STORYTIME MONTHLY UPDATE: September 2018

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Whoah, that was a big month!
 
Lot’s of things happened to me in terms of my writing journey.
What were they?
 
Let me try and remember....

WRITING LIFE:
First thing that happened this month, was I finished the manuscript I’ve been working on for the last couple months. And I’m excited about it! I’m so pleased it’s all worked out, because to be honest, for the first half of this manuscript I STRUGGLED (you can read about my struggles HERE), and that first half was a very difficult time for me.
 
But after I posted that linked blog post on the struggle, I managed to wrap my head around everything and attack the story fresh, and then I sort of fell in love with it. And from that halfway point right until the end (with lot’s of re-writing of the start) everything just flowed beautifully and I had such a fun time writing it.
 
The true lesson taken from this experience for me I think, is that when writing, I really do truly need to forget about the fact that it will get read by others one day, and just focus on pleasing myself, instead of worrying about pleasing the world.
 
It’s a bit hard for me to tell yet, but I think maybe it has worked out okay. It’s a YA contemporary with the same light and romantic, humorous vibes as my upcoming debut novel, Making Friends with Alice Dyson.
 
I am a little nervous about it, but this follow up novel is ready to be sent to my agent now, so really, I will just be sitting and waiting to see if she thinks it’s okay or needs more work. Fingers crossed! Wish me luck!
I so want this novel to work out!

In other news, on the debut novel front, my publisher has been working on a cover, so I should see some options soon (oh my gosh!) and the manuscript has been typeset, ready for the final proof reads.

I also received some reader feedback, which blew me away. I have pasted them below, but haven’t included the names of the lovely readers, as they were sent directly to the publisher and I’m not quite sure of the etiquette.
But anyway, here they are:
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A Publisher
Well that was magic - finished the whole thing tonight! Teddy is the new Jacob Coote in my world, I think.
It’s an absolute joy and so addictive. I felt so much love and angst and the friendship stuff really got me too. I’m going to start planning my dream cast for the movie. Thanks so much for letting me read!
 
A Teacher
The roller-coaster ride of Year 12 has never been captured so well as in this excruciating journey of a Year 12 nerd who finds herself unable to maintain her usual invisibility and is forced to confront the truth about herself and her relationships, and adjust her secret gap-year dream. It’s a heck of a ride and I believe many young adult readers will be only too happy to hop on board and experience the peaks and troughs of Alice Dyson’s final year of school.
 
A Teen
absolutely loved it!!!! and my favourite scene was when she told him she loved him. Classic love scenes never get old :D
 

I mean, there is a very mild spoiler in that last one, but what the hell! So how cool is that???
I was sort of freaking out.
It is a very weird thing though, to realise my book is out there, being read by strangers.
​Crazy! Exciting! (Terrifying?)
 

The other forward movement for my debut this month was that my publisher started seeking endorsements from authors and names in the industry. I am planning a nice long waffly post on that particular roller coaster of utter emotion, so keep your eyes open on this blog for when that one drops.

But I won’t go into it here, you’ll just have to wait (spoiler: ELATION! HAPPINESS! Crashing and burning! Oh the terror! Back and forth, back and forth. Ridiculous.)
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Anyways... that’s what happened in the writing world this month.
And finally, lastly, instead of taking a week off from writing stories, I immediately started a new novel. I’ve been doing some Instagram posts on it, as it’s my first time trying to get into planning a bit more, cos I usually just sort of make it up as I go along.

So this is something a bit different and actually just for fun. So I’m pretty excited about it! :) I’ll call it Current Project: 1957.
​Cos why not? Code names are fun. :) 

LIFE LIFE:
Well I’ve been working. At my job. All of the days.
Other than that it was my mum’s birthday. It’s the second one since she’s been gone. And actually it sort of sucked, but me and my dad spent the day together and tried our best to have as nice a time as we could. And it went okay. I guess things get easier every year. Hopefully they’ll be better next year. 
Lastly, my lovely husband is on the last month and a half of his Honours year at uni, so he is working hard and drowning in science.

Reading Life:

I read lots of cool stuff this month!! 
But I reckon I'll do a separate little round up micro review post on it instead of shoving it in here with this already MASSIVE blog post. So instead, here are some little pictures!
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What have you been up to this month?
What have you been doing or reading or working on?
I'd love to know! 
:)