Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome to my happy little corner of the Internet also known as the Maya Speight Command center. I wanted a place where I could put all of my social media content in one convenient location, so I shifted some things around and created the site where you’ve now found yourself.

Let me show you around…

Above the Maya Speight Header (pictured below), you’ll find the menu.

header

Home takes you, of course, home, meaning the main page.

About Me is a little more interesting. Click on it and you’ll find out more about me and this corner of the internet. Hover over it and you’ll see a dropdown menu which will take you to my BookTube Channel and Goodreads Profile.

Contact should be self-explanatory, but in case it isn’t, click Contact for how to get in contact with me should you want to say hi, are interested in partnering on a project, etc.

To the right of the blog post feed in the right sidebar (see picture), you’ll find all my social media.

right sidebar

At the very top is me and a short blurb of who I am. If you’re here, you probably already know who I am, but if not, Hi! I’m Maya.

Next (2nd from the top) is facebook. Honestly, I’m not on there that much, but I do have followers who use only facebook so I like to keep that avenue open for them.

Third from the top is the twitter feed which consists entirely of the fun stuff I found on the internet that I’ve retweeted.

Lastly is instagram. You’ll see me most there, generally once a day, sometimes a few times a week. That feed consists of pictures of books, food and my face (not necessarily in that order.)

If you’d rather cut out the middle man and just follow me on the social media site itself, my links are below. (just click the icon and you’ll be redirected to my page on the site.)

twitter2instaTumblr-icon1454549160-1454549160_goodreads_miscYouTube-icon-full_color

Thanks for visiting!

❤ Maya

Advertisements
New Year’s Bookolutions 2016

New Year’s Bookolutions 2016

Since I did a video of the things I’d like to do differently in 2016, I thought it would only make sense to also do another one, but book-related.

Here are my New Year’s Bookolutions for 2016.

This year, I want to participate in more read-a-thons. I enjoyed them so much last year. I did the BookTube-a-thon in August and also started YouTube. In October, I did Dewey’s 24 hour read-a-thon. I didn’t really get into read-a-thons until the latter end of the year, so I want to make it an all year thing this year. To stay up to date on the read-a-thons I’m doing, check my twitter @luv2rite1922. I’m always most active during read-a-thons on Twitter.

If you’re also interested in read-a-thons, check out Little Book Owl’s video below. It’s not every read-a-thon, but it gives you a lot to choose from and definitely helped me out as I was figuring out which read-a-thons to do.

I’d like to read outside of my comfort zone and to do that, I’ll be participating in Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge. This challenge promotes reading genres you wouldn’t normally read and expanding your reading scopes.

The challenge categories and my tentative tbr are below.

And finally, the New Year’s Bookolutions TAG questions created by Ameriie at Books Beauty Ameriie.

  1.  A series I plan to begin is… the Throne of Glass Series by Sarah G. Maas. It’s been around the internet forever and the covers look amazing so I figured it was about time I checked it out.
  2. A series I plan to finish is… There are actually two. The Sea of Shadows series by Kelley Armstrong and The Six of Crows series by Leigh Bardugo. Both series blew my mind in 2015 and I can’t wait to finish them in 2016. Another series that I’ll be continuing into 2016 and I have no idea when it’ll be ending is the Illuminae series by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. That book was phenomenal and I can’t wait to see what they do with the story next.
  3. A book I’ve put off reading year after year but will finally read is…Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathon Safran Foer
  4. A book/series I plan to reread is… I’d love to re-read the Girl of Fire and Thorns series by Rae Carson, but with all the books I want to read this year, I’m not sure if I’ll have anytime to re-read which is fine with me. Too many good books to read is a good problem to have.
  5. A genre of which I’d like to read more is… See Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge TBR above. There are a lot of books from genres I wouldn’t normal read, but this year, I’m going to stretch my horizons and read harder (see what I did there?)
  6.  The # of books I want to read this year is… 50. I read more and more books each year, so 50 is definitely doable.
  7. One of my non-bookish resolutions is… Live a balanced life. Not focusing on just reading or just writing, but staying balanced and devoting time to everything that’s important.

What are your Bookolutions for 2016? Let me know in the comment section. 

See you next time!

❤ Maya

Hello, Dewey’s 24-hour Read-a-thon!

Hello, Dewey’s 24-hour Read-a-thon!

deweys

If you’ve been following me on social media (links in the sidebar), you’ll know that I decided (at the very last minute) to participate in Dewey’s 24-hour Read-a-thon. For this read-a-thon, I’ll be trying my very best to read for 24 hours straight. Will I actually stay up for 24 hours? Probably not, but like I said, I’ll try my best.

