Weekly Words - SoulAce Day and Writing Update

HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH!

A post on a Monday? Why yes, because I forgot to post Friday, which actually turned out well for today.

Today is SoulAce Day: a day created by Black asexuals to acknowledge and celebrate the creativity of the ignored A in LGBTQIA (because it does NOT stand for ally). 

A few of us contributed to an e-zine about Black Asexual Culture, which you can support by downloading and/or donating to those who contributed at the link below. 

https://blackaceculture.itch.io/black-ace-culture-a-digital-zine

And now for a quick writing update: I was finally able to write, "To be continued..." in the sequel to Fractured Princess, officially titled Broken Princess! I'm so relieved that I made it. In about a week, I'll start editing and once I'm done, I'll send it to my beta readers. More news to come in the next few months!

Early Morning Musings

It is 3:45am, and I just realized that I may only have two or three chapters left before I can stamp a "To Be Continued..." on the end of the second book in my Shattered Chronicles series! This is super exciting for me for a few reasons.

1. When I first concepted Fractured Princess, f.k.a The Crystal Bearer, f.k.a Save the Queen, I had planned on it being a standalone book. I did not expect more ideas to flow after that first version of the "All Will Be Well" chapter.

2. Now, after a self-publish, a failed stint with a vanity publisher, and an updated self-publish, I am seeing the end of this journey that started from a weird dream I had over 21 years ago.

3. I already know what each part of the third book entails, almost from A to Z, so it will be a much quicker turnaround after Book 2 is published!

4. I'm pretty sure I'm going to beat George R.R. Martin in finishing a fantasy series, and A Game of Thrones was published in 1996. It's not a race, but I'm thrilled for myself.

Anyway, I will have an official update during the January Quarterly Goals post. I hope everyone is enjoying any and all holidays you celebrate. I just realized our menorah is in storage, so I'm sad about that. Maybe I can find it Monday after work (the storage place is closer to my job than my house by like 30 miles) and celebrate the last day of Chanukah.

See you in 2026!

Monthly Review

 HAPPY OCTOBER! Time for a monthly review.

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This is actually going to be short.

The past three months have been a whirlwind. I have a lot going on even in just this last month. Also, I realized sometime this past week that I had written a big continuity error into the story and had to go back and fix it before I could go forward. Splendid. On the bright side, I thought I needed to finish the book by today, but then I read my last Quarterly Goals post and realized I said "end of the year for sure," so, yay, no pressure.

I started a major project this month. I'm so excited about it! More information to come soon! I also start playtesting today. That should be something fun for me to focus on.

I also started working on managing some of my personal issues this past week. We'll see how everything turns out. I just know going forward, I'm choosing my peace!

Reading wise, I'm almost finished the audiobook Firefly: Big Damn Hero, and I love that world so much. Just wish Joss Whedon hadn't turned out to be awful. But anyway, I'm also reading The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Mel Robbin's The Let Them Theory. I'm not going to catch up on my goal, but at least, I'm getting back into reading.

I hope you've had a good month. Happy Halloween!

Monthly Review + Writing Update + Quarterly Goals

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I was actually working today, so I forgot to post around Noon. Back-timing this.

I had a great time at Bento Con last Saturday. I had a really cool conversation about thermodynamics, which I'm really going to look into when I finally get to the sci-fi anthology I've wanted to write. The one thing I love about a local convention like this is the diversity of the people that come to my table. I had older men stop by, one of whom said, "Let me go get my wife, she'd love this," other writers, and teens and 20-somethings, who are the target audience for my book. I took 24 books with me and not only sold 12, but I had my first sale of my illustration cards! That alone excited me, because some man told me to have illustrations on sale when he stopped by at Blue Hen Comic Con the year before last, and when I had them last year, no one was interested. Perhaps by next year, when I have two books to sell, some fans of Book 1 will want the illustrations!

That said: I made it to Part 3 in the sequel! I was so excited to finally get these pivotal scenes I've had in my head for the past few years in the order that they belong. I feel like this part is going to be a little shorter. The first book had 46 chapters. As I'm typing this, I realize I haven't been updating the chapter list to the second book, so...

*Five minutes later*

...I have 30 chapters at the moment, and I'm into the third chapter now. I don't want to drag it out if I don't have to. Maybe ten chapters? We'll see.

On that note, my goal from last quarter was to edit the audiobook and finish this book. I haven't even touched the audiobook. I keep thinking about it, though. I imagined I would have more time while I was on my medical leave of absence, but for the first three of my six weeks, I slept, so as evident in the last section of this post, I didn't write enough to finish the book. I'm getting there, though, and I'll take it. End of the year for sure. I just realized the quarters are off, too. There are five Fridays in October and November, so I'll be posting a goals update on Black Friday. I hope to hear from the cover artist by then, because I would like to have both of the second and third book covers completed before I publish Book 2.

