Rainy Words & Books

Hey! How are you today?

Well, the weekend is here and the sun finally decided to make a comeback after FIVE DAYS of NON-STOP RAIN. 😱

Seriously, it was unbearable. Especially for someone who doesn't like rainy days at the best of times. It was so bad that it got in the way of my daily walks. Too much rain sucks and because I walk around the river, the puddles are huge. I really hope that it's done for a while.🤞

Asides from putting up with all this shitty weather, I've been really busy spring cleaning/reorganising. I have a lot of books and stationery so I'm determined to trim the fat while going through everything. The worst thing about doing this is finding books that I love (I'm a bibliophile, after all) that are riddled with foxing. 😫

It sucks and I just don't understand why this happens.

Anyway, I also completed the final read-thru of the short story I wrote last weekend. After the first draft, I suspected the word count would go up to 2k, but it ended up even longer.

Total word count: 3,159.

I was actually surprised that this tale turned out this long, but after some very handy feedback from my husband, I added and rewrote the ending. Very happy with how it turned out.

Here's the new vampire world update: two novels, one novelette, and thirteen short stories.

BUT! As expected, as soon as that story was finished, I started a new one. The words came to me in a rush after I woke up on Thursday morning and boy, it felt so good to get this one finally written because it's lived in my brain for a while now. 

I'm up to third draft and the word count has reached: 2,994. I'm looking forward to revising and completing this one.

Tonight we finished watching REVIVAL S1 and OMFG, this show is amazing!! I enjoyed the hell out of it and that ending was: 😳!!

Well, that's about it for now.

Hope you have an awesome weekend!!

Watching, Revising & Reading

Hey, how's it going? I hope you're having a great day.

This week turned out to be great, as far as my writing goals and spending time with my husband, but it was the worst for dealing with people. I seriously hate that the general population doesn't seem to understand common courtesy anymore, or manners. Even customer service appears to be a forgotten thing. And I hate how most people don't understand the concept of criticism. Too many thin-skinned assholes out there who like to act like rotten bastards and don't want to be called out on it. And don't even get me started on companies who advertise about offering an easy way to transfer different currencies and then end up stealing all your money.

Like I said, it was the week of motherfuckers.

But onto other better things.

I finished watching the rest of DAISY JONES & THE SIX and really enjoyed it! The 70s aesthetics were as perfect as the music, and the ending hit as hard as the book. Overall, they did a great job at capturing the essence of the book and the characters. It was a trip to watch the band perform songs that could've easily fit into the 70s. Cool show! 😊🎶

Glad I finally watched it. 

The other great thing I did was complete the novelette I finished writing last week. I had a great time writing and revising this story, and everything that happened surprised me in many ways, but also made total sense.

Total word count: 13,001.

This is actually the tenth story I've written in this (vampire) world this year. And that doesn't include the two novels (90k each) that started all of this. Plus I still have a list of other characters waiting to tell their tale, LOL.

I also read a very cool novella, CRANBERRY COVE by Hailey Piper, and got started on the final proofing of my upcoming novel from Brigids Gate Press, FALLEN DESTINY, which I'll get stuck into on Monday.

Yeah, got lots of things to do. 😊

Have an awesome weekend!

Sorta Break

Hi, how are you today?

I hope everything is okay in your corner of the world. I know it's hard at the moment because there are so many crappy things going on all the time, but that's why it's important to find happiness.

So, after spending last week doing an intense round of edits, I enjoyed a nice mental break. Which is actually a good thing because not only was I mentally exhausted, but the weather has been so shit lately that I caught a cold. I felt pretty shitty most of this week. 🤧

And yes, I was sickish on my birthday. Ugh.

It sucks, but I kept up with my daily walks around the river. Hell, I even managed to finish the first draft of the story I've been working on. The word count ended up being 10k, and I just completed the second draft about ten minutes ago.

It's now 12k. 🦇

I really didn't expect this particular character's story to end up past 10k, but I'm not surprised because it's really a tale that covers several changes between two different characters. Also, last night I came up with a very small tweak that made a huge difference to the second draft.

Love when that happens!

Oh, and I finally got a chance to read! I've been so busy with my own writing and organising my new bookshelves lately that I didn't get a chance to read for a while. I read two cool books: THE NIGHT GUEST by Hildur Knútsdótti and SUNBURN by Laura Lippman. Really enjoyed both of them, especially TNG.

Also started watching the DAISY JONES & THE SIX TV show and I'm enjoying it. A lot. I'm four episodes in and can't wait to see how it turns out. I read and absolutely LOVED the book last year, SO MUCH. The 70s vibes and music match the book so far, plus the aesthetics are beautiful. 🎶😍🎶

Also, the MURDERBOT S1 finale was awesome.

