Shiny, Sweaty People - AKA My June Wrap-Up

 

June has been an absolute whirlwind — creatively and weather-wise! While the UK melted under another heatwave (with no air con in sight), I managed to channel that sweaty chaos into some solid writing wins and exciting story developments.

I’ve been deep in revisions for Fractured Loyalties – Act One, working closely with my most trusted (and most handsome) beta reader — Hubby. We’ve been tackling Nola’s arc and refining some of the world-building, especially around the PID, to make things feel even more sinister. It’s been both challenging and energising to revisit this story with fresh eyes after so many versions.

But that’s not all — what started as a short prequel for an anthology has now exploded into two full-length novels! The lore was just too juicy to keep short. I'm calling the series Before the Fracture, and it’s shaping up to be something really special.

June also marked the official relaunch of The Kindred Creativity Club (formerly The Kindred Book Club), with our first event, Creating With Pride, spotlighting amazing LGBTQIA+ indie creatives and raising funds for Stonewall. The response and support were wonderful, and I’ve already made some great new connections.

And then, just when I thought I had enough on my plate, a new plot bunny ambushed me. Imagine a sapphic dark fantasy romance inspired by The Dark Phoenix Saga, Sansa Stark’s arc, the Persephone myth, and the film Labyrinth. That’s Divine Unmaking, and it’s currently consuming my brain in the best possible way.

To keep everything manageable (and my brain from melting), I’ve carved out a flexible weekly schedule where I rotate projects, dedicate time to The KCC, and actually take evenings and weekends off. I’m learning to listen to my ADHD brain and respect its rhythms — whether that means powering through a 6-hour Spotify playlist session or stepping back when I feel blocked or anxious.

If you’d like a more in-depth look at what I worked on this month — including behind-the-scenes updates, word counts, and how I’m balancing multiple projects without burning out — you can read the full post over on my blog:

👉 Click here to read the full June update

Thanks for following along, and wherever you are — stay hydrated, stay creative, and take care of yourself. ❤️

In Search of my Magnum Opus

Greetings Readers!

It feels like ages since I did a proper update, so here it is.

First, I want to thank everyone who supported the release of THE STARLIGHT PRINCE. The book was a long time coming, and as I've previously mentioned, I feel immensely proud of all I achieved by writing it, as much of the process coincided with my autism and ADHD journey.

Even to the last minute, things were hectic, as I pushed back my release by a month to give myself more time to focus on the final developmental edits. And while I was doing that, I had some real-life changes. I won't go into detail, because it's not my story to share, but the TL:DR is my 22-year-old child is back living with us, after almost five years away from home. I hate the circumstances of their return, but I won't lie, it's great having them back!  We're all settling into our new normal now, and my head feels clearer, and I'm more able to focus on writing-related things again.

On the topic of The Starlight Prince, in case you didn't see my previous post, during April, I will be taking part in the A-Z Blogging Challenge. Every day (except Sundays), I'll be sharing excerpts and tidbits about the book. Each day I will choose a commenter at random to receive free digital copies of both The Starlight Prince, and it's prequel novella The Adventures of Josain Jovenne. And there will also be a month-long Rafflecopter giveaway in which you can win a signed paperback copy of The Starlight Prince, and some swag like postcards of the character art I had commissioned.

A-Z Challenge/ CampNaNoWriMo Theme Reveal

Based on results on a poll, the story I've decided to tell for CampNaNo/ A-Z Challenge is the third draft of Choosing Sides - renamed Triquetra: Book One. 

Some of you might be familiar with my urban-fantasy about oppressed witches, as I wrote it during last year's NaNo, too. Since completing the second draft (I actually came up with the idea, and wrote the first draft in 2012) I've decided it's STILL not quite the story I want to tell. 

Hopefully this serialised version will be closer to the vision in my head. As this project is only projected to be 54,000 words, it will serve as "book one" of the Triquetra series, and I plan on developing the rest of story ideas into at least two more books. 


