Indieathon Update #1

On Friday we kicked off a week long readathon encouraging us all to make more time for reading indie books. Usually when I make a TBR I immediately want to read anything other than the books I've put on it, and this was definitely how my #Indieathon started...

Of course, my kids were both sick on Friday so I thought I'd get no reading done, but we decided to have a movie/videogames day (more to get them to sit still and actually rest than anything else) so in between playing Super Mario Brothers and watching The Sword in the Stone I managed to finish A Perfect Explanation by Eleanor Anstruther (Salt Publishing) which I'd been trying to finish before the event started, and get more than half way through My Shitty Twenties by Emily Morris (also Salt Publishing). Look out for my thoughts on both of them coming up soon on the blog!

Today (Saturday) I've been at my day job so haven't had as much time to read, but I have manged to finish My Shitty Twenties on the bus and start Moonlocket by Peter Bunzl (Usborne), the sequel to Cogheart which I loved a while back. I'm finding that it's really great to read things without worrying what they're for, and also that as a consequence of that I naturally feel more inspired to use them for something...

As we get closer to the relaunch of the book club and book box I find my brain is swirling with ideas and marketing plans and all sorts of to do lists, and I've been trying to combat that by making sure I'm productive and work to some kind of schedule during the weekdays but then giving myself the evenings to just chill and read whatever I'm reading. We're trying to make TV less of a default so I've been reading a couple of hours each evening and maybe watching one episode of something rather than three or four. During my work days I've also limited the amount of Orange is the New Black I'm allowing myself to one episode a day (I've actually started giving myself lunch breaks which are the exact length of one episode + making food) and that's helping to focus me so that come the evening I feel caught up on all the work I needed to do and can relax and read! I have to say I highly recommend it. Netflix is brilliant but can be such a time suck and so addictive!

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to hanging out with my family - Sunday is the only day we really get as a family so I'm gradually weaning myself off working on Sundays aside from putting up the new bookshop additions in our Facebook group for first dibs ahead of listing them in the bookshop on Monday! - and hopefully reading some more of Moonlocket. How's your indieathon going so far? It's not too late to join in, all you have to do is use the hashtag & leave us a comment telling us you're taking part.