Happy Monday

Hey everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. 

I got a lot done over the past week; I hit a writing milestone on Parker’s Demon, worked on the balcony and backyard, and prepared for Pride Lit Con.

Let’s talk about the first milestone. The words are flowing, seriously flowing, and I’m glad they aren’t slowing down. I haven’t felt this happy about writing in a long time, and I can’t stop thinking about my characters. Aoi and Parker really have my brain jumping, and I’m trying to keep things consistent. That said, I don’t think this will be the last book in the Pryde Shifter series. I think opening up new realms helped the story transition from a magical world to others. And now that my characters are in the same realms (and had their first kiss…yay…), I feel like things are moving at a faster pace. There are times when I have to tell myself to slow the plot down so I can tell the best story. I mean, the plot itself is a slow burn. In the first half of the story, Parker and Aoi aren’t even in the same realm. I know I’m rambling and what I’m saying might not make any damn sense, but I’m really excited about this story. 

Even though the words are flowing, there’s always that fear of burnout returning and losing the focus I’ve regained over the past few months. Imposter syndrome is real, y’all. I’m not sure how to explain it, but for me, it's feeling, saying, and knowing that the story I’m writing is good. The characters are sound, the plot will pull you in, making everyone fall in love with them, and leaving it at that. But then there’s that nagging voice in the back of my mind, plagued with doubt, that tells me no one will like it, it’s too long (word count worry, another topic for another day), the characters are this way or that, the sex isn’t hot enough, or there are too few sex scenes. I have to seriously ignore it, and sometimes ignoring it works, and other times it's hard. Because, as I want to believe that my books are everyone’s cup of tea, I know they aren’t. Which is why I am grateful for the readers I have. You all have given me time to sort out my emotions and to understand why I think Parker’s Demon is flowing the way it is, without worrying about the word count.

Which brings me to my next rambles, the backyard. Honestly, I think working on these DIYs is helping feed the other creative side I’ve been afraid to unlock. When we started these projects, it was simply to fix up the backyard we hadn’t done much with, and I think my husband is a serious enabler because I’ve been wanting to do something like this. All I said to him was that I think we need to update the balcony furniture by sanding and spray painting them a different color and adding new seat cushions. Now we’re replacing stairs and balusters, with plans to make the deck furniture ourselves rather than buying it, which might be better. And I’m not complaining because, like I’ve said before, I’m learning more and more, and I think it’s helping me with my writing. I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos on how to do this or that and looking for furniture build plans, and I’ve found some really good ones. Even though they say they're easy, they still seem intimidating, but I’ve dedicated myself to doing this, so I’m going to keep going. Last week I mentioned we built a workbench; I found these plans through a YouTube search, of course. I added a picture and a video showing how far we’ve gotten and what more needs to be done.

Let me know what you guys think in the comments. How do you think two amateurs are doing?

I’m sort of ready for Pride Lit Con. I have all the books I’m going to carry, plus a few other things. I’m really excited for this new experience. I guess that’s what this year is all about, stepping outside my box and doing things I’ve never done before. 

Story chapters I will be posting this week: Not Your Average Fairy Tale, and more of Parker’s Demon. We’re diving into Aoi’s POV. Let me know how you liked the first chapter so far. Also, updates on Rebirth, Love, and Survival will be out this weekend. 

That’s all the rambles I have for now. I hope you have a wonderful week.

Let me know how you’re doing in the comments.

Gia