Well, that's about it for now. I'm looking forward to enjoying a nice and relaxing weekend with my husband.

Have a great time!

Busy Week Full of Words

Hey! How are you today? I hope you're well and finding some happiness and fun during the shittiest timeline ever. 🙄

Every single morning there's a new stupid and cruel thing happening. It's awful to watch. I wish people had paid proper attention and saw exactly what we did. But hate means more to some people than anything else. It's a shame.

See the lovely demon girl above? That's Destiny. She's the main character in my upcoming novel from Brigids Gate Press. Why am I talking about her? Well, I spent this week revisiting her story during an intense round of edits, which I completed early this morning.

It was nice to catch up with Destiny, Kenan, and all the other occultish characters. It's a stand-alone cozy/urban fantasy novel about a demon who is hired by a nun to find an angel. 

You know, Hellboy x Constantine. 😁

Oh, just a quick note about the graphic I posted here. I made this on a website called Picrew several years ago. Picrew is a doll maker website where human artists upload their art and users can make cute versions of themselves. Or as I like to do, my characters. This isn't AI. You all know how I feel about AI. I despise gen AI and don't use it for absolutely anything. Personally, I don't understand people's dependency on it, but that's a different story.

I just wanted to make it clear that the graphic I made isn't AI slop. It's from a cool doll maker website I've been using for years.

Anyway, let's get on with the rest of the post. LOL.

As I mentioned above, I spent all week working on edits. It's been a while since I last read this novel, so I paid special attention to everything. Really happy with the result and I'll keep you updated on the cover, release date, etc.

Although I spent most of my time editing, I also squeezed a bit of writing into the week because my two vampire boys are loud and demanded I keep telling their story. I added another 2k words, which brings the total to 5,600. Yeah, this one's going to be a much longer one.

I didn't get a chance to continue my Kallax organising, but my bookshelves are a WIP, so that's okay.

Well, that's about it for now. I'm kinda mentally and physically exhausted right now, so having a three-day weekend is going to be great. Yeah, my husband is taking Monday off because the 7th is my birthday. 😊

Have an awesome weekend!!

Writing, Watching, Reading...

Hey!

How are you today? What did you get up to this week?

We started ours with a public holiday, so that was great. What isn't great is how cold it is. As soon as June started, the temperature has dropped dramatically and I'm already over it.

Well, we finally watched SINNERS and absolutely LOVED IT. What an amazing movie. I'm a vampire fan from way back and never get tired of new vamp tales, and this one was original, gory and visually stunning. Not to mention the cool music.

We also finished watching S4 of ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING. This is a show we started years after everyone else, but I'm SO glad we caught up because it's fantastic! Addictive and cozy. Has a great cast and twisty mysteries. Plus it's very funny. I miss it already.

In my last post, I mentioned that I slipped during a rainy walk last week and skinned my knee. Well, it's still scraped and the big band-aid has become a permanent fixture. I mean, it's definitely getting better, but the healing process is slow. Not to mention that the band-aid protecting the wound has kinda irritated the skin around it. 😫

Anyway, let's talk about writing.

Last weekend, while taking it easy on the couch with my husband, I wrote a new short story on my phone. I challenged myself to write it in a style I've never tried before, and had a lot of fun! I even revised it on my laptop on Tuesday, so it's done. Yay.

Final word count is: 1,834.

I then spent a couple of days reading a book called SLAGS. You can read my review below, but spoiler: I really enjoyed it. ☺️

And on Thursday night, after I wrote and posted my review, I ended up writing another story on my phone. It's currently under 1,000 words. To be honest, it's more like a shortie told in verse. Not sure when I'll finalise this one, but I've already started revising and read it to my husband.

I know I've mentioned this before, but the stories keep coming so... Although VampNovel1 and VampNovel2 are done, the secondary characters who live in this world with the two main characters aren't done with me yet. They keep whispering in my ear, pound my brain with ideas, and the words keep coming.

I'm not complaining because I'm having a great time. Writing these tales is fun and exciting, plus I'm doing a lot of research about the twentieth century, which is actually very cool and insightful.

Okay, that's it for today. We've got a week off because my husband has annual leave, and I can't wait.

Have a great weekend!

My Version of a Week Off...

How's it going?

Well, Friday's finally here and when my husband gets home, the long weekend begins. And then, next week, we have another long weekend, followed by a week off. Can't wait! But first we're going to enjoy the next three days. 😁

This week turned out to be a little heavy. Hubby started work earlier than usual so it kinda threw our sleeping out a bit. It's tiring, but we got through it.

