And the TT Challenge!
Hello!
It’s holiday time! I hope you’re enjoying it. I have just a few things to tell you about this time out, including updates on my TikTok challenge and the books I’ve read this month that you might want to check out too.
Here we go!
All Things Girl, Incorrupted
I think I can, I think I can…
To my astonishment, Girl, Inc. is still selling! How cool is that? If you’ve written a review or requested it from your library or have otherwise spread the word or done anything to help this little train keep chugging, THANK YOU!
This is a dream come true and I couldn’t be more thankful for you or for the experience. Truly. Thank you.
What Else I’ve Been Up To
TikTok Challenge
BUST! Yup, I’m calling it early. After about 10 days of posting regularly,1 my videos started getting zero views. Zero. Meaning that TikTok wasn’t showing them to anyone.
I tried to troubleshoot this but ultimately found nothing I was doing wrong and could therefore fix. The videos were live, just not shared. So I figured, if TT wasn’t going to show them to anyone, then I was no longer going to make them. C’est la vie.
I’m relieved it worked out this way actually, and so quickly too. It was super time-consuming and far more of a chore than it was fun, so… Bye for now, TikTok! I might be back when I have an amazing idea for a video,2 but I won’t be churn-churn-churning out content anymore.
If you want to check out the videos I did make, you can do so here:
Answers to Your Questions
Questions! I’m being asked questions! How cool is this?3
Q: Is there going to be a sequel to Girl, Incorrupted?
WARNING! MINOR SPOILER AHEAD!
IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE BOOK YET, LOOK AWAY!4
A: I hope so! I have notes for a sequel—a trilogy, actually, called Her Darker Impulses. (You didn’t really think I’d leave Daphne like that for good, did you?) I’ll write it if/when there’s enough interest5 in the first book to warrant doing so. I want to and probably will write the sequels regardless, but the when, the priority level, is heavily influenced by you. By your interest. By your reviews and shares and enthusiasm. Being asked if there will be a sequel is pretty darn cool and goes a long way toward expressing that interest. So thank you. Keep it coming!
All Things Current Project
Rather than tell you about it, I thought I’d give you a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the project I’m working on.
So the two sheets on the left are the winnowed-to-one-page re-visioning of the story and what it’s trying to do and trying to say (top) and the plan for how the story is going to do and say those things (bottom). Then the middle column is the two sheets on the left merged together and typed out with some additional stuff added. And then on the right is my zero draft, with all the scenes separated and then regrouped loosely into sequences . . . which I will now pass through the filter that is the things on the left to see what gets to stay, what has to go, and what still needs to be written. Fun stuff, yeah?
It is. It’s so much fun.
What I’ve Been Reading
I’m a reading machine this month! Not really, but I did read the new Lee Child, the new Janet Evanovich, the new Megan Bledsoe,6 the new Chuck Wendig, plus Iron Flame and a handful of nonfiction books.
Let’s talk about the Chuck Wendig book. It’s called Black River Orchard, and it’s about bad seeds. And apples. And in particular, a rediscovered apple that upends a small town. It’s got weird fantastical elements in an otherwise real-world setting, which is my absolute favorite. Nothing too dark though. It’s horror-lite, like another book I know 😉, and it’s similarly worth a read.
Links to books are affiliate links.7
ICYMI
Get the Book!
Mmmm . . . that new book smell . . . that velvety soft cover . . . those fine, flippable pages . . . those surprise fonts . . .the weight of it when you hug it to your chest . . . the way it suggests things back to you when you see it days, months, and years later on your keeper shelf . . .
Don’t you just love a hardcover?
Winnie Pug Update
Oh, the Winnie Pug. Thanksgiving was quite the thing. She had cucumbers and turkey and pug treats, oh my! And I’m pretty sure she had some other things too. The resulting aroma, you know. And then on Saturday, poor thing, she had some serious . . . poo problems. Let’s call them poo problems.
So onto the bland diet we went!
I learned that Winnie’s not a big fan of rice, but she LOVES oatmeal. Chicken breast and oatmeal and a little broth and puréed pumpkin. I say yuck. Win says YUM. The PPs lasted a little over a week. Needless to say, poor Win will not be receiving any more holiday treats in the future. Except maybe some oatmeal.
She’s lucky she’s cute.
I have no idea how she managed to get into this position, so far back on her—what even is that? Her tailbone? Lower back?
Every time I look at this pic, it makes me laugh. You know you’ve got a great pug when you’re constantly laughing.
Since you’ve made it this far…
Comment “interest” so I know you’re with me!
Good To Knows
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Thank you for reading! Talk to you again soon!
to lackluster numbers
As I write this, I actually do have a couple ideas that might be cool. One of them’s time-sensitive. Maybe I should give the ole TT another whirl.
If I’m becoming a broken record, sorry, but nothing else suits the feeling as well, so… =D
And if you haven’t, what are you waiting for?!
Yes, this is a euphemism for sales.
Ha! How fun was that! And I did, too, I read it (for reasons). Read it faster than I read the other books listed here too, which you might think would be obvious, except it’s not. It took me less than 48 hours this time, whereas previous reads took me a minimum of 2 weeks. Have you read it? It’s worth checking out.
Links to bookshop.org and/or amazon.com are affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase thorugh a link, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps support my work and allows me to continue writing for you. Thank you for your support!
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