 ---- 

“Should those with the witch gene be prevented from procreating?” 

This is the question asked by agents of the Paranormal Investigation Department (PID) in the latest government summit about those with magical abilities. 

 Being a witch in the current political climate is tough. Since a terrorist attack twenty-years ago, the PID have been cracking down on witches, imprisoning many with magical abilities without trial. 

 Those the PID don’t catch go into hiding – if they’re lucky. If they’re not, they’re caught by religious fanatics and publicly hung.

 ---- 

Chapter Index:

A is for Action
B is for Battle
C is for Casualties
D is for
E is for
F is for
G is for
H is for
I is for
J is for
K is for
L is for
M is for
N is for
O is for
P is for
Q is for
R is for
S is for
T is for
U is for
V is for
U is for
X is for
Y is for
Z is for
Bonus Chapter

Camp NaNoWriMo July 18

Hey all!

I'm back with an update about my writing life.

I did well for Camp NaNo in April. I added almost 35k to my work-in-progress urban-fantasy Choosing Sides. But then in May and June I did very little - perhaps adding a couple of thousand words here and there. 

I want this first draft complete and ready to send to beta readers by the end of the year. By my calculations I have just under 36k left to write (I'm aiming for a 90k novel, and currently have just over 55k written). 

It SHOULD NOT take me six months to write 36k!! So, I've signed up for Camp NaNo again in July, with the aim of writing 20k. That's 1k a day, Mon-Fri for the duration of July. I can do that. I won't be writing in August. The kids will be off school, and we have plans to go to Weston Super-mare for a few days, so I'll take the month off to relax. 

But there's absolutely no reason I shouldn't be able to write the remaining 16k, go through it myself to make sure it's all correct, and then go through it with Hubby for edits/ beta reading, before sending it to others, by the end of the year. 

 There are other projects I've also been thinking about ... Kyra Lennon wants us to get back to work on our co-written novel, so that we can publish it before the end of the year. I will have to find time to fit that into my schedule. 

I've also been thinking of polishing and publishing Every Moment With You, and Seeking The Truth, which are both complete, but just need a good editing. I don't want to put too much on my plate/ take my focus off of Choosing Sides, so I plan on revisiting those other projects in a few months when I'm in a better routine, and I'm close to completing Choosing Sides.

I'll try to post weekly updates with my progress here, but for those who want to see daily update, snippets, and titbits (in July I'll also be doing the WIP Joy challenge again) please feel free to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

And for anyone interested in what's being going on in my personal/ non-writing life recently, feel free to head over to my website blog for an update. 

Camp NaNoWriMo April 18: Week One Update.

Since the beginning of the year. I've been working on a re-write of my 2011 urban-fantasy Sibylline Nights, which I've since renamed Triquetra: Choosing Sides. 

I'm on just over 26k words right now, and am taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo with the aim to get the story to at least 65k by the end of April (I'd already written 15k between January and March, and I'm aiming to add 50k in April). 

Some aspects are the same - i.e. the main characters, their names, abilities and backstory/ history, and the theme is still centred around magic and witches. But previously, the story didn't have a clear direction and I didn't feel like the early chapters were distinct enough (it's really tough having three main point of view characters. Gods only know how GRRM does it). 

Now I feel the story has a clear direction, and I have a more thought out chapter plan that's helping me write. Plus I've changed the early chapters so that they're more distinct from each other, where as in the original draft all three MCs went through the same experience, so it was sort of repetitive. Now there isn't that repetition. 

I'm so happy with where it's going, and excited to write this first draft, then get to work on revisions. If you're interested in learning more, I post about it on social media, and this month I've been taking part in the WIP Joy challenge, as well as posting daily snippets from my Camp NaNo progress.

If you're interested in knowing what's been going on in my non-writing life, you can head over to my blog for a full update. http://www.claredugmore.com/blog/long-time-no-blog