Dancing In September and Seasonal Writing Goals
Hello, readers!
It’s September! This is the time of year where I’m constantly playing “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire because - well, it’s literally September, and the month’s name is the song!
September can feel like the time to make a fresh new start, a new beginning, since it is the start of the academic school year. With that in mind, I did make some new writing goals - more on that in the section below!
What Am I Writing Lately?
I just shared my newest writing update on my website at the beginning of this month!
In this post, I discussed having seasonal writing goals. I think this will be a better way for me to share my goal setting and progress with my fellow readers. Plus, considering how fast I usually reach monthly goals, I might as well try to make goals that span entire seasons vs. ones that last a month or less. Granted, I could still complete all those goals in way less time than the season allows. We’ll see what happens.
Since posting the writing update, I finished one round of edits for my magical girl-themed short story collection, “Stay Magical!” The collection is now being read by beta readers. I hope to get their feedback soon so I can start a new round of edits based on their comments. Thanks, beta readers!
I also have:
Drafted new poems and short stories.
My poem “Snowflakes” is featured in Poetic Reveries’ literary magazine!
Poetic Reveries released a literary magazine back on Sept. 7th (this past weekend). My short poem, “Snowflakes,” is one of the featured poems!
Please note: All the authors were listed by their Instagram handles, and mine is @clarislamauthor.
Click here to check it out, and read all the other poets’ works as well! Happy reading!
What Have I Done Other Than Writing Lately?
I reached over 280 followers on Bluesky! Thank you to everyone for your support!
In the past few weeks, I also have:
Made a few changes to my author website! When your cursor above the “Published Works” tab, you’ll see a separate section for my published “Poetry & Short Fiction” now!
Created some more motivational writing reels, like this one!
What Have I Heard Lately?
I want to recommend a podcast this time, and this time it’s “Wish I’d Known Then…For Writers,” hosted by authors Jami Albright and Sara Rosett.
This podcast interviews self-published authors about how they found success and the lessons they learned in their writing journeys. As a self-published author myself, it was fun to listen to their insights.
Some episodes I recommend are:
“Jessie Kwak On Finding Joy In The Writing Process And Cross-Genre Marketing Tips”
“Steffanie Holmes On Skeleton Drafting, Rebranding, and Kickstarter”
What Have I Been Reading Lately?
I was very lucky to receive a copy of TJ Klune’s “Somewhere Beyond The Sea” as an early Christmas gift. No, I don’t mean by an advance reader copy, but I received an actual official, finished copy before its official release date of Sept. 10th! A big THANK YOU to the person who gifted it to me!
Given that the release day is literally today (the day that I’m sending this newsletter to all of you), I won’t share spoilers here. However, it was a amazing follow-up to “The House On The Cerulean Sea” by the same author and does a great job of expanding on the Cerulean Sea literary universe and characters. This book focuses on Arthur Parnassus as the main character. It also introduces a couple of new characters, but I won’t say who they are so I don’t risk spoilers.
Other recent reads include:
“The Killing Circle” by Andrew Pyper
“The Crystal Tree” by Imogen Elvis
“Ghoulfriends Just Want To Have Fun” by Gitty Daneshvari
“The Homecoming” by Andrew Pyper
Thank you for following my writing journey!
I hope you look forward to seeing more of my writing process and work. I also look forward to giving all of you more frequent updates as well, so stay tuned for more!
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at clarislamauthor@gmail.com! I’ll respond within 48 hours (except on weekends and holidays).