OH YEAH, MY KICKSTARTER!

 So, I definitely forgot to announce to you all that I've officially launched the Kickstarter for Broken Princess! The campaign is running this month, so if you can please support, you will get some good rewards (in my humbly desperate opinion). 

As of today, the campaign currently 17% funded! I will keep posting updates (which means there will be more posts this month), if nothing else, hopefully my bugging you will encourage you to become a backer. :)

To back the campaign, please click here, and thank you in advance!

I've Got Good News!! - August Monthly Musings

Happy end of August!

This will be a short one, but I'm excited to say I have started conversations with Racheal Scotland, who did the art for Fractured Princess! I've already started working on the notes from my beta readers and sketched out the idea for Broken Princess's cover, so once we work out the details, things are going to be on the move for the next publication!

I am working on a Kickstarter to help with the funding of the cover, so once that is live, I will post it as well.

Next Friday, I will have the first Black Author Spotlight in 2 years, so stay tuned!

Oh, Shoot, I Missed July. (Quarterly Goals)

I'll pretend I wrote this on Friday. You do so, too.

The year is already halfway over. They say it's because as you age, there are more days behind you, so it feels like time is moving faster, but what if we're speeding up secretly? Conspiracy theory activated! But for real, let's look at my goals for the quarter haha.

I'm just waiting on one more beta reader to finish up Broken Princess. Aside from some great feedback so far, I also received a "what the hell!?" and a side-eye (not in a bad way, I promise), so I think I'm on the right track haha. If you've been with me for the past decade, you'll know I never intended on making a series. Fractured Princess was supposed to be a standalone fantasy, and once more "what if" ideas for a sequel kept popping into my head, I had to figure out what else could possibly happen, how, and why, so I'm glad it came together. I can't wait to get it all finished. Should I put a counter on the side of my blog that says, "Beat George R.R. Martin to the Finish Line?" I think I should.

Anyways, I have decided to illustrate the cover myself. I bought a digital art pad last year, and once I have a program I really like, I can do it. That means brushing up on my very rusty illustration skills, but if you follow me on Tiktok, you've seen me sketch some BTS members, so there is hope for me yet.

The audiobook review did not happen. I'll just have to table it for now until I really have time. Perhaps if I can squeeze in a vacation week, I'll take a couple of those days to do it. I haven't taken a week's vacation since Juneteenth last year, and I won't again until December as of today. So, we'll see.

On the video game front, I am officially the Lead Writer for Prism! I'm very excited about the project, and I love seeing the excitement of our director seeing everything come together! We're starting to get content up on social media, so you can follow us on any and all of the following:

LinkedIn

Instagram

Bluesky

So, what are my actual goals for this quarter (and of course the next 5th Friday is in Quarter 4)?

• Complete final edits for Broken Princess after I get my last Beta Reader's comments.
• Practice illustrating and work on the cover.
• Reach out to my cartographer with map updates.

Sounds good and doable. So, I will see you at the end of August for a monthly post! Thanks for sticking around! <3

The Bated Breath of Having Beta Readers (Quarterly Goals)

I just looked over at the different years and saw I wrote 99 posts in 2016. What the heck was I talking about?!

Anyway, happy June, basically! haha We're at the end of May on a 5th Friday, so that means time to provide an update on my goals, which I should have posted in April, especially because the next one will be in July, but ah well. Gregorian calendar problems.

So, back in January, I had the goal to finish writing Broken Princess, which I had done before my last official Weekly Words post. By end of next quarter (September-ish), I want to reach out to my cartographer to make an updated map, maybe two. I believe just one will suffice for Books 2 and 3, but I'll see. I also need to figure out what I'm doing about the next covers. I haven't been able to get a response back from the original artist, which bums me out, but I also don't have the funds anyway (and didn't the first time; will always thank my Kickstarter backers for that one). If I go the route of finding a new artist, I'll need their style to at least be close to FP's. Either that, or I work on them myself. It's been a while since I've illustrated, though, so I'll keep y'all posted.

I was actually thinking about the audiobook the other day. I don't want to give up on it. Now that Broken Princess is in the beta readers' hands, I should have time to listen to what I recorded and make some adjustments where needed, especially for the boys' chapters. I leaned too heavily into the voices I wanted them to have, and I know for a fact (if I haven't already said this), my voice sounded fried for Cyan and like very bad Kiwi for Andyrsn haha. I also can't wait to see what my beta readers have to say about some of the major things that happen in Broken Princess. I know two are re-reading FP first, so it'll be a couple weeks before I get some yelling in my chats, but I can't wait!