Of course, it doesn't help that I spent two nights making more tweaks/additions to VampNovel1 & VampNovel2, when I was supposed to be taking a mental break. LOL. But you see, I wrote a new short story set in this world, and it takes place during these two books. So, while going through the timeline to make sure everything matched, I found something that I had to alter. Nothing big, but minor details that needed to be fixed.

That's one of the coolest things about writing these short stories, they're enhancing the two novels. Tightening threads that I might have missed because on the surface, they don't seem to be important.

Oh, and the best thing? Tonight, I finished the final read-thru of this particular story on my Paperwhite. So it's done!!

Final word count is: 4,861.

This is the longest one (set in this world) so far.

Also, that's my eleventh short story this year.

OMG. On Wednesday, I was walking in the rain and slipped on the wet pavement. Fell on my left knee and ripped my leggings, plus scraped the hell out of the skin underneath. Ugh. So now, I'm walking around with a big band-aid because the skin is screwed up. Not to mention that it's starting to scab so I can feel the tightening of the skin. Your knee isn't the best place to have a giant scab. 😫

So, I did manage to read one book and watch one movie. I read THE VILLA by Rachel Hawkins and absolutely LOVED it! I can't believe this book didn't get more attention. Especially if you're a Mary Shelley fan, like me. And the movie I watched is, THE IDEA OF YOU, which I really enjoyed. It's faithful to the book, but also different. I think both are great!

This weekend I have no definite plans to write anything, but sometimes late at night when I'm checking out my phone... inspiration strikes and I end up starting something. 😅

I'll keep you posted.

Have an awesome day!!

Hey!

How are you today? Can you believe May is almost over? Yikes.

For us, that means winter starts tomorrow. 😫

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the colder months and shorter days, but what can you do? As long as the overcast days are balanced out with sunny days, I'm cool. LOL.

I intended to take this week off but ended up making a few tweaks to the novels I've been working on. I also started reading Stephen King's latest novel, but put it aside after 122 pages. I don't know why but this story just didn't grab me. I usually love King books and especially Holly. She's a great character, but this book... I don't know.

Anyway, I put it aside.

So, today is Saturday and I finished writing the first draft of another short story on my phone. The word count is: 4,013. It's one of the shorties that have been buzzing inside my brain since I finished the revision of VampNovel2 and the secondary characters won't leave me alone. 😅

And that reminds me, these are the writing/reading things I did this month:

• Completed the full revision of VampNovel2 

• Updated VampNovel1 after changes made to VampNovel2 

• Completed 2 short stories

• Wrote the first draft of 1 short story 

• Read 2 books

I'm very happy with this list. Yay.

I mean, getting through three drafts of a 90k-word novel makes me very happy. That means that my 80s horrormance vampire duology is now complete. Of course, it turns out that I'm not actually done with this world, but finishing the two novels was one of my goals for this year.

What did you get up to this month? Did you achieve much during May?

Okay, that's about it for now. I just wanted to post an update about my week and month.

Have an awesome weekend!!

The Revision is Done!

Hey! How are you today? I hope you all had a great week. Ours started with a long weekend (awesome) and the next four days turned out to be a blur of revision and rain.

Yeah, we've been having some shitty weather in NSW. I really hope the sun makes a comeback and sticks around for a while. Fingers crossed.

Well, as I mentioned above, I got stuck into the final read-thru of VampNovel2 this week. So, after listening to my Playlist during my daily afternoon walks (except for Thursday because it was pouring for most of the day), I grabbed my Paperwhite and some scrap paper. Then, I settled down to read the story, while taking note of any errors.

I cut a bunch of excess, but added quite a bit too. Something peculiar happened. Just before getting started on Tuesday, I decided to add a new subplot that fit the narrative and complicates things a little more. As well as changed a certain detail about a few characters. So that required a little extra work.

Anyway, after working really hard on this final draft, I finally reached The End! 

• New VampNovel1 final word count is: 90,348.

• New VampNovel2 final word count is: 90,746.

I'm SO excited! Not only did I finalise the second novel tonight, but because the two books are connected, I also had to update VampNovel1. Any changes/additions made to VampNovel2, directly affect VampNovel1. That meant a lot of extra tweaking. But I absolutely LOVED every single minute spent with these characters, so I didn't mind.

As I mentioned last month, the initial story idea came to me around this time last year. This 80s vampire story is a violent horrormance with plenty of complications.

