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That’s a wrap! October 2019

31 October 2019 / No Comments

Is it just me, or has October completely flown by? I’ve celebrated some exciting life milestones this month, read 8 amazing books, and worked hard on both my WIPs to get them where they need to be. Read on for all the details!! →

Is it just me, or has October completely flown by? I’ve been keeping myself quite busy these past four-and-a-bit weeks, and I’ve celebrated quite a few exciting milestones in my life. My key “highlights” from the last month include:

Graduating from uni. While I finished my uni degree back in June, I didn’t have the official graduation until this month. There have been times in the last 6.5 years I thought this day would never come, so it was really great to finally celebrate it!

Receiving a job offer. This is not a drill, folks! Remember last month, when I mentioned I’d just had the final interview for a job I really wanted? I WAS OFFERED THE POSITION!! I won’t be starting until next year, but soon enough I will actually be employed!

Celebrating 100 blog posts. Yes, this very post is the lucky number 100! I launched this website/blog a bit over 2 years ago now and it’s changed so much since then, but I’m proud of what it is today and will keep on searching for ways to improve it!! 😊

This month I published 2 full blog posts, which you can check out below!

As you may be aware, I currently have 2 key writing projects: one a contemporary YA novel, and the other an epic fantasy series. My progress on these is revealed below…and you can click on each heading for more information!

Holding Up the Sky

“The weight of the sky—of the whole world—was pushing down, and it was crushing me.”

Status: Preparing submissions

Word count: 84,878

What’s new: In early October, I conducted a final read-through / proofread of my contemporary YA novel Holding Up the Sky, and have deemed the manuscript ready for submission! I’ve spent much of the last few weeks researching agents and publishers and very, very slowly working on my synopsis and query letters. They should be ready soon, and then I’ll start querying! Yikes!

Blood of Old (Graceborn #1)

“The Old has returned…and what once was, will be again.”

Status: Writing 2nd draft

Word count: 128,422

What’s new: This October, it was my goal to finish part 2 of 3 in the 2nd draft of Blood of Old, the first book in my fantasy series Graceborn. And I did it! I’ve been writing like mad, but I really wanted to get to the point where I could dedicate NaNoWriMo to working on part 3, which will put me back on track to finishing this draft by the end of the year. I’m really happy with how it’s turning out!

I read a total of 8 books this October, which included some truly amazing titles, and a number which have been sitting on my TBR for AGES! Now at 64/75, I’m also on track to finishing my 2019 Goodreads Challenge. The books I finished this month are:

“Those who cannot own their choices will always be mastered by fate.”


— from There Will Come a Darkness by Katy Rose Pool

I think I’ve said it before, but I’ve always been fascinated by the philosophy of the whole destiny vs free will debate. And I especially love it when it comes to fantasy fiction, when prophecies and fate often have a key role to play. What I enjoyed about this quote from There Will Come a Darkness was its simplicity, and how well it manages to capture the importance of acknowledging the choices one makes, regardless of whether they are right or wrong.

What did you get up to this October? Did you reach any exciting life milestones? Have you been preparing for NaNoWriMo?

I'm an Australian indie author who hoards books, loves dogs and coffee, and has a tendency of staying up all night!

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