Women With Books - Alexis Anne and Superhero Storytelling

A new episode of the Women With Books podcast is up!

Women With Books Podcast featuring Alexis Anne; Why Thor, Deadpool, & Black Panther are going to affect the books you read at book club.

We tried hard to make this spoiler free - but Alexis and I had to talk about all sorts of superheroes and why readers love these stories, how they’re similar to books we already read, and what is coming next in the Marvel universe.

Press play to listen or download from your favorite podcast app.

To catch up with Alexis Anne or read her books, check out AlexisAnneBooks.com For a list of the authors/ books discussed, subscribe to the Women With Books newsletter (With extra Q&A from the guests!) Buy me a coffee! Support the Podcast at www.Ko-fi.com/womenwithbookspodcast Friend me on Goodreads! Check out the HBIC Nation Podcast!

What fanfiction would we write in the Marvel Universe? I answer in the Women With Books Podcast featuring superheroes and villains with superstar author Alexis Anne.

My favorite (fun) (feminine) (fabulous) mystery series...

As I continue with my Deep Thoughts on Books (c), I’ve noticed that I have a definite preference for the types of mystery series I read… and by read, I mean, devour and swallow up all the books in one go.

If you’ve looked at my list of why I love the books I do, you’ll see instantly that all these books I’m about to recommend pretty much tick all of my boxes: female-focused, mystery, humor/ great voice, and with a fair share of romantic interest.

So here are my most beloved mystery series… (in no particular order.) I’ve helpfully included the link to book 1 in each series. You’re very welcome.

The Royal Spyness series by Rhys Bowen
Amazon || Apple Books

This is one of the few that I have NOT read all the books in the series, but I still feel confident recommending it. I’m savoring each of the adventures of Lady Georgianna, 34th in line to the throne.

Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich
Amazon || Apple Books

This is pretty much the book that inspired a thousand authors to try to be half as funny and half as engaging as the mishaps of a bounty hunter in Trenton, NJ.

Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris

Amazon || Apple Books

This is the series that got me back to reading after I had my youngest child. I read the first eight of these books in a week, I think. They were so addictive and original and, this may be an unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed the books far more than the show. Which was good, too! For reasons.

Below Stairs Mysteries by Jennifer Ashley
Amazon || Apple Books

Now this series is still ongoing, but I’ve recommended it to so many people (and on this blog!). I just love the heroine and all the Downton Abbey-esque details of her Below Stairs life.

Lady Julia Grey Mysteries by Deanna Raybourn
Amazon || Apple Books

Now Ms. Raybourn has two wonderful historical mystery series out, this one and her Veronica Speedwell series and I did hesitate about which one to recommend. After all, the Lady Julia Grey series has concluded and Veronica Speedwell is still continuing, to the best of my knowledge. In the end, I picked Lady Julia Grey because I’ve actually re-read them (is that weird? Even though I’ve already read the resolution?) and because if you start with Julia, you can keep going all the way through Veronica.

And of course, I have to recommend my own fun, fabulous, feminine mystery series. If you like Sookie Stackhouse and Stephanie Plum all rolled up in a Elle Woods package, check out Margot Blythe.

Amazon || Apple Books

What are your favorite mystery series? I know there are so many more that I need to dive into… like JD Robb. I KNOW I KNOW. But the sheer number of books in the series just intimidates me. I fear I won’t be able to read anything else and then a year will go by and I’ll come out of my cave not knowing what has happened in the world.

So. Any recommendations for me? ;-)

Let's Talk Skin Care - Part 1 - The Essentials

Before you judge me for that photo ^^… well. I just liked it. And then it felt right to me. Like, all of us who care about our skin are probably trying to undo too much of the laying out and sun damage and partying and lack of sleep and… all of the bad stuff we’ve done to our precious, delicate epidermis.

For whatever reason, people have been asking me about skin care lately. I hope that means that I have the dewy, porcelain complexion of a twelve year old novice nun but I suspect it means that I’ve educated myself on skin care products and I like to share that knowledge with unsuspecting friends.

