Author: sarinalanger

How was your May, Sparrows? As expected, mine was packed, and most of it was re-release related. Turns out, it was so packed I can’t even think of a good title–and that’s without having done everything I wanted!

But let’s focus on what did get done, hm?

Relics of Ar’Zac

Rise of the Sparrows

The re-release went ahead as planned (you can still grab it on offer until this Sunday!) and is underway!

There’s a little issue with the paperback so that’s not available again just yet, but I’m hoping to sort it within the next week or two–it depends on when my cover designers are back from their holiday.

Until then, I’m happy to say that the new eBook version is officially out and I’m tired and I’m ready to move on. This has been a long time coming. Who’d have thought I’d still be working on Book 1 three years after the original release date? The learning curve in this business is a bitch.

(I do love it, though <3 Yay for making mistakes and learning!)

A few things around the re-release took up more time than expected, especially the new onboarding sequence for my mailing list. Some of my other goals didn’t get quite as much attention as a result, but who cares? I re-released a book this month. I did good.

Blood of the Dragon

I haven’t added the new scenes and chapters yet, but I have applied all of my critique partners’ feedback. Doing that has already added quite a few words, so the remaining wordcount I need to add doesn’t look as daunting.

I’ve also messaged my editor about the line edit *ahem*

More on that next week 😉

Dreamer

I’ve started plotting and it’s my favourite thing in the world <3 I’ve got so much planned for this little trilogy, but it’s too early to share anything yet. I can leave a few small teasers though 😉

Dreamer will have:

A sassy cat spirit guide.

Vampires and magic.

A best-friend relationship.

An old bookstore.

Pain.

That’ll have to do until I can share more. July Camp NaNo is just around the corner, so it shouldn’t be too much longer 😉

How was your May? Make a tea, find some biscuits, and tell me what you’ve achieved <3

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Happy May, Sparrows!

I always like it when there’s variety between two consecutive months, but after April’s two-goal focus, May’s excitement may be a little too much for me!

Better make tea.

(Because caffeine calms, doesn’t it??)

Let’s just take a deep breath before we dive in… (I have a feeling I’ll be doing this a lot this month)

Relics of Ar’Zac

Rise of the Sparrows

My editor messaged me earlier this week and told me that she’s almost done with the proofread, so you know what that means? I’m officially re-releasing in May.

*deep breaths*

I’m especially excited about that because I originally released it in May 2016. Clearly, this is my month to get shit done.

With the re-release so soon, I have a ton of prep to do. My mailing list’s welcome sequence needs adjusting, ad copy and images need to be prepared, new reviews need to be collected,…

*deep breaths*

You’d think that’s enough for one month, but wait, there’s more!

Blood of the Dragon

Since the Blood Wisp trilogy is with critique partners now, I can finally finish editing this. Meaning, I’ve got last critique partner notes to apply and chapters to add. Like, at least 15k.

No biggie.

Then it’ll be as good as ready for my editor to work her line edit magic, and then I’ll be asking for beta readers before long.

*deep breaths getting shaky*

Shadow in Ar’Sanciond

All I need to do here is read through it again and make it darker wherever possible. Compared to the rest, this is quite relaxed. I might do it when I need a break from the other stuff *shrugs*

Dreamer

THE PLOTTING EXCITEMENT IS REEEEEAAAAAAL

*deep breaths* *uncontrollable bouncing*

I’ve been wanting to plot this for months, but I’ve been a good kitten and waited until it’s time.

Well, Sparrows, it’s time.

Dreamer (temp. title) 1-3 is gonna get plotted this month. Also next month. As long as it’s ready for Camp NaNo in July (yes, I’m aware I’ve only just finished the last Camp, why do you ask), I’ll be happy.

What will you achieve this month? Make a tea and tell me about your goals <3

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Hello, Sparrows!

April has been a powerhouse of progress for me.

Camp NaNo

I admit, part of me wasn’t convinced I’d edit all three novellas/182 pages this month, but guess what? I did!

The end even sneaked up on me, somehow. I realised last week Tuesday, 25 pages before the end, that the next step is sending it to critique partners–and I hadn’t drafted the email or asked for volunteers.

All that is done now. I’ve finished editing Blood Vow last week Wednesday, I’ve asked for and chosen my critique partner volunteers, and I’m sending it to them this week. I’m still waiting for a few to confirm, but other than that, it’s ready to go.

Rise of the Sparrows

My editor got her line edit changes back to me this month, and I’ve accepted them and sent it back to her for the final proofread.

I’ve also sent the new ARCs to my Sparrow Review Team and made it available on BookSprout.

Between that and NaNo progress, April has been one hell of a high-energy month!

(and then a very-low-energy month when post-NaNo fatigue hit me suddenly and violently)

See my May goals (later this week) for re-release details 😉

Excerpt

It’s been a while since I posted an excerpt, so it’s about time! This one is from Blood Wisp, and I think it sums up my MC Michiko’s feelings throughout quite nicely:

She no longer felt completely human, but she wasn’t a Mist demon, either. She was some kind of nameless monster, some new terror the archives would lock away to be forgotten, and no amount of chamomile tea would make that better.

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How did April treat you? Make a tea and tell me all about it.

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Happy April, Sparrows!

I have only two goals this month:

Camp NaNo

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! *happy sigh* I’m editing my Blood Wisp novella trilogy, and I’ve set a rather large goal of all 182 pages. When you consider that three of those are title pages, it’s really not that bad *ahem*

Because NaNo takes it out of the best of writers, I’ve set some rewards for myself as motivation:

If I make it through Blood Wisp, I get Wicca: A Modern Guide to Witchcraft and Magic by Harmony Nice.

