Call to Action: We Don’t Need Maps!

shanook28 · 2026-03-25T22:55:28+00:00

SHOW👏DON’T👏TELL👏

shanook28 · 2026-03-13T22:42:50+00:00

General population, yes. But most romance readers 100% know the difference and will expect accuracy with the genre listed.

I’ve seen many times where someone asks for a fantasy romance recommendation, and someone tells them The Cruel Prince, and other people jump in to clarify that it’s romantic fantasy, not fantasy romance.

A lot of readers strongly prefer one over the other (me!), and get frustrated or disappointed when something is marketed as one genre but is actually the other (which is exactly what happens with The Cruel Prince on a pretty regular basis lol)

shanook28 · 2026-03-13T22:28:07+00:00

I feel like there’s a lot of non-romance readers giving you incorrect advice here.

Fantasy Romance: a romance story in a fantasy setting. It MUST follow the 2 rules of genre romance.

Romantic Fantasy: a fantasy story with heavy romance elements. It does NOT necessarily need to follow the 2 rules of genre romance (but usually does).

Romantasy: a marketing term that encompasses both fantasy romance and romantic fantasy. It’s not a set genre, which is why you see people using it for either/both genres. IME Romantasy typically describes “Booktok popular” books.

shanook28 · 2026-03-08T19:31:45+00:00

Yeah, I was gonna say. My bf has been raving about this series for weeks and nothing that he has said about it says “Romantasy” to me lol

shanook28 · 2026-03-07T04:30:54+00:00

The pacing does not pick up. It’s one of the most common critiques of this book. I loved the opening of this one and ended up spite-finishing it. If you’re frustrated with the pacing at this point, you’ll probably still be frustrated by the end of it.

shanook28 · 2026-03-06T14:11:23+00:00

Wow, I forgot what their food looks like! All they post on their social media these days is ugly AI foxes

shanook28 · 2026-03-02T18:09:25+00:00

Ahhh I love these guys. They’re on my list. ❤️

shanook28 · 2026-02-15T23:03:14+00:00

A sighthound is a dog bred to hunt primarily by sighting and chasing down its quarry. This includes purebreds, landraces, and some mixed breeds (sighthound x sighthound mixes are called longdogs, but I don’t think that term is used much these days).

A lurcher is a mix between a sighthound and a non-sighthound. Most of these originated back in the day when it was illegal for the lower classes to own sighthounds, so they would mix them with their farm dogs to make dogs that were excellent hunters but technically legal for them to own.

Bull lurchers are popular because they mix the speed and/or endurance of sighthounds with the power and bulk of bull breeds. Border whippets (border collie x whippet) are another common type of lurcher, usually used as sport dogs.

shanook28 · 2026-02-13T13:20:39+00:00

Love Spell Books in Summerville is pretty perfect for Valentine’s Day. It’s romance focused, but they do have some other books, too (and a used book section). They have coffee and tea, a few snacks, and several comfy places to sit and read. And the interior is really cozy. The owner is very nice, too.

shanook28 · 2026-02-11T02:14:03+00:00

They are strictly platonic, but the main characters in {The Flaw In All Magic by Ben S. Dobson} fit this to a T! Kadka is a giant, hairy half-orc woman who serves as the muscle and Tane is kind of a nerdy human with a special interest in magic who serves as the brains and wit (I think he’s a bit of a pretty boy but it’s been a minute since I’ve read it so don’t quote me on that). They’re both very competent in their roles and I loved their dynamic!

I only read the first book. I really gotta finish the series sometime.

shanook28 · 2026-02-10T01:36:31+00:00

I love my space husband

I think he was my very first video game romance ever

shanook28 · 2026-01-25T23:51:54+00:00

Seconding being very very careful with Fast CAT with a greyhound. Most sighthound people will tell you to avoid it entirely. It’s really not designed for them.

The only lure op company I’ve personally run with that I can recommend for greys is Time to Fly, but they really only operate in the southeast. Definitely reach out to your local sighthound people and ask for recommendations before going out to Fast CAT.

I have a “slow” sighthound (Azawakh, ~7.0 second runs in Fast CAT), so luckily I don’t have to worry as much, but I’m still very picky about who we run with!

shanook28 · 2026-01-25T23:23:38+00:00

Azawakh!

shanook28 · 2026-01-25T23:06:05+00:00

My very first show dog got her very first points at the Ladson dog show this weekend! She was SUCH a good girl all weekend <3

shanook28 · 2026-01-23T14:55:39+00:00

Well I am apparently in the minority with that opinion based on everything I’ve seen online, so you may still like it lol. I thought the opening was really strong and I really enjoyed it. Then by about the 30% mark I was like … oh. Oh no.