I also stopped reading the short story compilation I was reading. I don't know who taught them how to make an anthology, but they didn't tell them not to include half of a novel. I'm not even joking. It was one half of a novel! That held up my reading goals for sure. So, I jumped into a new book that I actually might do a Weekly Words for next week. It's been a long time since I've done one. We'll see.

So anyway, goals for the next quarter are:

1. finish Book 2.
2. At least START editing the audiobook.
3. Catch up on my annual reading goal.

Wish me luck!

Quarterly Goals

 

I can't believe June is on Sunday.

First things first, I did not finish the book before the quarter ended. I'm not even sure I was doing much writing those first couple of months, and if I did, I just had more writing to do than I realized. I am fortunately coming up on the end of the second part of the book with just one or two chapters before it closes out. I even streamed myself writing last Friday, Saturday, and Monday. I think I hit about 2500 words that weekend. If I keep it up, I'm almost sure I will complete the book by this next quarter.

I also did not touch the audiobook yet. My laptop was also away some of last quarter getting repaired. I think I mentioned the major crash it had. That was stressful. I'll have a lot of downtime in July, so that might be the time for me to get it done.

I also expect to get more reading done! I made the mistake of starting another short story anthology, but this one has a novella in it, and I'm struggling. I'll get through it little by little for sure. I plan to finish a book I started on my birthday cruise last year. I took it from the library, so of course I had to put it back before we made it back home. 

Today is also the 2nd anniversary of the second edition of Fractured Princess! I made a photo-tok of the past two years, and I'm proud of myself for actually getting out there and selling what feels like the same book over and over. This has been a super long journey, but I see the end of this series coming, and I'm excited to get it completed and put my attention into new stories! And if I'm lucky, I'll successfully get my book into Ingramspark. I keep having book cover trouble, so I'll be happy to be able to say it's processed when I get that straightened out.

So, my goals for this quarter are the same as last quarter (edit the audiobook and finish Book 2), but I'm fine with that!

Wednesday Words? No, Just Weekly Words!

 

So, I wanted to do a cute graphic where I use the old Wednesday Words image but cross it out and then have the Weekly Words image, but Blogger isn't that advanced, and I'm too lazy to create another cheap image. Ah well.

But also, I looked at my March post, and I said that hopefully it wouldn't be another 2 months before I posted again...It's been exactly 2 months since I last posted. I'm so sorry. If nothing else, I have to post at the end of the month, because there's finally another 5th Friday, and I have to see if I completed my goals.

One major goal is that I want to have the first draft of "Divided" Princess completed by the end of the month, which will also be the 2nd anniversary of Fractured Princess, 2nd Indie Edition. When I do finish, I'll also announce the official book title, which I've mentioned previously; don't ask me when, because it's been so long. Hopefully, I can also get some time to finally sit down and listen to the audiobook clips to edit. It's been way too long since I finished. I've got to get it done.

On the reader side of things, I've been lamenting that I'm not reading as many books as I used to, and then I remembered that I am actively reading EIGHT web comics, one of which I'm catching up on, so I'm actually reading every day. But I did start reading a compilation of Black science fiction short stories from W.E.B. Du Bois to modern-day authors, and my, are they haunting. I swear one was the inspiration for the game Inside. I'm taking my time on those...as I continue to buy e-books on Bookbub like the book addict I am.

Anyway, that's all for now. I just wanted to do a quick update, and it's a full blog. haha Oh, lastly, I logged back into my Goodreads to do a few updates, and if you're still following me/seeing this post there, thank you so much!

See you on the 30th! 

Monthly Review

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It's been 10 months since my last monthly review. Not that I had a lot going on in the first place, but wow!

Last year, I was coming out of Blue Hen Comic Con with an invitation to Bento Con, which I just went to at the beginning of this month. I'm not sure why I thought Bento Con was strictly a book convention, but it was a traditional con. It was also a smaller convention, so I scrambled to buy more books and then proceeded to only sell those that I bought. On the bright side, I did sell books! I loved meeting the people I did who were so excited to see my little book.

I also brought my sister along to assist, and she was a huge help. She even offered to make a 2-hour back-and-forth drive to pick up my floor sign that I left at home, but I did NOT let her do that! I drew a makeshift one and kept it moving. I also left my tablecloth at home, and when I say left it, I actively picked it up out of my box of books and set it aside like I wouldn't need it. My mind was against me! But the great thing I've experienced in cons like these is that there is always another vendor who is willing to help. The vendor next to me had an extra tablecloth! I will always help other vendors when I see they're in need of something, because even at the last Dover Comic Con I attended, I had a whole village of vendors helping me. It means so much and makes a no-name vendor like me feel big.

