Recent Obsessions #16: the Perfect Summer Dress
Plus independent films I've been watching, that raccoon t-shirt & a brief Q&A
🛍 Coveting
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Instagram ads know exactly what they’re doing when they choose to target me with a raccoon t-shirt that says “I heard you like bad girls; I’m bad at everything”. Can I have it now, please?🦝
I recently found this maxi dress from Brazilian brand Farm Rio, and isn’t it beautiful? The little fishy, the coral red shade, how breezy it is; no wonder it’s out of stock. They say it’ll be back soon!
You know I’m a sucker for a pretty shoe, and these little mules from Bobbies are just dreamy. They kind of remind me of those incredible Chanel mules that were all over Pinterest a couple of years ago.
💗 Loving
I recently watched N. K. Jemisin’s masterclass on fantasy & sci-fi writing and I LOVED it. Mind you, I have no creative writing background whatsoever, so this is all new to me but it might not be to you. Still, I do highly recommend it if, like me, you’re a newbie trying to write fantasy or sci-fi for the very first time.
I heard that Overcooked is a great relationship tester, so of course my boyfriend and I bought the game and have been playing it together (happy to report that we have not broken up over it yet). It’s great fun, but definitely stressful! We try not to play for much longer than 30 minutes, otherwise I get a headache and start wondering if I’ll ever be good at anything (I really need that raccoon t-shirt).
📚 Reading
I’m challenging myself to read as many regency romance books as I possibly can this month because:
I have never read a regency romance book before and I watched the new Bridgerton season, so that’s the Math right there;
I’m not the biggest fan of contemporary romance books, but maybe historical romance is my thing?
I love a challenge. I just enjoy putting myself in unnecessarily difficult situations, and that’s really all there is to it.
So I’m focusing on regency romance this month, which is why I’m currently reading something I wouldn’t have otherwise picked up - The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by K.J. Charles. Surprisingly, I’m enjoying it, but I’ll write a full post on the experience once it’s over.
I just finished listening to Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth (it’s my book club’s pick for June; join our discussion on Discord!) and I looooved it. The audiobook was perfection. If you’re looking for books about women descending into madness, you have to add this one to your list.
Speaking of women descending into madness, I’m hosting my first ever Lisbon Book Shopping Night at Fable on June 21st and the theme is Women on the Verge! Fable will be open just for us and there will be an impeccably curated selection of feral lady books. Join us? Early bird discount ends today.
🎬 Watching
If you’re a fan of shows like Derry Girls, Motherland or Flea Bag, you will probably enjoy Such Brave Girls. There’s only one season (and a small one at that), but they just announced season 2 and it’s a bloody good time, as the brits would say.
Speaking of bloody (ha!), I’ve been watching the new tv adaption of Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches with Alexandra Daddario and it’s been fun as well, though a different kind of fun, a laugh-when-you’re-not-supposed-to-because-some-moments-are-kinda-ridiculous-tbh type of fun. I tried to read the first book and couldn’t, by the way (so DENSE), so the show is a much more palatable alternative.
As far as movies go, I’ve recently watched Boiling Point. The movie was filmed in only one shot take, no cuts! And fun fact, they only did four takes in total, the third of which was used for the final film. How impressive is that?
I also watched Titane, which was… something! If you’re into weird disgusting books and similar movies (or really into cars?), you’ll probably love it. Things get real crazy real fast!
🎧 Listening to
And I’ve been listening to this Hozier instrumental playlist while I write.
💭 A Brief Q&A
Answering some of the questions you recently asked me on Instagram.
How do you organize your writing in the early stages?
To be honest, I’m still figuring this out! I’m at a stage where I’m splitting my book work between world-building and writing (the goal is to start focusing on writing more and more, but there are still lots of world-building questions coming up when I write), so I have a bunch of folders organized by sections like character profiles, geography, etc.
Then I have writing-related folders with lists of ideas and concepts I want to explore, a chronology of events, and the writing itself. My writing is organized in the order in which I wrote it, which is to say it isn’t organized at all because I’m not writing my story chronologically. I’m writing specific moments or chapters as they come to mind, and then I’ll have to eventually look at them as a whole and put the puzzle together. But I’m not there yet.
What inspired you to start your page?
I started my instagram account back in 2018; I had recently finished school and found myself with more time to read. I didn’t have a lot of people in my life to discuss books with, and I’m not sure how I found bookstagram exactly, but I did, and it sounded like a great way to share and discuss books. That’s how it started!
Is there a book you read but afterwards wished you didn’t?
So many. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens and Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li are some of the time wasters that come to mind.
What do you enjoy the most about all the cool stuff you’re up to?
(Thank you!) There are so many things… I love that I get to meet people, online and offline, that I really click with. If I meet someone through something related to litulla, I will most likely have a great time with them. And I like that this project pushes me out of my comfort zone very often, which is something that doesn’t really happen with other clients or jobs.
As for the activities and ideas I work on, I love them all, but I go through phases; sometimes all I want to do is stay home and read or make book lists all day, other times I’m kind of tired of social media and would rather be hosting a book swap and hanging out with people irl. I try to respect my moods and focus on what excites me in that particular moment, otherwise I burn out very quickly.
Yay for regency romances!!!! I’m not a huge contemporary romance girl either but put them all in ball gowns and make them take tea and I’m IN. Check out Tessa Dare—her books are fantastic!
I’ve been thinking about taking the NK Jemison writing class, so I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it! I might just go for it☺️