October Updates!

October Newsletter

This newsletter was a long time coming, but here I am! I was pretty hesitant at first to start a newsletter when I had so little out in the world to talk about. I mean, I haven’t even published my first novel (not one I’m willing to talk about at least), so what could I possibly have to say in a newsletter? Well, apparently a lot! I have so much going on in my writing life right now, and with an amazing community of other authors at my back encouraging me to do more, I finally convinced myself this newsletter was ready to happen.

And we’re here! We finally made it, and I’m so excited for you to join me on my writing journey! Bare with me, as this first newsletter is going to be fairly lengthy because there’s a lot going on!

October Happenings

It’s my favorite time of the year! Spooky Season is here! What does that mean for me as a writer? Well, two things: Preptober and Kinktober.

October is a busy, busy month for us writers, as those of us who participate are getting ready for NaNoWriMo in November. For those of you who don’t know, NaNoWriMo stands for “National Novel Writing Month”. It’s an annual event where thousands of writers across the world strive to write 50,000 words in 30 days! This will be my thirteenth year participating! I will likely write a separate newsletter with updates on my NaNo project as we get closer to November, so keep an eye out for that.

What that means right now, however, is that I’m in prep-mode. October is the typical month most planners and plantsers go through and get themselves ready for the high-stress event of writing a whole novel in a month! This means outlining, brainstorming, getting NaNoKits ready, and so on! While I normally strive to be a planner when it comes to NaNo, I am admittedly going a more plantser route this year, meaning I’m planning things out, but not doing any heavy outlining. The novel I am working on is very character driven rather than plot driven, so I don’t want to hold myself back too much by sticking to a specific scene-by-scene outline. Most of my prep this month is going to be brainstorming, character development, research, and scheduling.

In addition to Preptober, I am also participating in Kinktober! This is my first year doing something like this, but so far it’s been super fun! Basically what this means is that every day of October, I am writing short 400-700 (ish) word scenes based on a predetermined prompt. Each one is centered around various characters from my plethora of projects! So be sure to keep an eye on my Instagram for daily updates and fun sneak peeks into my characters and worlds! (Some scenes I may even expand for some newsletter incentives if there is enough interest!)

Now onto other news…

The Belamour Archives

As some of you might know already, my debut novel, Under the Dragon Moon, is currently in Beta! The deadline isn’t until the end of October, but I’ve been having so much fun reading everyone’s comments, and have felt so honored that my readers are loving what they’ve read so far. I’ve already gotten some amazing feedback from the few who have finished already, and I can’t wait to dive right back into revisions after the beta phase is finished! This series really is very close to my heart, as are the characters, and I really want this first book to be as absolutely perfect as it can be.

In other news, I am currently outlining book two of this series and it’s going…decently well. I add the hesitation because, while I know all the things that need to happen in this book, actually figuring out how they happen—and when—has proven quite difficult. Book two is going to be very heavy when it comes to my characters, their pasts, and their development, so I want to make sure I do it justice. Because of that, progress is a little slow going, but it is going! My goal is to have the outline finished by the end of October so I can start drafting in the November-December timeframe. That does depend on how quickly my revisions for Book One go, however. So stay tuned!

The Vestiges of Chaos

First and foremost, this series has a title now: “The Vestiges of Chaos”! While I am still mostly going to call it “ChaosWIP”, since I’m keeping the book titles a secret for now, I am very excited to finally decide on a series name! (And yes, I do have the titles all picked out already!)

This particular series is my first attempt at a full fantasy, which is both terrifying and exciting. Unlike the Belamour Archives, which is mostly urban fantasy until later in the series, Chaos is set in a world I have built completely from the ground up. That means a lot of worldbuilding, especially considering how important the world itself is to the plot. It’s a heck-ton of work, but I have been loving every second of it so far!

As for updates, I have finished the rough outline for the series, and the detailed chapter-by-chapter outline of Book One. I do plan on writing a chapter-by-chapter outline for the rest of the series soon, but for now I am simply in drafting mode. It’s been a long time since I’ve had my “Dirty Drafting Hat” on, so it’s definitely been a challenge. I’ve been in revisions for so long now, turning off the angry perfectionist in my brain has not been easy. However, that being said, we are already 20k words into the first draft, and I’m just kicking my feet giggling as I watch my little meow meows come to life! I hope to have some snippets and behind the scenes extras for you soon!

Other Projects and Life Updates

As per usual with the life of a writer, I have so many different side projects I’m working on because my mind simply cannot sit still on one project. That being said, I am playing around with a few other WIP’s here and there that you’ll likely be seeing more of in the upcoming months, especially with NaNoWriMo coming up. I’m even delving into a new genre I haven’t had the confidence to delve into before, and it’s consumed the goblins in my brain.

Aside from that, I have been working hard towards my goal of beginning my own editorial service, and eventually my own indie publishing house! I have a few novels lined up to edit once they are out of their beta phases, and I am also working as an editor and author on a secret project that will hopefully be announced soon! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Just a touch of magic is all it takes…

Mawce Hanlin || Author