Also, I am proud to announce that not only have I finished recording the first part of Fractured Princess, but I've finished recording the first half of the second part! I haven't felt this accomplished in a minute. I'm almost sure I can get the rest done before Thursday. Then, I'll able to edit it, figure out how to make it into an audiobook, and finally put it out! I'll be a whole year behind, but it'll be out.

I'm also finally back into writing the second part of the second book! I can almost say with full surety that it's about to be smooth sailing, because I know what's going to happen from this point, and I can just write it. I'm really glad I had to go through rewriting the first part until it felt right, because it will make the rest of this book that much stronger. I can't wait to get to the last part. When I tell you I know what the very last sentence is in this book?? Ahh! XD I'm so excited. I'm glad to be excited again.

There is a 5th Friday next month, so if I don't post anything else, there will be a Quarterly Goals post. See you then! Happy Halloween!

October Writing Update

 Happy Friday!

I'm used to writing at work, which has become a problem haha. It's the lack of distractions I have there, as an administrative assistant. Unless my boss needs me, I don't have much to do, and so I can get writing in mostly interruption free. So that means, I need to force myself to carve out quiet time when I'm home so I can get that feeling at home, especially as I'm trying to shift careers.

I'm getting to one of my favorite Pass One scenes in (still calling it for now) Divided Princess. I've been able to save it from deletion due to the plot actually giving it a purpose in the first place. It's so weird to know that it needed to occur but not having the "why" it happens until a couple passes later!

I'm halfway through recording the first part of the audiobook. Fortunately, some of the chapters were short, so I could breeze through them. I'm going to try to get more done today and tomorrow. I have an Invisalign fitting on Halloween, so I want to be done recording before then. I'm doing my best to just go straight through and not edit until the end. As a writer who can't even write like that, it's very hard. I still can't figure out why some earlier recordings are quieter than the newer ones, so I need to figure out if I can equalize them or if I have to re-record them a third (fourth?) time. :( We shall see.

I actually will have a monthly update next week, which I will start drafting now, so I will see you then!

Quarterly Goals

 Well, I'm guess I'm glad I looked at the calendar. It's a 5th Friday! So, let me look back at whatever my goals were in May and see what I accomplished *nervous whimper*

So, in May, I was getting back into the groove of writing, and now I'm really, really back into the groove, to the point that I am finally once again at the end of part one, which is where I ended up stopping and restarting during the first pass. I'm actually able to pull scenes from the first pass and revise to match the new words I wrote in the meantime. It's going to fit well. I'm excited again.

Audiobook recording did NOT happen. I actually plan to do the brunt of it tomorrow. I'm contemplating doing all of Jonnie's chapters first and then the supporting characters to protect my voice, but also, if I have them talking in the chapters anyway, how much will that matter? Meh. I'll know by the time I wake up tomorrow. I wanted to stream recording, so I can get some eyeballs on the book, but we'll see. No one pays attention to me when I stream lol.

My reading goal, I am behind a couple of books. I'm disappointed in the book I'm currently reading, because it's the third in a series. I'll probably discuss it when I'm done, but not too much. Once I get past the book, there are a few I know I can read through easily (Mo Dao Zu Shi Book #3, eeee), so I think I can catch up.

The Ace Aro Raid Train went very well! It was so fun to connect to other ace gamers. I'm still in the Discord, but I have so many already that I don't talk lol. I also started a Discord for Black aces and aspecs, and hopefully that will pick up soon. I'm going to open an IG account for it as well. No idea what I'll post yet, but I'll figure it out. Like I need another social media account. *sigh*

Also, in October, I will be at Bento Con, a book convention in Claymont, Delaware. I'm excited to do another convention, and hopefully this will be more successful for me than Blue Hen, because the people are coming specifically for books! I'm also planning on selling prints of my character artwork this time. I'm waiting on my VistaPrint order to see how my artwork of Jonnie comes out. If it doesn't look too dingy (I can see the eraser marks on my laptop), then I'll order the other characters. Anyway, more details about Bento Con are in my Events Banner -------->.

Goals for this next quarter: I need to at least be halfway through part 2 of this sequel and editing the audiobook recording of Fractured Princess. I'm going to start small, and we'll see how it goes. I also need to be caught up on my reading. Pray for me.

Weekly W...*delete* Monthly Re...*delete* Quarterly Goals!

 

The title is literally what just happened, because in my head, I thought, "Well, you can't say Weekly, because you haven't written in a month." So, I deleted it and started to write Monthly Review, and as I went to see which Friday it was for my tag, I noticed it's a FIFTH Friday, so here's an early Quarterly Goals post! Let's see how I did.

Last quarter, I was supposed to have gotten to part three of Divided Princess. Well??? I restarted, I think, twice? So, I'm not even at part two yet, BUT I do have scenes written FOR parts two and three, so there's that. I've actually been back to writing more, and the scenes I kept from the third pass are about to be placed, so I'm excited that it's coming back together.

