Book Review Tuesday Update

So here’s the thing: I don’t really love writing book reviews. I’m sorry, but it’s true. I love reading new books and I love telling people about them, don’t get me wrong. But churning out reviews on a weekly basis is not really my cup of tea. I have been doing it for a while now because it’s one of those things you do when you’re a neophyte writer. It’s a way to get your name out a little, to get free books (teehee), to begin to develop a web presence/platform, blah blah blah. For me, it was also a way to get myself writing regularly.

I do that now. The problem with book reviews is that the time I spend writing them is time I am not spending writing my own fiction.

I’ve had the great good fortune to meet a lot of great people and read a lot of great books because of my book reviewing. I’m not stopping it altogether. I’m still working with LuxuryReading.com and doing monthly reviews that will be posted there and here. I haven’t been taking on new authors/books for review for a little while now. I’ve been cleaning up my review backlog and refocusing on my own writing more exclusively. This isn’t to say I won’t ever take on new books for review anymore. If you are an author looking for a review, please still feel free to submit your book to me for consideration if you think I’m a good fit – I can’t say I won’t take it, but I can’t definitively say I will either. I’m trying to streamline my efforts, and I’m afraid that means I have to focus on the things that will get me closer to my goal: a book that is in submittable form by year-end.

My cousin (the soon-to-be celebrated author of The Long Walk, a memoir about his life as a military bomb disposal guy – and the after-math of that experience) gave me some valuable advice in this direction recently – and also permission to stop doing the things that don’t keep me moving in that direction. I’m going to accept both, as graciously as I know how. (Thank you Brian!)

So you’ll still see book reviews from time to time, but not every Tuesday anymore. I’m sorry if you miss them. I’m still always happy to share thoughts/recommendations on books if anyone cares – just drop me an email!