Hello, everyone! If you're seeing this, it means you signed up for my newsletter at some point in time. Don't worry, I'm not going to flood your inbox. I do like to give you guys regular updates, though. Let's get started!

What Am I Working On?

Confession time: I'm still working on my Mari series, but I was struggling a bit and decided I needed to do a lot of worldbuilding. This resulted in me deciding I needed to go back to book 1 to incorporate some changes, which then turned into me wanting to change the POV from third person to first person...

Long story short, I'm working on the first book again.

BUT...

I think the series will be better for the changes. I'm still hoping to have not only the first three books re-written this year, but also the first draft of book 4. We'll see how it goes.

What Am I Reading?

While I'm technically reading several books at the same time—I think I'm up to twenty, though some are writing books and textbooks—I'm trying to focus on one physical fiction book, one ebook, and one audiobook at a time.

Before I get into the other books, I have to talk about Hakumei & Mikochi. This is one of my favorite manga series—and one of my favorite book series period. I went into a ton of detail on my blog, so let me just say: it's cozy, it's slice-of-life, and it's adorable. If you have any interest in manga, please give it a try.

In the audiobook realm, I'm still listening to Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs and The House Witch by Delemhach.

I'll be honest, I haven't spent as much time listening to audiobooks lately. I'm about to go on a trip, though, so maybe I'll make some progress...

What Am I Playing?

As with books I'm reading, I'm technically playing multiple games at the same time and switching between them as the mood strikes me.

I switched back to LotRO for a little bit and knocked out a few more regions, but I may spend some more time on Tears of the Kingdom next. (At this rate it's going to take me years to finish it.)

I've also had the desire to jump back into Spirittea and Cozy Grove (especially since I just learned that the second Cozy Grove game is supposed to release soon!)

In all honesty, though, I'll likely not play much in the coming months and instead focus on my books—which isn't a bad thing! I've got a lot of exciting book things happening this year, and I'm excited to make some progress.

What Am I Watching?

So I haven't been watching any TV shows, but I did finally watch Wolfwalkers, and it was just as wonderful as I expected it to be.

I also recently re-watched The Swan Princess and The Secret of Kells.

The Swan Princess movie was my first introduction to the story, which eventually led me to the Swan Lake trilogy by Mark Helprin. That feels like a whole can of worms that would take too long to get into here, but maybe I'll post about it on my Patreon or Ko-fi sites.

The Secret of Kells also has an interesting backstory for me, and while I haven't written about that movie specifically, I did write about Wolfwalkers over on Patreon and Ko-fi. I will say that for this time around, I watched The Secret of Kells in Irish, which was an awesome experience. I'm looking forward to following it up with Song of the Sea and Wolfwalkers.

What’s New in Life?

I can make bread now!

This is probably the fault of Hakumei & Mikochi, which features a ton of delicious-sounding and -looking food. While I was re-reading the series, I got the desire to try to make homemade bread. After a quick Google search, I found an easy recipe and gave it a shot. It actually turned out really good and I've made it three times, so I guess that's a thing I do now.

Superstars Writing Seminar

Phill and I are about to head to Colorado Springs for the Superstars Writing Seminar.

We first attended back in 2022 and had a great time. Life happened and we weren't able to attend in 2023, but we’re returning this year and are looking forward to catching up with old friends.

This is one of the only conferences we know of that focuses on the business of writing, which makes it invaluable for anyone wanting to pursue a career as an author.

Future Bestseller Podcast

Some of you may be following my podcast, but if not, consider yourself invited!

Back in June of 2023, Phillip Drayer Duncan and I started Future Bestseller Podcast with his friend Chris. We talk about the craft and business of writing and feature various guests.

We've already recorded four episodes this year, featuring Sherry Peters, Rebecca Harris, and Chris Arnone, with a fourth episode of just me and Phill. Give them a listen if you haven't already!

Language Corner

I love languages, both learning to speak them and learning how they work. I minored in linguistics in college, and have been studying Irish for about ten years now. While I've also been learning Norwegian and Finnish, I've been focusing more on Irish lately.

Here, I like to share words I've learned in the various languages I'm studying.

Gaeilge/Irish

Patreon & Ko-fi

Want more regular updates and sneak peeks at books I'm working on? Consider joining my Patreon or Ko-fi groups! I typically post once a week and share snippets of drafts once a month.

And that's not all!

I post exclusive short stories to both my Patreon and my Ko-fi accounts (don't worry, it's the same content on both platforms, so there's no need to join both).

I also plan to start sharing regular music-related videos, and I'll have more news about that once I have the details ironed out. I hope to see you there!

Get in Touch

Thanks for reading!