Quarterly wrap: April – June 2025
How is it that we’re already halfway through 2025? My life has been jam-packed recently between caring for dogs, running a lot, and some very exciting writing developments. Come and check out what’s been happening in my second quarterly wrap of the year!! →
What’s new in my life
How is it that we’re already halfway through 2025? I almost fell off my chair in shock when I realised it was time for my second quarterly update of the year! I can’t decide whether the last three months have gone quickly or slowly, but here’s what I’ve been up to in April, May and June:
Taking care of dogs x2. Poor Violet got desexed in early April, so we had to endure ten torturous days stuck inside while she healed. It all went well, though! Then my parents went overseas for two months, and I intermittently took care of Willow. It was interesting having two doggos around!
Stepping up the running. After successfully completing a 14.4km running event, I started preparing for the half-marathon I have next month. Increasing my running distance sure does take up a lot of time, but I’m really enjoying it. Dare I say I might be getting a bit obsessed…? 😅
Escaping to the countryside. I took two weeks off work, and during that time I took Violet away to the country for four nights. We stayed in a rustic cabin just outside the charming town of Beechworth, and spent our time going for hikes, exploring the town, and eating lots of yummy food.
Author updates
I didn’t publish any new blog posts this quarter—except for this update, that is. But what I did do was a re-brand and re-fresh of my website. Have you noticed the moodier header and colour scheme? I think it really suits the vibe I’m going for as I creep closer to my fantasy publishing era!
The re-brand also extended to my author newsletter, though there’s still a bit of tinkering to do on the landing page etc. If you want an exclusive first look at all my new character art and early access to other exciting news coming soon, I highly recommend you sign up. 😊
Writing progress
Blood of Old (Graceborn #1)
Status: Proofreading
Word count: 190,000 (approx)
What’s new: There have been some exciting developments this quarter for Blood of Old, book 1 in the Graceborn series! I received the line edits back from my editor, then spent three jam-packed weeks going through the manuscript word-by-word to polish things off. In mid-June, the final checks were completed, and the book is now with my cousin for proofreading! I’ve also been tinkering with book formatting on the side. 😏
Graceborn #3
Status: Writing 1st draft
Word count: 112,345 (51%)
What’s new: Work on the first draft of book 3 in the Graceborn series has been a bit all over the place these last few months. That’s mainly because it got put on hold while I went through the edits for book 1. I still managed to write another 5x chapters and I’m trying to get back into things now. Because of the non-sequential way I’m drafting the book, I’m actually about to start work on the climactic sequence!
Books I’ve read
I had a pretty good few months on the reading front, all things considered. I read a total of 6 books this quarter, giving me a tally of 9 books read so far in 2025. That means I’m *almost* halfway to my Goodreads challenge goal of 20 books for the year. The books I finished recently are:
What have you been up to over the last three months? Has life been a whirlwind for you, too? How are you going with your writing and/or reading?
One Comment
alexwriter25
Hey Rebecca!
Aw I’m glad it all went well and that Violet has recovered 🙂 – and that must’ve been busy to have two doggos. Did they get along?
Awesome job 🙂 You’re making great progress with running. Kudos, Rebecca!
Your retreat sounds awesome. I saw the reel from your newsletter. 🙂 🙂
Your new site rebrand is neat. Kudos, my friend :]
Great progress with Blood of Old! Go Rebecca!
5 chapters is great. Nice progress with Graceborn 3 🙂 I’m cheering you on, my friend :). The covers of the books look great – I should check out the books you read :).
Life’s been a whirlwind. Things are very busy. Thinking a lot about the world. But I also have been drawing. I’m writing too and recently gained a stronger interest in brake and tail light repair for cars. I’m reading a lot too. And I went on vacation to Indianapolis and Chicago a couple weeks ago :).
Take care. Have a nice day, my friend!