It has certainly been a while since I've posted here!

As many of you know, I returned to school to pursue a degree in Creative Writing. Thanks to all the support of everyone across the board with my two published books, I felt the desire to go back to school and focus on bettering myself and my craft.

A lot of you have inquired about Book III, it is completed and in the hands of beta readers, but it may be 2023 that the book is out. Thank you for hanging in there!

In the meantime, this year is a big year for short stories. In classes, short fiction is a lot of what we do, and many of those short stories are something I've been proud of. So in the following months of 2022 I will have a few short stories published!

As it stands, I will have a short story published with Quill & Crow Publishing House. This is going to be released May 13th. The theme of this anthology is "Carnival Horror/Gothic Horror".

The other upcoming anthology is Lunatic Lullabies with Pyke Publishing. This is going to be a collection of horror stories, released on Halloween, and will include one of my short stories.

Thank you all for your support, please don't forget to review if you've read either of my books, and don't hesitate to reach out! 

I will be having a giveaway coming up soon, as well!

I know it's been a hot minute since I've posted on here. There wasn't a whole lot of movement regarding "Æsa" for a while, as I was waiting for the editor's evaluation of my manuscript to come back.

When it did, the editor mentioned they liked the story and writing a lot better. This didn't come as a huge surprise to me, as the story came far more naturally than "Red" did. "Red" was years in the making and stood alone until after "Æsa" and the third book were written, only then did  I go back and make changes to have "Red" fit in with the rest of the series.

A little fact about "Æsa", it is a very loose retelling of The Little Mermaid, and like "Red" focuses heavily on grey characters with pasts that haunt them. 

In the next few months, as "Æsa" is put together by FriesenPress, I'll share bits and pieces. Right now the cover design is being revised, the manuscript is being edited. Once I get those back, I'll do a cover reveal as well as share some excerpts from the book! 

Thank you  to everyone who has supported me throughout this process. A bonus shout out to people who have had "Red" as a book club pick, I cannot thank you enough. 

Stay tuned for more updates on "​Æsa" coming up!

Are you an impulse buyer? Do you do thinks impulsively because it is what you want to do right now?

I sure am. 

Since this pandemic, money has been tight, times have been tough. The writing hasn't been coming like it used to (which, upon reflection, I noticed is because I no longer think my first draft is as amazing as my youthful self used to think, and thus writing something I know is not great is much harder). Even though I have had to shift gears, like a lot of us have, I am still focusing on what makes me happy.

I have things in order for the sequels to "RED". The entire "Blood Bound Series" was written prior to me publishing "RED", and I am so thankful. The thing is, fear held me back. I doubted my writing skills, so I posted on online platforms. That really worked out for me, because now demand for my sequels is high, and I can deliver. 

Book II (which has a working title right now, and will continue to be referred to as Book II for a while) has been sent to FriesenPress to be evaluated! I was doing so-so financially, and decided to go for it. While interest is high, I have to ride that out. Money comes and goes, and I refuse to wait until things are in order, because if 2020 taught us anything, it's that a wrench can be thrown in our lives at any time, from any place. Life is never truly "in order".

So yeah, things might be tight for a while, but I'm doing what I love and reaching my dreams - that's worth more than the dollar amount in my bank account. I'm definitely an impulse buyer, and an impulse-doer. But if I didn't have the support of my friends, family, and the amazing writing community, these books would have continued to hide away in the dark. 

What impulse decisions have you made recently? Did they pay off?

I've been sitting at my desk since seven AM applying the finishing touches to Book II of The Blood Bound Series. With only one break to do a quick workout, I can confidently say my butt is very numb.

I can also confidently say that Book II has had all finishing touches completed! 

You're probably wondering what the title of Book II is. Well, I am holding onto that a little bit longer, because it's a working title. Or rather, it is a title that I love and adore, but may be an issue when it comes to publishing due to it having a non-English letter. 

I'll tell you this, though, the sequel to "RED" can be read as a stand-alone, and it is a loose retelling of "The Little Mermaid".

​I cannot wait to share this one with you.

You spend months, possibly years writing your book. It's your heart and soul poured out into endless pages. No one can truly pull the same meaning from it as you do, not if you truly gushed every last drop of your love into it.

Once it is out there in the world, people have read it, people have reviewed it. The joy that comes with that feeling is unequivocal to anything else, at least, anything I have ever felt. That validation that your writing is worth looking at, that the stories you have to tell are what people want to read. To elicit emotion from others, is that not what we are born to do ?

So, now I have been wondering, where do I go from here?

Well, marketing is the main focus, that is what people will see on the outside. Instagram, Facebook, this ramshackle blog, Twitter (which I wholly do not understand). 

But behind the scenes, I'm still working on content. Still writing, or right now, editing book two. Ah, book two, my prized book in the series. The one I am most scared of putting out into the world. Am I going to let fear stop me? Hell no. 

We'll talk about fear next week.

Welcome to The Writing Witch.

Like everything in life, this is a bit of a work in progress. 

Since publishing "RED" I have been quickly accepted into the wonderful writing community around the world - Instagram has opened up that door. So one of my goals for this blog is to show my absolute love and appreciation for the people who made me feel like I wasn't alone in this self-publishing madness, I will be spotlighting some amazing books I've read by other independent authors.

Stay Tuned and feel free to comment below any indie authors and books you recommend!