Writing Update #4 - February Progress and March Plans!
in which there are trees upsetting my world
Hello folks! It’s been a month since my last writing update. 😬 This newsletter has life things, book things, and things for writers. All the things. So feel free to skip to whatever part interests you (scroll to the very end for a gratuitous dog pic, which I’ve decided needs to be included in every newsletter)!
Also, I’m still learning Substack’s tools and idiosyncrasies…like the fact that *I* can’t manually sort subscribers into their chosen groups from the survey they fill out - you, as a subscriber, actually have to choose that in your subscription management. However, I do have my posts sorted into two different categories, so you should be able to filter which you receive, if you so desire!
Life
February was…well, it was pretty chaotic around here. I was doing well with goals and deadlines, and then on February 12th my neighbor’s tree fell on my house and car. Thankfully, the main trunk missed the house and the smallest part of it hit my trusty ol’ Subaru, which somehow still drives even though it’s rather damaged.
I’m still waiting to hear from my homeowner’s insurance and all that. It was a VERY expensive incident, at least for me, as the tree tore out the main electrical line to my house and that part is not the power company’s responsibility. I was very lucky that I’d just gotten paid from my day job or I would have been without power much longer than three days. Needless to say, that was hugely stressful and set my plans and progress back a little bit.
Book News
Tether is finished and formatted and ready to go! I am just working out the last things on the back end for distribution. The official release date is March 15, 2025…but I’m terrible at waiting and I’ll probably hit go as soon as I’m sure all the upload/download whatsits are working correctly, which should be later this week! 😁Be sure to add it on Storygraph or GoodReads!
I also commissioned the cover for the next novella in the prequel series and I’m very excited to see that from the artist, also hopefully later this week. For right now I’m just calling it the Rising of the Stars Prequel series. Very unoriginal. I’m taking suggestions (you can hit reply to this email if you have something cool or inspiring). Right now my plans for these books are as follows:
Rising of the Stars Prequels - novellas and will be around 20K words each, so about 65-75 pages)
Tether
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
The prequels follow Jaelle from her early years in training - which is where we find her in Tether - through her conflicted role in her father’s rule over the country. Conflict dogs her steps, both in her own heart and in the world around her, and she keeps uncovering secrets. Has her entire existence been based on lies?
Rising of the Stars - full length novels
TBA
TBA
TBA
More to come on the full trilogy. 😉
No quantifiable progress this month, other than editing Tether several times over in various ways, which didn’t have numbers attached.
Things for Writers
I’m now open for alpha and beta reads! Turn around time is about two weeks. My rates are currently very low as I’m building skills and connections. You can read all the details over here. I’m also open to trading reads or critiques, as I know all this indie publishing shit gets expensive.😟 I’ve thoroughly been enjoying the courses I’m taking from the Editorial Freelancer’s Association and am looking forward to building my skills further.
Thank you for reading, liking, commenting, and sharing! It really does make my day and encourages me to keep going. I love connecting with other book people - both readers and writers! Be sure to follow me on all the social media if that’s your thing. I’ve very active on Threads and Bluesky, but I’m on almost every semi-popular platform. 😆I’ve even been trying out Tiktok lately!
Keep reading and keep it weird!
Edrie
