self publishing – Kathryn Amonett

I was, perhaps, premature in gifting myself this LamyAL-Star in Tourmaline to celebrate my finishing Nature of Magic.

I sent the draft to my editor, promptly got sick and collapsed for a few days. (I am waiting for at-home covid test results as I write this post.)

Then this morning, I received both my lovely lovely pen and an email from said editor entitled “DON’T HATE ME”.

I haven’t read her comments yet, but I think it’s fair to say that I am not as close to publication as I’d hoped.

Still aiming for a September publish date, even if there are still many rewrites in my future.

But let’s talk about something else, like… my favourite time of year.

BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING!

(You thought I was going to say autumn. And yes, I do love autumn, but it has the unfair advantage of being associated with back-to-school-ness.)

It should be a holiday, in my opinion, celebrating learning, presents (or school supplies if you like—same thing) and anticipation of new beginnings! I’m not in school anymore, but I still love shopping for school supplies. I’ve already bought my planner for 2023 (I’ve boarded the hobonichi techo train, and got myself the weeks version) a set of midliners, and, of course, the new Lamy and a pretty bottle of ink in amazonite, which I managed to dunk my thumb in the moment I opened it and now under my nail is a lovely shade of green.

In other news, I ordered a bike online a few months ago and it FINALLY CAME! I’ve been riding it everywhere, even though my city is not the most accommodating for cyclists. Still, I love it. I rode every day to where I would write, got my work done, rode back, and boom, work and exercise done before noon. If I accomplish nothing else with my day, still pleased. (I’ve even ridden it throughout this rainy week we’ve been fortunate enough to have.)

And speaking of rain, it has been lovely reading weather.

And just what am I reading?

BABEL!

So so so so so so good. I have been waiting for this book to come out for MONTHS and yes, I did go to Barnes and Noble the morning it came out. I’m really enjoying it. Taking my time to savor it, because I know I’ll only get to read this for the first time once.
All the the vibes. Seriously, it puts my own dark academia resistance story to shame and I LOVE IT.

(I took that photo in my car after just having left the bookstore, considering maybe I should just read a chapter or two in the truck before I went home.)

Anyway, one last plug to please buy or read on Kindle Unlimited my Relearning Magic series. I’m told that I should not make any post without plugging my stuff.

Sounds tedious, but I’ll try it this time, just to see.

That’s all for today.

Oh, wait. An update! Both my partner and I tested negative for Covid! We’re just… sick with something else that is also miserable. Hurrah!

What I’m working on (new project!)

What am I working on?

Obviously, I’m working on EOM again. But after I published the latest chapter, I decided to write a novella (a trilogy of novellas, actually) just for my EOM readers. Original fiction that will hopefully be enough like EOM to get and keep their interest, but different—quite different— in that they will be shorter and sweeter. A modern fantasy novella (series) with a guaranteed happy ending. With any luck, this can be a stepping stone from my fan fiction to my original fiction?

I started it Monday, and I’m about halfway through (the first one) and it’s been fun to write so far. It will obviously need editing and redrafting. If all goes well, it could be out (on Amazon) at the end of August/the start of September, depending on how my graphic designer friend gets on with the cover. (And she can’t start until I’ve finished at least the first draft, so, that’s still on me.)

Something about publishing chapter by chapter, or novella at a time, makes it easier. It’s not instant gratification by any means. Still, it allows you to put something out there and feel a sense of accomplishment. Whereas with a novel, you might be working on it for a year with nothing to show (the world) for it, and the longer it takes, the longer you have to fall out of love with it or even grow to hate it.

I have my own ideas for a few novella series, but I wonder, is it a terrible idea to take suggestions? I would like to know what people enjoy reading now, and I want to practice writing in different genres. (However, I lack the self-motivation to just do it without any incentive/accountability.) Something to ponder.

After I post this little ramble to the blog, I’m going to write as much on the new novella as I can. It’s at that stage where the writing of it is a bit addicting (the way EOM used to be). So, I’m eager to get to it. In fact, I shall end the post here.