As I'm sure you guys have noticed, I haven’t quite been up to par with the number of posts on my blog for this month. But that’s not to say nothing’s been happening. In fact, quite the opposite is true, which is the reason I’ve fallen a bit behind lately. Aside from a lot of editing projects on my plate, I’ve been busy starting new writing projects, working on old ones, and seeking out reviews for my latest ebook. I also have a lot of upcoming events and news to share with you guys!
First, I want to share a bit about my writing projects for those who don’t know what I’ve been working on. I've picked up my YA fantasy series again, a series that flits in and out of a parallel universe called Ansakerr. The world was created by a powerful group of witches, and the main heroine of the first book stumbles onto this world after discovering a secret inside an old music box that her grandmother willed to her. This is a project that I’ve been working and reworking for over a decade. My biggest issue was that I started it as a young teen before I really had enough experience in writing, but I'm diligently working out all the kinks. I’ve made tremendous progress with this series over the last few months, and I’m currently planning for it to be a trilogy. My goal is to release it in late 2016 or early 2017.
The second writing project I’m working on is a nonfiction series about the craft of writing. I have the initial outline in place for the entire series now, which will be split into four books. The books will focus on the pre-writing stages, the writing process, the editing process, and the publishing process. I’ll be tying in some of the information from my series blog posts on here, including The Grammar Grind, Why Good Writing Matters, and Make Every Scene Count. I’ll also be incorporating a new series that I’ll be starting next week called “The Editing Agenda.” I’ll be discussing some of the top reasons why it’s important to edit a manuscript and what things you should be looking for when you edit your own.
And if you want to know about the last project, you’ll have to sign up for my newsletter! I’ll be sending out my first author newsletter at the end of July, and I’ll be emailing them quarterly after that. The first one includes tips for new authors just starting out, an inside look at my personal writing process and some of the things I struggle with (and how I combat them), upcoming plans for this blog in the fall, and info about that secret project I mentioned. As a bonus, I sometimes give away free stuff to my newsletter subscribers. ^_^
As always, I’ll be keeping the focus of this blog (and my newsletter for that matter) on you guys. After all, what good is a blog (or newsletter) if no one wants to read it? I started this blog with the intent of helping others, and I fully plan to keep it that way. The way I see it, if you want to read my books, you’ll do so without any prodding from me.
For the last announcement, I wanted to share with you guys that I’ll be hosting another chat on Twitter soon. The chat will be about YA books—but I’ll be discussing them as a reader, not a writer. Anyone who likes to read YA is welcome to join in on the chat. I’d love to hear suggestions about your favorite YA books, why you like them, and what kinds of elements you like and dislike in YA books. The chat will be on Saturday, July 11th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Twitter. Just follow the hashtag #RMNSchats to join in, and don’t forget to use the hashtag in your posts!