January Wrap Up

 Happy Wednesday! 

Look at that! We made it through the first month of 2021. There some hard things that happened this month, but also some really good things. Going into January I had decided to take all expectations and pressures off myself. I went into this year feeling depressed, burnt out and tired. And now, because I let myself breathe and just be and figure some things out, I feel better going into February.

Writing: One of the biggest things I took the pressure off of was my writing. Going into 2021, one of my goals has been to publish one of something. I had no idea what that something would be and to be honest, I was lacking ideas big time. I got the point where I was praying for God to give me something, to lead me to something. Some idea or an idea. I ended up stumbling across a novella I had written back in 2019 and then feeling the urge to write a slew of short stories and flash fiction. A writer friend and me partnered together to write a flash fiction or short story every week for the month of January and share it with each other. It was such a fun challenge and something I really needed. 

There's some exciting news for one flash fiction in particular, but I don't know if I'm allowed to share or not, so I'll be shouting it on here as soon as I can! 

Writing flash fiction and short stories this month has really opened me back up to the love of writing and exploring new ideas. It allowed me to stretch my creative muscles and I'm really excited to keep writing more and exploring more of the short fiction world. 

Also! I finished the first draft of the fourth book of the Archive series this month! It's titled Black Rose, which I think is fitting for my characters and for some of the things I've been dealing with lately in general. Black Roses signify death and ending. Not just the death of a person, but it could be the death or ending of a season of life, a relationship, the end of anything really, and in it signifying the end of something, it also, to me, symbolizes the start of something new. Anyways, it was fitting that I finished the end of book four in January because last January around this time I was just finishing up the first draft of Golden Touch. 

Once I finished Black Rose, I took a few days off and then spent some time brainstorming the end of the series. I think I know the end of the series!! And I think, instead of six books... there will only be five. Which means... I have one more book left before the Archive series is finished! I have so many feelings about that! 😭😆 I'm taking some time from Black Rose to focus on my flash fiction/short stories and to go through another round of edits for Golden Touch. I'm in the polishing and tiny micro edits phase. I'll probably read through it completely one more time to fix sentence structure and such and make sure everything lines up, but after that... I think it's pretty much done, which is just amazing and crazy and awesome all at once. 

I also want to do something with the novella I rediscovered. It would be cool to publish it, but I'm still deciding on that. For now, there aren't any solid publication plans, but I think I'm finally getting close to a decision on what I want to do moving forward. 

Reading: 

I got The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi for Christmas!! So I finished rereading that this month. I forgot how much I absolutely love that book and the series in general. It is so, so good. 

I then got The Silvered Serpents, the sequel, from the library and read that this month. Let me just say guys, I have never related so much to a character as much as I related to Enrique in book 2. My history loving, story-telling, slightly dramatic self just gets him on a whole other level. I wish he was a real person so I could hug him and tell him he is special and worthy enough to be paid attention to and I would just love to be friends with him. I think we'd get along pretty well. 

Anyways, so I read those two and I am currently in the middle of reading Enchantee (or All that Glitters) by Gita Trelease for my book club and Daughter of the Deep by Lina C. Amarego just for myself. 

I also bought Fighting Forward by Hannah Brencher. 

I haven't finished it yet, but what I've read so far has been so, so good! Hannah Brencher always has the right words. 

Life Stuff: Honestly, I was telling a friend that I had sort of fallen into a mundane routine this month. I mean, some fun life stuff did happen this month, but more or less the days have sort of all blurred together a little bit. My classes started last week and I'm super excited about them. I'm taking two Native American classes and a class on Folklore, and from what I can tell so far, they are going to be so good! It'll be a good semester and I'm looking forward to learning about two of my favorite subjects. 

I went roller skating for the first time in years and I actually only fell once! I honestly didn't think I would remember how to roller-skate, but I did pretty. It was so much fun too. Roller skating really is the best. If we had a rink closer to our house, I would be over there every week. Afterwards we went out and got ice cream and candy and it was just the best. Gotta find joy in the little things, am I right? 

Also, because my life in January was pretty boring, I gotta mention that A Discovery of Witches season 2 started! One of my favorite TV shows. Plus, Fate: The Winx Saga came on Netflix so I am enjoying watching that! 

Other than that, I don't know... I don't think much else happened. I mean besides us getting a new president and all that fun stuff. ;) To be honest, it was a rough month. I mean there were lots of good things and good moments, but I've just been trying to get through a lot of depression and anxiety too. There were hard feelings and emotions and things that I'm trying to work through. But, overall, I feel like I'm getting back on my feet and figuring stuff out. 

Looking Forward to February: 

One of my brothers turns 14 next month! Plus, Valentine's Day! Not that I have anyone or anything major to celebrate on Valentine's Day, but To All the Boys 3 does come out that day, so I am excited about that! My book club also starts up again in February and I'm looking forward to that as well. I've missed hanging out with them every week and I'm loving the book we're reading, so it'll be fun. 

Other than that, I don't think there's much else I have planned or looking forward to in February. I'll be plugging away at classwork and edits for Golden Touch and Black Rose. I've been sitting here trying to think of anything I might have missed in February, but I think that's all of it. Hopefully some fun plans pop up or come along as February unravels. 

How was your January? Did you read anything new? What are you looking forward to in February?