New Year, New Newsletter!
Hello, readers!
Happy New Year!
It’s finally 2024!
A lot happened back in 2023, as you may have read about in my newest writing progress post on my blog. However, I hope to accomplish a lot more moving into 2024.
You may have also noticed- yes, I changed newsletter platforms! Instead of Substack, which I used last year, I'm now using Buttondown for the time being. I changed platforms during the winter holidays. If you were subscribed to my Substack before I moved to Buttondown, I moved all of you awesome readers to the email list for this newsletter so you could receive it in your inboxes.
I'm still getting the hang of how formatting works on here, so apologies in advance for giant images and/or any other strange aesthetic changes for this first newsletter. I hope that this move works out well for everyone and myself!
Guest Blog At Shepherd
During last month, I had the opportunity to write a guest blog for Shepherd giving a couple of book recommendations. These were about mysteries taking place in isolated areas. Thank you to the staff at Shepherd for this opportunity!
We Wait For The Indie Ink Awards Results…
Thank you to everyone who voted for my books, “Winner Takes All” and “Engagement To Die For,” in the 2023 Indie Ink Awards! I really appreciate it whether you voted for them for one nominated category each or for more of them! Apparently there were 15,073 votes cast during this time, which is huge!
At this time of writing, I don’t know the Top 10 finalists for each category yet. However, I hope to reveal whether my books made it to the Top 10 lists or not soon!
Will “Engagement To Die For” be nominated for the Queer Indie Awards?
During last month, I mentioned that "Engagement To Die For" was eligible for several nomination categories for the Queer Indie Awards.
Nominations just ended at the end of December 2023, and the official nominees will be revealed soon. According to QIA's social media, there were over 400 nominations this time around! If ETDF is among those nominations, I want to give a big thank you in advance to everyone who nominated it!
Voting will begin on January 15th and ends on January 19th! I assume that nominated books will be revealed by that date if not sooner. See this link for more information about the Queer Indie Awards!
What Have I Been Writing Lately?
I posted new monthly writing update blog post on my main website, back on Jan. 1st. In it, I listed several goals that I wanted to achieve this month, from finishing final edits of "Bloody Fantasia" (Book 3 in the Harlow Mystery series) to drafting at least 25% of one of my fantasy books by the end of this month. I initially hoped to get writing done during Christmas and winter holidays in December as well. However, I got sick immediately after Christmas Day and had to take time off recovering. Fortunately, I'm better now by the time of this newsletter being sent.
I'm still also trying to figure out a sustainable writing routine for myself, where I can keep putting out these newsletters on time. 2023 taught me that sometimes...I push myself way too hard. I've discussed getting burnout for a while last year. I also have dealt with a lot of anxious feelings and pressure on myself to be a more "productive" writer. In the past, I've tried to be "productive" in the sense that I'm constantly putting out content or working on several short stories and/or novels at once. In an attempt to slow down and go at a healthier pace, I no longer post fanfics regularly and don't post book reviews weekly (I post biweekly instead) starting last year. Though these changes have helped, there is a lot more I need to do to make my life as a writer better for myself long-term.
I'm using this year to figure out a more productive system overall for me. This includes investigating things like actually taking a full day off from writing if not whole weekends, taking evenings off from writing or doing anything writing-related, etc. These actions might seem small compared to, say, going on a retreat or longer vacation. However, I think these small actions be helpful for me long-term to prevent burnout again and also be less anxious about the writing process.
2024 will definitely be a year of me experimenting more with different ways of writing. I might discuss this more in future newsletters!
What Have I Been Reading Lately?
In addition to all this writing going on, I also have been reading a lot lately! Here’s a short list of some recent reads:
"Pocket Peaches" by Dora Wang
"Otaku" by Chris Kluwe
"Batcat" by Meggie Ramm
"Orange - To You, Dear One" by Ichigo Takano
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).
Access the Freebie Library! (Please note: The password has changed to "Buttondown")
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).