I also had a goal to record the audiobook in January, but I'd been getting sick so much I didn't have the energy or the voice to, but I've figured out the issue and am periodically (quite literally periodically, ladies) increasing my Vitamin C and Zinc intake to boost my immune system. Since I work from home Thursdays and Fridays now and they're typically slow workdays, I'm going to do my best to record during those days.

I'm a little behind on my reading goal, because I was struggling through a book I've since given up on. I think I can catch up, though. I'm currently reading Mo Dao Zu Shi Book 2, and it's an easy read, especially having watched the Netflix show (The Untamed) twice. I love this franchise so much. I also want to get back into Chinese and Korean series. So little time to watch everything I want to watch, read everything I want to read, write everything I want to write. GAH!

I was supposed to be more engaged last quarter. I did join Threads, but Fractured Princess is no longer on Barnes & Noble's website. :( Maybe they stopped working with Amazon? I'm not sure. I just need to try to keep engagement up and generate interest. I will be participating in an Ace Aro Raid Train which starts tomorrow (click the banner to the right for all of the info and participants), so hopefully there will be some avid fantasy readers in the mix. I may also try to stream recording the audiobook again. We'll see. All that said, check my Linktree for updated links.

That's all for now. More convention news to come next quarter! Hopefully there are a few more down the line. Have a great weekend and see you next month! ;)

Monthly Review

 

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Happy December!

I was supposed to come back last week to talk about Blue Hen Comic-Con, but it was a busy week. Overall, the Comic-Con was good. One thing I did observe, and observed during Dover Comic-Con as well, is that most of the teenagers/young adults (the target audience for Fractured Princess) passed by my table. They're definitely more interested in the anime/scifi aspects of conventions, which I totally understand. Still pretty painful to witness, BUT I did meet a great author who had flyers for an actual book convention, so I am going to sign up for that. Book conventions will obviously be a better draw, so the books I didn't sell will go towards that, if I still have them by then. We'll see. It was also a lesson on not to plan what bills you'll get to pay off afterwards, because I only broke even, so nothing was paid off. On a positive note, at least I broke even.

Also, I have yet to unpack my car...Maybe next year haha.

I haven't failed my reading challenge, but I've failed my reading challenge. I'm reading a book that is thankfully short, because it's bad. I don't like bashing other authors, because I know the time it takes to write, but it was clear this author needed way more guidance, training, and editing than they received. It reminded me that I also still need to read up on writing, because 1) I literally started the series I'm currently working on TWENTY years ago, and 2) there is a lot I probably still need to learn, even though I've been writing for decades now, and especially as an independent author. Do I want to try to traditionally publish the next series? I'm not even sure. It's a nice thought, but if the industry still hasn't changed, why bother?

On another positive note, I did have some people at the Convention ask about an audiobook. I streamed my first recording, then immediately realized I wasn't close enough to the mic. I'll try to stream again, but I'll have to figure out a configuration, because the little sound box I have (aka borrowed) is small, and I need to fit a mic, my laptop, and my head in that thing! So, all that said, streaming most likely won't be happening. I wanted to have a fun way to engage on Twitch with my writing, though. Maybe writing sessions, but I'm so spacey with those. It would force me to focus, but I don't want to be forced to focus. I'm so annoying.

Anyways, I cannot believe December is here already. The older you get, the faster time seems to go by. Someone said it's because as a child, you don't really have much past to look back on, so it feels slower? Something like that. All I know is I'm supposed to have completed an audiobook by now, read more books, and finished all of my unfinished games, and none of that happened. *facepalm* I hope your November went well, and I wish everyone Happy Holidays! See you in January!

Just Checking In!

 

Happy Friday!

Let me start by saying Thank you to all veterans for your service! Veterans Day is also my mom's birthday, so we will be having our now standard British Brunch in her honor tomorrow. Last year I brought Yorkshire pudding and this year forgot that I bought the mix on Amazon, but the recipes I've seen just say I need flour, so what the heck was in the mix? Are they cheating us?

So, I had a goal to read Edgar Allen Poe's complete works in October, and the first story I encountered was so fricking boring that it took me until November to finish it. I have to learn to speed read, but I also need to read some of the other million books I have on my Kindle.

Last Saturday, I attended the first Black Women's Health Conference founded by my play-cousin, and it was AMAZING. I can't wait for next year. It was amazing. Somewhere in the middle of it, I realized what I need to do for one of my next book projects. It might've been around the "Burn it all down" portion of Q&A. Either way, I'm excited again about that particular story.

