Writerly Updates

I’ve been working steadily on the sequel to Craving Beauty and tucking away 500-1000 words a day. A lot of this sudden increase in productivity is thanks to my baby being old enough to sleep through the night (we are still working on that, lol) Those nightly hours after we put him to sleep have opened up the needed window to work. It also helps me to get serious about writing with the time I have.

For those of you who are curious, here’s how the day pans out for this particular new mom:

After baby boy is put down for afternoon nap, I read a bit and journal about writing, make character sketches or write about whatever comes to mind. This helps loosen me up for later in the day, I’ve found.

Once we are able to put baby to sleep I catch up online first (after finishing up real life chores of course), write reviews, research writing topics and catch up with e-mails. I’ve been researching a lot lately about different avenues to produce my work and am looking into several free-entry contests. Because honestly, if I’m not sure I will win a prize, I can’t afford to pay a hundred bucks to sign up for a more prestigious writing contest.

But I want to submit more short stories, like the ones you can find in JayHenge Publishing‘s Other Days and Intrepid Horizons Anthologies (they have a little something for everyone!). And winning contests, besides being a way to challenge me and improve my skills will also help me grow as an author. So wish me luck!

Once I’ve finished with all that extra stuff, I can finally sit down and get serious about Wylder Tales. So far the story is coming together. It helps that I started the original draft over a year ago, before I revised Craving Beauty (it’s a long story…). The slow-going part is the back research. It helps that Craving Beauty & Wolfsbane’s Daughter were fresh on my mind, but even a few months gap is long enough to forget all those little plot bunnies and detail. I’ve done a lot of chasing the stray bunnies down, to save myself the headache later on. And while I have a vague outline for this book, there is still room for change.

Typically, I find while writing that certain things I thought would be great a year ago don’t work with the current story & characters. Lord, those characters are tough sometimes, lol. I have to reign Vynasha back in particularly because she has been through so much in so short a time. It’s kind of wild to watch the guy you’re kind of crushing on turn into a beast, then get attacked, captured and imprisoned and, well, don’t wanna give away too much just yet. Stay tuned for teasers for this story and a cover reveal the following month. I’m very excited to share as we develop this Gothic retelling. Big plans are in the works and I hope you’ll stick with me for the ride. Thanks so much for all of you who read and shared!

 

If you haven’t had a chance to read Craving Beauty, starting June 1, Goodreads is hosting a giveaway of three signed copies + a bit of swag hidden inside. Here’s the link so you can sign up! Spread the word and good luck!

For all authors, here are a couple of links I discovered lately in my research.

• 27 Free Writing Contests
• Reader’s Favorite : Author Services (articles w/great advice)