Almost there—so close I can taste it! I received marginal edits back from a critique by my fave Jess at HEA Author Services on my first novel (a contemporary romance meant to be the first in a series), and now I’m working on some final tweaks I brainstormed with my story coach Dawn at Dawn Alexander Books. Dawn and I met a little over a year ago at a writing retreat in Ireland, and I am loving working with her!
I participated in the #MWSL, aka Manuscript Wishlist Day, on February 12, when agents and editors posted the types of stories they were looking for on Bluesky (see my profile HERE). I found some matches with those looking for stories aligned with my manuscript, so I’ve been working on my query letter and synopsis to get in their hands as soon as I finish making my final story tweaks.
For those missing my steamy contemporary romance short story FRENCHING MY FLATMATE (formerly part of the CRAVING MY ROOMMATE anthology), the good news is I recently had my rights reverted to me, so I’m looking for a new anthology to run it in, and I will share as soon as I find one and can make it available! As for my speculative fiction romantasy short story BUTTERFLIES AND GOODBYES, we just renewed offering LOVE AT DAWN for one more year, so you can still get your hands on it. Lastly, if you’re looking for my sweet contemporary romance short story, check out the FREE MARCH READS promotion, sign up for my newsletter, and you’ll get my story sent straight to your e-reader!
In other exciting news, I hit my goal of over 2000 followers on Instagram at the start of the year, and now I’m trying to hit over 1000 subscribers to my newsletter. So, if you haven’t signed up yet, please do, and you’ll automatically receive the link to direct you to my free, sweet, contemporary romance short story! You can just hit the link above to get it!
In other fun news, I was on a panel on February 1st for my beloved Washington Romance Writers organization. We discussed The In’s and Out’s of Writing Short Fiction at the Connie Morella Library in Bethesda, Maryland. It was a great time with a great group!
Travel Updates—I made my first-ever trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, exceeding my expectations. Everyone is just there to have fun, and it’s a positive and accepting atmosphere. Then, I made my first-ever trip to Big Sky, Montana, which, of course, with my name being Skye, I had to purchase all the gear. 😂 It was SO beautiful. The only bummer was I pulled my calf two days before the trip playing tennis, so I had to be careful skiing. I got in one day and even managed a blue 🟦, but I didn’t push it beyond that because tennis is my first love for moving my body, ha!
Check out my New Orleans travel reel on Instagram HERE! Big Sky forthcoming!
My final personal update: we had a big day recently. My 10-year-old daughter is finishing her run at our neighborhood elementary school and will be moving to a new school as a 6th grader in the fall, so we are figuring out where she will attend. We received her acceptances on the 7th and must decide by the 21st! It will significantly change my life because I’ll have two different schedules with varying pickups and drop-offs for my two daughters next year. One location and schedule were good while they lasted, but I’m looking forward to what’s ahead despite the process to get to this point!
Thanks for all your support, as always, and I can’t wait to give you the following update on where my novel is in this journey!
Warmly,
Skye