My big news is that I finished edits for my novel LAST NIGHT!
It’s the first book in the contemporary romance trilogy I’m writing about a scrappy set of sisters in DC who all have bada** jobs. I’ve been working on this particular first book for almost 12 years, so it’s been a long time coming.
In September, after evaluating some developmental feedback, I decided to rearrange a bunch of scenes.
I then had to go through and ensure I didn’t mess up any timelines by having references in the wrong scenes, nonsensical seasonal changes, and believable character growth arcs.
I edited even more along the way because I kept seeing things that weren’t in deep POV (point of view) or didn’t have a proper scene and sequel cadence.
I’ve learned these things, making me a better writer, from writing and releasing three short stories over the past two years.
Then, my dear friend and editor Jess over at Happily Ever After Author Services had an opening for a critique this month, which delivers high-level feedback, and I jumped on it. I wanted a second pair of eyes 👀 to ensure it all still makes sense, and it committed me to a deadline!
Was my timing ideal when I signed up for this? It was not.
I’m doing dry January, my husband has been crazy busy with work, and we’ve been traveling and attending events. My eldest daughter is visiting schools to consider for 6th grade, and we had lots of snow days with no school.
But you know what? There’s no time like the present, and I’m so happy to have hit this milestone.
Now, I’m praying the feedback I get doesn’t send me into too large a rabbit hole of editing before I can start querying my book. This means it’ll go “on submission” and be sent out to agents, hoping one of them will pick up me and my story.
Free Romance Books!
Guess what? I’m taking part in an offering of free romance books, and I’m excited because this is the first time I’ve been in one that requires participants to have a mailing list size of at least 500 readers!
I am so grateful to all my newsletter subscribers and supporters following along on my writing journey. I just hit over 800 subscribers, and I’m so proud and honored that you all spend your time with me.
So, with no further adieu, check out all these free books I get to share with you, which include my sweet contemporary romance short story, How the Cookie Crumbles. You can find them HERE!
My Story in the 2025 #femmeaudiotakeover
I have a new audio snippet coming at you for this year’s #femmeaudiotakeover on Friday, January 24 with a new narrator friend (to be revealed) for my sweet contemporary romance short story How the Cookie Crumbles! I will make a brief post once the link is available so that you can check it out.
For now, you can watch my #femmeaudiotakeover from last year with narrator @itsmelissawhite, which features a snippet from my Butterflies and Goodbyes romantasy short story, part of the Love at Dawn anthology (currently available in ebook and print — you can buy the book HERE!)
I’m on WRW’s “Ins and Outs of Writing Short Fiction” Panel on Saturday, Feb 1!
J. Keely Thrall, Sharon Wray, Nadine Monaco, J.T. Bock, Meg Napier and I will be presenting all that we’ve learned in the last few years about “The Ins and Outs of Writing Short Fiction” presented by the Washington Romance Writers (WRW). Come learn and share with us!
My Word of the Year
I’ve chosen a Word of the Year to inspire me and drive my goals every year for quite a while. In the past few years, I’ve even got my family doing it too!
Here are the words I’ve recorded for each year, though I’ve been doing it for longer.
2021-Defy
2022-Less
2023-Onward (if TikTok is still running you watch me talk about this one HERE)
2024-Fearless
And this year—drumroll please—I chose the word: PROLIFIC! I made a video about what this means to me for this year, which you can watch below if you want to hear more about it.
Will I See You at These Events or Conferences?
These are all the ones I plan on attending or participating in — I hope to see you there!
- Monday, January 27 to Friday, January 31 (virtual) — Write for Harlequin’s ‘Happily Ever After’ Writing Week 2025 – The Character Study, get the deets on this event HERE
- Wednesday, February 12 (virtual) — the first official Manuscript Wishlist #MSWL event on the social media platform Bluesky. Find more info about it HERE and follow me on Bluesky HERE!
- Friday, April 4 to Sunday, April 6 in Dulles, VA — The 2025 Dazzling All-Star Book Marketing Retreat offered by the Washington Romance Writers (WRW); check out the Eventbrite HERE to learn more and get tickets!
- Friday, May 2 to Saturday, May 3 in Rockville, MD — I’ll pitch my novel at The 2025 Washington Writers Conference. Find out more and get tix HERE
- Wednesday, July 16 to Saturday, July 19 in Niagara Falls, Ontario (Canada) — Romance Writer’s of America (RWA) 2025 Annual Conference, it’ll be my 3rd time attending, join the fun HERE
Most of these events are for writers, editors, and agents, but the last one offers a signing day for readers!
Writing in My Happy Place — Monthly!
My husband and I often talk about how hard it is for me to get my writing work done at home. Besides the typical ADHD distractions and parenting demands, there’s always something that needs to be done in your face, from dishes to laundry and sorting the mail.
That’s why we’ve always said it’d be great if I could get down to our rental property in Kiawah Island, SC, once a month to get away from it all and focus on the words. Not to mention, it’s an ideal, inspirational place to write.
Well, we put a plan in place for the next six months for me to get down there for a couple of days once a month! I’m so excited because this will aid me in fulfilling my word of the year and being as prolific as possible!
Thanks so much for reading to the end! I know this was a long one, but I haven’t posted a blog in a while, so there was a LOT of catching up to do!
In my following post in a couple of weeks, I hope to share my goals for the year, what I’ll be working on, and how it’s going with my critique feedback!
All the Love,
Skye