February In Hindsight: Writing & Bookish Conquests

Happy End of February Everyone!

If you’re like me, you must be super excited that this arctic month is over. I love snow, but I draw the line at nose-cicles. I mistakenly made an assumption that the worst was over and bought some spring decor right before the worst of the storms came through. C’est la vie, right?

Anywho, today I’m going over everything that happened in February. It’s been a CRAZY month, so I hope you’re ready for some developments. Hintedy hint hint, there’s a special surprise at the bottom of this post.

 

Writing Conquests

Everything involving writing has been amplified this month.

I released my book Reaper: Aftermath on 2/5/21!

Cover art created by Mario Lampic

Blurb:

Five years have passed since the Reapers invaded Earth and tore it asunder. Gregory, his mother, Trent, and their group of scavengers hunt the decimated wastelands for survival.

But when a sudden Reaper attack forces Gregory through a Reaper door, he finds himself in a bizarre place, one that may provide answers to the Reapers’ past and where they came from.

Can Gregory put together the pieces of the past and find his way home, or will he just become another human casualty in the lost war against the Reapers?

GoodReads

Universal Ebook Link

 

Reviews have started trickling in, and they’re all good so far so I’m really grateful for that. It’s a great beginning, and thank you all readers that have reviewed my work. That really makes a huge difference to a self-published author, believe me!

This week I was featured by Goddess Fish Promotions, and I loved all the great feedback that others had to give on my cover and the excerpts given, as well as the increased presence.

Next week I’ll be featured by R&R Book Tours. I’ve known Shannon for a long time, and I’m really excited about the lineup for this promo too! After this, I swear, no more book tours for a while!

As exciting as this release was, the promotion and everything else afterward has been a little exhausting mentally, so I’m a bit anxious to move forward with other things in March while still promoting here and there.

New WIP’s

With Reaper:Aftermath completed, I’ve been working on two works primarily, The Gifted Chronicles and The Ruins of Ayar Kachi.

The Gifted Chronicles is an old manuscript I completed several years back, and I’m revamping the story.

Synopsis:

The town of MeadowVale has known peace for centuries thanks to a magical barrier shielding it from evil. But when a strange meteor destroys the barrier, the super powered residents’ fear for their lives. Demons lurk in the darkness, and when people begin to disappear, the citizens of MeadowVale must brace themselves against the evil threat.

I’m about a third of the way through my first go-through of edits (there will be more than one), but I have to say it’s been a bit of a struggle the past week or so, enough that I’ve taken a few days off to work on The Ruins of Ayar Kachi to prevent burnout. I’m not sure why I had the preconceived notion that I would do a little sprucing up and then I could get this book published, but I’m catching a lot of things that need to be addressed. I refuse to give up on this story, but going forward I may need to spend a bit more time on Ayar Kachi for a more balanced approach to both stories.

The Ruins of Ayar Kachi is an LGBT Horror novel about a gay couple who visit South America. One of the men is a travel blogger who’s had a recent spur of success and dreams of having one of the first gay paranormal investigation shows. As they discover the whereabouts of this hidden ruins, they uncover something ancient and evil.

I’m only in the plotting phase on this project, but I’ve written down some 50 or so pages of plot notes in the past, so I’m revamping those from the beginning. So far it’s going pretty well!

Making changes in the plotting phase is a lot easier for me, and some noticeable changes will be a slower intro to the story. For some reason my first chapter jumped into it all way too quickly, so I really want to set the scene and make it great.

Wish me luck!

 

Bookish Conquests

This month went pretty well as far as reading goes. I read four novels and one short story, keeping on track with my 2021 goal of reading 50 books. I’m ready for some more exciting reads!

 

Book Review: The Undead Mr. Tenpenny

Book Review: Starsight

Book Review: Liars and Thieves

Book Review: FRANK

Short Story Review: Across the Dark Water

 

 

Video Highlights

Here’s the special part!

Going forward, I’ll be posting a monthly video along with this post. After recording some videos for Reaper: Aftermath, it disturbed me how uncomfortable I was with being in front of a camera, so this is my effort to remedy that with practice and time.

Sorry if it’s a little rough around the edges (I fixed the graininess on the video, yay!), but I hope you enjoy this extra little piece I’m adding. Here’s hoping I get better at it!

 

That’s a Wrap!

All right, there goes the month of February. How was your month? Did you read something in my conquests? Do you have any recommendations for books? As always, feel free to comment!

Happy Reading, everyone!

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6 Comments »

    • Awww, thank you! I was still a bit nervous, but it wasn’t as bad as the last time I did videos. I think the main problem is having to stare at my own face while it records. It kind of breaks my concentration a bit. Definitely going to try some alternatives next time.

      Thanks, Ruins is going swimmingly today. 🙂

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