Juggling January
Happy New Year, dear reader!
I hope this first post of 2021 finds you doing well. It seems the world is determined to throw us a curveball every other day, and I must say, January was no exception. It was a weird month, full of fear and hope. Two emotions that don't normally intertwine with each other as tightly as they did this past month. The state of the world certainly took a toll on my mental and thus, creative, state. With the roller coaster of emotions to process, sitting down to write was hard. I spent most of my time working on a new paranormal cozy project, and while I am pleased that I did manage to finish my first draft, I must say, it's one of the messiest manuscripts I have written to date. This may come as a surprise to some readers, but I am a pretty sequential writer. I write my book from start to finish, and don't necessarily do a whole lot of reworking timelines/scenes when it comes to revisions. I am very blessed that my story is mostly whole after the first go around. Of course there are scenes to flesh out and dive deeper into, but rarely am I changing the overall structure of the piece.
All that gets thrown out the window with this manuscript, I'm afraid. I cannot believe how many gaps and holes there are in this one. At certain points, I just gave up and moved to the next scene because I had dug myself into a plot hole I couldn't get out of. Goodness, even my main character's name changed halfway through. While the first draft is done, the amount of revising ahead of me is just a bit daunting, which is why I find myself focusing on other projects for the upcoming month.
I mentioned finishing my first draft of my paranormal cozy WIP was one of my writing goals. If you're just joining my blog for the first time, I dedicate a portion of each post to revisiting and reviewing my goals for the month. Let's see how I attempted to ring in the new year:
Finish 1st draft of paranormal cozy
Audiobook QA
Final outline of next CoM book
Launch Bookstagram Bundles
Let's review how I did in the first month of 2021.
Finish 1st draft of paranormal cozy: I'm happy to report I did manage to achieve this goal, although the manuscript is a grander state of disarray than any first draft I've written before. I really like the concept I've developed, but I think one of the issues is that I'm having a harder time connecting with the characters in an attempt to make this a true cozy. I think, in my effort to be light and and quaint, I lost that grit and snark my heroines usually imbued. I need to return to that in my revisions. This cozy needs to reflect me, not an imposter of myself.
Audiobook QA: CROWN OF CHAOS is well underway, and I am so pleased with how this book is turning out over audio. One of the more intense and action-packed of the Court of Mystery series, I find myself breathless after every chapter, counting down until I can hear more. I can't wait for this to be released!
Final outline of the next CoM book: Not only did I polish my outline for the next Jax adventure, I began writing it! My hope is to have this published by early summer.
Launch Bookstagram Bundles: Oh boy, did I ever…and I've already rebranded. "BookstaBundles" is a side hustle of mine that I launched in an effort to help my fellow authors create engaging and eye-catching content for their social media profiles. I had no idea how interested authors would be in this type of service. I am so pleased by the warm reception and all those who have reached out. On the more business-y side of things, I do need to make sure I continue to manage my own time smartly so that I don't risk burning out too quickly on this new project. Back when I was in the world of healthcare IT, I had a nasty habit of working myself to death, dropping everything in my life to help clients and fix issues as if they were a four-alarm fire. In order for BookstaBundles to be successful, I need to break those old habits and remember to manage my time in a healthy manner.
As you can see, 2021 certainly got off to a roaring start. I am looking forward to where February takes me.
I did manage to squeeze in some reading with everything else going on, too. Check out my reading recommendation below:
Sarah's Bookshelf
A DEADLY DISCOVERY by J.C. Kenney
Book 4 in the Allie Cobb mysteries finds literary agent Allie Cobb preparing for her town’s 9/11 memorial when a body is found in the park. When the victim is identified as Valerie Briggs, a young woman who went missing 20 years ago, Valerie’s mother shows up at Allie’s doorstep, asking for her help. With 3 cases under her belt, Allie has no qualms about diving into another mystery to see justice done.
In A DEADLY DISCOVERY, author J.C. Kenney does something really amazing: he creates a gritty, dark crime that one doesn’t normally come across in the cozy mystery genre. It was so cool to read a mystery that I could picture a real, trained investigator solving through the eyes of a civilian. The author’s use of DNA and genealogy is so clever. You don’t come across many cold cases in the cozy genre, so the entire premise of this book is refreshing and unexpected. I also appreciate that Allie acknowledges she likes solving mysteries and bringing killers to justice. Allie doesn’t have to be dragged kicking and screaming into an investigation; she’s on her bike racing toward the crime scene.
Another surprising detail in this book is Allie’s attention to her mental health. I’ve never read a cozy where the MC seeks out help to deal with her past traumas. If only more people did this, the world would probably be a better place. These scenes really made Allie shine as a multi-dimensional heroine.
I’ve had the pleasure of reading the previous books in this series, and I am loving how relationships and characters are continuing to develop. Sometimes, in cozy series, characters can plateau after a few books, but Kenney skillfully weaves growth into Allie and the other supporting characters. I am very interested to see where Brent and Allie’s relationship goes after this book, as Allie’s independence seems to be holding her back. Does this mean someone else is on the horizon? Or will Allie discover how awesome table top games can be? I can’t wait to find out!
Well, January, that's a wrap!
Think positive, test negative,
S.B.