March Monthly Wrap Up

 Happy Wednesday! 

How did your March go? March went by slowly for me, which I'm Okay with because it actually turned out being a pretty good month. I'm so glad to get to end March on a good note. The beginning of the year started out a little shaky, but all is going better now. Also, Desert Flower is out in the world now!! I'm so thankful for everyone who shared about it and helped celebrate its release. It means so much to me! 

March Writing: 

Writing this month went so well! I rewrote/revised my secret WIP (at the moment I'm calling it IWWP), so now the book is much more story shaped and makes more sense than the first draft did. IWWP is another novel set in the Triadic Kingdoms and is the first in a duology! I don't know when it will be published (I have to publish Project Xion first), but I love this story so much and I think a lot of others will too. 

I did a bunch of edits on Project Xion and sent it off to my alpha reader this month too! I'm not sure when I'll be publishing this one. As much as I would like to get it out as soon as possible, I kind of want to give myself a break after publishing Emerald Phantom in January and Desert Flower this week. 

I don't know if I mentioned this story back in January, but I started working on a new WIP at the beginning of the year. It's in it's own world separate from the Triadic Kingdoms and is inspired by the Greek myth of Dionysus and Ariadne. I ended up taking a break from it in January and just in the past few weeks had a huge break through with the story. While I've been preparing Desert Flower for publication, editing IWWP and Project Xion, I've been slowly making my way through writing the first draft of this new WIP. The two main characters have given me a lot of trouble, the story feels all vibes and no plot and this first draft is going to need major edits... but I'm really enjoying it and that's what matters most. It's been a fun story to dive into amidst all the publishing and editing. 

March Reading: 

In March I've read three books (almost four). It would be four if Crescent City #2 wasn't so long haha I started out the month with the excellent Then Comes a Drifter by C. M. Banschbach.

It was such a good read and actually reminded me a little of Desert Flower in terms of some of her worldbuilding. Also, I mean, it's set in a desert setting too, so that also reminded me of Desert Flower. Then Comes a Drifter is a gritty fantasy dystopian with characters that make you care so much and an ending that left me wanting more. I can't wait for the second book in the duology and to see more of Laramie (I love her name so much haha) and Gered. Also, the bad guy, Rosche was amazing. He's the kind of villain you love to hate! 

Next up, I got Gallant from V.E. Schwab.

The book itself is gorgeous. I'm in love with the cover and the illustrations on the inside. Everything about that book is so aesthetic. I wouldn't say it's my favorite read of Schwab's, but it of course was good because I mean, can Victoria Schwab write anything truly bad? The book felt like an enigma. It was very vague on the characters' ages, the setting and time period. It felt... ageless and timeless and full of an unexplainable and intriguing sort of magic. I don't really know how else to describe the book other than it was definitely one of the more unique stories I've read. 

I wasn't going to buy into the hype and read this next book... but then my mom read both books in the series and I decided to give it a try. I ended up really loving the House of Earth and blood (the first Crescent City book) by Sarah J. Maas.

Her ACOTAR series is one of my all time favorite book series, so I did expect to like Crescent City. There's something special about Bryce and the first book that really caught my attention. The worldbuilding is expansive (way more expansive than ACOTAR) and I enjoyed all the characters, especially Bryce. There was something so honest and open about her character arc and I really related to a lot of her struggles and her grief, of her loneliness and missing a best friend. The first few chapters were super slow and there were a few times where I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep reading, but the instant the inciting incident happened, I was hooked and it made sense why the first few chapters were so meandering. I also really liked her and Hunt's relationship in this book. It felt authentic and real. There was obviously chemistry, but I like how slow Maas took their relationship. Honestly, I've never been one to shy away or be upset over a slow story. I like fast paced, but as long as its done well, a slow, slightly meandering story never bothered me (I was one of the only people in the world who liked the Iron Fist show on Netflix while everyone else complained about how slow and boring it was so haha). 

