May Newsletter
Writing Updates, Kickstarters to Watch, and ALL THE THINGS I've been reading (and loving)!
Happy May!
It’s the cusp of summer, and I’m remembering now why I love the winter time in the South—
Winter: the time of the year where it’s not a million degrees with 110% humidity. The Summer means a break for me at my day job (only three weeks, though, because I work summer school 🫠), but in Winter I can actually breathe a lungful of air. However, I digress.
With the terribly hot weather comes more time to dive into some good books, many of which I cannot recommend enough.
Starting with this Kickstarter from Amanda Auler!
I had the privilege of reading an early draft of this book and being along for the editing ride, and you do not want to miss the conclusion to the trilogy.
If you’re new to the world of Mothmar, then the homepage for the Kickstarter is where you need to go. Click here ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ (or on the image above).
If you’ve already had the pleasure of meeting Solyana and Pallah on their unique journeys, then go to this newsletter post from Amanda as a returning reader. This is where I got my copy of book three (and those short stories!!).
Other Things I’m Reading
As you can see by the graphic, I listen to a lot of audiobooks. They’re one of my favorite forms of entertainment. Alongside the six audiobooks I’ve listened to lately, I’ve also devoured two historical fiction books.
My favorite (of all my most recent reads & listens) was Every Hour Until Then by Gabrielle Meyer. Read my Goodreads Review here. It was scrumptious. Romantic, suspenseful, and well-written. I cannot recommend this series enough, especially if you’re an Outlander fan and looking for something close-door that still includes an interesting time travel concept.
Currently, I’m reading Grave Flowers by Autumn Krause.
So far, I’m really enjoying it! It’s a little dark but also a little romantic, so what’s not to love about that?
Writing Updates
I have finally finished the most difficult of edits for my mystery book. It’s off to my publisher, and now all that’s left are the small pieces of the puzzle to make the whole picture we call a novel.
To celebrate, I’ve been writing 1,000 words a day on something completely new. I had started this story last summer and wrote around 11k words. I’m now almost at the 16k mark and to a part of the story I’ve been itching to write. There’s nothing like the vision in your head being put down on paper, so I’m excited to continue on with the story.
I’ve been talking about my writing a little more on social media. As a whole, it’s a part of my life I tend to be more private about. I do talk about what’s been published and what’s available to read, but I never talk about my in-progress work. It doesn’t feel natural to me. However, recently, I’ve been talking about the things I’m working on more, and it’s nice to have people to commiserate with instead of being on an island alone with all the disappointments of a writing career. Trust me, there are many. Having people to talk to about what I’m working on—many of them to cheer me on!—has been a breath of fresh air.
It’s taken me a while to get there, but I’m glad that’s where I’ve ended up.
If you’ve read this far, I think you deserve a quote from my upcoming mystery. Here it is!
“I’ve done this before, Ms. Murray. It isn’t my first black eye, right, Leigh?”
“I gave you your first,” she said, smirking.
The relationship between Leighanna and her brother was fun to write. Some of my early readers have said August is one of their favorite characters. I can’t wait for you to meet him!