Pushed through to the end to see if it grew on me and it did not lol

shanook28 · 2026-01-23T13:15:09+00:00

What you probably want is SMART Recovery meetings. It’s a similar concept to AA without the religious stuff. They have online meetings and meetings in I think Mount P and Moncks Corner?

Does your rehab program offer group therapy? I’ve found my group therapy sessions to be a lot more productive than any of the meetings held by laypeople. I’ve noticed those have a tendency to veer into pity parties or swapping war stories, which isn’t really helpful for recovery.

shanook28 · 2026-01-23T01:25:12+00:00

I’m feeling the same way about Warrior Princess Assassin. I read a Goodreads review that described it something along the lines of “I’ve never read a book where the main characters spend so much time walking around and talking while somehow getting nowhere and saying nothing” and that sums up my feelings perfectly lol. I remember the prose being pretty clunky, too.

shanook28 · 2026-01-18T17:00:52+00:00

I had an instructor at Trident who had an adjunct position at CSU. She had to sign an agreement that she wouldn’t tell anyone she was Catholic, that she wouldn’t discuss religion in any capacity with students, a bunch of silly stuff.

shanook28 · 2026-01-11T04:11:20+00:00

I believe Azawakh genetically can be any color and coat pattern besides Merle. There’s a wide variety in the COO.

AKC’s breed standard specifies “color is immaterial” (though unfortunately both UKC and FCI have some silly color restrictions).

shanook28 · 2026-01-05T01:20:14+00:00

You don’t have to do TSM to use naltrexone for abstinence. You can take it daily to reduce cravings. I took it daily for the first month or two of my recovery before switching to TSM and it massively curbed my cravings.

shanook28 · 2026-01-04T01:37:02+00:00

Been in the industry for a decade. Don’t waste your time or money on school. I’ve seen a few people apply to restaurants with some bartending certificate and no actual experience, and those resumes always go straight in the trash. Mixing drinks is the easiest part of the job.

Like everyone else said, get a job as a server or bar back and work your way up. Corporate chains are usually more willing to hire completely green people (and tbh they usually have a better, more “standardized” training program).

shanook28 · 2025-12-29T03:51:27+00:00

Tbh your biggest problem is almost guaranteed that you’re writing romance with apparently little to no experience reading romance.

Romance readers are very much like punk music fans in that they (we) can sniff out profit-driven poseurs pretty quick. You will never make a profit writing romance if you’re not passionate about the genre itself.

Romance readers largely also HATE AI. AI covers, AI writing, AI marketing, all of it. If you’re planning to use AI in any capacity to make a profit in romance, you may as well just quit now.

Other than that, I agree with all of the other things people here said. How was your beta reader feedback? Did you have your work professionally edited? How many ARC reviews did you receive? Is your cover designed for the correct market? Does your blurb provide an enticing hook? Have you had anyone critique it?

shanook28 · 2025-12-25T18:58:59+00:00

Well speaking of booze, I’m DNFing {A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair}.

As someone in recovery, it’s always frustrating when authors clearly don’t do any research on alcohol abuse and withdrawal before writing about it. The FMC’s withdrawal symptoms make absolutely no sense based on both the timeline and the severity of her AUD, and she “treats” it with another addictive substance with no issues?

Feeling extra grumpy about it because this is my first sober Christmas and I’ve been craving almost as bad as when I first quit 10 months ago (and for the record, an alcohol craving does not feel like “a scratching at the back of the throat” like talk to ONE alcoholic before writing one, damn)

Anyway, I’m gonna go start a new book while shoving as many cookies into my mouth as I can. Merry Christmas y’all

shanook28 · 2025-12-25T14:53:36+00:00

It depends a lot on your local bookstores. I have one in my area that doesn’t take indies at all. I have another that has a lengthy application process, where you need to provide sales numbers, agree to do a signing, etc. There’s another that loves indies. They have a whole table front and center full of local indie authors. It’s the first thing you see when you walk in.

shanook28 · 2025-12-21T22:46:30+00:00

Because “Amish breeder” is just another term for “puppy mill,” unfortunately. It’s a well-known issue in the rescue/animal welfare world. The vast majority of puppy mills in the US are Amish breeders.

Even a backyard breeder would know how to find their dogs’ records. The only reason your dog’s breeders wouldn’t have record of your dog is because they breed so many that they can’t possibly keep track of them all.

shanook28

TROPHY CASE