Your favorite biannual blogger is back again with another update! Every time I write one of these I swear I’m going to post more and then I leave y’all hanging, so I’m determined this time to get some more pieces out before my next monthly update.

First and maybe most exciting, I’ve finally launched my editing services page! I’ve been flirting with the idea of offering paid services for a while now, as my for-free beta reading has gotten more and more involved and I’ve had to schedule readings out months at a time because I had so many on my plate. Worry not though, friends, the free beta reading will continue, but once I clear my current queue it’ll be through giveaway posts on this site where you can enter with your projects that need some love! Sign up for my newsletter to keep in touch and be the first to hear when my first giveaway goes live!
In the meantime, if you’re interested in any of my more in-depth services, please check out the Story Sower page for more info, including how to request a Sample Edit to get a taste of what I have to offer.

General Life Update: I’ve moved! Not very far geographically, still in the Los Angeles area, but I’m more of a city gremlin now, and finding a new routine has been an interesting journey, especially around my writing. In the new year I wrote a whopping 45,000 words, but once my move got serious in early Feb I fell off. I hope to continue tracking my words for the rest of 2024, inspired by my friend Theodore Snapdragon’s stats on his word counts that he’s been tracking for years. Maybe I’ll do an end of the year round up on where all my words went, since I have so many pieces in development now.

My current writing focus has shifted: I’m still writing novels, but for the first time since 2020 I have a new project that isn’t in the Heroes and Heritors Universe, a still under working title project I’m calling Fantasy Die Hard, an Adult Adventure Fantasy following a Royal Guard as she attempts to foil a revolutionary group and save two infant Heirs to the throne, while grappling with her personal connection to the revolutionaries. It’s in it’s first draft phase currently but I’m already really excited by how it’s going! And in perfect me fashion, I already have an idea for a semi-sequel, Lost Heirs, (and don’t tell anyone but I put words into that project before I had anything written for Fantasy Die Hard).

Because my first love with always be H&H, I’m still writing for them too, working on the “Some Summers” series of novellas meant to bridge Wish I Might and Dig Two Graves. It’s a less serious project that is letting me explore the characters on a deeper level and draft a few fun chapters that are mostly little treats, just for me. Mostly it’s about Frank and Roy playing Gay chicken about who’s going to break first and confess their feelings, because when I write a slow burn, it’s slow. I’ve even given them the nickname of the Not Yet Boyfriends, because they have been so uncooperative in their willingness to conform to the hot genre of recent years of Romantasy.

Once I finish up Some Summers I’ll dive into the darkness with Dig Two Graves.

In short stories, things have stalled. I have a few flash fiction pieces that I need to edit, but I’ve struggled to plot short pieces without accidentally over-planning them into much longer works than the idea needs, so I’m going to have to regroup and come back to them another time, likely once Fantasy Die Hard has been drafted and is out with early readers.

As far as my creative energy, I’m really enjoying writing again after a bit of angst following my latest draft of Wish I Might and trying to figure out my new direction. That plus end of the year crickets in the querying trenches had me really unsure where to go next. After a winter of regrouping and developing some ideas, I’m really excited to jump back in and have more pieces going on, rather than fixating on a single one and living and dying by it. It’s easier to wait for responses in the trenches when I’ve got other things to occupy my time.
If you’re struggling with writer’s block, check out my previous update post about strategies you can try to refill your creative cup—and keep your eyes peeled for a more in-depth Writer Vacation article coming soon.

My Goals going forward are basically to keep chugging along and finish up Fantasy Die Hard and pivot to shorts while planning Lost Heirs in the Focus writing category. In the Fun writing Category, Heroes and Heritors will be happening in the background because I cannot be sated, first Some Summers, then Dig Two Graves, and finally moving on the Wildwood, if there’s time. And that will probably be 2024. I’m hoping to have more things in the pipeline, rather than being stuck on the same project for as long as I was on Not Yet Corpses. Fighting that preciousness and perfectionism with all I’ve got, but the perfectionism’s got hands too, so we’ll see how it goes.
Also hoping to put out more writing-related articles for y’all, like my reviews, my writing advice, and my pieces on writerly struggles like Blocks and battling perfectionism.

So, that’s enough about me, how are you, dear reader?
What of my previous article styles would you like to make a come back?
What are your creative goals for 2024?

Featured Image by Markus Winkler on Unsplash