I'm like 25% of the way through the second book, House of Sky and Breath and I'm surprised to be enjoying it.

I've heard so many bad things about this book. Literally everyone I've talked to or follow on social media has had a lot of not great things to say about it. Either about the characters or pacing or plot or the many POVs. The entire time my mom was reading it, all I heard was how not great it was and disappointing it was. So, I went into it with extremely low expectations... and almost two hundred pages in and I'm not seeing what the problem is. Yes, it is very slow, but so was the first book and again, I don't mind a slow story. I actually kind of appreciate the attention Maas gives all of her characters, though I will admit that there can be too much sometimes. Sometimes it is Ok to cut scenes that don't necessarily contribute to the story. But I've also heard that the middle is the hardest to get through because that's when she really starts to rev up the too many POV's and it becomes very jarring. I'll also say that it's not her best writing ever, but honestly, I don't think it's as bad as people have said. I'm enjoying it. 

March Life Stuff: 

I turned 24 this month! I had a great birthday. I got a special Night Court inspired cake (from ACOTAR), wore my Vellaris shirt (also Night Court inspired) while I went out with my mom and got a new dress and two new books at Barnes and Noble. It was a fun day. 

My family and I also started going to a new church. I think we finally found the right church for us. The preaching and the worship is night and day compared to all the other churches we've been to. I feel like we finally found one that actually preaches the true gospel and doesn't shy away from topics. They're very firm on their beliefs without being wishy-washy like many of the others I've been to. I also started going to their college group and its been really nice. I've made some new friends and reconnected with an old friend from high school through going. 

My mom and I were invited to go to the Cake Bake Shop to celebrate a friend's birthday and that was so fun! I've always wanted to go to the Cake Bake Shop, so it was kind of amazing. So fun to celebrate my friend and her birthday and also so fun to get dressed up and drink their sparkling water lavender lemonade and eat cake with glitter on it. 

I published Desert Flower and people like it! Seriously, I've been so worried no one was going to like it haha It's been so encouraging that people have said how excited they are for this story and how much they've enjoyed it. All of it just means so much to me.

Golden Touch and Wayward has also gotten some love this past month and it just makes me really happy to see my books being loved on and read. 

Oh! And I got to go see The Batman with my mom earlier this month. It was so good! Robert Patterson did an amazing job (the whole cast did) and I think this version of Batman has a lot of potential. I love the character arc he went through in this movie and I'm really excited to see where they take his character in later movies. 

Of course, I also gotta mention that Bridgerton season 2 came on Netflix last week! I loved the first season (although it was kind of annoying to have to skip through many scenes) and I appreciate that this season isn't as spicy. It's so good! This season has been so good and I just love the aesthetic and the vibe and all the characters of this whole show. 

Looking Forward To April: 

So many exciting things in April, starting with Morbius finally coming out!! I think it comes out April 1st? I've been waiting years for this movie, so I am very excited that I finally get to see it! A vampire superhero story with Jared Leto? Yes please! 😍

I'm also doing an author fair at our local library April tenth. The last time I did an author fair was in 2019 and I had a great time and sold lots of books then. I'm very excited to get to participate in our local one again this year after two years of not being able to. Its always fun to talk to people and see all the authors that live in my area. 

There's also Easter (and hopefully warmer weather) too! I'm so ready for Easter. I love going to my grandparents' house and hanging out with everyone and just celebrating Easter together. Around this time of the year I always am ready to get out of the house and go visit somewhere. Its nice to have a change in scenery and see family. 

Both of my classes come to an end near the end of April. I am so ready. This semester has been rough and I'm just ready for a break before I get through my final summer semester. 

Writing-wise, I'm looking forward to working on my Greek mythology WIP some more. I'm thinking of participating in Camp Nanowrimo to help me finish this first draft, but I'm not sure. I may also start editing Scarlet Phoenix and maybe do some more work on Project Xion. 

 What are you looking forward to in April? What are some exciting things that happened in March for you?