Hello, Readers!

Easter happened just last week, it’s already midway through April by the time this email is in your inbox, and…Found, my upcoming YA fantasy short story collection, will be published in one month and four days from now. 😱

Time goes by way too fast sometimes!

What Am I Writing Lately? ✍️

Oh No, We’re The Chosen Ones!

• Status: 15% written?

• Next steps: Continue drafting

It’s been amazingly fun writing Oh No, We’re The Chosen Ones! I love being able to write mentor characters trying to figure out HOW to mentor others properly in a way that best suits the mentees.

Rook, Odette, and Carrick (our former Chosen Ones!) genuinely have no idea how to mentor three teenagers. And their mentor, Artemis, is just sitting back and watching the fireworks. 😆

Faerie Manor

• Status: 10% written?

• Next steps: Continue drafting

Admittedly, I was semi-stuck on figuring out the overall plot for Faerie Manor when writing this last month. I focused more on writing Oh No, We’re The Chosen Ones as a consequence.

HOWEVER, the opposite happened this month! I’m now writing WAY more of Faerie Manor compared to Oh No, We’re The Chosen Ones. It’s funny how my concentration on one project over another completely changes each month!

I still don’t have a determined chapter count for this book, but I do think I’ve made more progress than I did last month. That’s a good thing.

Other Writing-Related Work I’ve Done Lately ✍️

1. I just sent the last of the ARC copies of Found, my upcoming YA fantasy short story collection, to ARC readers!

For those of you ARC readers that requested to be signed up to this mailing list, WELCOME! I’m glad to have you here. 👋

I’ll be next in touch with ARC Readers by around May 4th, 2026 with links to the Goodreads/Storygraph listings so you can leave ARC reviews on those (or leave reviews elsewhere that you indicated when you applied to sign up)! I really hope that you enjoy reading Found!

2. I also posted a new Youtube video just last week about how I get author interviews! If you want some more press for your own book, then you’ll want to know these tips!

3. I’m also participating in #Escapril, which is an Instagram daily poetry writing challenge. You can see what poems I’ve posted so far on my Instagram!

4. I was going to publish four poetry collections in 2027. It will now be one big poetry collection instead.

To explain: I was previously planning to publish FOUR separate seasonal poetry collections. All of the poems, by the way, are sonnets. You’ve probably seen them listed in my website’s WIPs page as Sonnets of Spring, Sonnets of Summer, etc.

But after a lot of rethinking it, I REALLY don’t wan to have to deal with publishing four separate small poetry collections. So, I’m making it one big collection instead. The plan is STILL to release them sometime in 2027. I’m aiming for March 2027 to coincide with the spring season that year!

What Have I Read Lately? 📖

I’ve reread some books from Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson And The Olympians series lately, since it’s one of the sources that helped inspire writing Oh No, We’re The Chosen Ones!

I also really enjoyed reading I Don’t Want A Job and the companion book Not A Real Job: Choose Creativity Instead by Amie McNee, which were exclusively available by preordering both books through The Pound Project’s website back in February this year (the books were officially published in March 2026). Reading both books gave me SERIOUS motivation to continue persevering with my writing. 🔥

Sadly, these books are no longer available to purchase via the Pound Project, as they only sell through preorders. Your best chance of getting the books right is if you know someone who can lend you a copy or if McNee plans to republish the books later. However, you can read the essay that initially sparked writing this book!

Other books I read include:

• Night Owl: Poems by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

• The Forest Grimm by Kathryn Purdie

• Burst Your Bubble! by Joyce Grant

• Write For Money And Power by Amy Suto

• How Great Ideas Happen by George Newman

I also read this essay on how to be yourself and the crossroads of should vs. must.