But whatever the reason why I am being asked for these opinions, summer is upon us, and I thought it might be a good time to do a series on skin care, including my basics, tips and recommendations.

Ready?

The List of Must Have Essentials

1. Cleaner

2. Vitamin C

3. Retinoid

4. Exfoliant

5. Sunscreen

I’ve done a lot of research into French, American and Asian skin care routines and brands, serums and lotions and whatnot. I’ve analyzed organic versus chemicals and I know the difference between emollients, peptides and collagen. And I will bring more information to you about all this in the coming weeks but for now, check your medicine cabinet to see if you have all these things.

These are the five essential items that I will not go on a trip without (if the trip is longer than two days). These five things are really ALL YOU NEED for good tone, texture, resiliency, wrinkle prevention. I can maybe - MAYBE - knock one thing off this list, but I’m not going to. Because, I really think you need all five.

Question: Do you apply all five at once?

Please, NO.

Here’s the routine.

Day 1: AM

clean, Vitamin C, sunscreen

Day 1: PM
clean, retinoid

Day 2: AM

clean, Vitamin C, sunscreen

Day 2: PM

clean, exfoliate

That’s it. Do it every day.

Question: BUT WHAT FIVE THINGS DO I BUY??
I already told you to check your medicine cabinet. If you have a face wash, a Vitamin C product, a retinoid, an exfoliant and a sunscreen, just use what you have for now. The most important thing is the ROUTINE. Use up what you already own while you’re waiting on all my fabulous product recommendations. There may be some trial and error, anyway, so why waste money before you have to?

Question: BUT I DON’T HAVE ONE OF THE THINGS AND YOU REALLY NEED TO TELL ME SOMETHING TO GET STARTED WITH.

Okay, that wasn’t a question, but I get your point. Here are the cheapest, most effective essentials you can get started with before we go on a deeper dive through SkinCareLand.

1. Cleaner - I’m not judging if you don’t have a face wash.

But if you REALLY do not, start with something very gentle like one of the Aveeno foaming cleansers or I love the Hado Labo cleansers with hyaluronic acid.

2. Vitamin C serum - I’m going to direct you straight to my number 1 recommendation. Basic, not fancy but highly effective.

3. Retinoid - If you’ve never used one before, any drugstore retinoid should be a good starting point. And maybe don’t use it every other day like I recommended above. Start twice a week and USE sunscreen!!!

4. Exfoliation - I might have a whole blog post about this and why this is important to all of your skin care concerns. Most basic exfoliant? Gently rub a washcloth over your face in the shower.

5. Sunscreen - BY FAR SO IMPORTANT. Especially as we head into summer, friends. Again, I’ll have another bunch of recommendations for this but for now, find yourself an SPF 30 or higher at the drugstore and start using it all the time. You can generally find a good Neutrogena sunscreen everywhere. Look for the helioplex ones: Neutrogena Dry Touch.

And that is where I’ll leave you.

Yes, I can actually hear all your questions, like, “um, did you forget moisturizer?” No, I did not. Stay tuned, I have at least two (or three) more blog posts on this very timely subject! And have a Happy SUMMER!!!

If you have any specific questions or concerns, hit me up!

For Part 2: Sunscreen, click here.

For Part 3: The Other Essentials, click here.

For Part 4: Why Moisturizers are NOT an Essential (But here are some that really work), click here.

Women With Books - Royally Good Reads

A new episode of the Women With Books podcast is up!

Women With Books Podcast featuring Royal Book chat with the founders of Royally Good Reads book club.

For a list of all the books discussed in the podcast, you have to get the newsletter but trust me, this is a GREAT list.

If you listen, I can’t wait to hear what you think about the books, fashion, and royals we discuss. Also - ROYAL BABY TALK!

Press play to listen or download from your favorite podcast app.

