Fall Is Coming
Hello, readers!
It’s August, and I’m already seeing…Fall/Autumn decorations in the stores? Already!?
I started seeing them since mid-July on store shelves, from generic Fall-themed decor to back-to-school supplies. I’ve also seen ads on the Internet reading “100 days until Halloween,” and a few Instagram art accounts I follow are already celebrating the Fall/Autumn season approaching.
Also, I saw one or two Christmas/Winter holdiay-related ads already, despite it being August. I’m not sure whether it’s too soon or not, but I think I’ll enjoy the fall/autumn season after having such a hot summer this year.
To be honest, this summer has been odd for me overall. I released a new book (yay!), realized that I needed to scale back activity on social media and the author/poet side of my career because of overwork (sad, but much-needed), and now I’ve been spending time figuring out what writing processes and ways of organizing how I do thinks feels better for me.
This has been a summer of experimentation, and it’s a strange new era to be in after spending the past 2-3 years self-publishing murder mysteries and growing my reach as an author and poet. However it is an era I look forward to exploring more of for sure.
What Am I Writing Lately?
I just shared my newest writing update on my website!
I intentionally kept it as a short post. Why?
This is because I’m currently forming a loose seasonal plan for what I focus on next writing-wise (additionally, what do I do editing-wise, self-publication-wise and marketing-wise). This way, I have some goals for what to do for the next few months and if I achieve them early (which is likely knowing how fast I get things done in general), that’s great! I can work on other things. However, if they’re not finished, it’s not the end of the world.
I hope that planning things seasonally will give me enough of a sense of urgency to get things done, but not bad enough to the point that I’m overworking myself.
Last month, I finished drafting Book 6 in the cozy urban fantasy series.
Now, I’m drafting Book 7, with about 5-6 chapters drafted so far. The book will probably be about 22-23 chapters long, so this is pretty good progress so far!
I also would like to start drafting Books 4 and 5 after I finish drafting Book 7 (Books 1-3 and 6 are already drafted!).
A secondary priority this month is writing new short stories and poems. It’s been a long time since I last submitted said types of works to lit mags and contests to be considered for publication. This is because I’ve been so focused on writing larger works (novels) during this entire year so far - and I want to change that.
What Have I Done Other Than Writing Lately?
In the past few weeks, I have:
Made some minor changes to my main website! Check it out!
Reposted my first published poem, “Paths,” on Instagram.
Prepared marketing material for upcoming events.
What Have I Heard Lately?
I realize I haven’t listened to and/or recommended a lot of audiobooks in past email newsletters. Given this, I wanted to make up for it by listening and sharing two audiobooks I listened to recently! The audiobooks and/or podcasts I’d like to recommend, this time, is “The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s First Spring” and “The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s First Winter” by Eric Carle, narrated by Kevin R. Free.
Yes, I realize that both audiobooks are kidlit books. Most kidlit audiobooks I’ve read are fairly short. This is really nice when I want to listen to an audiobook, but not listen to it for several hours straight. The narrator does a great job of emphasizing the alliteration and rhymes throughout the books too, which makes it really fun.
What Have I Been Reading Lately?
I recently won a book giveaway through the Indieverse Awards! The Indieverse Awards celebrates books by indie authors, with the 2024 Indieverse Awards being their first year of running this event/awards season. They had nominations take place much earlier this year (sadly, none of my books were nominated), but they’ve been hosting book giveaways featuring works by their nominees as the prizes!
My giveaway prize came in the mail during late July. Here’s what I won:
A whole bundle of stickers and two small art prints
“Bloom” by Ally Loyns (poetry)
“A Generation Of Sunflowers” by Ally Loyns (poetry)
I read both poetry collections/chapbooks by Loyns this past week, and they were both fantastic! The imagery was really nice and descriptive. You can follow her work on Instagram as well!
“Echoes Of The Past” by Kim Evans (short story collection)
“The Crystal Tree” by Imogen Elvis (fantasy)
I haven’t read either of these books yet, as of this writing. But I definitely plan to do so sooner than later!
Thank you again to the Indieverse Awards for gifting me with all these books AND the little goodies that came with them! I really appreciate it a lot. I may not have won any nominations or awards from the Indieverse Awards this year, but winning a book giveaway is pretty cool too!
If you want to learn more about the Indieverse Awards, check them out here.
Other recent reads include:
“The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels” by Janice Hallett
“Overwhelmed: Work, Love, And Play When No One Has The Time” by Brigid Schulte
“Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving” by Celeste Headlee (this one was a favourite of mine!)
“New Dragon City” by Mari Mancusi
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).