The read-a-thon starts at 8 am this morning and if I planned this right, this post will be going up right at 8. I wanted to post this right at the beginning of the read-a-thon, so if any of you wanted to join in the reading, you still have the time.

I have a set number of books that I’d like to read. I’m probably being overly optimistic considering my history with TBR’s (or to-be-read lists,) but here it is, nonetheless.

Dewey’s Read-A-Thon TBR

A Very Easy Death by Simone de Beauvoir

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

The Secret of the Old Clock (Nancy Drew Mysteries Book 1) by Carolyn Keene

Perry’s Killer Playlist (Perry and Gobi #2) by Joe Schreiber

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

All of these are fairly short books, most of them are less than 200 pages and Nimona is a graphic novel so I may not have been overly optimistic after all and this list might actually be doable. I’ll be posting updates all day on my twitter, so follow me @luv2rite1922 to see the progress if any that I make with my TBR. I’m hoping to finish at least one book. If I do that, I’m happy!

If you want to read more about the read-a-thon, check out their website:  http://www.24hourreadathon.com/.

You can also follow them on twitter for other updates: https://twitter.com/readathon

Let me know in the comment section if you’ll be reading along. We can cheer each other on. A big Good luck to everyone that’s joining in!!!

The best of luck to you all.
❤ Maya

 

September Favorites

September Favorites

This year is going by so fast. I can’t believe September is basically over and it’ll be October in a few days. I had such a good time in September and you’ll be able to see the fun times I’ve had through my favorite things.

My favorites for the month of September

Favorite Book

Obsidian by Jennifer Armentrout

obsidian2

I went to the Baltimore Book Festival at the end of September and I knew Jennifer Armentrout was going to be there. I wanted to read one of her books so I could have an idea of who she was as a writer and if she wrote books that I’d enjoy. Of her books, I chose Obsidian and I really loved this book. The romance was sweet and it was fun seeing the two main characters bicker and try not to fall in love with each other. I definitely plan on reading the rest of the series.

 

Favorite Song

Exo- “Call Me Baby”

I watched a BuzzFeed video a week or so ago about the Try Guys listening to Korean pop music. The video got me hooked on the music and now I can’t stop listening to this song. I have absolutely no idea what they’re saying, but there is something about pop music that is just universal and can be easily understood even if you don’t know what is being said.

Favorite YouTube video

My Channel Trailer

Of course, the video I’d choose would be from my channel, but hear me out. I worked so hard on the video which is the trailer for my BookTube Channel on YouTube. I don’t think I’ve ever been so proud of a video and the work involved in creating it, so this definitely deserves a spot on my favorites.

Favorite movie

War Room

war room

This movie really helped me put into perspective how important it is to pray and to have a prayer life. It’s an interesting movie with a valuable message as well. And did I mention, I saw it twice, the movie was that good.

Favorite Tumblr

Though I haven’t watched Viola Davis in How to Get Away with Murder, I would be remiss if I didn’t applaud her Emmy Win. Taraji P. Henson’s reaction of the win was icing on the cake and proves that as women we are all in this together. We aren’t competing with each other. When one woman wins, we all do.

Favorite Tweets

Both are these are inspirational quotes that I think serve as helpful reminders during the day of what we should fight for and what happiness really means.

Favorite Event

bmorefestival

On September 26th, I went to the Baltimore Book Festival. I had so much fun and thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded by books. I’ll go into more detail about everything that I did in a later video, but just know, it was an amazing day.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about what I’ve been loving this month. I wonder what next month will have in store. I’m hoping even more things to favorite and enjoy. I can’t wait!

What are some of your favorites for this month? You can choose from one of the categories above or make up your own.

❤ Maya

Are You Ready for No Rules, Just Words 2015?

Are You Ready for No Rules, Just Words 2015?

I have big plans for this blog next year. Big, big plans.

I have plans as big as this Great Dane. Big!
I have plans as big as this Great Dane. Big!

And this time they’ll be a lot more realistic, so I’ll actually want to stick to them. So, let’s start with the most obvious part, the actual blog posts.

