A Little Bookish Update

Now, you probably all know by now that I’m a writer, and I can’t write short stories (they always end up over 85 thousand words long), so I thought I’d share a little update on the novel’s I’m working on. If that’s of any interest to you at all. 😌

My first book (second actually, my first was an unpublishable Spider-Man fanfiction), Fallen Ashes:

I jus recently finished sending query letters to three publishing houses. Suppose you can call January 30th ‘recent’. What I mean to say is I’ve finished a book. I understand the ups and downs. I know how hard it is sometimes to finish a ptogect, to get it done. I understand how hard it is to check off that box. In reality, it wasn’t easy, not the editing, not the writing . Not the brainstorming or consuming work. What was easy was knowing there was a passion to it and that it was worth it. That realization relies solely on the Lord telling you you’re meant to complete that goal.

My second book (Third after the fanfic), [~Insert amazing book title~] (Ehhehe, this one’s a super crazy, twisty turny rollercoaster of a novel…and I still don’t have a title for it. shakes my head):

Now, this might sound crazy, and it kind of is. But, on February 14th, I finished the first draft of the sequel. Now, to all of you out there thinking: ‘She wrote a book in under a month!’ No, I didn’t. I started just before Christmas and now have a roughly 99,000-word novel to label the sequel to Fallen Ashes (the book I’m querying with above).

And here’s the good news(!): Now I have to edit! (I said that like it was a good thing) And it almost is, but it’s not. The writing is what gets me going. The moment I get a good idea, my fingers just start flying over the tablet screen. There’s no stopping them. My heart fills with dead weight, but it’s a good weight. It's like it’s meant to be there. I’m almost feeling that right now if you can believe it. As I’m writing, the world is spinning, and it’s just me and the keyboard and the words. That was extravagant, but I couldn’t have said it better in any way.

I suspect I will be done reading through the first draft before the end of March (but it depends on how many times I have to reread chapters *hides head under a rock of shame*). And, who knows, maybe I’ll be sending out more query letters by the end of the year. *gives you a winky face and smug smile*

So…now what?

I guess we just sit around here until I end this post, and there’s nothing left to look at. .

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Well…you could just wait and not do anything…or I could find a little excerpt from Fallen Ashes and share it with you.

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Would that be fun? Let’s find out…:

‘My eyes jolted open, my head lifting from the desk. I blinked away the sleep in my eyes, waiting as my hands tingled. I flexed my fingers and cracked my back, then looked at Timothy’s phone sitting by my book. I pulled a pen from my bag and set my book on the table. I opened Timothy’s phone, holding it gently in my hands. Filling his phone number into the contacts, I waited, letting the phone sit in front of me for a moment. I stared at the screen, gritting my teeth together. My emotions stirred in my chest, twisting my stomach into a knot. Guilt tugged at my chest, pulling my heart into a deep cavern. Anger boiled in my blood. The emotions sat on my chest like dead weight. But I shoved it all down, determined not to let Timothy know how it all felt.

Aletha was alive, waiting for me to save her. Gran was sleeping, probably wishing I could have kept her safer. Timothy was miles away, hoping I’d save the world because if I didn't, we might all be gone.

I set my head in my hands, staring at my book as tears welled in my eyes. I read the riddle over and over again, the water in my eyes falling onto the pages and wetting the ink.

A burnt house, a singed palace where wooden beams create a maze.

Crossed fingers, masks of doom. Secrets whole that hid the moon.

Islands of death, whispers of pain, only a hero can save the day.

One more minute, one more month, one more second till life is off.

Come and find me, hidden from sight. Come and find me, little and light.

The good has left. Evil is here—time to go and find the fear.

Controlled by evil, snaked in pain. All the world should be the same.

When I had finally read over it fifteen times at least, something occurred to me.

I pulled my head from my palms, running a hand through my hair. The riddle. The lines. Something was connecting. There was something about Tarantula and threes. My house, and the school, and the hospital were all burned. Then, in lines one and four, threes again.

Maybe there was something special about the burn sites. Maybe that was what Aletha wanted me to do. Maybe that was them.

I furrowed my brow, putting my idea on paper and moving on. But as I sat back, trying my hardest to recall my dream, I realized something else. ‘Fire’ was in Aletha’s message too. Not just ‘riddle,’ but ‘riddle fire.’ I leaned my head back down to the book, reading down to line five and had to set my pencil down. Find something…. Now, it was real. I had to go back home.

But as I wrote down my theory, my head filled with what Trevor had said before he’d been shot. He’s listening. He knows. Apparently, my aunt needs to be controlled. Notes connect. Riddles make sense together. Fire can fight fire.’

This is a 509-word excerpt from chapter Twenty-Eight, page somewhere in the two hundreds, probably. This was a turning point for Jessica (the main character who struggles with major trauma, both mental and physical. And, I’m not joking). She learns she had it backwards and quickly finds a way to turn it around. (it being her life and how she’s trying to get revenge on the man that killed her grandfather. I told you I wasn’t kidding when I said major mental trauma)

Now, this is basically the first time I’ve shared any of my writing in public, so I’ll ask that anyone reading will respect copyright and keep the print on this website alone. Thank you, ❤️ (I’d ask the same thing even if it wasn’t my first time)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!

Let me know if you hated it in the comments. 🥹

Cover image free from the Wix gallery

‘Till next time, dear readers. God be with you all.

-Claudia