It’s another month and it’s time to reflect on what I accomplished in October and hint at some writing updates. It’s also sadly the end of spooky season and I’ll need to replace the Halloween decorations with Christmas soon.
This month I am:
- Reading: Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus by Lydia Sherrer
- Drinking: Hot Cocoa
- Watching: Loki
- Playing: Diablo 3, Diablo 4
Writing Progress and Updates
My coauthor and I are working with an artist to create some fantasy creature art to go with the cozy winter short story we wrote. Get ready for treat eating, gift giving, bard shenanigans, and a side quest to see a mythical creature that comes out this most wonderful time of year. (This cozy fantasy tale is set in the world of Trials of the Innermost before the events of the novel take place) Stay tuned for more!
I’m also starting to brainstorm another collaborative project with another of my besties. We are going for magical realism, cozy fantasy, and tea vibes. This will be a project of fun for us when we have the time. Like me, she’s a working mom of three (I only have two) and of course I have my main projects like book 2 of the Etherea Cycle and my solo work. Still, I’m excited to see what art we can create together!
November I’m going to use to work on a couple of projects – more about that in the Question of the Month section!
What I’m Reading
I finished another two books on my TBR list for spooky season. Reviews will be coming.
What Moves the Dead 10/10 recommend for Edgar Allen Poe fans and just everyone. T. Kingfisher hasn’t written anything I’ve not loved!
Payback’s A Witch 3.5/5 Beautiful cover, interesting concept, but wasn’t as attention-keeping as I was seeking.
Family and Fun
I’ve been sick. The. Entire. Month. I’m still coughing my lungs out as I write this. I’m hoping that as long last I will be healthy in the near future. We also had a death in the family. My husband lost his younger brother. It’s been a tough month.
But we have been able to do some family fun making memory and for that I am grateful. We took our two small children on a train ride! It was the first big train for me and I felt like a kid again. I certainly got some writing inspiration from watching the towns, farmland, and homes past by in picturesque autumn. The end of the journey was a small town festival, which the children loved. Our family celebrated Halloween early at the Children’s Museum, a pumpkin town adventure, and of course last night on Halloween itself. There were snow flurries! So cold! Here are some photos from the month.
IWSG November 2023 Author Question
It’s a IWSG Wednesday (what’s that? read on!) and the question posed this month is about NaNoWriMo.
The Insecure Writer’s Support Group post on the first Wednesday of the month. “Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance.” You can find my previous posts here. The group poses a monthly question to answer as well.
IWSG Question of the Month
November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not?
I haven’t. And I actually talked about this in last year’s post. The short answer is it just doesn’t work for my life and the time I have available. But I do sometimes use the month as motivation. Like the time I used it to write poetry.
This month I’m going to use the NaNoWriMo posts I see people making as a reminder that I have a task list. One of those is to finish the edits to my novella, Tavern Tale, as that’s due before the end of the year and why don’t I just knock it out a month early? I’ve also been working on book 2 of the next book in my scifi- and fantasy fusing series but if I really focus my few writing times I get each day and don’t start any other projects, I think me and my coauthor can make serious progress on finishing the first draft. We’re both too busy these days to replicate our first draft of the first book (I think we started in November and finished May, including two rounds of edits – 6 months to a polished book is still epic fast to me).
Here’s to staying on target and not side questing on to things like reformatting my website, starting a poetry project, or starting a short story project. Let’s see if I can keep it to two: Tavern Tale, and Etherea Cycle Book 2. Wish me luck!
Reminders:
If are you interested in being an ARC (advanced reader copy) reader for my novels, novellas, and poetry books, sign up here.
I now have a Buy Me a Coffee site, though I call it buy me a tea since I don’t drink coffee. Help fund my Scifi and Fantasy poetry book, Imaginari!
And sign up for my (super infrequent) newsletter here.
It’s always been hard for me to have NaNo smack in the middle of family Holiday time. Thanksgiving for us is a big family-around-the-kitchen-cooking time. And then together Holiday decorating begins. Writing takes a backseat. But using others’ posts to remember the is a goal to move towards is a great idea. Happy writing!
No side quests! Get both projects done and early. Then you can enjoy the holidays more.