Mallory's blog: The Palace Avenue Mallory's instagram: Lady.M.Replikates Kristin's blog: Royally Broke Kristin's Instagram: Royally Broke Books featured on Meghan Markle's former blog: http://www.meghansmirror.com/meghan-markle-book/   Royally Good Reads Book Club on Facebook   For a list of the authors/ books discussed, subscribe to the Women With Books newsletter (With extra Q&A from the guests!)

What books would Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton read? We answer in the Women With Books Podcast featuring Royal Book chat with the founders of Royally Good Reads book club.

How to Write A Book (With Songs!)

If you follow me on social media (especially Instagram!) you’ll have seen me posting about songs that are inspiring me or are somehow applicable to the books I’m writing. I’ve also shared with my newsletter a few of the songs that I had on my playlist for The Royal Runaway.

Making a playlist of songs is a part of my book-writing process and I’m so glad my husband insisted on getting a family Spotify account a few years ago (yes, insisted - I fought it. It’s a long story - I love my Spotify now!) because I listen to music all the time and I LOVE having all sorts of songs to stream anytime I want to.

I was in the car recently and some random Spotify playlist was on shuffle and all of a sudden, I realized that the songs that were playing - and the order they were in - actually corresponded to parts of a book.

So I decided to sit down and show you - through music - how to plot a book. No, I won’t be singing… but you might be!

(Before we get started, please note that I pretty much learned plotting from Save The Cat by Blake Snyder. I had read other books about plotting and book structure before that but when I read this one, it all finally clicked and made sense for me. Since then, I also implement other pieces that I’ve picked up, such as ideas from Jenny Cruisie’s workshop at RWA Nationals, some of which can be found here. Two other good genre specific resources for plotting are Writing the Cozy Mystery by Nancy Cohen and Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes.)

Act I -
A story starts off with the main character in their ordinary, day-to-day life. And for better or for worse, they’re okay with that.

Gavin DeGraw's official music video for 'I Don't Want To Be'. Click to listen to Gavin DeGraw on Spotify: http://smarturl.it/GDGSpot?IQid=GDGDWB As featured on Finest Hour: The Best Of Gavin DeGraw.

But then…. SOMETHING HAPPENS.

They discover they have magical powers.
They get laid off from their factory job.

The President of the United States calls them in and gives them a Top Secret Mission.

The hot guy at the bakery accidentally gives them a cupcake with gluten in it.

Whatever it is… life changes.

Shop music here: http://smarturl.it/TASmusic Shop merchandise here: http://taylor.lk/tourmerch Follow Taylor Swift Online Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/taylorswift Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taylorswift Tumblr: http://taylorswift.tumblr.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/taylorswift13 Website: http://www.taylorswift.com Follow Taylor Nation Online Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/taylornation Tumblr: http://taylornation.tumblr.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/taylornation13 Music video by Taylor Swift performing I Knew You Were Trouble. © 2012 Big Machine Records, LLC

Act II -

This is the part of the story where the “fun & games” happen. It’s also a part where a lot of authors start to run into trouble. “Like, we just have them do stuff?”

Well yes, but it’s stuff that’s going to get them in trouble. Stuff that’s going to keep making their quest/ mission/ dating life more difficult and more complicated.

Shawn Mendes' new single "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" is out now. Get it off Illuminate: iTunes: https://lnk.to/IlluminateDeluxeDL/itunes Apple Music: https://lnk.to/IlluminateDeluxeDL/applemusic Amazon: https://lnk.to/IlluminateDeluxeDL/amazonmp3 Google Play: https://lnk.to/IlluminateDeluxeDL/google-play Spotify: https://lnk.to/IlluminateDeluxeDL/spotify Linkfire: https://lnk.to/IlluminateDeluxe Illuminate World Tour Dates 2017 Tickets on-sale now! http://www.shawnmendesofficial.com/to...

Midpoint -

But the characters can’t just keep running around having fun and flirting. Something has to happen that makes everything more difficult. Radio communications go out. The dog is kidnapped. The heroine realizes she just might be having feelings for the bakery guy, which will totally complicate her job of eradicating gluten from the planet.