  • My goal is to get 2 to 4 posts done a month which on average is a post a week or one every two weeks. I want to do a range, so I’m not tied down to a schedule.These posts can be updates on my ongoing publishing journey, Book 2 of the Last Look Back series, and what’s going on in my life or in the world.
  • I want to have more of a social media presence, so I’m going to do follow-up tweets or Facebook statuses after blog posts. Right now the only time I tweet or have a Facebook status on my blog’s Facebook page is when there’s a post and nothing more. Having follow-up tweets or statuses will be something for you all to look out forward to between blog posts and they’re a lot quicker and easier to create which means a lot less pressure for me. Expect between 5 to 10 tweets or statuses around every post. Maybe less, maybe more and the topic could be anything. Anything! Click the Meet the writer tab in the menu above to get all of my social media info and we can stay connected throughout the new year.
  • Like I said before, I’ll be posting (or tweeting) updates of my writing journey as I tackle the edits for book 2 of the Last Look Back. I’m writing this down right now for all to read and I can’t deny later. I, My, your best blogger friend, the #1 Rule-breaker, is committing to working between 3-5 hrs a day on the LLB2 edits which I’m starting at the beginning of the year. That’s barely a 40 hour week and I usually work longer than that when I get started, but I felt the need to write it down so I’ll be sure to stick to it.

*Pause*

You’ve probably noticed my goals include a range of numbers that I’m shooting for. I figured this would make it easier for me to stick to. The low end is easily achievable and I won’t feel bad if I don’t reach the high end and I’ll stay motivated because I’ll keep it up with it and will actually be achieving it. It’s like I’m tricking my brain into continuing to work. That’s a little trick for you to consider in the new year. Trick your brain into working for you and before you know it, you’re already be done.

*Now back to the previously scheduled program*

  • I really want to change the look of the blog. I’m not a fan of the header text. It’s really boring to me. I’m also not in favor changing the theme again because I know it’ll probably mess up the sidebar and menu which I’ve worked very hard on (even if it doesn’t look it.) I’m not the most technologically gifted, so the easiest fix the better. I’m going to put my designer cap on, reconfigure some things and hopefully I’ll make this blog brand spanking new. Emphasis on hopefully. 🙂
  • And now the part that I am most excited about. I’ve been trying to think of a way to make this site more interactive. I also enjoyed doing the Google hangout on air for the Last Look Back virtual release party, so in 2015, I’m going to do more Google Hangouts.  If you want to know exactly what I’ll be doing you’ll have to read my next post. Here’s a hint: books. I can hear the gears turning already. Next post will be up at 5 pm EST. Maybe sooner.

From the #1 Rule-breaker,
My

Call Me My Wednesday: “Life in the Moment”

Call Me My Wednesday: “Life in the Moment”

social media

The social media age has messed up all up. We’re so concerned about tweeting, taking pictures on Instagram and choosing the right filter, and posting on facebook that we forget about living in the moment. It’s insane to be sitting in a group of people and everyone is on their phone.  It’s alright to want to remember something for later, but it really just looks like you want others to know what “fun” things you’re doing. I wish we’d go back to the days when we talked to each other. When we didn’t care about the number of followers we had and how many likes our photos got. I wish I knew what happened to all of us. I’m not excluding myself. I am getting better though. Not everyone needs to know what I’m doing. I also know that time is precious and that I won’t get that moment that I was tweeting instead living again. I appreciate the time that I have and I’d rather not waste it. I’d love it if we’d all just put our phones down and talk to our friends. Ask them about themselves and what they want to do with their lives. Do you know what your friend’s favorite color is? Do you know what your parents wanted to be when they grew up? Go ask them and pay attention to what they have to say. Don’t worry about what your next social media update should be and just live. You may be surprised by what  you learn. I know I was when I started talking to my parents about themselves. It was great getting to really know my parents and some of the things that they did. You never really know a person until you sit down face to face and talk with them.

From the #1 Rule-breaker,

My
https://mayasp8.wordpress.com/tag/twitter/
mayasp8.wordpress.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2018-30
85401
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:QQ2FFPBC5Y6Q5HLBVZX4ZXQOAH3FPIUE
<urn:uuid:8e305d33-c4cb-4581-b2c2-9872e5941f14>
2018-07-21T15:21:44Z
192.0.78.13
text/html
sha1:D7QTHXND65P3ZQCTGSCVL35567FAFU52
<urn:uuid:ac36cff0-3e13-48ba-afec-9c436eb15dcc>
https://mayasp8.wordpress.com/tag/twitter/
response
<urn:uuid:5d02fd18-6379-4d00-b0e6-106b24e2db55>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-143-24-180.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-30
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for July 2018
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf