This week had its share of hiccups, but several big wins as well. Let’s dive right in! My biggest and happiest news of the week is that I finished the first draft of my latest WIP. It took a 48 hour writing marathon, but I got it done in time to meet my (mostly arbitrary) deadline of finishing by Wednesday. I now have a 2-book series in raw manuscript form that I am absolutely pumped to make my main project for 2027. TBH, it’s the second book I just finished that has me obsessed — a dark academia murder mystery set in a convent of vampire scholar nuns. What’s not to love? The biggest challenge will be to shape the first book, which establishes the series protagonists and their backstory, into a sufficiently strong “hook” aka series opener.
But who doesn’t love a challenge, right?
More immediately, I have my next historical murder mystery to get ready for publication in October. I met with my editor on Wednesday to discuss her feedback, and I think I have a good roadmap for the final round of edits. Then, it will be time to layout and format, proofread, and the final, final tweaks. October feels like a good way down the road, but I know from experience that the timeline is going to be pretty tight … as it always seems to be with me. Sigh.
You might have noticed that I’ve been a little MIA here lately. Part of that has to do with the aforementioned writing marathon (and the ones that preceded it this past month), but part of it has to do with the fact that we managed to break my website while trying to do some much-delayed updates on the back end. Luckily, we were able to fix the issues and get things running again. And when I say “we”, I mean my IT support guy, aka my husband.
I am very excited about my new style direction — 90s off-duty model meets 2000s football player — and it has led to a few extra thrifting trips recently. On my list: football jerseys (natch), vintage athletic wear, and a few key mid-2000s fashion items. One of them? A pair of black capris. I saw a few pop up in my IG feed lately, styled with black, low-heeled pumps and elevated minimalist pieces, and I was intrigued. I also recently thrifted a pair of men’s vintage Tommy carpenter style jorts. I don’t think they will be a long-term closet staple for me, but I’m having fun wearing them for now … and I know my son will gladly take them off my hands.
Have a great weekend!
