Whew. February was busy!!! The highlight was having my brother-in-law come stay with us for two weeks. Even though we didn’t go out much (thanks to curfews and lousy weather), it felt like a holiday just hanging out and watching movies and hockey. We miss you, Joe! 

In other good news, baseball practice started up again (Go Warriors), my baby girl got her learner’s permit, and thank goodness, both kids went BACK TO SCHOOL!!! 

Things were busy in my writing world too. I participated in my first Instagram challenge,#spreadtheloveauthorschallenge, and met a whole slew of wonderful writers across all genres. Some are even local!! Here's hoping for some in-person write-ins once the weather decides to cooperate. 

I also participated in the Women's Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) WOW challenge, which is a whole month dedicated to working on a current project. My *plan* was to read through, outline and revise the first draft of my linked story collection, WEDDING DAY. Of course, we all know what they say about the best laid plans… 

After numerous recommendations, I decided to revise WEDDING DAY using the SAVE THE CAT beat sheet. In doing so, I identified two characters, a brother and sister florist team, that needed to be cut for plot and pacing reasons. It broke my heart to do it, but it made the story line tighter. So, as they say, I “killed my darlings.”

Except these darlings didn’t want to be killed. Instead, they woke me up the next morning at 6 a.m. and insisted I outline their story. Which I did. So on day 18 of a 28-day challenge, I completely changed gears and am now writing a whole new novel, a commercial women’s fiction novel tentatively titled WELCOME TO BLOOMS. I’ll be posting an excerpt soon (just as soon as I, you know, write it.) 

February Wrap-up/Successes: 

1. 5th read through/revision of SOMETHING BETTER (Much ❤ to my bestie, Cass, for beta reading!)

2. Drafted 15 query letters for agent representation

3. Wrote/posted 2 blog posts

4. Completed first read through/outline of work in progress (WIP) #2 WEDDING DAY

5. Participated in the WFWA “Work Our WIPs (WOW)” February Challenge.

6. Applied to/was accepted into WFWA's mentorship program

7. Social account followers: IG 385/Twitter 359

8. Participated in #spreadtheloveauthorschallenge

9. Attended author Sarah Penner’s webinar about researching and querying agents 

10. Books read: 7 (2021 total: 13/60) 

March Goals: 

1. Continue first draft of WELCOME TO BLOOMS (W2B) - Goal is 800 words/daily, with a first draft completion deadline of June 2. 

2. Starting today, I am participating in the WFWA Mentorship program, where I will work with my mentor on a three-month "deep dive" into my submission packet, including my query letter, synopsis and first three chapters. Querying will be on hold during this time.

3. Also starting today, I'm participating in the Women in Publishing Summit, a week-long event featuring publishing experts from across the writing and publishing industry. This is my third summit, and I always learn so much.

4. Website care and feeding includes two blog posts and continued SEO improvements. And I still need to figure out how to add playlists and social media feeds. 

5. Currently on my TBR: 

• THE HAPPY EVER AFTER PLAYLIST by Abby Jimenez

• WE ARE INEVITABLE by Gayle Foreman (Note: I won this in an IG contest and Gayle herself DM'd me!!!)

• THE LOST APOTHECARY by Sarah Penner

• UPSTAGED by Diana Harmon Asher (In another cool IG moment, Diana invited me to the Zoom launch of her new book after I recommended her debut in another post. Writers really are the nicest people.)

• and a carryover from February, THE EMOTIONAL CRAFT OF FICTION by Donald Maas

Thanks again for checking in! As always, I love to talk to people, so send me a note! Let me know what you’re up to and what you’d be interested in seeing here on the blog. Also, let me know your favorite Spotify channels - I need music when I write!

Xoxo, y’all!