There’s an eagerness that comes with starting a new year, and it never fails that I always set lofty goals for myself. This year started on the back of a three year slump that was making me question whether or not I would ever “make it” as an author. I was optimistic this January. Every year I start out wanting to get myself back on track, but I could never get myself where I wanted to be. I struggled to write consistently. Sequels took me way longer than I had ever planned. I gave up on the thought of a release schedule. At that point, I was just trying to make any kind of forward progress.

I’m not here to tell you that I have completely salvaged my schedule. I made one. One that I thought was doable, and maybe it would have been if my brain and body had been completely cooperative. But I was not making the progress I had hoped, so I tossed it out.

You may be thinking to yourself “well, this doesn’t sound like a very promising update” and “does this mean THE DRAGON’S LOVER is going to take even longer?” And while yes, I have shifted my expectations to match where I’m at, this is not a bad update. There are many things that affect my writing from being a caregiver to my ADHD working against me to life situations that are completely out of my control. Amidst all of this, I was making sure I was there when everyone needed me, but I wasn’t asking for what I needed. But now I have.

I’m finally hitting daily word counts that I haven’t in a long time. I’m clearing projects in a decent amount of time, rather than taking several more months than I thought I’d need. There is about a week left in this month, and I’m almost at [number] for the entire month. It’s been ages since I’ve hit those kinds of targets. Due to deadlines, I have had to shuffle things around, but I am hoping to have a working draft of TDL by the end of the year, and my tentative plan, is to have it in your hands (or e-readers) next Spring!

If this continues (and I really hope it does) then I may finally be able to get on a schedule. There are so many stories I want to tell. More characters and worlds I want to share. Seriously. I have spreadsheets full of ideas.

The year is not yet over, and neither am I.

If you can’t tell, I had an Aveda Vice awakening this past month. I had been putting off reading FEED because I have a problem where I request a lot of books through NetGalley and my local library, and they all hit at the same time. But I was able to snag an ARC of A TASTE FOR THE PECULIAR, and I decided that was the perfect excuse for me to finally read about Pye and Avirin, and omg, I was kicking myself for waiting so long. While reading YOURS, INSATIABLY I had that “this is it” moment about how I want my romance writing to be. Aveda Vice nailed so many dynamics for me, and I am inspired.

Speaking of inspirations, once again Lyonne Riley delivered in her latest release IN THE EMBRACE OF DRAGONS. From yearning to polyamory to daddy kink to breeding kink. So many things I like wrapped up in one package. I have not read a book from Lyonne that I haven’t loved to bits. Every new release makes me feel like a kid in the candy store because I know it’s full of things I love.

It took me three farms and so many hours, but I have platinumed Coral Island on the PS5! Since the recent update dropped while I was in the middle of it, I decided to romance Raina this time, and her romance is so sweet, and I love the theme of everybody deserving a second chance when they put in the work. Since I’ve collected all of the trophies, I think I will take a break until the next big updates roll out.

A pretty light update for this month. I may or may not update for next month; it’s highly dependent on what kind of progress I’ve made on TDL and/or I have something I want to share. For those of us who have been in heatwave hell zones this summer, I hope the weather is cooling off for y’all as it’s finally starting to cool off in my neck of the woods.