Welcome to the June 2025 roundup!

And here we are, 6 months into 2025. I really do feel like it was just January, so to know we’re halfway through the year is a little bit mind-blowing. The time has gone by so fast, especially this month, which was just a whirlwind of weeks as I finally released the two checklists books I’ve been working on for over a year!

Writing and Editing Checklists, and its free companion ebook, Authoring Checklists, are available now in all markets. As usual, there were some hiccups, such as Amazon AU flip-flopping on the paperback price. I’ve seen it listed at a pre-order price of $50 AUD, $75 on release, then anything between $45-$60 AUD depending on the day. Why they do this, I have no idea, but a week after release, the price finally settled on the very reasonable $24.74 AUD and has stayed there, so if you wanted to grab the paperback on Zon AU, get it here at a great price. All the buy links for other retailers and countries can be found here, and you can download the free Authoring Checklists ebook here.

Thank you to everyone who spread the word on social media, recommended the books to others, and bought copies for themselves. I hope you find all the tips, info, and checklists helpful for your own work. I know I’ll be using them as I jump back into writing a new book for the first time in two years!

As for what else I got up to in June, read on…

As you can imagine, this month, a lot of my writing time was taken up with promo for the checklist book launches. I had grand plans to get everything ready and then spend the last weeks of June getting back to the new manuscript I started in January. Then I had a head cold, which didn’t really put me in a creative mood, but I did some planning with notes I’d made in the last few years, so a foundation is there. I also managed to spend these last few days of June writing my way into the story to see where it goes. I have no idea right now, which isn’t surprising given I’m a pantser/discovery writer, but I’m hoping to eventually get into that flow where the creative magic takes over and the story and characters take off. Wish me luck!

Dept. Q

This series starts with a shocking shooting at a police crime scene and delves into a kidnapping with enough twists to keep you guessing up until the reveals in the final two episodes. It also brings together a rag-tag team of officers discarded to the basement Shower Quarters (Dept. Q) and tasked with solving cold cases. The first one they pick is the disappearance of a high-profile lawyer. While everyone assumes she’s been dead for the last four years, DCI Carl Morck, his assistant Akram Salim, DCI James Hardy, and DC Rose Dickson delve into the truth, discover what everyone else missed, and the lengths some criminals will go to to get away with murder. The cast really makes this series work, and the storyline was top-notch. Highly recommended for fans of thrillers and police procedurals.

We Were Liars

This is a TV adaptation based on the 2014 book of the same name by E. Lockhart. When Cady Sinclair washes up on the beach of her family’s summer island with a head injury and selective amnesia, she spends the next year trying to piece together what happened. When she arrives back on the Island and faces the boy she remembers kissing, and the two cousins who haven’t spoken to her since the incident, she finds out some very dark truths about herself and her family. Alternating between a Summer 16 and and Summer 17 timeline, We Were Liars does a good job of building up a mystery, both with the teenage protagonists and their mothers, who have their own secrets to hide. There’s a big twist in the final episode of this series, and a new twist added to the TV adaptation that could lead to a second series exploring the prequel book. I haven’t read either book, so I went into the series not knowing the story and really enjoyed it. Highly recommended for fans of psychological thrillers.

Little White Lies (The Debutantes #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

When 18-year-old Sawyer Taft’s estranged Grandmother offers her a small fortune in exchange for becoming part of the débutante ball crowd, Sawyer can’t say no. Despite the objections of her mother, who fled high society life years ago, Sawyer wants to meet the rest of her family, which includes a cousin her age. She also wants the answer to who her father is, a big secret her mother won’t share. As Sawyer does her best to seek the truth, she soon discovers that she isn’t the only one who has been lied to.

This book goes all in on secrets, friendships, and family, and does it via alternating chapters where the main characters are introduced as the occupants of a police cell, and the months leading up to that moment. It’s a fun way to keep the intrigue going as Sawyer uncovers her parentage and the lies behind a devastating accident. Featuring interesting characters, relationships, and a twist or two, if you’re a fan of YA mysteries, this is one to pick up.

Deadly Little Scandals (The Debutantes #2) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Given the main story wrapped up in book 1, book 2 starts with a new mystery, which involves a secret society and the discovery of a decades-old skeleton. When Sawyer and her cousin Lily start the initiations for The White Gloves, they have no idea what scandals they’ll uncover, including some of the threads dropped in Little While Lies that get picked back up in book 2 and explained with answers so surprising, you’d be forgiven for not seeing them coming.

Like the previous book, this one starts with some characters in a future predicament and flashes back months before until the timeline catches up. It worked well in the first book, but for this one, there are already other chapters dedicated to the flashbacks of a different set of characters, so it has less impact. Speaking of characters, even though only a few new ones are introduced in this book, there are so many carrying over from book 1, it’s sometimes hard to keep track of who is who, especially in the closing chapters when a lot of scandals are exposed. If you can follow along and keep things straight, there’s a lot to like about the final book of this secret-filled duology.

Dream Job by Pauline Yates

A short story perfect for lunch break reading, this tale captures the Australian outback and backpacker life with vivid descriptions and just the right amount of creepiness to put the reader on edge from the get-go.

When English backpacker Charles uses the last of his money to drive to a station to nab a dream job earning more money than he has in months, he can’t believe his luck. The job in the wheat fields is doable, there’s on-site accommodation, and the owner and his wife are more than welcoming. But just as Charles gets a feel for the place, what seems perfect may be just a little too perfect. Expertly foreshadowed clues start to slot into place for Charles and the reader, and an inevitable yet terrifying twist ending is the icing on the cake.

Body of Evidence (Kay Scarpetta, #2) by Patricia Cornwell

You might remember that last year, a friend gave me the first Kay Scarpetta novel, Post-Mortem, to read, and I really enjoyed it. A few weeks ago, that same friend moved houses and gave me a box of Patricia Cornwell books. When I posted a picture of all the books on my social media accounts, numerous lovely readers suggested I start my Cornwell backlist reading by continuing with the Scarpetta novels first, so this month, I read book #2.

When medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta gets involved in the case of a murdered writer and a missing manuscript, her life is put in danger when the killer starts stalking her. While the 1991 setting dates some of the tech and circumstances/views, it has solid characters, and the tracking of the killer is a real page-turner. If you’re a fan of crime thrillers, this story has everything you’d want and expect.

Let’s Be Book Friends!

If you’ve got any good book recommendations, let me know in the comments, or be my friend on Goodreads and share your faves! You can also find and follow my book reviews on Amazon and BookBub.

This month, I’ve been taking photos of… book promo pictures with Dash and Luna getting in the way, because if you’re a writer with pets, you know they just love to be the star of everything you’re doing . My cousin also came from Sydney for a few days, and we had a few adventures out and about.

In case you missed any of my posts or want to reread them, here are the latest blogs.

Other blogs…

A big thank you to the following bloggers for hosting interviews or highlighting Writing and Editing Checklists on their own blogs this month. I really appreciate you helping to get the word out, and I had such fun answering your interview questions! Please visit the following links to read the content, and give these great blogs a follow if you aren’t already.

And that’s it for this month. I hope you’ve enjoyed my June Roundup. Let me know what you got up to in the comments!

— K.M. Allan

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