August 2023 Author Updates

It’s another month and it’s time to reflect on what I accomplished in July. I focused on poetry for the month and reading. I also have an exciting announcement for my next book! And I have tips for defeating your inner saboteur when writing.

This month I am:

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• Reading: Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories by Kelly Barnhill
• Drinking: Dragon Drink at Starbucks
• Watching: Good Omens Season 2
• Playing: (nothing)

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Writing Progress

I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo for the first time last month! My goal for July was to finally make progress in putting together my sci-fi and fantasy poetry collection. There was an open call for submissions at a publisher I’ve been eyeing and figured this was good motivation between that and Camp NaNo. Because NaNo tracks word count I had to finagle the system. My goal was to compile or finish half-started poems so that the grand total of ready poems was 30. I assigned 30 words as an arbitrary number to signify one poem. And that’s how I tracked it. I’m pleased to say that I made a lot of progress. I’m hoping to finish everything up in the next two weeks! And then either submit to poetry publishers or self publish. Here’s my placeholder cover.

I won a poetry competition and was a Writers of the Future 2023 2nd Quarter Semi-Finalist! See my next blog post for more!

My coauthor and I plotted more for book two and three of the Etherea Cycle so I’m excited to get back to writing the second half of book 2 and finish it up for a potential 2024 release. Speaking of releases…

New Fantasy Novella Coming 2024

I recently signed my novella, Tavern Tale, with publisher Space Wizard! You know how I love to combine scifi and fantasy, so this publisher’s name screamed at me to submit. And I’m so glad that I did. Tavern Tale is TBD on release date but likely fall 2024. Which works wonderfully as Tavern Tale is set in a fantasy world where it’s currently autumn (for the whole of the story). I can’t wait for readers who like spicy sapphic fantasy to read it.

Cover To Come
Aesthetic:

Reading

I’ve been trying to read more instead of social media so last month I completed Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, A Case of Madness by Yvonne Knop (both of these I need post reviews on!), and I started several books which leads me to…

I’m currently reading: Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief, Dreadful Young Ladies, The Thirteenth Hour, and She Drives Me Crazy.

I DNF’d Daughter of the Moongoddess and might try to finish it another time. I just wasn’t drawn in enough.

Family and Fun

Our family had a great, although hot, Fourth of July. We took the kids to a splash pad (spoiler, they had a blast) and then fireworks. My oldest wee one told me the fireworks were beautiful. Be still my heart.

We suddenly had a lot of hot days so we spent a lot of time indoors from the library to making art (mostly painting) with the kids. When the weather was nice we did a lot of playgrounds and parks.

IWSG August 2023 Author Question

It’s a IWSG Wednesday (what’s that? read on!) and the question posed this month is about second guessing.

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IWSG Question of the Month

Have you ever written something that afterwards you felt conflicted about? If so, did you let it stay how it was, take it out, or rewrite it?

I think all authors second guess themselves. I know I do. A lot. Does that word convey the real feeling I’m going for? Is this plot twist too predictable? Do people care that she had blue hair? But something I’ve felt conflicted about…that word carries a different weight to me. As mentioned above, I wrote a spicy novella. I wondered if people would get confused thinking all of my writing is spicy (its not) and if I should get a pen name to keep the romance separate from my other writing. I even contemplated just hiding it away forever. I’m glad that I didn’t! But normal second guessing yourself is, I think, our minds’ way of telling us we’re stepping out of our comfort zone or our worst enemy – the self-saboteur. It’s hard to push past the doubt. I have some suggestions…

How to work through second guessing what you write:

• Let it sit. Come back maybe a week later and if you still feel unsure, do something about it (next ideas). I’ve found many times I’ll reread and realize I actually like what I wrote. Time lets my brain forget it and see it fresh.
• Ask for feedback. If you have a writing partner or writing group, this is a great time to engage their help. Another set of eyes, critical yet supportive, could be just what you need.
• Try something new. Move it around in the order of things. Try something slightly different with it (Instead of opening the door, what if the character goes around back?) Switch to a different POV (bonus hint: it’s a good idea to think of which character poc works best for what is happening. Is it someone who knows nothing about the situation so it makes sense for them to be learning along with the reader? Is the thing something that would make one character irate – telling the scene from a character with a big emotional tie is often more entertaining than someone who is not impacted during the scene)
• Remind yourself that you know what you’re doing. Be kind to yourself, number 1. And remember you’ve spent hours (potentially days) living that scene or idea in your head. Of course it’s going to feel predictable to you. You know everything about it already! If you can’t shake the feeling, ask a critique partner to look at it.

Reminders:

I now have a Buy Me a Coffee site, though I call it buy me a tea since I don’t drink coffee.

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