I'm coming up on another paste-a-scene in my writing, so I'm happy about that. I'm glad I wrote so many salvageable scenes and chapters before I started Divided Princess again. It really was just that I needed to put new scenes and ideas in their proper places. This is going to make the story so much stronger. Did I mention the Women's Meditation Retreat I was in last month? If not, while meditating, God gave me a key to the ending of the series, and I could've fallen out right then. It makes so much sense. I'm extra excited about it and can't wait to get there. This story has morphed into something I never expected, especially as I had planned for it to be one book and have no sequels.

Next weekend, I will be at my first two-day convention, Blue Hen Comic-Con, and I had to buy less books that I wanted. Only 9 less, but...eh. I sold 35 books in one day at the Dover Comic-Con, if I remember correctly. I have 66 for two days. This could work. I'm just nervous. I also hope one day I'll be selling not to recoup what I bought and pay off some bills, but to have some extra cash. Of course, that's not the main goal, but it would be so helpful. I usually go live when I finish setting up, and because this one is indoors, I only have to set up my table, so I'll go live a little longer this time. I will most likely check in the Friday after next to share how the convention went.

I started this post an hour ago with the hope to post at Noon, and I'm out of words to say. Have a great weekend!

Monthly Review

 

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It has been two months since my last monthly review, but honestly, not much has changed. I'm editing a little more than I'm writing, but I'm at the point where I'm about to pull scenes from the first and second pass of this book, and I think after that, I'll be moving steadily.

Reading-related segue, I just had to force myself to finish a Facebook story, and I feel like my attention span is getting worse. On the other hand, I'm realizing I never had much of an attention span. I would literally be taking notes in class while writing a story. I used to read during commercials, but also now we can skip those, so my reading has continued to plummet. Not to mention my phone is glued to my hand. I really need to force myself to read, because I have HUNDREDS of books now that I need to read, from as far back as 2016, I'm sure. All that so say, I have not finished a book this month. I haven't even finished the short story I'm reading (Poe's Hans Pfall short story), and I know half of that is because he's just rambling. I need to stop trying to read things just to read them and read what interests me. That should be a revelation, but it is.

I had a table at a women's conference a couple of weeks ago. I had 16 books left from Dover Comic-Con, so I brought those and sold 8. Grateful for those who bought a book. I really wish more people had been interested, but I guess at least I have less books to buy for the Blue Hen Comic-Con, if only 8 less. I don't think this is a just a me-problem, but getting financial support for these things is pretty hard, and I try not to let that discourage me. It does worry me wondering if I'll be able to recoup what I risk, especially in this economy. The Patreon didn't work. I was literally just making videos for my younger sister. I want to do more marketing or promotions like Bookbub, but those also cost money. Self-publishing is a hard road, but I took it for a reason. I think I just have to be okay with the idea of writing being a hobby unless I get noticed and become a big name.

Last Saturday, I streamed while recording the first two chapters of Fractured Princess. I already have to re-record them. I wasn't close enough to the mic, but I hope to get the book recorded so I can publish the audiobook before the year ends. I really enjoyed doing it. I'll probably try to re-record today--though I won't stream it. I've posted pieces of the first chapter so many times already. It took two hours to post two chapters, and the two chapters together, I think were about an hour and a half long, before editing, so I'm pretty sure it takes at least three times as much time to record as it does to listen, and the audiobooks I've read have been about 8 hours long. *Crying Pepe emoji*

I think that's all that's happened. Oh! I saw Wicked! with my younger sister for her birthday. Amazing! Wasn't a fan of the ableism in the story, but aside from that, really cool how they worked the backstory and background of the Oz universe.

Okay, that's all for real. Good luck to those doing NaNoWriMo. I will be working on this book for sure, but not participating.

Happy Halloween!

Quarterly Goals: Conventions and Sales

I saw a Reel the other day asking September if it has someone to be, and that's a great question, because how is October on Sunday?

It is a fifth Friday, so that means it is time for my quarterly goals. Last quarter, I sought to publish Fractured Princess, and I did! It is now available in all text formats (see the links below!). My goal for this coming quarter is to record and publish the audiobook. I had started practicing reading it aloud last quarter on Twitch, but then I got sick for an entire month, so now I have to strengthen my vocal cords and lungs back up. I definitely want to get the audiobook out before the year is up, though.

Also, of course, in the next quarter, I would like to try to have--at least--the first two parts of Divided Princess completed. I know just about all of the major plot points. I just need to connect them. If I can say "THE BOOK IS FINISHED" in January, that would be just the bees knees. Wish big. Work big.

My other goal was to make my reading goal. I've read 11 books so far, so that means I'm going to make the 12! Depending on how many I finish, I'll try to add a book a quarter. No promises. I'm only doing it for myself anyway. I started Poe's complete works, because I've only read a few of his short stories and one poem in school ("Annabel Lee"; I haven't even read "The Raven"), so I'm going to power through this weird story about Hans Pfall, which is mostly a rambling so far, and go from there.