Job-wise, I'm still at my office job. I am peeking around still, but I think I'm on the waiting game. I hate playing it. But at least I had the playtesting job at the end/beginning of the year...You know, I haven't looked into that avenue yet...Let me do that. The video game project is going well! We've been meeting regularly, and we're now part of Ukie (UK Interactive Entertainment), a trade body for the video game industry in the UK! It's so cool to see everything coming together as a gamer myself. I can't wait for everyone to see this game!

That reminds me, by the end of this quarter, I might want to finish my video game writing courses! They have been so helpful, and I love putting the certificates in my LinkedIn. I can't believe I have certificates in video game writing! Ah! I actually started and read 7 books this year, and I didn't realize that! I'm proud of myself. I'm going to keep on with the reading. I developed a good pace, especially at bedtime.

Another of my goals for the next quarter: I have GOT to play some of these other games I've bought and never started or started and never finished. It's getting as bad as my books. The game team also keeps referencing games I haven't played, so I've added them to my collection, one of which is Kingdom Hearts, which I have avoided my entire life (I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE DISNEY CHARACTERS IN MY FINAL FANTASY), so pray for me.

That's all I have. I will see you all next month!

Monthly Musings

I'm writing a little bit of this in the past, realizing Weekly Words is now extinct. I haven't written weekly in, what, years? Looking at some of my other blog images, there was a time I was posting weekly on different days years ago. I had Tuesday Tales, Wednesday Words, Friday Freeday. I was doing so much. I'm not even sure people read blogs like this anymore, but this is connected to my Goodreads...I'd be ridiculous to say I can't commit to a monthly post, though, so Monthly Musings sounds good.

I'm currently editing Broken Princess and plan to send to beta readers in the next month or so. There are some other logistics I need to work out, so I'm closer to sure that I won't have a table at my regular cons this year. Dover Comic-Con is less than 3 months away now. Bento Con might be an option, but I'll have to see. I would like the book to be out by the end of the year for sure, though, if not earlier. I wanted it to be out by July, but that can't happen at this point.

I have been doing better at reading, and I'm 100% it's because of the book I was reading, which was Girl of Flesh and Metal by Alicia Ellis, and it was so good, I wrote the review and immediately bought Clash of Flesh and Metal afterwards.

Girl of Flesh and Metal is the first self-published novel to make the American Library Association's LITA Excellence in Children and Young-Adult Science Fiction Notable Lists. #GOALS. The book is phenomenal, and I can't wait to see what happens in the sequel. I haven't been this excited about a series since N.K. Jemisin's The Great Cities series, so that speaks volumes. I wish publishers understood how much Black readers need to see Black main characters in Sci-fi and Fantasy, but they also don't think we read, so there's that.

The video game is coming along nicely. We meet on Fridays, so we'll be meeting in an hour. I hope the momentum keeps going, especially as we get a couple more writers on the team. We'll see how it goes!

I'm still debating on migrating the blog, but I'm also very partial to Blogger, because I've used it for over a decade now. It probably won't happen. I've got so much else to worry about.

Anyway, see you in April! I think I said I was going to do the Quarterly on the 5th Thursday? I'll do it the 5th Friday in May. I can't mess up my labels more than necessary.

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!

Quarterly Goals

 

Good evening! *in my Dracula voice*

As I'm reading my August Quarterly Goals post, I realize I was supposed to write one on Black Friday! Welp.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! These past few months have been a hellscape, but as the country burns to the ground, let's take some time to breathe, think of some good you can do in your community, and just be good and decent human beings.

My goal for the end of the year was to finish Divided Princess. Bad news, good news time. Bad news: I did not finish the book by the end of the year. The good news is I have ONE CHAPTER LEFT! I absolutely plan on being at least halfway tonight and fully done tomorrow. And honestly, I don't even expect the chapter to be very long, so I might actually be done tonight. I just have to finish this blog post and unpause my Book 2 soundtrack and Mini Cozy Lo-fi Timer.

My other two goals for...I guess the last two quarters was to start editing the audiobook and catching up on my annual reading goal. HA. I'm done setting goals for those right now. I'm lying. I do have an annual goal of reading 18 books this year. Currently reading three, but actively reading one, so as long as I get back into the other two, I can have 3 done by the end of February. The audiobook is on hold for now, especially, because...

So, about that major project I mentioned in October?

