May the 4th be with you
Because I have no Star Wars clothes to wear today, but I still want to enjoy the annual word play.
May Newsletter
It’s May! Spring is in the air. I know this because my allergies are driving me nuts, but I’m still enjoying the sunshine.
So I have been nervous and excited about getting this newsletter together. You may have noticed it looks different. I have changed platforms and started my own Substack. For those that haven’t heard of Substack (new to me as of 2021), it’s a kind of networking blogging platform. Until recently it has been used for more nonfiction purposes, with an option to launch a paid newsletter. Last year, a fiction author, Elle Griffin, grew more and more popular sharing a serialized novel on Substack and that has opened up more opportunities to use the platform as a fiction writer (that’s me!). I’ll link Elle’s page here if you are at all interested in what she is doing. I’ve started her novel. She posts a chapter at a time. I’m on chapter 2 out of 34, so I’ve got plenty to catch up on. If you enjoy the gothic classics like Victor Hugo and Charlotte Brontë, Elle Griffin’s work might be up your alley.
In Writing News
With my move to Substack, I have also decided to step away from novel writing for a while. I’ve been writing short stories while working on the Daughter of Isis sequel and have been really enjoying writing and sharing those stories with my writing groups. I started a novel this year (the one I mentioned last newsletter) and have written about half of it, but I keep getting stuck. What I can do with Substack is share the short stories I’ve been working on with all of you. I’m going to spend the summer planning and writing. My hope is to share shorter pieces through Substack, starting once a month, instead of asking you all to wait a year (or two…oops…) for my next book to come out. I’m experimenting. My Substack will be part indie author, part blog, and part I’m just making it up as I go. And you all will be there for the journey (hopefully cheering me on and enjoying some stories)
In Publishing News
I am almost done with revisions for Son of Horus, which is still scheduled to publish this fall. The sequel went through beta readers (thank you beta readers!) and a developmental edit to check for character and story structure. It’s due for it’s next round of edits, the line edits, in a couple weeks. This next editor will be looking more closely at my sentence structure. Overall, I’m excited to share the next book of the Daughter of Isis series.
While I’ve been editing, I’ve been working with a cover designer for the next book. Indie publishing is a mountain of a task and I was bound to make mistakes (and have made plenty). Unfortunately, it turned out that one mistake was my original Daughter of Isis cover (Actually, the whole process I used to publish the first novel was a mistake, a longer story for another time. You live and learn). I reached out to a cover designer, hoping he would be able to work with the first cover so the two books will match. Mark (the cover designer. Nice guy, very chatty in his emails) broke the news to me that the original cover wasn’t helping me sell the book. Readers do judge a book by its cover, so that was a bummer to hear. I did my own research and decided that I agreed with Mark. So, (sigh), I decided to redesign the first cover (and there goes my marketing budget for Son of Horus). Long story short, Daughter of Isis has a new cover! I’m really happy with the redesign. The Son of Horus cover is almost done and I can’t wait to share that with you when that’s ready, but for now, you can check out Daughter of Isis’s new look (I’m especially thrilled that Reap made it on the cover).
On my bookshelf
Between work and writing, reading has been slow lately. I’ve been squeezing it in when I can. I’m actually been rereading The Series of Unfortunate Events with one of my students. He is on book four while I’m almost done with book two, but he’s also a kid with much more time on his hands and it’s not a race (at least, that’s what I keep telling myself.)
I’ve also been reading another addition to my world reading challenge (other than the occasional social event photo dump, and publishing news, that’s really all I post about on Instagram). Over the last couple of years I’ve been reading books written by authors in different countries around the world. Nalo Hopkinson is a Jamaican writer. I found her book, Midnight Robber, when I went to Seattle a few months ago. I LOVE the myth and folklore Hopkinson weaves into the story. I’m getting some Neil Gaiman vibes from it and the voice is so unique. I don’t want to put it down and that’s my favorite feeling when I read.
Alright, I’ve gone on long enough. I’ll be sending out my next newsletter in June. If you want to stay up to date subscribe to my Substack page below. You can also comment below. Happy Spring!