November Updates!

A Touch of Magic

Author

Mawce Hanlin
November 17, 2023

November Updates!

We’re officially halfway through November and goodness has it been a busy month already! I have so many great updates for you all, so I’m just going to jump right into the meat of things!

50k Writing Challenge

First, some unsavory updates:

So as many of you may know already, November is host to an annual writing project called NaNoWriMo, standing for “National Novel Writing Month”. The goal is to write 50k words of a novel in only 30 days! That’s 1,667 words a day! This is a challenge I have participated in for 13 years, and plan on participating in for many more!

That being said, I unfortunately am having to distance myself from NaNoWriMo as an Organization after some disheartening information came out about how they’ve been handling certain situations as of late. I won’t go into the details here, but suffice it to say everyone, especially minors, needs to stay safe on the internet and especially public forums! I want to thank all the people who worked so hard to bring this information to light, even as the forum mods attempted to cover it up and brush it off. If you’d like more information on the situation, you can check out my X (Twitter) for a thread of the goings on.

This unfortunate event however is not going to dissuade me from participating in something that has been a staple in my life for so long! This challenge is a sense of pride and community for me, and I won’t let a sour organization ruin that. So I will now simply be participating on my own using various other word count trackers. So fret not! I am still writing!

So what are you working on, Mawce?

Well, I’ve decided to try something brand new for this year! A dangerous and exciting choice to make for such a fast paced writing challenge. Some of you have already heard plenty about my Wallpaper WIP, especially those who follow my various socials. This book is my first dive into the horror / gothic romance genre, and I am having such a great time with it! It’s a difficult challenge for sure, but it’s been so much fun and I have such an awesome community of friends cheering me on!

So far I am significantly ahead word count wise thanks to spite and mental illness, but if you want to keep a closer eye on this project, check out my Instagram, Tumblr, and various other socials for daily updates on WC and snippets!

I’m in an Anthology!!!

“A collection of ten queer fantasy short stories about monsters, romance, acceptance and unravelling mysteries.”

A Chronicle of Monsters: A Fantasy Anthology

Out March 27th, 2024

I have been dancing around my house in excitement for the day I can finally announce this, and here we are! I have had the complete honor of participating in this anthology with a handful of other amazing authors, and we’ve been working really hard on getting it ready for your shelves!

The project itself, A Chronicle of Monsters: A Fantasy Anthology, has been curated by the amazing Rita A. Rubin, author of the fantasy novel, Of Knights and Books and Falling in Love (found here.) It’s a collection of fantasy short stories written around the theme “monster”, and it’s filled with all kinds of amazing stories that really tug at the heartstrings!

I had the opportunity to include my own short story, We Fellow Monsters, a story about magical heists, trans acceptance, and found family. It serves as a little prequel story to one of my main characters in ChaosWIP, so if you want a little sneak peek into the ChaosVerse, definitely check it out!

I also had the honor of working as an editor in partner with Rita, and let me tell you these authors have produced amazing stories that you’ll be dying to read! Check out the other authors who participated, a lot of them have works out already, and keep an eye on our Goodread’s page for more information! I’ll keep everyone updated on the timeline for pre-orders and such!

An UtDM Update

I’m not quite ready yet to announce my release date, but I do have one that I’m aiming toward! Under the Dragon Moon is officially out of the beta phase, and I’m back into revisions and edits! I’m working with a cover artist right now, and am learning how to format and market. So while I have a lot of work left to do, my current plan for this book is to release it early 2024! That’s right around the corner!

So be sure to keep an eye out on all my socials, as well as my newsletter here, for upcoming announcements! I do plan on doing pre-orders and incentives, and my newsletter subscribers will get first notice on those announcements! I might also sneak in some snippets and deleted scenes as we get closer to the pub date!

This journey has been a wild one, and a long one, and I cannot express how grateful I am to those out there who have been so incredibly supportive to me during this process! I honestly don’t think I would be as far as I am right now, and as close to publication as I am, without my support system. I love you all so much, and can’t wait for you to have this book in your hands.

Art by @Kitrely on Instagram! Check her out! She does a lot of my character art and I am so so so thankful for her endless patience with me!

And that’s all folks! Keep updated on my socials, and I’ll see you next time!

Just a touch of magic is all it takes…

Mawce Hanlin || Author