Favorite Reads of 2014

Video | December 5, 2014December 5, 2014 | Jessica Crawford

Since discovering the world of indie authors and self-published novels, I have made a point of trying to include plenty of these books in my reading. I also just this year discovered the existence of websites that advertise when eBooks are on sale for free. As a result, I have read a TON more books than usual this year, more than doubling my total count from last year! (Keeping track is easy thanks to Goodreads and its annual reading challenge). I have read 50 books so far this year, with a few more weeks to go.

Out of those 50 books, here are some of my favorites of the lot. (Note that, although these are books I read in 2014, a few were actually published in previous years)

TRADITIONALLY PUBLISHED NOVELS

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

http://www.emilylockhart.com/

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

http://www.pierce-brown.com/

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester – how did I never hear of this classic before?!

Euphoria by Lily King

http://www.lilykingbooks.com/

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

http://www.rosamundhodge.net/

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

NONFICTION

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

http://barclayagency.com/fadiman.html

SELF-PUBLISHED NOVELS/INDIE AUTHORS

The Touchstone Trilogy by Andrea K Host

http://www.andreakhost.com/

Sparrow Man by M.R. Pritchard

http://mrpritchard.com/

The Final Formula by Becca Andre

http://beccaandre.com/

Thorn by Intisar Khanani

http://booksbyintisar.com/

So tell me – what were your favorite reads from 2014?

Procrastination at its finest

December 3, 2014December 5, 2014 | Jessica Crawford

Ever since announcing an anticipated release date in Spring 2015 for The Prophecy, I find myself doing plenty of things other than writing. Mostly reading books by other people and playing Dragon Age: Inquisition, the third installment in one of my absolute favorite video game franchises. I swear before the Muses that I will force myself to get back to writing once I have finished the DA:I, which has the potential for 150 hours of game play. Don’t worry, I’m already about 36 hours into it 🙂

In the meantime, I’d like to invite you to stroll on over to another blog of mine. I started it while waiting to get the draft of The Sentient back from the editor, when I didn’t want to continue work on the sequel until I made sure there would be no changes suggested that would affect details in the second book. On Oh My Blog! I posted about random things I find interesting (such as the Cardiff Giant, Rasputin, and the evolution of vampires in popular fiction). I had a lot of fun doing it! It’s been a while since I’ve added any new posts, as I’ve been writing (okay, okay, and reading and playing Dragon Age) since then. I’d like to return to it sometime, though.

Please feel free to check it out while I work on getting back to work!

You can find the blog here: http://ohmyblogjc.blogspot.com/

Winning.

November 16, 2014November 16, 2014 | Jessica Crawford

Ever since learning of the world of self-publishing, I have made a point to regularly read the work of other indie authors. One of my absolute favorite experiences in this endeavor was with The Touchstone Trilogy by Andrea K. Host. Touchstone, which started as a fiction blog before being published, is a young adult science fiction/fantasy story, and it’s kind of amazing. The trilogy begins with Stray, continues in Lab Rat One, and concludes in Caszandra. Then there is the Gratuitous Epilogue, detailing bits of our heroine’s life after she no longer has to worry about the troubles she helped to right in the primary three installments. It was perfect for readers who, like me, weren’t quite ready to leave the wonderful world Host had introduced us to in her books. This bit can be downloaded for free from the author’s website.

Anyway, Host recently held a giveaway that included three different prizes one could make a bid for. The choices included: a copy of any of her books the contestant did not yet own, in ebook or paperback format; one of several partial novels she began but never completed; or galley copies of the Touchstone novels from when she was preparing them for publication.

As another author, I considered which prize would be the best choice for me. As awesome as it would be to get a copy of all of Host’s books, I figured I would rather support her by purchasing them myself as I read through her work. I own the Touchstone books for the ereader only, and so I thought having a hard copy of them in a galley would be nice. And since I’m new to the industry of self-publishing, receiving the drafts, as part of the publishing process, would not only be pretty sweet, but also appropriate for a fellow indie author learning the trade.

You can probably guess where this is going (at least from the title of the post, if nothing else!) I won the prize I had entered the contest for! I’ll be receiving the galleys of Host’s books that I enjoyed so much. Very exciting!

If you are so inclined, you can check out Host’s website here: http://www.andreakhost.com/ You’re welcome. 🙂

A little hometown recognition

November 14, 2014November 16, 2014 | Jessica Crawford

The Sentient made the local news! Thanks, Central New York!

Next stop: THE WORLD

http://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/11/central_new_york_authors_introduce_fantasy_paranormal_elements_to_familiar_citie.html

Welcome!

November 3, 2014November 7, 2014 | Jessica Crawford

Please bear with me as I get this brand new website up and running!

In the meantime, if you can’t find what you’re looking for here, you can check out http://jessicacrawfordwrites.blogspot.com/, which has been acting as my author page up until this point.

Happy reading!