Hello. Welcome to my dark corner of the internet. It smells like deadjournal in here. If you don’t understand that reference maybe find somewhere else to haunt. I’m still writing, and there is so much happening around me I’ve struggled to keep up.
It’s unseasonably hot at the moment, but I’m not sure if it’s just summer getting started or the dumpster fire in my head that’s keeping me warm. I’ll get to that in a moment; first— updates.
Post NYC Midnight (Summer 2024)
I started reworking my short story The Crossing, from the first round of the contest into an entirely different animal. It’s not that I didn’t love what I wrote, it’s just that I’ve always loved villains more— and that’s where The Last Dawn began.
Submitting Short stories and Poetry for small publications (Fall 2024)
I also decided to share some of my short stories; Something Like Love, and The Farm with some small publishers to see if I could get a bite. Spoiler Alert: a year later I’m a published poet in Crowstep Journal, so let’s check that off my starving artist bingo card.
Drafting The Last Dawn (Spring 2024-Spring 2025)
Looking back now, I have to say this all feels like it happened in a bit of a fugue state. I drafted half the novel lightning fast (to about 40k) before starting over and getting the color coded post-it notes out. I have pictures. It was pure madness. Then I was halfway through the next draft before I finally got two weeks to myself to finish it.
It was a lovely, insane two weeks in South Carolina, with no humans to bother me, only a small dog and plenty of girl dinner. Eat, sleep, write, repeat. A tornado happened, but I hardly noticed. Also I discovered how to write 5k a day consistently, and I honestly can’t recommend Rachel Aaron’s 2,000 to 10,000 enough for those struggling to boost their writing speed.
When I returned home to frigid NY once more, I had a finished first draft in hand, and I was absolutely delighted with myself. I thought maybe I’d earned a moment to take a break, and bask in the glory.
Then I remembered that I’m a monster, and dove straight into my brutal revisions. Let it be known— I do not have any qualms about strangling my darlings. I was almost horrified to discover that my ‘cuts’ folder was growing exponentially as I revised. At one point there were over 40k words in the cut folder, and the manuscript was barely more than 70k long.
But I stuck to my plan, make this story sharp as heck. So I committed. I rewrote so much. I tore out the spine of the main plot because I realized it was comically complicated. I thought my revisions would take two to three months. Imagine my shock when I realized— two weeks later, it was ready for betas. I had done it.
Now, hold on. I know what you might be thinking; you could not of possibly revised properly that quickly. That’s a fair assessment. But remember, I did not hesitate to rip my beloved child of a manuscript wide open with a box cutter. I prodded at it, poked at it, watched it squirm, and got back to work. I’m just unreasonable like that.
So- by March of 2025 I had the first beta-edition of The Last Dawn ready. I had already made up my mind to start querying agents in June if all went well. Then everything went… fast. I was querying by late March, and seeing interest by May.
Trust me, this makes it all sound simpler than it is. I’m intentionally leaving out my multiple imposter syndrome spirals, feral meltdowns, fear of handing other humans my trauma-ridden manuscript and—gasp!— letting them read it.
I’m also saving you the obsessive play-by-play of my querying journey so far; suffice to say, I’ve gotten too many “almosts” for my liking— and I’m still in the trenches.
The horrors persist, but so do I.
I should also add, I’ve been feeding my brain as many books as it can handle. I’m currently reading:
The Last Argument of Kings – Joe Abercrombie
I may name my next cats Glokta and Jezal. Really.
Mexican Gothic – Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Sinking into this like a well worn sweater in the autumn.
To Be Devoured – Sara Tantlinger
The reviews were promising. I love a book that horrifies people, but my standards are high.
Les Fleurs du Mal – Baudelaire
I am both reading this and listening to a man with a lovely voice read it in French. I highly recommend both. And a bubble bath.
Farewell for now, theres a manuscript that needs gutted—
SMH
