Facing February
Greetings, dear readers!
For being the shortest month of the year, I managed to cram quite a bit into February. I set some ambitious goals, and while I didn't quite meet all of them, I'm ending the month with a feeling of accomplishment.
Before we get into the writing bits, I must share that in my downtime, I've been demolishing The Murdoch Mysteries on AcornTV. Now, I first watched The Murdoch Mysteries about six years ago when it was on Netflix, but at that point, the show was only available up to Season 6. So, when I found it on AcornTV earlier this month, I dove in from the beginning and I'm a little ashamed to admit, but I'm on the last episode of Season 13 already, just in time for Season 14 to premiere tonight. 14 seasons…isn't that wild? I daydream about my Court of Mystery series being turned into a Netflix/Hulu/Prime/Whoever will take me show all the time, but I can't imagine it going on for 14 seasons…although, as I started work on my 13th Jax book this month, it just might be possible! Moral of this story: if you haven't already, I highly recommend watching The Murdoch Mysteries, a show that quite possibly has the best supporting characters and the most fearsome female lead of all time (seriously, Julia Ogden is THE dream). Oh, and I watch a lot of TV - but in my defense, I multitask something fierce!
All right, let's take a look at the writing goals I set out to accomplish this month:
Write 10,000 words in the next CoM book
Complete second draft of paranormal cozy
BookstaBundles projects
Court of Mystery audiobook trailers
And let's see how I did:
Write 10,000 words in the next CoM book: I am so happy to report I crushed this goal! I hit 10,000 words in the next Jax book nearly 10 days before the month ended. I find my relationship with this series and characters to be so funny. When I publish a book, I tell myself, "all right, give yourself a few months to recharge and rest," but then, a month later, I'm itching to dive into the Realm of Virtues and see how everyone is doing. Strange as it might seem, these books get easier and easier to write as the series goes on. I personally thought it would be a struggle to write about the same place/characters for so long, thinking it might feel stale, but the relationships that I've developed among the characters really keep this world alive and thriving. My manuscript is proof -- Jax is moving right along in her adventure, and very close to discovering a dead body (surprise, surprise). The cover is also already completed; this is the first time the cover was completed before the first draft. I had a very clear idea of what this cover would feature, and since I wanted to include it on my Court of Mystery wall art (check out my Instagram for deets), it didn't make any sense to wait! My goal is to publish this installment around early June.
Complete second draft of paranormal cozy: With all the goals I set in the shortest month, there were bound to be ones I didn't meet. I'll admit, I am struggling with this project. I've never written a paranormal cozy before, and it's really challenging balancing the paranormal/mystery/cozy aspects. I don't want to overwhelm readers with exposition about the paranormal, so I've been weaving it into the story, but the paranormal aspect is also very light. The gist of it is: my MC is a part of an old family that established Crucible, NY. The family was known for having some type of "magic" power, although the MC never refers to it as magic. Through the decades, the power has dwindled, and now, the living descendants have "whims" or little abilities that are supernatural. My MC can see how long a person has left to live. Her aunt can read the aura around a person to know how they are feeling or reacting. These become useful in their investigation into a death that was presumed natural but was in fact, not. I make mention of charms and hexes in passing, mostly on a joking basis because my MC does not use those. Her aunt, however, does have a "spellbook" created by their powerful ancestors, and sometimes dabbles with it, although not with much success. But as far as paranormal activity goes, that's about it. I think it works for this story, but I'm not confident if it will work for readers of this genre. I worry going more witchy will muddle the story and the characters too much, which is why this revision has really gone off the rails. However, I'm feeling better about it because I'm giving myself more time. The events in the book take place toward the end of August, so I am aiming to have this ready for self-publishing by that time. Originally, I wanted to release in the spring but redid my timeline.
BookstaBundles projects: This service has been wildly more popular than I could have ever imagined. I'm so grateful to all the authors who have reached out, and I'm having a great time designing social media images for all kinds of genres. Because of its success, I've incorporated Photoshop into my wheelhouse, and it's been a fun challenge learning how to use the software. If you'd like to see some of the designs I've created, my portfolio is available at the bottom of this page: BookstaBundles — Sarah E. Burr
Court of Mystery audiobook trailers: You have to see these to believe them - I am so proud/stunned with how beautifully these trailers came together. Check out the collection here: Court of Mystery Series
Unfortunately, I don't have any bookshelf recommendations this month. My Goodreads Challenge for 2021 tells me I am 3 books BEHIND, which goes to show you that I have been woefully neglectful working my way through my TBR pile. Perhaps I need to bring back reading to my writing goals for March…
Until then, think positive, test negative, my friends!
Arms around,
S.B.