I was going to start about wordcounts and use that as a means to see how productive I’ve been, but damn, that is the wrong way to go about this. I worked hard this month! Most of my time I spent on editing and proofing so I could finish the final draft for my fantasy short FOUND BY A WANDERING HEART (a.k.a. LEGEND OF SAVANNA) .and finish a first… sort of second draft for my paranormal romance novelette IN GOOD COMPANY (a.k.a. SALT). I did edit during drafting again, so there’s scenes edited anywhere between once and five times, lol.

Yes, it’s a good reminder that wordcount isn’t everything. Drafting is fun and to see those wordcounts soar just gives you a hell of a rush, but it doesn’t mean it’s all quality work. That takes editing. And editing means you’ll produce less words. Sometimes a story works better as a short story or novelette instead of a novel series. Plus we can’t always be writing. We need time to research, to read, to worldbuild, and plenty of time we can’t work on our fiction at all. We need time to rest, relax, and live our lives just as much.

So let’s talk a bit about these projects.

Found by a Wandering Heart

The WIP that made me realized how absurdly simple plots can be while still delivering on story. FOUND BY A WANDERING HEART is about a man tracking a lost goat, but finding something he hadn’t realized he missed along the way. Set in SALANDRINE‘s Mnaluria but centuries before it takes place, this short story includes the old gods or nature spirits, deadly mirages that roam the desert, and an Autistic protagonist.

The story is 6700 words long and I will be submitting it to literary magazines. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to share good news of it being pubbed somewhere. Don’t want to wait? Contact me and I’ll send it your way in return for some feedback.

In Good Company

My first finished novelette (story between 7500-17500 words long)! IN GOOD COMPANY started out under the working title SALT and is about Khalida who because of her ADHD is having a hard time fulfilling the expectations laid upon her by her parents. When Amias asks if she wants to come away with her, it starts her on a journey to figure out what she wants in life and love.

Being ownvoices for a biracial, ADHD, bi/pan, and asexual lead, it’s been such a nice experience to write so much of myself into a story. I’m just hoping it worked out well enough for my readers.

As much as I’d like to submit this to a literary magazine or so, I’m not sure I’m going to find a place. It’s too long for most and given that it’s paranormal romance, not that many markets seem to want that (please let me know if I’m wrong. I want to be wrong here). This is why I asked a while back if people would like a novelette pubbed as an ebook on its own.

I’m still not sure but it would seem like a nice sample story to pub as an ebook and let people have a taste of my writing. I could of course also post on Wattpad, but I’m not quite sure about that one.

Anyway, I made an aesthetic for it and I hope you enjoy it!