New Year, New Update
Way back in 2012 when I finished writing Masquerade, I had every intention of getting straight to work on Devotion, the forth of a total of five books planned for the Sevy Series. But life had other ideas.
To make a looooong story short, I ended up requesting the rights back for all three books of the Sevy Series from Mundania Press. I then self-published them on Amazon, and though sales were good, I’d become disillusioned with the series and with writing in general. I didn’t think I had it in me to be a writer. For years, I just gave up.
In 2018, I was finally able to break myself out the rut I’d fallen into and started seriously trying to get my career back on track. As of now, I have two projects out in submission land, and am editing a third. I also have a list of story ideas that grows by the day and the scribbly first chapters of at least 4 novels on the go. I think my muse is busy making up for lost time.
I’m trying to stay focused on one thing at a time so as not to overwhelm myself, but it’s been getting difficult. You see, there is a voice in the back of my mind screaming for attention. After years stuck in limbo, Sevy has decided she’s ready for a comeback. I catch myself daydreaming about her a lot lately.
Like all writers, I imagine what it would be like to have a movie made of my stories. Over the years, I’ve cast any number of actors in the role of Sevy, but I never quite got it right. I think that’s changed. I found my ideal Sevy while binge-watching the latest season of Wentworth during the holidays: Nicole da Silva, pictured above. She has the right look and physicality (really, it’s almost creepy how much she resembles the Sevy in my head), and more importantly, she has the acting chops to convey Sevy’s conflicted mix of bravado and vulnerability even without saying a single word. Honestly, she’s so perfect, it makes me ridiculously giddy, even though there’s as much chance as getting the Sevy Series made into movies as there is winning the lottery. Less even. Still, it’s a nice little fantasy that brings me joy.
I know that when I start fawning over dream-casts, it’s only a matter of time before I give in to a story that wants to be told, but as I said, I’m right in the middle of edits on Graduating Class of Never. I want to get that finished and out to agents/publishers before I allow Sevy to truly take over my life again, and even once I start work on Devotion, it might be years before it’s finished. But if the Sevy Series still has fans somewhere out there, just know that I haven’t forgotten about her. I owe her another two books, and she isn’t one to let someone slip out of a promise so easily.
If you’ve read this far into my rambling, you must be a fan of Sevy, and if you are and want to see more of her, you’d be doing us both a favour if you could leave a review of Thief, Shades of War, and Masquerade on Amazon or Goodreads. Please and thank you and Happy New Year!
Posted in The Sevy Series, Updatewith no comments yet.
A Long Overdue Update
I’m so happy to report that I’ve just finished another WIP! For the Love of a Witch is a fantasy romance novella, written in the style of a fairytale. It’s a huge departure from my typical writing style and was super challenging (and super rewarding) to write. I’m really excited about this story. I think it’s my best work to date, and I hope my readers will think so too.
As for Graduating Class of Never, I’ve received some really great feedback from a few publishers, and now that the first draft of FtLoaW is done, I’m going to do some rewrites before sending GCN out again. I also have a short story and a YA sci-fi novel that are next up in my queue, so there’s lots to keep me busy.
And now a bit of a personal update. My life has been at a standstill since 2012/2013. I had, until then, neglected my mental health and I paid a heavy price for that. I crashed. Hard. I’m just now getting to a place where I no longer feel like a threat to myself. Every day remains a struggle, but I’m able to eye the future with optimism. It’s a good feeling. One that I want to protect and further cultivate.
A part of getting myself back on track, it’s time to start getting serious about my writing again. That means dealing with the submissions process and the inevitable rejections, as well as sorting out my social media. I’m researching which platforms will be best suited to my needs and my strengths. Whatever I decide upon will have to be sustainable and more importantly, fun! I think that was a big reason I resented social media so much back when I was first published. It felt like a chore, and more than that, a waste of time. I didn’t know what I was doing, so I just sort of spammed Facebook and Twitter, hoping that if I threw enough things out into the world, something would stick.
This time around, I’m going to go at my own pace while gently challenging myself. After all, I’m just as much a work in progress as any of the stories I write. There’s still so much I have to learn about myself, and for the first time in a long time, that feels like a privilege instead of a character flaw.
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Some Thoughts on Recent Events
This past week has been upsetting, to say the least. I can’t say I’m altogether shocked by the results of the US presidential election, but I am disappointed. At times like this, when the world seems so ugly and cruel, it’s easy to get dragged down to some pretty dark places, to obsess over feelings of helplessness and despair.
This is why it’s so important to have a mental health toolkit ready. It can be a literal toolkit, with things like scented candles, colouring books, and chocolate in it; anything that brings you joy and provides a distraction from unwelcome thoughts. Or your toolkit can be purely internal. There are numerous mental exercises (google Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy), which will help you to recognize patterns of maladaptive thoughts, emotions and behaviours, and teach you how to reshape them. We can’t control what happens, but we can control our reactions.
For me, I’ve begun guarding myself from negativity. No more reading the comments on Facebook posts! Those things are deadly! Instead, I’m focusing on the expressions of love and support spreading all over social media. I am so proud of the thousands of Americans marching in #notmypresident protests. I also find it helpful to reaffirm the values to which I aspire and to make a promise to myself that I will always speak up when I see injustice. I will do what I am able to, as the saying goes, be the change I want to see in the world.
And if all else fails, find something warm and fuzzy to snuggle up with and know that this too shall pass.
Posted in Misc.with no comments yet.
Bye Bye, Bearded Lady!
On May 15, 2016, the rights of Romancing the Beard (formally known as The Bearded Lady) will be returned to me. I’ve been going back and forth on whether to republish it, either through traditional or self-publishing means, but right now, I’m leaning towards retiring RtB indefinitely.
I may change my mind someday, but for now, if you’ve any interest in reading a quick, quirky story about an interracial ménage à trois (man, I was ambitious for my first foray into erotica!), then clickity click here to snag Romancing the Beard before it disappears.
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