It certainly looks like I haven’t been up to much if you judge by my recent Patreon posts. But there’s quite a bit in the works!First, I started a new job at Oxford University Press at the end of November. I work in publishing now! It’s crazy! I’m drinking from a fire hose and about to drown in the tidal wave of a learning curve. But I’m finally starting to pick things up and get a handle on what my job is as an editorial assistant. For the first time in … maybe ever… I actually like my job and could see myself having a comfortable career in this field. 

I haven’t worked on my Hamlet story for a while. I could say that it’s because the scene I’m writing is hard and I’m disenchanted. I could tell you my editors have been busy. OR I could be honest and say that I’ve been enjoying way too much TV and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla the past two months. It was a nice break, but it’s time to get back into things.

My editors HAVE actually been busy though. So you may be getting some un-edited stuff real soon. Actually, I think it might be fun to post some absolute garbage on here. Because we all do it. Most writers don’t just crap out great first drafts. First drafts are supposed to be terrible. You need a foil by which you can measure the growth of your final draft. So I think the goal should be to write a terrible first draft. They’re called rough drafts. Let them be rough. Don’t kink-shame my drafts.

So that’s what I’m going to do. This scene that I’ve been stuck on for 2 months now? You’re gonna get it. All of it. Every piece of disjointed terribleness. I can’t wait to see how passable it is after a few edits! So look for that in the next few days. And please leave a comment about how great you think it’ll be after a little refining!

Just because I’ve not been working on Hamlet, doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing! I just need to get better about keeping you all apprised. I’ve revamped and am working toward finalizing outlines for two different stories. It might be fun to post my outlines, actually. I’ll think about that. But I also don’t want too much input in the outline phase. Or else I’ll get overwhelmed with possibilities and suggestions. I’d rather get my draft done first, then make edits.

At any rate, it might be cool also to write up a couple blurbs for my other projects so everyone can see what I’m working on and maybe help me narrow down which projects need my focus more!Additionally, I did the NY Midnight writing challenge. I signed up thinking “No big deal, as long as they don’t give me ‘romance’.” Well guess what. I just wrote my first romance story. I think it fulfilled the brief while still keeping true to who I am as a person and as a writer. Even more difficult than writing in the romance genre was incorporating the instructor character and the absent-minded theme without resting on tropes. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to share this story yet. I can’t find anything in the agreement that says that I can’t, but I’m still looking. So if it turns out that I’m allowed to share, I’ll definitely post 2200 words that made me want to quit writing entirely last week.

ALSO! I’ve been working on my author website with my new name. So that’s something to look forward to too!Though I feel like the past few months have been wasted due to a lack of final products, I’ve made good headway. I’m pouring foundations and putting up framing. Just because there’s no satin-painted drywall, doesn’t mean I haven’t accomplished something!Thanks everyone for sticking around through my silence for the past few months.

I’m ready to work now!