Lessons Learned recap where Sacha talked all about her year as an indie author. She leapt from five to six figures in the past financial year and she goes into detail about how and why she did that, intertwining the personal (mindset, life issues) with the professional (figures, strategy) in a way that is deeply illuminating.
I also listened to the latest Loremen episodes, including The Many Ghosts of Sandford Orcas, and The Creative Penn (several eps!) including one about Click Testing and Selling Direct, and a BBC History Extra ep about The History of Museums.
I also enjoyed The Shameless Bookclub’s episode about Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing.
What I watched
I don’t often have much to share in this category but I was on several planes recently, so I watched a lot of movies!
Motherless Brooklyn
Edward Norton, detective noir, 1950s NYC. A private investigator with Tourette’s Syndrome is derailed by the murder of his boss and is determined to find out why he died. Quite dark and slow-paced, but intriguing with lots of black civil rights elements and beautiful vision of NYC.
Poor Things
A very weird speculative movie where a Frankenstein’s Monster-like young woman is learning about the world in the most surprising ways. You will love the psychological journey. Lots of sex!
Wicked Little Letters
Olivia Coleman does a great job of playing an oppressed woman plagued by vile poison pen letters in the 1930s. A rough-and-ready but delightful and foul-mouthed Irish woman is accused of writing the letters. Nice little twists and characters you’ll love to hate.
Ghostbusters Frozen Empire
Some gentle laughs, a cute story with familiar characters I LOVED from the early movies, including Janine, Winston, Peter, Ray and Slimer. I like the kid actors, too. Egon’s granddaughter is a lot like him, which is a nice touch of nostalgia. And full of iconic NYC locations, which gave me a buzz.
Let me know what you’ve watched/read/heard lately!
Love, Sasha
PS Kickstarter Update - let’s talk $$$
I thought you might like to hear about the financial side of my Kickstarter.
My project hit its funding goal of AUD$1355 in just six hours, which means the special early editions of the book are definitely happening. The higher it goes now, the more ‘stretch goals’ get unlocked, which means backers automatically get extra goodies included in their book orders. NOTE: Kickstarter is not like Gofundme. People who back the project get actual physical rewards, such as copies of the book. So it’s a bit like book shopping for an early edition.
If you're wondering about why I'm still asking for money even though it's over 250% funded, it's because the budget to publish this book myself is about $2500 (editing, proofreading, cover design) but of course, I also need to fulfil the orders of the print books, which means I need to order and pay for them! So I'm not actually in profit yet. I anticipate I will be in profit at about the $5000 mark, which is when I intend to unlock a stretch goal that will take me back out of profit. You know, because why not? LOL
(Side note: If you’re wondering when I'm going to stop yelling about my Ghostling Kickstarter, the answer is when it ends in 11 days! Until then, I'm going to post way more than I'm comfortable with because that's what I've been told to do. If you haven't hopped on the Ghostling train yet, now's the time. It's easy. Just follow the link and make a pledge of your choosing in return for whatever reward you like the look of!)