Shop music here: http://smarturl.it/TASmusic Shop merchandise here: http://taylor.lk/tourmerch Follow Taylor Swift Online Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/taylorswift Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taylorswift Tumblr: http://taylorswift.tumblr.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/taylorswift13 Website: http://www.taylorswift.com Follow Taylor Nation Online Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/taylornation Tumblr: http://taylornation.tumblr.com Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/taylornation13

And so the characters have to dig a little deeper and be a little wiser and craftier and come up with new plans to fight the foe, whether it is a terrorist or a arch-nemesis pop singer.

Kelly Clarkson's official music video for 'Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)'. Click to listen to Kelly Clarkson on Spotify: http://smarturl.it/KClarkSpot?IQid=KClarkStrong As featured on Greatest Hits - Chapter 1.

The main characters fight/ strive/ sleuth and finally! They get to a spot where everything seems great. A murder suspect is in jail. The Soviet submarine has been captured. There’s (really good) sex.

Bright By Echosmith Support this song by leaving a comment, a thumbs up, or sharing it with your friends.

This false high can be placed in several places in the story (and of course there can be multiple happy parts of a book) but I like it right before…

Act III -
OH NOES. Everything our characters believed was a lie. The serial killer wasn’t in jail because he has killed again. There was a double agent on board the submarine. That hot Australian guy was already married!

This is… the BLACK MOMENT….

LADY GAGA / JOANNE NEW ALBUM / OUT NOW iTunes: http://gaga.lk/Joanne Apple Music: http://gaga.lk/JoanneAP Spotify: http://gaga.lk/JoanneSP Google Play: http://gaga.lk/JoanneGP Amazon: http://gaga.lk/JoanneAMZ LadyGaga.com:http://gaga.lk/GagaStore FOLLOW LADY GAGA: Facebook: http://gaga.lk/facebook Twitter: http://gaga.lk/Twitter Instagram: http://gaga.lk/Instagram Snapchat: http://gaga.lk/Snapchat Spotify: http://gaga.lk/Spotify EMAIL LIST: http://gaga.lk/News Music video by Lady Gaga performing Million Reasons.

Well, that’s it. Story is over.

RIGHT?

Um, I don’t know about you but I don’t want to read a story like that. And most stories don’t end with the heroine crumpled on the floor seriously contemplating a slow death by Ice Cream Pint. At least mine don’t.

No, I want the characters to dig deep down and scrape some courage up and fight one last battle against whatever they’ve been fighting. Maybe their freedom, their love, their nation is at risk. This is the place for the big stand off, the come-back after half-time, the impassioned closing argument in a sweltering, crowded courtroom.

It’s The Final Countdown…

Rachel Platten - Fight Song Fight Song EP is now available on iTunes! Download it here: http://smarturl.it/FightSongEP Follow Rachel Platten: Twitter: https://twitter.com/RachelPlatten Instagram: http://instagram.com/rachelplatten Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rachelplattenmusic Tumblr: http://rachelplatten.tumblr.com/ We Heart It: http://weheartit.com/RachelPlatten Music Video by Rachel Platten performing "Fight Song." (C) 2015 Columbia Records, A Division of Sony Music Entertainment.

YAY!

Our heroes and heroines are victorious!!! (At least in my books and the books I like to read. If you like books without any winning, then you do you. Enjoy your depressing soul-destroying books.)

Everyone celebrates! There is kissing! There is mead! And ale! A ticker tape is thrown and maybe there’s one last smug I Told You So from someone that makes you feel really good that you were on the right side. And then, if you’re really lucky, sometimes there’s… A Dance Scene…

Yeah. You can see it now, can’t you? You can feel the way a story is supposed to go. If you’re a writer - go forth and make that sh!t happen. If you’re a reader, follow my Best Books to Read Now blog posts, my Women With Books podcast or check out my books for excellent stories that always have a dance scene at the end.***



*** Not valid in every case.
*** Yet.