I'm very happy because I set myself the personal goal of completing VampNovel1 in April, and VampNovel2 in May. As you can see, I did it. Yay!!

Oh, and one more thing. Do you watch Only Murders in the Building? We started watching it the other day and binged the whole first season very quickly. It's ADDICTIVE & I love it. Love cozy mysteries. They're very comfy and intriguing, with quite a bit of danger. Loving it.

We're also enjoying Murderbot and Duster.

That's about it for now. Have an awesome weekend! 

 

The Revision Continues...

Hey, how are you today? The weekend is finally here, and because my husband has an RDO on Monday, it's a three-day weekend. Awesome!

So, did you have a nice week? We slept in and hung out most mornings before hubby went to work, but today we had to get up early so our apartment intercom could be updated. Ugh. And because of that, I've been feeling wonky all day, especially since I slipped on the tiles in the laundry and hurt my left knee. 😫

Anyway, on Monday, I got stuck into the third draft of VampNovel2 and lost myself in this vampire world every afternoon/night. I love spending time with these characters, so I'm really enjoying the process.

This is how I went:

• Monday: 53/236pgs (90,621w)
• Tuesday: 102/234pgs (90,122w) 
• Wednesday: 158/237pgs (90,214w)
• Thursday: 212/237pgs (90,113w) 
• Friday: 240pgs / 91,125w

As you can see, the third draft is DONE. And I'm SO excited. I worked really hard on this draft because there were certain things I wanted to tweak and rewrite to deepen the characters and story. Nothing drastic, but additions/deleting that had to be made. And of course, any changes in this book, need to be reflected in VampNovel1.

It's challenging, but a lot of fun!

Oh, and did I mention that this 80s vampire world keeps throwing new short story ideas my way? Yeah, I started taking notes because a bunch of these characters refuse to shut up and their whispers are too hard to ignore.

Okay, time to sign out so I can enjoy a three-day mental break. Before hitting the final Paperwhite read-thru next week. 😁

Have a good one!

Time to Revise!

Hey! How are you today? What did you get up? I hope you had a great week.

Last Saturday, was Election Day in Australia, and I'm excited to report that the LNP (right-wing idiots) lost. Big time. And the Labor party won. Actually, it was a freaking landslide, and the election was won by Anthony Albanese in two hours! Yep. Looks like Australia responded to what we think about fascists.

Now, if only the US would get rid of that fucking Orange Turd.

Anyway, let's chat about better things.

After taking a two-week break to read and write short stories, my goal was to complete the second draft of what I'm tentatively calling, VampNovel2.

Here's how I went:

• Monday: 51/231pgs (92,446w)
• Tuesday: 102/230pgs (91,302w) 
• Wednesday: 153/228pgs (89,897w)
• Thursday: 209/231pgs (90,060w) 
• Friday:  234pgs / 90,624w

As you can see, I cut quite a few words. All fat that didn't need to be there.

I reached the end tonight, and I'm really happy. Yay. 😁

Working on stories set in this 80s vampire world is turning out to be SO MUCH FUN, and I don't think I'm done yet. Oher characters are lining up to tell their tales next. LOL.

Now that the second draft is done, I'll put it aside until next Monday and then I'll tackle the third draft. I'm looking forward to it, but first I want to enjoy a few days with my husband.

Well, my brain feels like mush so that's it for now.

Hope you have an awesome weekend!

Reading, Writing & Revising

Hey! It's me again. How are you today? What did you get up to this week?

Personally, I got a bunch of stuff done. Initially, I planned to concentrate on reading, and to be honest, it did start that way. On Monday, I read and thoroughly enjoyed the novelisation of The Lost Boys. I finished it in one afternoon/night because it was SO much fun. LOVED IT! There's just something about 80s movie novelisations that really grab me. Of course, the fact this is based on the screenplay of one of my all-time favourite movies might have something to do with it. 😃

Then on Tuesday, I completed the final read-thru of the monster lovin' short story that I wrote on my phone over the long weekend. Yeah, it's a shortie but definitely a lot of cheeky fun. I even read it to my husband, and by Monday night, it was sitting on my Paperwhite for one last revision/read.

Final word count is: 1,698.

During Wednesday and Thursday night, I read Retreat by Krysten Ritter. It's such a great and totally twisty psychological thriller. Lots of glitzy rich lifestyle vibes, with a good dose of scandalous mystery and plenty of attitude.

Between reading this book, I also wrote and revised another short story. This one came to me on Sunday and I started writing it on my phone. But after the initial 200 words, I stalled. It wasn't until my afternoon walk on Monday that I realised a simple format change was just what this tale needed. And it worked! Because I finished writing it shortly after that.

