Writing Update for June

Well, I just surpassed 120k words in the 2nd draft of my sequel, Galenthian’s Stone. As I’m contemplating the outline for the final book in the trilogy, I’m realizing it will likely be too long for an Amazon hardback. That means I must go through another printer to get the job done. I’m considering Book Vault. Hopefully it works out because not having a hardback option for book 3 will suck.

On average, I’ve been adding 10k words per month to my 2nd draft. At this pace, I think I’ll be ready for a 3rd pass in August with a final wordcount of 140k. That’s way more than I suspected! I’m still on schedule to submit my book to my editor in October or November, so the March 2027 release date remains in place for now. If anything changes, I’ll let you all know.

That’s all I have for now. Until next time…

Marketing Journey

The absolute hardest thing to do in the publishing world as a self-published author is marketing a book! I don’t think anything else comes close. There’s no one-path-fits-all solution. Some books might do well with ads; others go viral on social media. Finding what works will take patience, tears, and oftentimes, a decent amount of money.

I finally reached 102k words in the 2nd draft of book 2. I still have a long way to go, but I’m at a point where marketing book 1 must take priority and be effective, or else no one will know book 2 exists. So, I’ve been learning a thing or two about how to lure readers to my work. This feels like uncharted waters…lol, but it’s necessary if I want to potentially have a career as an author. I’ll keep y’all posted.

Til next time…

Writing Update and More!!!

80k words done. I have about three more chapters to go before the first draft is finished. If I can maintain the pace I’ve been going at since January, I should be done with it by the end of March.

I had an interview with Desmond Does, who hosts a podcast called Conversations and Creatives. We talked about writing, favorite hometown restaurants, and I rambled about random stuff because that’s what I do…lol. Once that episode is up, I’ll post a link.

Guess who has a book cover for A Kingdom Cast in Shadows 2, entitled, Galenthian’s Stone? It’s me. How’d you guess? I planned on releasing the sequel on April 16, 2027, but if everything keeps rolling smoothly, I might publish it early. We’ll see what the next few months look like.

Anyway, that’s all I have for now. See you next month.

Another Writing Update

I just reached 50k words in my WIP. The words are flowing, the scenes are making sense, and I haven’t felt stressed the hell out. That’s a good sign. I’ve recently released an anthology under my pen name, but I haven’t really marketed it because I’ve been too focused on writing the sequel to Ashes & Rubble, my action-adventure romantasy. If I stay on course, I can finish the first draft by April.

Another project I have in mind is a cyberpunk where I’ll get to do a little philosophizing. I’m really excited about plotting that out, but first, I need to finish outlining my Beauty and the Beast retelling. Overall, this is turning out to be a productive year, and as long as I don’t burn myself out, I can probably squeeze out another anthology before the year is up.

Writing Update

I just crossed the 20k word mark for the sequel to my Fantasy book, Ashes & Rubble. I thought I’d be further along, but there were other things I had to finish before diving back in. One of those “things” was an anthology under a pen name. This was my very first time hosting an anthology, and let me tell you, it took A LOT of work.

I’ve been thinking about writing a Beauty and the Beast retelling for a while now. I have a concept, characters, backstories, but do I have the time? The answer: not really. But guess what? It’s happening. That means I’m writing at least 2 stories this year as the world around me burns (3, if I work on the horror book I’ve been periodically tinkering with). How will I get them done? I have no idea.

I’m trying to be more consistent with my blog posts, but bear with me. This is hard work…lol. In the meantime, enjoy my latest conversation with fellow Fantasy author Katharine Wibell.

Something Different

Hello there people of the future. I hope you enjoy reading about my mundane life and my awesome stories, where I live vicariously through my characters. Okay, not really . . . but sort of. Anyway, this is where I’ll post my story updates from now on. Prepare to be mildly amused.