Another goal is to try to get more sales in. For me, that will mean a little more marketing and trying to get into more conventions as a vendor. I have Blue Hen Comic-Con in November. I didn't make the cut for the Multiverse Con in October. I know there is a big fantasy one in D.C. in the Spring? Early Summer? So, I will keep an eye on that. Marketing and social media-ing is tougher. I deleted my Twitter account, so I'm down an avenue. I'm thinking more about Threads than any other newer outlet. I like Spoutible. It's being ignored even by articles listing new social media apps, but so far, it's the one with the least issues. I need to keep a better presence on Facebook, but they always recommend I post around 7:00pm. I mean, I guess I can schedule something, but I like to be in the moment. We'll see.

Anyhow, those are my goals. Have a happy Spooky season! I'll see you next month. ;)

_______________________________________________________________________

FRACTURED PRINCESS is now available in Kindle, Paperback, and Hardcover! Get your copy today!

Kindle Edition (amazon.com)

Paperback Edition (amazon.com)

Hardcover Edition (amazon.com)

Monthly Review & Quarterly Goals

 

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It's been so long since I've had a monthly review, I even forgot what picture I was using. At this point, I'm not even going to say I didn't mean to miss three weeks. I'm just bad at keeping a schedule.

This has been a very eventful month for me! I released Fractured Princess at the end of May and had a very successful day at Dover Comic Con two weeks later. I was even surprised to meet people who had remembered me from the 2021 Comic Con and last year's, where I just handed out "Coming Soon" gift bags. I'm proud of myself for talking to people and coming up with an elevator pitch on the fly. A few people didn't know what Final Fantasy was, so it was pointless to use that all the time. The pitch definitely made some eyes light up. I loved to see it.

The day after Comic Con, I flew over to Nashville to watch my friend conduct his second annual Juneteenth Symphony. If you love symphonic music, please follow the Nashville African American Wind Symphony. They're going to do even bigger things in the future. I know it. Being in Nashville, first off, makes me never want to leave (I absolutely love it there), but seeing my friend do what he loves also makes me want to do so much more of the things I love, especially as a career. How I'll shift into that, we'll see, but I do not want to be a State worker forever. Could be a bit of near-40-life crisis talk emerging, but we'll see about that over the next 12 months as well. When I got home, I met with my cousin to help him do some plotting (pantser me? what?) for his novel. We were two very excited squirrels, but we got some work done! I love seeing how his story evolved, and he said my writing journey helped him do it, so that's a major bonus for me. If I could do something like that every day as my job, that would be ideal.

Shifting gears a little bit, if you're reading this straight from my blog, you'll notice a new Comic Con event in my sidebar! There is a Blue Hen Comic Con coming to Dover this November, and it will be TWO days long! I should stay in a hotel just for the heck of it, but I live less than 10 minutes away from the venue. haha This will be my first indoor convention, so I can't wait to see what the difference is. It will be held in the old Sears building at our slowly dying mall, so if we're lucky, they'll have more events like this in that space. 

Today is also the 5th Friday of the month, so it's time to look at my quarterly goals! Back in March, my main goal was releasing FP and getting the word out. I put together two Facebook ad campaigns, one leading up to the relaunch and one after. I believe they did pretty well. A few people at Comic Con said they saw the ad! That's really cool how it works. I wish I could've seen it. I really don't get on social media like I used to.

My goal for this quarter is to practice more voice work. If you follow me on the socials, I've posted two readings and a character voice so far. I plan to do more, and maybe listen to another audiobook, because I said I was going to, so I could hear different narrators.

Speaking of books, I'm almost halfway done my Goodreads goal, which is great at the end of June! I'll share some of what I'm reading next Friday (promise). Writing-wise, I'm almost finished the second chapter of Divided Princess (again), and I hope to incorporate some of the action I wrote in the first draft. I know for sure how this book is going to end and how the final book will turn out. I just have to get to them. Always A and Z with me.

So, for reading and writing, my goal is to read at least three more books and maybe get to the midpoint of the first part of DP. I can do it.

Did you make any goals this past quarter? What are you looking forward to this summer?

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FRACTURED PRINCESS is available on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback, and on Barnes & Noble's website in Paperback!

Movie Review: The Little Mermaid

 Hey, y'all, guess what? THE BOOK IS OUT!

You can once again buy my indie edition of Fractured Princess on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle! Hardcover is coming soon! If you're in Dover on June 17th, you can also find me at Comic Con! I'll have a map soon, but you can also look for the bright pink tent and Jonnie's face. I will have books there as well. I'm so excited.

Now, for Weekly Words! I'm back with another movie review!

 Last Friday, my sister, goddaughter and I went to the opening of The Little Mermaid!