If I make it through Blood Song, I get a new candle, because my lovely pistachio and lemon one is almost dead.

And if I make it through all three, I get… I’m still a little undecided on that, actually. I had some books written down, but I feel like it shouldn’t all be research.

Whether I manage to edit all three novellas or not isn’t important. I’ll make a ton of progress this month, and I’m excited for it.

If you’re doing NaNo this month, tell me if you’ve set yourself rewards for various milestones and what they are <3

Rise of the Sparrows

My editor told me she’ll finish the line edit this month, possibly as early as this week, so I’ve got a re-release to plan. I am doing NaNo, though (in case you didn’t notice–I’m not sure I mentioned it), so I’ll be happy to just apply her changes and send it back for the final proofread.

Since I’ve never re-published anything before–and because I’ve done a ton of research since my last release–I’m excited to see how it compares when I pull out ALL the stops.

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Can you believe Camp NaNo is only a few days away? :O I’m really excited to dive in, but for now I’ll behave and concentrate on March.

Maps

I decided to hold off on creating my new maps so I can create them alongside editing their books. I’ve made a rough (and I mean Rough, because I have no drawing skills) start on the map for Shadow in Ar’Sanciond, but Blood Wisp will have to wait.

Not for long, though, since it’s my NaNo project 😀 *flails because NaNo addiction*

Relics of Ar’Zac

Everything is slowly coming together, Sparrows. I’ve added two and a half new chapters to Shadow in Ar’Sanciond, and dare I say I made it even darker? I love how it connects with the main trilogy, but I also kind of hate myself for doing it. There are a lot of bits that need to match on both ends, especially two scenes which happen in the prequel novella and Blood of the Dragon, from two different POVs and at different moments in time.

So.

*ahem*

I’ve given myself a lot of work to do, but I hope you’ll love it when it’s ready. I’m relieved I’m editing both books at the same time. It gives me more freedoms than I would have had otherwise.

What’s left to do?

Not much on Shadow in Ar’Sanciond. I’ve applied all critique partner feedback, I’ve added the two chapters, so now I’ll just need to go over everything again in May (after NaNo, thank you), make sure everything still works as it should, make it a little darker where I can… and then it’ll be off to my editor for its line edit o.o

Blood of the Dragon has a little more left. I’ve applied quite a few critique partner notes this week alone, but I keep getting carried away where I see other areas I can work on. I do have several ideas for expansion, so that shouldn’t be a problem. And because I’m a hyper-organised control freak, I’ve created a Google Spreadsheet with what happens in every chapter, whether it needs anything added to it and what, whether I need to move it, and of course that’s all colour-coded, too <3

Also, my editor has informed me that she’s almost done with Rise of the Sparrows line edits, so that’s one to look forward to in April!

(This series always takes up the main chunk of these posts, doesn’t it? It’ll feel weird when they’re all published and out in the world and there’s nothing left to report </3 My babies are growing up X’C)

Camp NaNo

I declared my project the day it was possible to do so. I may have been stalking the website for a few days… *ahem*

I’ve prepared what I could, so I’m hoping for minimal distractions next month. I may need to stock up on tea, but all three novellas are in one Word doc and I’ve changed the font and colours, so hopefully that’ll help. 182 pages is possible in one month, right? Bear in mind that three of those are title pages, so really it’s 179.

Definitely not over-ambitious.

…

*adds all the tea to shopping list*

But more on that on Monday 🙂

How did your March go? Make a tea, get some biscuits, and tell me about your progress <3

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Happy March, Sparrows!

If you read my February update last week, you may have noticed that I’m excited March is here. If you haven’t, it’s because the first two months of 2019 were a bit busy and a tad stressful. March, however, promises an awful lot more variety!

Here’s what’s on my to-do list this month:

Maps

It’s been forever and an age since I’ve last drawn a map, but with edits on Shadow in Ar’Sanciond and the Blood Wisp trilogy just around the corner, I figured I’d better get a move on.

Now, I can’t draw and rely on my cartographer to make my sketches look pretty, so we’ll see how these turn out. Thank Kittens I don’t have to do the final versions myself!

If they aren’t as bad as I expect, I might even show them off here, but no promises.

Relics of Ar’Zac

With Rise of the Sparrows rewrites back with my editor, I can focus on Blood of the Dragon and Shadow in Ar’Sanciond. My critique partners have sent me feedback for both and I’ve had a bit of time to think as well, so I’ve got a few ideas on how to make both better now.

There’s a fair bit of work involved–especially with Dragon, which is much too short–but I’m excited to get started.

Camp NaNo

With Camp only a month away, I’ve been keeping an eye on my inbox for that email telling me I can sign up.

(I may have been overeager and checked on Friday.)

I’ll tackle first Blood Wisp edits, so that’s really more something for next month, I suppose? What can I say, I caught the bug early.

But there are some things I can do this month to prepare, like copy all three Scrivener novellas and put them into one Word document. Change the font and colours so I can get a fresh look at it. It’s been resting for a while now (especially Book 1, which I wrote during last year’s April Camp), so I’m hoping the break and different style will make editing it easier.

So, to summarise…

Draw some terrible map sketches, copy the last of my critique partners’ feedback, expand Blood of the Dragon, cut Shadow in Ar’Sanciond, and prepare for Camp NaNo.

Don’t think about how this isn’t quite half of my whole to-do list.

Easy!

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