The twentienth chapter of The Gold in the Dark is out! New chapters, complete with brilliant chapter illustrations courtesy of Ally Grosvenor, release every other Sunday at 11 AM EST (and sometimes earlier)! You can get started on the series with Chapter One right here or now also on Wattpad!

These past few weeks I’ve been absolutely consumed by Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series; I’ve read three or four of them in just a couple weeks. I’m a bit intimidated to write full-blown individual reviews for all of the books (especially because the binge-reading is kind of mushing them all together in my mind), but I think I’ll do one big post about the whole series once I finish. I’ve been so impressed with the consistency of the series; I can see from the Goodreads ratings that the quality might start to drop off in the last couple books, but so far it’s been a rip-roaring good time.

You can’t help but really get in tune with an author’s style when you’re that immersed in their writing. I’ve found that this is the perfect series for me to be reading right now in terms of my own WIP; it’s voicey, it has a stream-of-consciousness feel, it combines a grounded-feeling MC and setting with magic, serious scenarios, and humor. There are a couple other things I really admire about Harris’s writing style, too. One is that she is a master of describing her characters in terms of each one’s unique physicality and look. I’m doing my best to take this to heart, since I’ve had issues in the past including character descriptions in my own work, mostly because I can often barely picture what each character looks like myself. XD I know that I’m not the only writer who struggles with this; I’ve met more than a few writers who have issues keeping their MCs hair color/eye color/etc straight. So I’m trying to force myself in recent days to include more detailed character descriptions; I think it’s only courteous to readers, and it adds a lot of color to the narrative.

Another thing I really admire about the Sookie Stackhouse books is that they’re very unpredictable, but not in a way that feels cheap. (I’ll exclude #7, All Together Dead, from this; I had that bitch figured out wayyyyy before the reveal. Still loved it, though.) I think that’s what makes them so binge-worthy: there’s always some twist right around the corner that makes sense when you think about it, but will surprise you nonetheless. I can only imagine that Harris is a plotter, but who knows, some pantsers are seriously amazing at what they do. I’m interested to learn more about her writing process. Has she had all the books plotted out since the start of the series? Or is she just that good? Either way is impressive.

Anyway, those are the things I’ve been mulling over writing-wise as I speed through the series towards the end. It’s so enjoyable to read a book where you know you’re in good hands. Have you read any of Harris’s work, either the Sookie Stackhouse series or one of her other series? Comment down below if you have!

That’s all for now, folks! Have a great rest of your weekend, and enjoy Chapter Twenty. ❤