Tonight, I completed the read-thru on my Paperwhite.

Final word count: 3,147.

This short story ended up a bit longer than I thought it would be, but I'm not surprised because it's set in the same world as VampNovel1 & VampNovel2. Man, the characters in this world are very chatty. Every time I finish one story, another idea drops into my brain. And these side/prequel tales are deepening the overall story. 😳

Speaking of these novels, I'm hoping to get started on the revision of VampNovel2 next week. Fingers crossed.

Anyway, this was the first full working week in three weeks, and it sure turned out to be productive. My muse has been buzzing and I'm having such a great time getting to know all of these secondary characters.

Now it's time to enjoy two days with my husband. Tomorrow it's Election Day in Australia, so we'll be popping in to the local school to vote. I really hope that the LNP (conservative assholes) don't win. They just want to fuck things up with cruelty and bullshit. Wish I could trust people to be smart enough to realise this is the case, but sadly, I don't have much faith in humanity nowadays.

Hope things turn out well, like they did in Canada. Wish us luck. 

Have a great one!

PS. So far, I've written and revised 8 short stories this year.

A Week Full of Stories!

Hey, how are you today? I hope you're having a great week.

As you know, I finished an extensive (3-week) novel revision last Thursday night and when I woke up on Good Friday, I was mentally exhausted. Seriously drained. So I really enjoyed the four-day break with my husband. Lots of relaxing, nice food, walking, a little shopping, and even some naps. It was awesome!

I felt recharged and ready to take a few weeks off between projects.

Yeah, that was the original plan. But then I decided it was time to complete the final read-thru of the short story I finished a few weeks ago. So I did that on Tuesday.

The final word count is: 3,173.

Very happy with this story now. I changed the ending during the second draft, but by the time the third draft was done, it ended up being more like a complete rewrite. Sometimes I do that. 😅

In the meantime, I wrote a new story on Sunday night. On my phone. See, after our nap on Saturday, I woke up with the first line of the story in my head, and when I typed it out so I wouldn't forget, I didn't stop until the whole first draft was done.

This violent little tale is actually a prequel to VampNovel1/VampNovel2. Yeah, this is the world that keeps on expanding. Just when I think I'm done, another story pops up. LOL.

Anyway, I worked on the second and third drafts on my phone, and read the final read-thru tonight. And now—after marking all the problems, deleting some excess, taking care of rep words, making the changes on Word, and doing a spell check—it's done.

The final word count is: 2,966.

I'm super excited about this story because it came out of nowhere. 

So, that means I've completed six short stories this year. That's 18,720 words worth of shorties. Not bad. 😊

What else did I do? I read the first Murderbot novella and the latest Grady Hendrix short story release. I also went for daily walks, even though it rained a few times. Oh, yeah. We watched and hated the second episode of The Last of Us. Decided we're not watching anymore. After wasting our time on 10 shitty Yellowjackets S3 episodes (this season was seriously bad), we're done watching mediocre shows.

Well, that's it for today. I'm going to enjoy another long weekend with my husband. Three days this time. Nice.

Have a good one!

This Revision is Done!

Hey! How are you today? I hope you're all having a nice week.

I know the world is in a terrible state right now, but I'm trying to lose myself in stories. And when I'm not writing, I love spending time with my husband. 😍

This week I got stuck into the final read-thru of my current revision, which is VampNovel1. I know that's not what I said I would do in last week's post, but after chatting to my husband last Sunday about my change of plans, I realised that completing this project before starting VampNovel2 just felt... right.

That means that after my daily afternoon walks, I sat down with my Paperwhite and read the story from start to finish. At this stage I usually find weird sentences, repeated words, and awkward phrasing. I also cut a lot of excess, and add new details. It's pretty much all about the nitty-gritty.

And I reached The End tonight! I even made all the changes, formatted the doc, did a spell check, and made a few final-final tweaks.

The final word count is: 90,075.

I'm super excited about this story because this character has been with me for about a year. It's a dark vampire story set in the 80s and deals with a lot of issues. Some I added to the plot, and other things that popped up during the revision process. It's also a horrormance novel because I can't stay away from hot vampires. 😅

And there's still VampNovel2 to revise. But that's a story for another day.

Now that my current revision is done, I'm mentally exhausted so I need a break. Good thing it's the Easter long weekend. Yay.

Well, have an awesome break! 

The Revision Continues...

How are you today?

I hope this week turned out to be a good one for you! 

