Mission Statements and Multiple Webinars- Nov. 12th 2024 Newsletter
Hello, readers!
It’s November now!
If you’ve been following me since the second half of October, you probably noticed that I made a few little changes to my socials and my website recently, adding this specific phrase:
“Writing to inspire readers with hope, perseverance, creativity, and happy endings."
I realized that a lot of my writing, at least in larger works like novels and poetry chapbooks, veers towards the following:
1) There are usually happy endings - or, at minimum, bittersweet ones.
2) There is an underlying theme of hope and perseverance when times get tough.
I wanted to emphasize these two things more in my writing. The world might feel chaotic, out-of-control, and right now for various reasons. In a time like this, I want to write more works and stories that bring hope and perseverance to my readers.
You might be staring at me skeptically at this point. After all, I literally self-published three amateur murder mystery books which were on the darker end!
But even in dark times, there is hope for something that makes the process of investigating a mystery or solving some other problem worth it in the end. I hope to inspire readers with the belief that something better can and will happen.
Nominate my books for the 2024 Indie Ink Awards!
It's award nomination season again - and all three books in the Harlow Mystery series are eligible for the 2024 Indie Ink Awards!
Last year, I was honoured to have multiple nominations in the 2023 Indie Ink Awards for my first two books in the Harlow Mystery series, "Winner Takes All" and "Engagement To Die For."
With "Bloody Fantasia" published this year, I would be happy if it also has a chance to be nominated as well!
Wondering what to nominate my books for?
Check out the categories below:
Nominations close Nov. 30th, 2024. Cast your nominations at https://indiestorygeek.com/a/indie-ink-awards-2024 before then!
Thanks in advance for your support!
What Am I Writing Lately?
I shared my newest writing update post for November 2024 recently!
As I noted in the writing update, I finished writing draft #1 of that one novel I started last month!
I spent the first days of November editing “Nostalgiacore,” one of my poetry chapbooks. I’m happy to share that I have completely finished edits for this chapbook! Yay!
This also means that I’ve drafted and/or completed the writing of 17 books by now, not 16! Fortunately, I have no plans to draft any new novels for the rest of the year (yet), so I don’t expect that number to rise any further.
However, instead of self-publishing this chapbook, I’m trying to get it published by a small press. I’m currently doing the research to see which small presses might work for this specific chapbook. In the meantime, don’t expect to hear much about “Nostalgiacore” until I’ve either a) decided to give up on pitching the chapbook to small presses and self-publish it instead or b) it gets picked up by a small press and a release date is confirmed.
After I finished all the editing and writing for “Nostalgiacore,” I took a couple days off writing in general. I really needed some time off to refresh myself and figure out what to do for future writing plans. Now, I’m getting back into drafting some short poems!
What Have I Done Other Than Writing Lately?
I mentioned, in my past newsletter, that I attended Self Pub Con last month! However, I also attended the Write Anyway Summit run by Pages & Platforms that same month. Because of how timing went this year, I attended Self Pub Con during the weekend, and attended the Write Anyway Summit starting the day after Self Pub Con ended (the same week that the previous newsletter came out)! This led to me watching many webinars!
Write Anyway Summit is another free writing conference that occurs annually. The topics of this conference focused more on the writing craft, while Self Pub Con focused more on the business of writing this time. It was nice to get some more inside info on both sides of writing!
If there is only one thing I dislike about both writing conferences, it’s this: The lack of full transcripts.
Captions were available in pre-recorded presentations and/or in later-provided recordings of some webinars. However, sometimes the captions weren’t always accurate. For future conferences, I wish that there would be more transcriptions available (at least for pre-recorded events if not the live ones).
I also did the following:
I’m almost done with making the masterlist! I’m determined to find a few more entries before I make it available in the Freebie Library for everyone to read. At first, I mainly focused on websites and podcasts, but the entries have expanded to include some Youtube channels, too!
I ran a Halloween book sale from Oct. 25th-Nov. 1st! If you were subscribed to this newsletter before or during this period, you probably saw the emails from me about the sale, as well as the Harlow Mystery series playlists I added to the Freebie Library to promote it. Thanks to everyone who supported my work during this time!
I batch-created a whole bunch of posts and videos for the upcoming winter season! Don’t expect me to post too much in December, but I do have plans in mind for January and February 2025.
What Have I Heard Lately?
I recommend listening to the audiobook “Finish” by Jon Acuff. Acuff explores why people don’t end up finishing the goals they set out to accomplish, and offers some practical tips for how to actually finish your work.
As someone who has drafted and/or completed several books this year, and also has struggled with starting (and not finishing) many other projects, I was intrigued by the content of this audiobook. Acuff himself narrates the book, and he’s a great speaker. Admittedly, the second half of the book feels like a repeat of the first half (just with more examples), but it’s still a solid read.
What Have I Been Reading Lately?
Ever heard of Philip Reeve? You probably know him best for writing the Mortal Engines Quartet.
However, I know him better for a different series that he wrote: Larklight, a space opera/steampunk trilogy.
I read the first two books in the trilogy as a child (Larklight and Starcross), and I recently reread both books. I remember loving the worldbuilding with how fantastical it was, as well as the large ensemble of unique characters. In Larklight (book 1), Arthur and Myrtle Mumby end up navigating space with a crew of space pirates. Starcross and Mothstorm (books 2 + 3) continue more of the Mumby siblings’ adventures in various areas of space.
Larklight was the series that got me interested in reading the steampunk genre. I’m glad I reread the first two books, and now I’m searching for the third!
Another notable read for me recently was “Some Things Never Change” by Anne Mazer. This is the thirteenth book in the Amazing Days of Abby Hayes series by Mazer. It focuses on Abby, who meets her former best friend Jessica (now called Jessy) after Jessica previously moved out several books ago. Both find out that the other has changed - and Abby has a hard time coping with said changes. Jessy isn’t the only person who’s changed, though - Abby realizes that her friends are also developing other interests in things like parties, or boys, and Abby gets scared that she’ll be alone because of this.
I remember reading most of the Abby Hayes series when I was a child. I actually related to Abby a lot because I was just as interested in writing as she was. There have also been a lot of changes in my life that happened to me and around me, during this year. It’s been overwhelming, sometimes. Reading this book reminded me that I’m not alone, and change is inevitable. It can be difficult to accept and cope with change, but sometimes all you can do is move forward, and do your best with the new reality you find yourself in.
Other recent reads include:
“Anon Pls” by Deuxmoi
“Afternoon Of The Elves” by Janet Taylor Lisle
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).