I am officially a narrative writer for an upcoming indie game named Prism from the new studio Creative AF Games! I'm SO EXCITED! Writing for a video game has been one of my dreams, and I did not expect it to come true! In fact, I had just donated the book I had on video game writing before I moved, so I had to go buy another copy. lol Please go to my Linktree over in the banner or just from clicking these words and scroll down for all the social links for the game studio! More information to come the closer we are to releasing the demo.

All right, the next 5th Friday isn't until May, so I will most likely do a 5th Thursday post in April to see if I'm track with my reading goal. Oh! Pending cover art and my beta readers, I might also have a release date available then, so fingers crossed, and see you next month! :)

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! 

Quarterly Goals

 

Happy New Year! How was everyone's Fall, Thanksgiving, ChristmaChanaKwanzakuh? I was supposed to do a Goals post Black Friday, but I was on vacation. So much stuff has happened everywhere since my August post, but as for me, here's what I got done.

I FINISHED RECORDING THE AUDIOBOOK! I cried a little when I did. I didn't think I would get it done. So now that I've had some time away from it, I'm going to start editing and most definitely re-record Cyan's chapters, if not Andyrsn's. I think I was okay with his, but I might've leaned more Kiwi than I wanted. I have to listen back. As for Cyan's, I was trying to voice his low, and it even felt like I was vocally fried, so I'm sure it sounds that way.

Last week, I realized I'm on the tail end of the second part of this book! I think it's going to be a bit shorter than Fractured Princess, but that's not a bad thing. I can only torture Jonnie so much, after all haha. When I finish the book completely, I'll reveal the new title. I don't remember if I did a mockup cover post for FP, so I'll have to check. If I did, it's easy to create (thanks, Paint 3D). I've landed on the third book title, too. Going to keep it simple, but that's for another post down the line.

I didn't hit my reading goal, but I've started strong this month. StoryGraph has a 1-Page a Day challenge for January, and I've been reading way more than that. I'm going to try to keep it up after this month. It'll be my one of two resolutions I don't normally do. The other is just eating healthier, but a church fast has started me doing that anyway.

Back in September, I started training to be a Zumba Instructor again. Being a ZIN was something I've missed doing, and they have a giveaway just about every quarter to do a training, and I won (I think it was) 80% off, so I couldn't pass that up.

BlueSky finally opened up (ha) for everyone, so I was able to create an account finally! Which was apparently great timing, because with Tiktok being banned for fake reasons, Bezos supporting felons for president, and Zuckerberg believing Fact-checking is skewed (that's what happens when one party lies THAT much), I've deleted my Goodreads and Meta accounts. I have no choice but to hold on to Amazon at the moment, but seeing how they're monopolizing so many markets is troubling. So, I've updated my Linktree to reflect all of the changes. I don't even know how many people still use Blogger; I've seen Substacks and other pay blogs popping up, but I appreciate the availability of a site that is free to readers still, so here is where I'll stay. I also heard Twitch finally created a tag for books, so there's a chance I'll do more with my Twitch account. We shall see!

Goals for this next quarter: Finish editing the audiobook. Finish Book 2. That's good enough for me!

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.

August Writing Update

I was supposed to post this late yesterday, but as K-Ci & Jojo say, "Time is slipping away froooom meee." Eh, nothing wrong with a Saturday post once in a while.

As I sit on the floor in a pile of sweat from my first Zumba instructor training class since 2015 (I think it was, whenever I did Basic 2), I am happy to have a free Saturday for a few weeks. That means I can catch up on Olympic shenanigans I missed during my birthday vacation (still have the Men's Break Dancing to watch, Rhythm Gymnastics, whatever they call Synchronized Swimming now, and both the Opening AND Closing ceremonies), catch up on my DVR, and keep up with the writing momentum I've gained in the past couple of weeks!

I've really been waiting for this feeling to come back, of being excited for the next scenes and getting the ball rolling towards the end of Draft One(ish; y'all know I edit as I go) of Divided Princess. Scenes I wrote prior to knowing where to place them are falling in line, and I can move on with a breath of fresh air and Let's Do This energy. 40 is hitting different, and I'm appreciating it!

Speaking of Divided Princess, even though I've been holding on to this title for dear life, I don't know how much it matches with the current plot anymore. My little cousin brainstormed the title with me, though, so I'm like, "Noooo, I don't want to give it up!" BUT, I think I have a title that fits it better. Even the cover, which I was going to use for Book 3, might fit this book even better. I might be able to use the title for the third book, thinking about it? We'll see. I'll mull it over and reveal the new title if it sticks. I think it will. I'm just trying to hold on to Divided Princess even while I'm tryping this.

