I wish I could have this young man hand deliver it ...

Hello ,

Last week, I asked you to share your super powers and you did not disappoint! Here are just a few of the special skills I learned about:

Dianne: Spotting a typo on a page, it just leaps out at me, always has. (Dianne, you are an author's dream and nightmare all rolled into one!)

Tanya: I'm really good at forgetting details of movies I've seen, but I have a weird ability to recognize movies, (even if I haven't seen them), based on which actors are in the movie. It's a strange and useless talent. (Tanya, you remind me that my husband has another skill—he can name almost any song after hearing just the one opening note!)

Cecilia: Choosing the one slice of banana bread with the flour/baking soda chunk. Never fails, even if it’s store bought. (Cecilia, this wins weirdest superpower!)

Jackie: I can pack a fridge/freezer really well. No matter how much food needs to go in and doesn't look as if it will fit, I will always get it in there neatly and efficiently. (Jackie, we should team up as game show contestants!)

Janine: My super hero power is sleeping still. When I lived by myself I got up in the morning and MY BED WAS MADE!! No rumpled covers, no pillows on the floor. Amazing! Obviously it doesn't happen now I share a bed with hubby (who never stays still). (Janine, we recently had to get new boards under our mattress since Mr. Bloom rolls around so much the squeaky bed sounded like a haunted house).

Andrea: I can totally forget everything I watched on TV last night...until someone starts talking about it, and then wam...it all comes back to me. (Andrea, does that skill also apply to books? That seems like a handy skill to not double purchase books!)

Robin: My superpower is being able to find my way back to the beginning of the route. On foot, horseback, cross country skis, even in a trail-less forest, you name it—except driving. In a car, I share your antipower. (Robin, so you must have my husband's magical power of just knowing where the sun is supposed to be in relation to where you want to go—even when it's raining! You're both witches in my opinion.)

Natasha: My superpower is foreseeing trends 5 years ahead. These days, 5 years is a lifetime and so out there as to be crazy pants and I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut. (Natasha, I just want to know if my corduroy pants will ever be in style again).

MaryAnn: I can cut tomatoes into equal size and shape pieces. (I bet you must also have a knife-sharpening superpower, MaryAnn!)

How do you compare?

I've finally had a chance to look at all the data from the survey so many of you completed for me. Thank you again. A few things jumped out, like how many books you all read in a typical week. Of the 122 people who answered this question, 70% of you read at least one romance every week—and some of you said you read a book a day!

This got me thinking about how you manage to keep track of the books you've read.

I asked members of my romance author community how they keep track of their reads since most of them read at least five books a week. The dominant answer was—haphazardly at best!

So I made a quick survey to ask what information would be most valuable to save from their reads and I got some great ideas. It's just 9 quick questions. If you want to add your two cents, I'd love to have your opinions, too.

Then, because in my sleep deprived brain it made sense to start a new project with the info I gleaned, I worked with non-fiction author Donna Barker to create a brand new book. It's called ....

💜 The Romance Lover's Journal 💜

It's based on the things I like to keep track of books from the books I read (when I remember to enter them in my journal). We're still testing it out to see what needs to be adjusted or added for a broader audience, but once it's finalized it will be published as a paperback and a hardcover book for sale on all the retailers.

Since you're part of my most-loved community, if you'd like a FREE sample of The Romance Lover's Journal that you can download and print, I'd love to gift it to you. I've uploaded it to BookFunnel so you don't have to wait for me to send it to you directly.

If you give this journal a try, I'd love to see a page you've filled in page with one of your favorite romance reads.

And if enough people think it's a useful tool, my co-author Donna will make a few more like it, since as paperbacks and hardcover books they'd make lovely, low-cost gifts. We're thinking specific ones for mystery, poetry and general fiction... what do you think?

Actual romance books for you this week

That's about it for me. I hope you enjoy The Romance Lover's Journal. Please share the links to the survey and the free PDF journal with your romance-reading friends.

Until next week, stay safe with a nice book boyfriend!

love&journalstuff,

Danika

xo