Here, in Sydney, the days got a lot shorter but I'm trying to stay positive. The fact I hung out with my husband every morning, that I went for my daily walks during the day (mostly sunny) and listened to my 80s Playlist (awesome) certainly helped. Not to mention that I spent every afternoon and night working on the third draft of my WIP, VampNovel1.

And I really lost myself in these words.

Seriously, I'm enjoying the hell out of this story and every time I sit down to work on it, I love it a little more. From the start, something about these characters and their world totally drew me in. Even when it was a small idea, slowly gaining momentum in my brain, I knew it would turn out to be a lot of wicked fun.

Vampires are just awesome. 😁

Anyway, this is my progress:

• Monday: 51/228pgs (90,436w)
• Tuesday: 103/230pgs (90,268w) 
• Wednesday: 154/234pgs (90,868w)
• Thursday: 196/235pgs (90,451w) 
• Friday: 236pgs / 90,042w

Yay! The third draft is DONE and I'm super excited. I worked really hard on this draft. 

As you can see, the word count went up and down every single day. I actually cut a lot of excess, but also added quite a few words. All things that strengthen the story and make sure everything ties up nicely.

Usually, after this stage, I'd do one final read-thru on my Paperwhite. But I'm doing things different this time.

And there are two reasons for that:

1. My husband is having three long weekends in a row this month (fantastic!)
2. I have VampNovel2 to consider...

So, I'm looking forward to spending some extra time with my husband during all these days off. And because there are two weeks when he'll work only three days, I've allocated those six days (ends up being two weeks) to work on VampNovel2.

Then I'll work on the third draft during the last week of April. So when that's all done, I can read one book after the other on my Paperwhite and make sure everything makes sense, pans out, and I can catch any last-minute typos, inconsistencies, etc.

Oh, and I also completed the third draft of the short story I mentioned last week. There were some plot issues I had to fix, several rep words that stood out, and have added it to my Paperwhite. Not sure when I'll do the read-thru, but the word count is now: 3,255.

It turned out to be quite a story-heavy week.

Okay, that's about it. I'm going to enjoy a nice mental break now

Have an awesome weekend!

Time to Revise!

Hey! How are you today? How's April treating you?

Daylight savings ends this weekend, which always bugs me because I prefer the longer daylight hours. Oh well, we're already in autumn and I've been dealing with it okay. I'm one of those people who's prone to seasonal mood swings during colder months, so I have to try and go with the flow.

I also wish the world was in a better state at the moment because there's just too much going on. Every single day there are about a thousand new shit things happening. Ugh.

Anyway, my goal this week was to complete the second draft of what I'm tentatively calling: VampNovel1. You know, because I wrote two and therefore have to revise both of them. LOL.

So, here's my progress:

• Monday: 46/230pgs (90,168w)
• Tuesday: 71/229pgs (89,888w) 
• Wednesday: 125/228pgs (89,840w)
• Thursday: 186/228pgs (90,225w) 
• Friday: 231pgs / 91,226w

I'm so happy that I managed to get to the end of the second draft tonight. The word count went up and down as much as my progress. That's not surprising since some areas always need more work than others.

Now that it's done, I'm mentally exhausted. That's why I'm glad that the weekend is finally here. I really need a break between drafts. That's right, next week I'll be working on the third draft because I want to have that done before our first long weekend. This month we have three! Yay. 😁

Before I got stuck into VampNovel1, I worked on the second draft of a short story I wrote in 2022 but put aside because I didn't like the ending. So, last weekend I read it, cleaned it up, and rewrote the end. I'm much happier now that I fixed all the problems.

The new word count is: 2,943. I'm not sure when I'll get the chance to work on the third draft, but that's cool. I'm taking my time with this project. 

Well, that's it for now. I'm going to veg out on the couch tonight while trying not to think (emphasis on try) about VampNovel1 until Monday.

Have an awesome weekend!

My latest WIP is done!

Hey! How are you? What's new? How's this unstable world treating you?

I have a lot of issues about the many things going on at the moment, and this week I decided to focus on one that's been bugging me lately. Although I'm just one person, I've decided to leave Threads and Instagram. I want to distance myself from Meta because I don't agree with all the bullshit/changes the disgusting owner is making. They're no longer going to do fact-checking, and are allowing users to call other people slurs with no consequences. Meta thinks misogyny, homophobia, transphobia and racism is okay. That's before you consider the Al bullshit, or how he's sucking up to Trump. It's disgusting and I don't agree with any of it, so I decided to do something about it.

I've already deactivated Threads and will delete Instagram this weekend. Sometimes you have to take a personal stand.

That means that Bluesky is now my only social media. I'm still on Goodreads and will keep blogging, but I refuse to stay in a place that is so invested in destroying others. Especially now that the Orange Turd is back.