Anyway, now that I've exercised and sweat out my freshly gelled edges, lol, I'm going to shower, play a little bit more of Final Fantasy Tactics, and then do some more writing before hopping on Apex. I hope to see y'all soon!

Also: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CASSIE H.! ;)

Also, if you haven't, visit my website! :D

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, 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! ;)

Writing Update: Why is Writer's Block!?

 

Happy Friday! The first weeks of April were super busy for me. I was preparing for and attending my cousin's wedding, and I also visited Vermont for the first time (absolutely not the last) to see the eclipse! It was the coolest thing ever, and apparently, we had the clearest view, so winning! I spent most of my paycheck on maple products and books I could've bought at home. *insert upside down smiley face* It was worth it, though! Here are a few pictures!

I can't believe it got so dark! We could see Jupiter!

Anyway, so I brought my laptop with me in the event I had time to write, and ya knooooow....

I know I asked the question in the title, but I know exactly why I'm stuck this time. I fell back into the issue I was having with the first two passes. I'm moving the story way too quickly. FP had 15 chapters in the first part and although a lot happened, it wasn't something major every chapter, and that's what I feel like I'm doing right now. I went back to see how many days had technically passed, and it was literally three in six chapters. I definitely need to slow it back down, so I am going through and inserting more scenes. Not necessarily a whole new pass, but I did start a copy of the third to work on without ruining that pass if I give up (I won't, but just in case). When I say I want to be finished book three shortly after I finish this one, I mean it. I'll be 40 in 3 months, and I don't want to spend another five years writing this series, let alone twenty. There are so many other stories waiting for me, and I can't write simultaneously like I used to, which I hate.

Anyway, I leave you with a tumblr post that sums up my mood to a tee! See you soon. :)

https://www.tumblr.com/debtheauthor/747953404281765888/i-felt-this

Weekly Words and Playing Catch Up

 I'm writing this early, so I don't take another long break by accident.

February, as always, was dumb short. I blinked, and it was March. But despite what books the (might as well be alt but let's be real) right keep trying to ban, I hope you learned something new in Black History Month. And Happy Women's History Month!

I finished what I thought was a trilogy, but come to find out, there are at least 30 books in that series, and by the end of the third book, I was highly underwhelmed, so not continuing it. I will say that on behalf of Women's History Month, men, please stop trying to write teenage girls. It's painful to read. On that note, the book I started reading after that seems . . . interesting. From the blond/blue-eyed golden child (literally had a golden aura around him, as seen by homeless man he and his friends were harassing) to dogs getting taken up in the rapture but not cats, I'm worried about what the rest of the writing holds, but I'll stick it out.

I've been writing up a mild rain (not a storm but haha), and I'm excited! I was very tempted to just go ahead and start Book 3 in these Shattered Chronicles, but I'm behaving. Of all three books, though, I do have the majority of the third's plot points floating around in my head. I know what the entire first part is going to be, and I know what the resolution is and how we get there. I've almost come full circle with my original idea, because I wanted the series to feel like a Final Fantasy video game, and if you know anything about that "third cd" (if you know, you know), Book 3 is absolutely going to be that. I'm working myself up just thinking about it.

I also had plans to be editing my audiobook recording by now, but I was so sick in January that I was still recovering in February! Hopefully I can pick recording back up this month. I was really enjoying it, and I want to get the audiobook out this year. Let's hope I can!

In other news, I'm in an 8-week course on how to build a game from scratch thanks to Black Girl Gamers and Anything World. Making video games is something I've thought about/toyed very loosely with over the years, so maybe this is the start of something. At least a basic game. I'm also playing with the idea of maybe making a Chapters story? I haven't done dramatic soap-opera type stories since my high school fan fiction days, and it's been even longer since I've written chapter books, but who knows? I might abandon the idea in a few weeks. haha For now, I'm at least enjoying the weird werewolf drama I'm choosing my own adventure in.

I actually don't know how well blogs are still doing. Even I haven't read the ones I follow in years now. I know with Patreon and these new blog subscriptions that are gaining traction, more popular content creators have those avenues. I do not have that luxury. I've even fallen off the social media for the most part, but I do plan on picking that back up. I was certainly supposed to be engaging more on Facebook for sure, so I will do my best! In the meantime, Happy Lent, Mubarak Ramadan, and see you next time!