Where have I been?

 I just wanted to do a quick check-in with y'all. I haven't updated since June on here, and most of that is because life has happened, and I passed my licensure exam I took again in September!

After a two (?) year break from writing with the intent to publish, I've focused heavily this year on reading as much as I could and learning. Stephen King says if you don't have time to read, you don't have time to write, and I have to agree. Another thing I realized this year is the Magi Chronicles is a thriller, not an adventure, not a romance, well, not the main plot, although adventure and romance is in there with paranoromal and a mystery. I took the time to better myself as a writer by going to two different writing conferences this year, Imaginarium and SCBWI's Midsouth Conference, where I got to hear Jennifer Lynn Alvarez do a presentation on what makes a book a Thriller and what elements you need. It hit me that's what Drina's story needs to be, that's why it's never felt right. Also, I've had to stop plotting and just write to see where the story takes me. I got about 41,000 words into the story before Novel November, and I'm officially halfway through it, and hopefully, I will be able to hit 100K words before the New Year's and finish the rough draft of the manuscript. I've written a lot of junk parts that I know will be cut but I tried not to delete and put in workable stuff. Instead, I'm leaving it into give me an idea of time passing and the everyday for the characters. Drina just won't leave me alone, she wants her story written, but I haven't been the best trained writer to attempt it through all this time. This is quite a humbling admission, to be honest.

And I will update more on books I've read and enjoyed this year, especially since I got the Speechify app that's helped me read more than ever. I hope in December I can match my personal record from March where I finished 13 books in a month! For now, it's just Novel November on the docket and work, among other things.

Catch you on the flip side!