It’s nearing the end of August, and as I sit here writing this, I’m grateful that the temperature in the UK no longer rivals “Full Concentrated Power Of The Sun!”
It actually rained today, and this evening was cosy enough that I wanted hot tea. I decided to mix one hibiscus bag with one apple bag -- it was delicious!
Writing Update
August started slow, writing-wise, due to some health blips, but I feel like I am in a good rhythm now and that I have accomplished the things I wanted to.
I had a call with my editor about Kiss Me After The Kill, and after talking through some of the main issues with her, I decided to make a pretty big change: not only am I moving the story from a modern setting to a pseudo-Regency era, but I’m also giving it its own fantasy world.
Now that the story is “complete” and I know the emotional beats and the hearts of the characters, I feel much more comfortable rewriting aspects of it and focusing a little more on world-building. Even better, the changes have completely transformed how I feel about revisions. They’re no longer a chore, but an exciting rediscovery of the story!
Since last month, I have also added 12k words to Arcanium book one, which is now titled Magic, Dreams and A Place to Belong.
I’m taking a brief pause from drafting while I focus on KMATK revisions, but Hubby and I have already proofread eight chapters, which are scheduled on Inkitt, Ream and Royal Road, ready to start serializing August 31!
And because I’m me, I cannot help having a THIRD WIP on the go! ROTFL
I spoke previously about an idea involving a dragon prince and a powerful woman who has been lied to about her place in the world. It’s an idea I’ve approached in various forms over the years, but something never quite clicked.
Then, thanks to an unexpected combination of Jean Grey’s upcoming appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day and the opening of In the Lost Lands, I found myself asking a new question.
What if the woman in my dragon prince story isn’t a vessel manipulated by the Church and sent to seduce and control him? What if she’s a witch on the run who flees to the dragon prince’s kingdom for refuge?
And what if, instead of trying to control her, the dragon prince gives her somewhere safe enough to discover and accept her true power and nature for herself?
And there she was. Estelle.
The story is now titled To Burn Beside You, and I’m slowly working on it alongside my other projects.
There’s much more in the full update, including my recent personal essay, some health decisions, family updates, exciting changes for Youngest, a lovely gift from Poland, and -- because it’s almost that time of year -- HALLOWEEN! 🎃
