It’s been a while since I’ve posted an update about what I’m working on. I hope (assume?) I wasn’t alone when the end of 2020 came around and I looked back on the year and concluded that I hadn't achieved anything new. (Although I published Eat Pray Shag in May, that was already in the works before Covid-19 hit and productivity went up in smoke).

I’ve been finding it really hard to stay focussed on any one writing project for an extended period of time. I don’t know if the problem is my fragmenting concentration, newfound addiction to checking the news, or simply general lack of motivation caused by pandemic anxiety (possibly all three?). In any case, I’m slowly starting to make new roads with the projects that are important to me, so here’s an update on where each of my upcoming works are at:

Great Sexpectations (Laura the Explorer book 3)

This is the book where Laura finally gets to start her new job on a film set! I’ve got the whole outline done and I’ve written a big chunk of it, but I’m hoping to get some experience on a genuine film or tv set in the coming months (if my plan pans out!). Right now, work on GS is on hold, but I’m still planning to have this book finished and out into my readers hands during 2021.

Kalileia / Deadly Beautiful

My YA fantasy has a new name! Also I’ve realised that it’s not actually fantasy, it’s technically sci-fi (or sci-fi dystopian to be exact). This manuscript is completed and I’m finally at a point where I’m really happy with the story. Rather than indie publish this one, I’m hoping to get a traditional publishing contract for the series, which means I’ve started querying agents. And so, let us talk about …

THE QUERY CHRONICLES

This is SUCH a long and time consuming process. I’ve actually been querying this one since July, but it was only in November that I finished tweaking the final version, changed he name the Deadly Beautiful and have really ramped up the querying process. To date I’ve sent out over 60 queries to agents in the US, UK and Australia (including ones sent prior to November), and so far have had 32 rejections, 8 non-responses (presume rejected), 1 request for a partial and 1 request for a full. Plus there’s still over 20 queries out there waiting a response and I still have a TON of agencies on my to-do query list.

Part of me is a bit horrified by how many rejections I’ve received, but then I’m pretty sure this is normal. At least, it’s normal for a book that isn’t “on-trend” at the moment. Almost every single agency and agent at the moment seems to be seeking “own voices” stories, and stories from BIPOC authors or authors from the LGBTQ community. Either that or they’re looking for rom-com (Why now, when I’ve already self-published LTE???) I don’t fall into any of these categories, so I’ll just have to wait and hope that at some point soon an agent will read my query letter and it will, in fact, be exactly the type of manuscript they are looking for. Either that or I’ll exhaust all my query options and then possibly re-consider my publishing goals for this book. I’ll share more info on this as the year progresses!

Project B.A.D.

So now we come to the manuscript I am actually writing at the moment. This is an idea I’ve had in my head for a while now, and since it was distracting me from writing other books, I’ve decided to give it some time in the spotlight. I’m not ready to share much about this except to say that it’s a contemporary stand-alone novel. Currently I’m at approximately 30,000 words, or half-way through the first draft, and though I’m starting to get into saggy-middle territory, I still think this is a killer book concept and I hope I can do justice to the idea I have in my head. This is another project that I’d like to either try querying to agents/publishers or else enter into some of Australia’s writing competitions this year. I’ve set myself a deadline of the end of summer to get the first draft done – which is only a few weeks away! (I should probably be writing that, instead of this, right now).

What I’m reading

Too many books to list! If you want something similar to Laura the Explorer, then Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho is a really fun read. I also LOVED Finale by Stephanie Garber – what a fantastic end to a wonderful series!

What I’m listening to

I’ve recently discovered Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series on Audible, and OMG!!! Not only do I LOVE the stories, but the narrator, Robert Petkoff, has the best voice for this (he’s a Broadway actor!). Definitely worth getting into if you’ve been dying for your love of romance novels and audiobooks to mesh together.

Photo credit: Photo by Yannik Mika on Unsplash