The Month Everything Began Flowing

Hey Besties!

For the first time in I don’t know how long, I actually don’t feel like the weeks have flown by in a blur! lol

Rather, they passed by in a flurry of progress, as I completed my May goal of finishing Tea Leaves, Pages & Starlight.

Writing Updates

I wrote The End earlier today, and the story came out at 78k words, which is perfectly within my target.

I’m now going to sit on it for a few weeks before continuing revisions with Hubby, and then start looking at the querying process. This is the first time I’ll query a novel, so I want to be fully prepared.

And, as I completed the story with three WH, WN sprints to spare, that means I can dive straight into my next project.

In my previous blog post, I mentioned both a dark fae prince enemies-to-lovers story and a magical academy + rivals-to-lovers idea…

Well, given I can only work on one story at a time, I decided to hold onto the magical academy + rivals-to-lovers idea for now and revisit it when I’m craving writing a more cosy, slice-of-life story again.

However, I do want to work on something to serialize once KMATK is complete, and that dark fae prince enemies-to-lovers story won’t leave my mind… except it evolved, so now he’s a dragon prince! ;)

The story is inspired by concepts I’ve wanted to explore for years and keep looping back to during brainstorming and drafting sessions.

So yes, I am excited to begin work on that… most likely this Friday during the next WH, WN sprint.

My Inkitt serials continue to progress well, with daily The Starlight Prince chapters and twice-weekly KMATK chapters.

I also entered all three of my stories into the Summer of Love Writing Contest, so if you’ve been thinking of checking out any of my stories on Inkitt, now is the perfect time to do it, as readership stats affect which stories get shortlisted.

My Inkitt profile can be found here: https://www.inkitt.com/ClareDugmore

Hubby’s Writing Updates

Earlier this month, Hubby completed another novel — this one about a sapphic serial killer. It’s amazing!

He’s currently sitting on it before getting back to revisions and then querying.

In the meantime, he has been reading more, including books about self-editing. He also started a brand new story.

This one is about a post-apocalyptic society where vampires win and become the dominant species.

Honestly, where does this man get his ideas? I love it! lol

He’s only about 8k in, but it’s already shaping up to be excellent. I can see how much his writing has improved since his previous novel.

Health and Life Updates

Last month, I mentioned getting a new coil fitted… sadly, I had to cancel that appointment and haven’t been able to arrange a new one as of writing this. Thankfully, PMDD has been mild-to-nonexistent this month, which I am very grateful for.

Especially as I had some not-great health updates from both my parents recently. I won’t go into details here, apart from to once again muse on the fact that no one prepares you for mid-life, when parents start getting sick…

It’s been rough, but I have an amazingly supportive Hubby. Both my parents also have strong communities supporting them, and my faith in God allows me to believe everything will work out as it should.

Other than the above-mentioned updates, life has actually been pretty calm. There’s been the usual admin stuff and such, but nothing serious or dramatic — which, again, I am grateful for.

It means I get to spend more time writing, or spending my downtime reading, playing The Sims, playing Pokopia, or obsessing over fictional vampires! lol

Youngest is considering buying the new Tomodachi Life game soon, and he said I can play it when he’s finished or when he’s playing something else.

I am tempted to make an island full of hot vampires! LOL

I’d love suggestions on who to include! ;)

That’s all I have for you this month, so I am going to go back to daydreaming about dragon princes.

I’ll be back next month with another writing and life update.

Until then,

Take care & stay creative.

T.T.F.N