Unless you live under a rock, you know how the Disney version of this story goes. Ariel, the youngest daughter of King Triton, wants to be a part of the human world. As a human myself, why? But "who are me to judge?" During a fireworks display (do we ever learn why they're shooting off fireworks? haha), the curious Ariel follows the lights to a ship where she first sees Prince Eric and his adorable shaggy dog that immediately loves her. The ship hits a storm, Prince Eric almost drowns, but Ariel saves him. Ursula, the evil sea witch who is trying to steal the King's power, uses this opportunity to turn Ariel human for three days with payment of her voice, and Ariel has to get Eric to kiss her before the three days is up, or she will belong to Ursula. Mayhem and deception ensue, but in the end Ursula is defeated, and King Triton decides to let Ariel be a human. *ahhhh-ahhhh*

The original cartoon came out when I was five years old. We watched it in class when I was the first grade (do they even gather the kids together to watch movies anymore?), and all of the girls sang along to the annoyance of all the boys. ha Even when I was a teenager, I wanted to be Ariel (Mermaid Ariel. I'm already on land), which is probably also why I love to swim so much. I used to picture myself being Ariel in a live action version The Little Mermaid and wonder how they would pull that off! FOX failed, but Disney?!

From beginning to end, this movie was PERFECT. The actors were so perfectly cast. Halle Bailey, I've been listening to her since she was a tween, and to see her play Ariel so well and have people who didn't know her before hear her magical voice, I'm so proud of her! Like her sister says, she is a real Disney Princess! And to see a young Black woman get to play one of my favorite Disney characters makes child me so happy. Also, Melissa McCarthy, whom I've been watching since Gilmore Girls, played Ursula SO well! I don't know why people thought she couldn't, but she showed up and showed out! She even sounded like Pat Carroll a little bit. I didn't know she could effect her voice.

They added a little bit more story as well, which worked so well within the movie. We learn what happened to Ariel's mother, why King Triton is so against humans (though honestly, we all should be at this point), why Ursula is trying to bring down Triton, and best of all to me, we get a story line for Eric! He's not just a cookie cutter prince. I loved it. Some of the changes they made to the story also strengthened Ariel's arc. I didn't realize until this movie how much she was a helpless damsel in the original. The writers gave her so much more agency in this version. It's amazing.

The effects were SO good! We all know Ursula hulks out, and it's still extremely scary. Also, Disney definitely listened to everyone who--for some reason--wanted the Lion King animals to emote like cartoon characters, which didn't bother me, but I did notice the animated expressions of Sebastian, Scuttle, and Flounder. Halle also posted some behind-the-scenes takes of how they made her look like she was swimming. She had to get really fit for this movie, and her abs showed it.

 

And lastly, the songs! While they didn't bring back some of them, they added a couple songs and add to the "big" song, and again, it helped to strengthen the story. If you don't leave the theater singing about the scuttlebutt, I don't know what you're doing.

So, go take a child (or not. The babies were babying in the theater) and see this movie! You won't be disappointed.

Also, buy my book. haha

Now that we're going to the movies more, I might have some more reviews, so keep an eye out!

Weekly Words: Getting Closer

 

Happy Friday!

FRACTURED PRINCESS is now less than 2 weeks away from relaunching, and I'm coming up on some jitters. Mostly because this is the third release of the same book. Hopefully, people who started the journey with me are still interested. I expected to have the sequel ready by now, but I found myself getting stuck and unwilling to keep writing in the direction I was going. I'm not going to GRRM my readers, but I do know taking it slow is better for me. That way I can assess as I go.

And because some dude named Murphy created a law, my laptop stopped recognizing the charger, so it's dead. On the bright side, I already uploaded the new versions to KDP, so I can just hit Publish on the 30th. I think everything I need is in OneDrive, but I know I had some things (not related to writing) just sitting in my downloads folder, so that's annoying. To replace it, I ordered a gaming laptop suitable for a casual gamer like me, and not only was it on sale, but I was able to put it on a payment plan as well (plus). It will ship on May 29th and arrive the day after the relaunch (ooooof course. Minus).

I'm expecting a proof of the paperback to arrive today, so I can check it for errors before the final date to upload changes. A proof of the hardcover is set to come May 26th, so at least I'll have more time to check that. Hardcover release date is coming soon!

Anyhow, I'll be expecting to hit Publish on the Paperback at midnight May 30th. KDP says it can take up to 72 hours to publish, but the last time I trusted that, I accidentally published the book a day early, so I think I'll be fine doing it same day. And that will give me time to purchase books for Dover Comic-Con. I can't wait for it!

Pre-order the Kindle edition of FRACTURED PRINCESS today!

Weekly Words: Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle

 

Happy Friday!

