February Monthly Wrap Up

 Happy Wednesday everyone! 

I hope you had a great February and a fun Valentine's Day! February's been a good month for me. There have been some downs, but a lot of ups too. But now, I am so ready for March. February always feels like the month that gets me from A to B. I like February, but I love March because March is my birthday month, so I'm always eagerly waiting for the end of this month haha But especially this year... I'm feeling ready for March. I'm ready for the cold and snow to start to fade and for the sun to come back. 

Writing: Writing-wise, this month has been good. I had planned to continue my short story/flash fiction streak, but it sort of fell to the way side... Mostly because I've been busy doing line edits for Golden Touch. I just finished those last week and I sent it to a friend of mine to beta read! She'll be the third person to read this book and I'm excited to get her feedback. It was good to do that read through again and fix some of the smaller details because I realized I had missed a few things, but man... I am not a fan of edits. Reading through a book for what feels like the hundredth time is kind of exhausting haha And I still have books 2-4 to get through too... Plus book #5 when I finish that one. 

Which brings me to... I had planned to wait until March to start writing book 5, but I have zero patience and I was going bored, so I decided to start this month! I just hit 13K today and I'm so excited! It's been a bit of an emotional experience writing the final book in this series. I'm gonna miss them and the world I created so much, but I'm also so excited to get to wrap up this story. It's also cool to see how far I've come, from writing a duology, to a trilogy, to now a five book series. Last January-February, I had told myself I was going to write this entire series from start to finish before publishing a single book. Back then it had felt daunting and I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it, how long it would take or what would happen... And here I am now, a year later in February starting the final book. I'm thankful to God for Golden Touch and for giving me this story and this series during one of the hardest years of my life. It has been such a gift and I hope Golden Touch will be a gift to others as well. 

Also, I am beyond excited because my mom started working on the cover and it is gorgeous!! Like all the heart eyes gorgeous! My favorite covers have always been the more artistic, abstract, simple but elegant types and this is exactly what this cover is going to be. It's sort of amazing and I can't wait to share it when it's done! 

Reading: This month has been weird for reading... I'm currently in the middle of reading three books. Enchantee by Gita Trelease for my book club and because I was feeling nostalgic, I started listening to the audiobook of Savvy by Ingrid Law. 

Savvy is one of my all time favorite books and the audiobook is absolutely amazing. It just makes me smile every time I listen to it and takes me back to when I was like eleven or twelve when I would listen to it on repeat and go to sleep to it. 

I also started rereading Vicious by V.E. Schwab because Victor Vale is my emotional support character and I love him so much. It's weird, but there's just something about his character that always makes me smile. He's got such a unique, kind of wry sense of humor that gets me every time. Also the fact that he destroys his parent's self-help books and makes them into black out poetry is just the literal best. It makes me smile every time because it's such a petty way to rebel and get back at his parents haha 

I did finish two books though. A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas and Daughter of the Deep by Lina C. Amarego. 

Honestly... I don't recommend A Court of Silver Flames. It's a good story and I liked seeing the characters again (even though my Lucien was barely in it!! Maas had better be working on his book next haha), but the language and explicit content is just so beyond the sort of things I normally read. There were quite a few scenes I had to skip through. Daughter of the Deep was a little better content-wise. There was quite a bit of swearing in it and some suggestive content, more than what I usually like in my books. Really, overall though, Daughter of the Deep just didn't hold my attention. But at least I finished two books... The reason I finished both of them though was probably because I had to skip so many pages in ACOSF and because I skimmed through most of the ending of Daughter of the Deep haha 

Life Stuff: Life's been Ok this month. My brother turned fourteen and we had cake and yummy food and stuff, so that was fun! We didn't really get to do anything else for his birthday cus it was so snowy and cold, but he's always liked chill, calm birthdays. Valentine's Day was a really good day. I felt good all day. Like just genuinely happy and mentally clear all day. It's been a little while since I've felt like that, so it felt like a gift. We went to church and had Chinese food and I ate chocolate and watched To All the Boys 3 (so, so, so good!! 😍) and my mom finished the cover for Golden Touch!! 

Wandavision has been a bright spot in my month too.

I don't want to give away any spoilers, but guys!! If you haven't watched it, you gotta go do that right now! I know the first two episodes seem a little dull and dumb, but I promise, if you stick it out to episode 3 (and especially 4), you will not regret it!! Plus, as an X-Men and mutant fan, this series just makes me so happy. So many cool surprises and nods to the comics! 

Also, I don't know if this goes in the writing section or the life stuff section, but I have some exciting news! A flash fiction of mine is being published on Havok on March 8, the day before my birthday (best birthday present ever!)!! It's called Amateur Monster Hunters and is about two teenage friends Henry and Willow who are out hunting a bog monster to prove to everyone that Henry isn't crazy and that monsters are real. You'll have to read the story on March 8, to find out what happens! It's been such a delight working with them and I really hope that I'll be able to publish more with them in the future. Anyways, I'm so excited because I've never had any of my flash fic or short stories picked up and Havok is such a great publishing site, so I can't wait for it to be published! I'll be sure to post here on March 8 to give you guys the link to the story too! :b 

I got through 2 Chronicles this month too! Surprisingly... I think it might be one of my most favorite books of the Bible. I found it very encouraging and uplifting as I've been struggling with some things lately. It was just the right book for me to be reading this month and during this time. Maybe in March I'll even do a blog post about it because as I finished 2 Chronicles I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it and how much I learned from it. I got through Ezra and have like 2 or 3 chapters of Nehemia left too actually. A low key goal of mine this year is finish reading my Bible from beginning to end by December. 

Looking Forward to March: 

I turn 23 next month!! I love birthdays so much and I always get so excited when my birthday is approaching. Birthdays are just so fun and I love celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of a new one. I'm ready for 23 and all that God has for me in this next age of my life. 

I can't think of any books or TV shows that might be coming out that I'm excited about... But I think Chaos Walking comes out, so I'm excited for that. That'll be a good one I think. Oh! And Falcon and the Winter Soldier! I am so looking forward to that too! 

I'm hoping to read through the rest of Nehemiah through to the Psalms by the end of March, but we'll see how that goes. Job is a pretty big book compared to the smaller ones between it and the Chronicles.

I also am planning to take my driving test at the end of March. Honestly, I'm super nervous about it and afraid I won't pass. I have until May to get my driver's license and I'm feeling the pressure to get it done as soon as possible. But I'm trying to stay positive. I've been practicing since like May 2019 (you'd think I'd be an expert driver by now, but... driving has been one of the most difficult things I've ever had to learn and I still don't feel 100% confident). With that said though, I've come a long way. I am more confident than I was when I first started. My anxiety is more manageable. I just keep thinking, I should be proud of myself of how far I've come and I'll be even prouder when I do pass this test and have something that I had to work so hard for in my hand. A lot of people just breeze by getting a license, but for me, it's been a battle and one that I plan to win. So, yeah, wish me luck and prayers for the month of March and my test would be much appreciated! :) 

And there's, of course, my flash fic that will be published, so that's definitely something to look forward to. :b 

So, yeah, excited (and a little nervous) for March, but praying that all goes well and that God will see me through to April (with a driver's license in hand haha). 

What about you?? What are you looking forward to in March and/or how has your February been?