Asides from making the above decision, I spent the week adding more words to my WIP.

Here's how it went:

• Monday: 84,164 (+4,941w)
• Tuesday: 90,554 (+6,390w)
• Wednesday: 92,542 (+1,988w)
• Thursday: 92,907 (+365w)

Well... the first draft is done! Yay. ☺️🎉

I'm super excited to have reached the end because in November I wrote a vampire horrormance first draft that sparked this book! It was a tale that I didn't plan or expected to write, but like the main character in that story, this one wouldn't leave me alone. So much that I ended up taking a one week break at the beginning of December and then got stuck into this one right away.

Not even public holidays stopped the momentum. I ended the year with this story and kept going into the new year. Something I don't usually do. But like my husband always says: if your muse is speaking, listen. ☺️

And I'm glad I did.

After spending most of last year revising and editing without writing a new story, I managed to write 182,016 words between November and mid-January. Very happy with that.

When I finished the last WIP, we watched the 4K Ultra HD version of The Lost Boys to celebrate, and had a blast. And will be doing the same this weekend!!

Anyway, that's it for now. Just wanted to post an update.

Have a great day!!

Word Count Update!

Well. It's Friday, and I thought I'd post an update.

No, wait a sec! It's past midnight here in Sydney, so I suppose it's technically Saturday. LMAO.

Either way, it's time to weekend. 😁

So, how are ya? What have you been doing this week? How's the new year treating you? I've been busy writing, but the world is such a fucking mess right now. Between people idolizing loser billionaires who have no fucking clue, greedy haters who can't mind their own business, and intense climate change events... I just don't know where the fuck we're going. Or WTF we're doing.

I really wish we paid more attention to history, instead of repeating the shitty parts over and over. Ugh.

Let me get back to the writing. I'm working on my current WIP and still having a blast.

Here's my progress:

• Monday: 58,120 (+4,521w)
• Tuesday: 62,584 (+4,464w)
• Wednesday: 69,251 (+6,667w)
• Thursday: 73,961 (+4,710w)
• Friday: 79,223 (+5,262w) 

Not bad, right? This was actually the first full week of writing I've had for a while after so many cool public holidays. And because I'm so caught up in what's happening, during every session this week I churned out high word count additions.

I stopped at a good spot tonight. The downward spiral to the end is going to be intense and very bloody. I can't wait to write it, but won't go back until Monday.

Also, if you follow me on social media, you might have noticed that this week I started posting graphics & small quotes from my upcoming short story collection. I'm having a great time sharing bits and pieces about each individual tale. There are 17 of them, and I've already shared five.

Oh! The first Goodreads review for MELANCHOLY DELUSIONS has been posted and it's fantastic! Check it out HERE! I absolutely LOVE it! Thank you, Rose Devours Books. 

One last thing, since a lot of crap has been going on with Meta—ranging from AI bullshit, removal of fact checking, allowing hate speech—I'm seriously thinking about signing out of the two social media accounts I have with them. I haven't decided yet, but I'm certainly getting sick and tired of fucking asshole tech-bros.

In the past two years I deactivated accounts at NaNoWriMo (gross behaviour with minors), Substack (gave nazis a platform), Twitter (destroyed by a dickhead) and Discord (nothing related to the actual app, more a bad association because of assholes). 

No matter what, you can find me on Bluesky, which is where I post the most. ☺️

Okay, that's it for today. Have a great weekend!!

Still writing...

Hey! How are you? This isn't technically my first blog post for 2025, but it's definitely my very first update post. 😁

So, how's the new year treating you? It's a shame to see that the world insists on carrying forward the crappy violent and vile stuff. Between stupid people who don't understand how the world works, shitty 'politicians' and all the AI BS, it's sometimes really frustrating.

That's why I'm trying to concentrate on the good stuff. On all the things that make me happy: my awesome husband, writing stories, reading, cozy games, and going for nice walks.  The simple things in life are often the best and most fulfilling.

BTW, in case you're interested, this is how my 2024 Goals turned out, as well as the books I read last year. And here are my 2025 Goals.

Wednesday was a public holiday, so I only wrote four days this week. The only thing about taking a break is that when I get back to it, I end up doing quite a bit of backtracking. I don't mind because when I do, I end up adding details that I missed during my initial word frenzy.

Anyway, here's my word count progress:

• Monday: 41,523 (+4,667w)
• Tuesday: 47,570 (+6,047w)
• Thursday: 50,018 (+2,448w)
• Friday: 53,599 (+3,581w)

As you can see, the new year is here but I'm still writing my current WIP. I managed to add quite a few words and I'm really happy with how the story is going. As well as the unexpected surprises that keep popping up. Love it when that happens.

