February 1st - An Update
Hello, everyone!
So, I just wanted to give you a quick update on how things have been going, and where I'm trying to go from here. Let's check in on a few points, shall we? Personal Life Update:
Thank you to everyone who expressed concern over my grandmother's health in the past month. She spent about a week in the hospital with pneumonia and heart issues, and is now back at home and awaiting more doctor appointments.
I live with my grandmother and take care of her, so it made me halt in everything and caused a delay that resulted in me not reaching my project goals, and slowing on my reading and editing. However, family comes first and I probably needed the break to begin with.
Those of you who follow my social media may have noticed a lot of Red- a dear friend of mine who may be a familiar face by now. She stayed with me while my grandmother was in the hospital, and has been visiting often to help me keep stress free and help me juggle my life, allowing me some help in balancing. I appreciate the hell out of her presence, and you all will likely see a lot of her. If you see her comment on things, shower her in some hearts for me, she's an amazing person and deserves it for being my sanity in the last month.
Unfortunately, she's gone back to her dorm at college, which is half an hour away from me. So life has gone largely back to normal, and I plan on catching up on most of my work, with occasional day trips with Red, and days spent hanging out with my grandmother.
In the next few months, I hope to put more of an emphasis on exercise, calorie counting, and weight loss, as well as work on my skin care and other things. I'm not one of those people that focuses so heavily on my appearance, but I do want to focus on my health, so that's a personal life goal of mine I'm working towards.
Writing Update:
I've posted it on my Instagram, but I'll do a quick recount here.
In the month of January, I managed just under my 30k writing goal, and over 30k if you count my book reviews. If I count together the word counts for projects BE:DSS, RBE, RPE, GFT Vol 1, and IB, I have written 48,536 (not all in this month, though), and have greatly pushed these five projects forward. I got a bit done for project TPP, too, but I pushed that goal off, as I was nowhere near hitting it and I think it could use more planning.
For the month of February, I've picked four projects to focus on, but upped my word counts in them by a lot. I am going to try my very best to reach these goals. If I only reach 30k again, that's okay, but if I can reach the 41k and really move these forward, that would be great.
As a reminder, I'll describe these four projects a bit to give you guys an idea of what I'd be working on: BE:DSS - A series of short stories set in the universe of Bleary Eyes and the fictional small town of Caligo, California. Following seven important figures from Bleary Eyes, alongside Winter and Axel themselves. YA Paranormal Horror with mental health themes.
2C - A travel romance story I've been working on, following a young college-age girlfriend and boyfriend. YA Contemporary Romance.
IB - A multi-genre novel, with a cohesive main storyline and a series of shorter stories interwoven in. Majorly Contemporary Romance with a splattering of other genres.
ASD - A series I've been working on that is currently one thing but will be split up into smaller novels. It follows a group of friends with their perspective, and very smutty, love lives. Adult Erotic Romance.
I hope you guys will look forward to those! I may be revealing more on BE:DSS soon, as it approaches 30k.
Editing Update:
I currently have one active editing client that I hope to finish within the first week of February. That said, I am looking to book new clients! I do developmental editing part time, and I would like to keep at least one to two clients per month. If you or someone you know would like a sample edit or is in need of an editor, please contact me!
Reading & Reviewing Update:
Last month, I managed only eight reads, and I have several indie books backlogged that I want to read and review. But I also want to read and review romance, and some of my favorites! I've never read Colleen Hoover, for example. I want to read some of the ones on my romance alphabet challenge list. I want to reread some favorites- like Twilight, or The Selection, or more Sookie Stackhouse novels. I also have gotten a lot of people who want me to review their novels, and I promise, I am slowly going to make my way through them. Please be patient with me!
Giveaway Update:
I announced this on Instagram and Facebook but my giveaway for February is The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont! Four lucky people won Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan this January, and I'm just as excited to see someone win a copy of The Christie Affair!
Other Updates:
You may have noticed a slew of emails- I have put my entire backlog of reviews here on my website, as blog posts! They have a folder specifically for reviews, and should be easy to scroll through! Hopefully that makes it easier for people to find my past reviews.
Additionally, I have commissioned a beautiful banner by my artist Kiyo, so that I can get a Facebook page going for my works! I also have some wonderful bookmark designs I am working on, that I hope to sell, with proceeds to go towards my writing.
Other than that, I'm hoping for the best this month. If it goes smoothly, it should be a good month. What are your plans this month, and do you think you'll reach your goals?