Two weeks ago, I had what I'm almost sure was a sinus infection from being in the office while they were painting (I wasn't supposed to be there at first, luck of the draw), and I was in bed from Thursday night into Monday. I don't remember what I was doing last Friday, but for the most part, I spent these past two weeks recovering.

If you follow me anywhere else, you'll know I did make time to start the big countdown to FRACTURED PRINCESS's re-release, which is now 18 days away! Pre-ordering for the Kindle is live. The paperback will be available May 30th at Midnight (if I do it correctly. The first go-round, I accidentally released it a day early haha), and the **hardcover**. Will be available shortly after that, so keep an eye out!

This past week, I also started a new book! I'm excited about this one because it is a black ace romance!

 

I absolutely. Love. This cover. Pink and purple are my favorite colors, so I'm biased, but also, just the way he's looking at her and how she's touching his arm. And the "Solid Gold" lettering is a bonus. I can't wait to see how this turns out. It's a romance, so it will most likely be a HEA (happily ever after), but the important part of romance novels is the journey to it. From how it's started, I think it may be a bit emotional.

Here is the blurb for your reading pleasure:

Prince Jones is the guy with all the answers—or so it seems. After all, at seventeen, he has his own segment on Detroit’s popular hip-hop show, Love Radio, where he dishes out advice to the brokenhearted.

Prince has always dreamed of becoming a DJ and falling in love. But being the main caretaker for his mother, who has multiple sclerosis, and his little brother means his dreams will stay just that and the only romances in his life are the ones he hears about from his listeners. Until he meets Dani Ford.

Dani isn’t checking for anybody. She’s focused on her plan: ace senior year, score a scholarship, and move to New York City to become a famous author. But her college essay keeps tripping her up and acknowledging what’s blocking her means dealing with what happened at that party a few months ago. And that’s one thing Dani can’t do.

When the romantic DJ meets the ambitious writer, sparks fly. Prince is smitten, but Dani’s not looking to get derailed. She gives Prince just three dates to convince her that he’s worth falling for. Three dates for the love expert to take his own advice, and just maybe change two lives forever.

 

I'm extra biased because Dani is a writer. *heart eyes* I hope she makes it big.

What are you reading this week?

Weekly Words: Women in Writing & Quarterly Goals - Fractured Princess

 

Can you believe it's the last Friday in March?

I'll get to my quarterly goals in a second, but as I've been highlighting my favorite female characters written by women, I wanted to shamelessly add myself to the mix, because why not?

 

When I started writing Fractured Princess, back when it was called Save the Queen, I strove to have strong women in the background supporting what was a very passive and tragic main character. A few critiques and drafts later, I realized Jonnie also needed to be a strong, active main character. Still tragic, but better able to take charge of the tragedies going on around her. She might be impulsive and make some life-changing mistakes, but I also wanted her to have flaws that she could overcome on her own, whether in the present or the future. Wink. I put a little bit of myself in Jonnie, so she's like my child. I want to see her succeed and be happy in the end. Hopefully she's someone readers have liked and will continue to like in the books to come.

Of course, I skipped a season in my quarterly goals, but I didn't have much going on in December except prepping for my book freedom, which was part of my September goals post, so check. By the end of the year I had read 13 books, so I just made my 12-book goal. I made a goal of 18 books this year, and I've read 4 so far, so I'm close to schedule! I had finally started reading Tomi Adeyemi's Children of Virtue and Vengeance, but it had been so long since I'd read Children of Blood and Bone that I had to stop to "reread" it. I'm currently listening to the audiobook version, and it's jogging my memory! The majority of my physical books are packed up for my hope-to-come-soon move out of this house, but I have what's probably over a hundred ebooks I can read in the meantime.

Career-wise, freelancing has been slow, but I've realized I can still enjoy my job (because I actually do) even though it's not what I want to do full-time. We'll be moving to the new office in June, so at least I'll gain half an hour's sleep back and won't have to take the bus or pay for parking anymore. That will most definitely alleviate some of my blanket exhaustion.

My goals for the next quarter: well, obviously, publication. The Kindle version of Fractured Princess is currently available for pre-order. The paperback will launch May 30th. So, my biggest goal is to generate more interest and get some books sold. This is the 3rd version of the first book, so I just hope that hasn't discouraged readers.

I'm going to read/listen to more audiobooks. I find that I like them, and also, I need to listen to different narrators to hear their technique if I want to record my own. I not-so-secretly love doing voice work, so I know it will be fun.

I will keep you all posted! Next week, I have a movie review to share with you, so tune in!

**ANNOUNCEMENT** FRACTURED PRINCESS Available for Kindle Pre-Order

 

 

This is a quick announcement, but I'm very excited about it.

The 2nd indie edition of FRACTURED PRINCESS is now available for Kindle Pre-order!

Visit the link embedded in this phrase to purchase for $7.99!