The other side of this story is turning out to be a lot darker than I expected. In the best possible way, of course. ☺️

Well, that's it for this week's update.

Have a fantastic weekend! 

More words added...

Hey! How are you today? I hope you're all having an awesome and safe festive season.

We're now in the middle of that liminal time between Christmas and New Year's, which always feels a little strange. Something about this particular time of the year seems... unreal. But unlike every other year, when I usually wander around aimlessly, I'm actually still writing a story.

So, this week was pretty cool. My husband worked two days, had two days off, went to work on Friday, and now the weekend is here again. Yay!! 😁

As a result of the above, I didn't actually write every day this week but I did make some great progress on my WIP.

Here's how it went:

• Monday: 26,359 (+5050w)
• Tuesday: 31,555 (+5196w)
• Friday: 36,856 (+5,301w)

Not bad, I reckon! I honestly didn't plan to spend the rest of the year writing a novel first draft, but here we are.

As I've already mentioned, this character is just SO loud and pushy that I have no choice but to keep writing. Keep telling the story, from the other side. And the coolest thing is that while so much of this intersects with the book I wrote last month, plus a lot of what's happening has been inside my head for ages, new things keep popping up!

I'm having such a GREAT TIME writing this story, and after not writing anything new for MONTHS because of excessive editing and shit that was out of my control, it feels so freaking good to get totally lost in a world that's serving up many enjoyable hours of entertainment.

You know how they say you should write the stories you want to read? Well, these two WIPs are exactly that. They're fun, cathartic and downright exciting. Plus both feature vampires, which I absolutely love. 🦇

I'm going to keep writing until I reach the end of this one, which I predict will be sometime in January. And that's fine. This year has served a lot of changes, and that includes a shift in my attitude to not be so rigid with self-imposed plans and goals.

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

I didn't get a chance to read anything this week, but that's cool because I spent most of my time either writing or taking notes. And creating individual graphics for the short stories in my upcoming short story collection, MELANCHOLY DELUSIONS.

BTW, did I mention that I read the first review for my collection on IG the other day? Well, I did. Here it is! I want to thank jen_reads_horror for taking the time to read it and share her thoughts, too. 😍

Okay. That's about it. I'm going to enjoy the next few days with my husband and take a short mental break before going back to my WIP.

Have an awesome weekend!!

Busy, busy...

Hey there! How are you today? As I mentioned in the title, this week was a busy one.

Last Saturday we got the latest Covid booster (finally available in Oz) and had to take it easy over the weekend because of the usual side effects: headache, sore arm, tired, sleepy. We had plenty of snacks, stayed hydrated, and took several naps. Almost a week later, I think that the hardest parts are over. Well, I did wake up with a killer headache this morning that eventually subsided, but sucked a lot of energy out of me. 🫤

Anyway, onto what I got up to this week.

The other day, Cemetery Gates Media revealed the fantastic cover for my upcoming debut short story collection! And it's beautiful. Hit the link if you'd like to see it, or scroll down a bit. Seriously, it's stunning and totally fits the dark vibes. Luke Spooner/Carrion House nailed it. I absolutely love it!

So, that means that I spent most of the week working on the final proofread of 17 short stories. Yikes. I'm SO excited, and very proud of this book. I can't wait to share it with the world. Actually, I've already seen a few ARCs in the wild, which is SO freaking cool!!

Not long to go now. The release date is: January 28!

Since I've been working on something else and my husband had an RDO on Thursday, I put my WIP aside for most of the week. But I still got a chance to add some words and have been taking a bunch of notes on my phone.

So, here's my progress for this week:

• Monday:  17,037 (+2,661w)
• Friday: 21,309 (+4,272w)

Not bad! I managed to cross the 20k mark, and that makes me happy. I'm having such a great time writing this story. The images, situations, dialogue and words are coming as fast and clear as the draft I finished writing last month. This character has a LOT to say and this POV is revealing heaps of stuff I didn't expect. Things that will affect both stories.

It's exciting. ☺️

To be honest, I don't think I'll finish the first draft of this story by the end of the year, but that's fine. I'm just going to keep going until I reach the end because I'm loving every minute of it.

I also had the pleasure of reading an amazing ARC. An upcoming novelette called Reap, Sow by S.H. Cooper that I thought was dark and awesome. Here's my review.

Well, that's it for today. Just thought I'd post an update because blogging again is something I'm really enjoying.

Have an awesome weekend!!