You guys.
It’s here.
The end of the year is here.
Y’all. It is flippin’ D e c e m b e r.
I’m not even gonna remark on that.
We just gon’ keep on truckin’…
what I did last month
My goals were simple: release Bound and Determined and do what I didn’t do in October, which was (1) edit, (2) beta-read, (3) write guest posts, (4) read and review.
I obviously released Bound and Determined on the 17th of last month—even though I STILL have bonus scenes to write and send to my preorder-ers. *shakes at head self*
And I did do a ton of editing (finished two projects AND got started on another), even though every time I complete one project, two more pop up! (Definitely not complaining, though. I am super thankful for the work God is providing and the opportunities to work with, help, and invest in my fellow indie authors!)
I didn’t beta read...at all...for which I am ashamed. I’m now considering just waiting until Issabelle publishes the book and reading it then. Because she will publish it, no matter what she says. (Yes, I am forcing her to and threatening her with piracy if she doesn’t…)
ANYWAY. I completed all my guest posts, though, praise God! Super excited to share those with y’all in uno momento!
As for reading/reviewing...I actually read. A lot. Because I am insanely behind. So I forced myself to read more. As for reviewing, though, I got two reviews written and posted (yay!), but I still have four more to do by the end of the year (yeah...probably not gonna happen), AND I am reading and judging two books for The Selah Awards! (I hope that’s okay to share...*gulps*) This is such an exciting experience and a true honor!!!
this month’s goals
Naturally, finish all that reading and reviewing, complete three editing projects (yes, that’s a lot, so we’ll see), write two short stories, format TMYLM (which I should’ve done six months ago) and send it out to ARC readers, and that may be it? For now? We’ll see.
Oh.
And, you know, do Christmas stuff. That’s on the list too.
*winks*
monthly progress
Eh. Just a few hundred words in one of those overdue bonus scenes. Nothing much.
But gosh darn it, do I wanna write. Not doing anything for NaNo while everyone else is writing has been hard. *sobs*
reading highlights
I read, let’s see...about five books this month. Which is not a lot and yet also a lot.
Anyway…
My top read was hands-down The Lost Melody by Joanna Davidson Politano. This haunting novel, although not my favorite of hers, was certainly a pleasure to read (and review here)!
Next was Under the Texas Mistletoe by Karen Witemeyer, which was a witty and touching collection of three Christmas novellas, all of which I adored!
And my third favorite was The Landlady’s Master (or The Elect Lady) by George MacDonald. I’m not a huge fan of the ending (although I knew that was how it would end), but I loved the wisdom and truth MacDonald wove into this simple tale! If this is his worst book, so they say, I cannot imagine how wonderful his others are!
top blog posts
Let it be noted that NEVER in the history of the world have I EVER written so few blog posts in a month as I did in November. Like...what??? I was probably part of ten blog tours and twenty-seven cover reveals and I just conveniently forgot to post about them, because I literally only wrote seven posts.
Wow.
I hate to say it, though, as much as I missed y’all (SO. MUCH.), I liked not having to put together so many posts. My pre-New Years resolution is to pre-write a bunch of posts and schedule them way out over the year.
We’ll see how that goes…
Anyway, the top two out of seven posts from November are…
(Also, just a note if you haven’t caught on...I have begun writing my post title in all lowercase. No, I don’t necessarily agree with that from a grammatical point-of-view, but it is (1) so much more aesthetic that way and (2) I was hoping the lowercase letters wouldn’t get cut off when you view the posts on the blog page. They still do, but not as bad. So there’s that, in case y’all were wondering.)
follower updates
Boy howdy is this gonna be a long section… I’ll be posting on each of these topics separately, so I’ll try and keep this short.
(1) ARC signups are open for Tell Me You Love Me anthology!!! So if you’d like the chance to read and review this collection of sweet and clean Christian romances, check out the signup form below!
(2) The Gift of Her Heart, my #1 bestselling Christmas novella (which is a companion to Held Captive and Prisoner at Heart) is FREE on Kindle until Dec. 5th (Monday, if you were wondering), and the paperback version is discounted ALL MONTH LONG!
(3) I’m going to be sharing a ton of short stories with my patrons this month, so if you haven’t yet, you should definitely check out my Patreon!!! There’s a lot of fun, exclusive extras just for my patrons!
(4) In case you missed it, BOUND AND DETERMINED IS HERE!!! So that’s cool. *winks* If you’re interested in learning more about BAD, I highly recommend taking a look at the posts below!
guest appearances
Y’all, I had a TON of guest appearances in November, all in honor of BAD’s release! Well, almost all, that is! First up is my guest post for Teen Writers’ Nook’s rally, about turning your daydreams into your everyday! Next, a slightly ranting post about the love-to-hate-to-love trop on Writers’ Vision! My super fun release day interview with Vanessa Hall (here’s part one, in case you missed it)! And an intense series all about Rina’s arc on Kristina Hall’s blog—part one, two, and three!
And as for posts I’d didn’t write...a BAD review from Kristina and one from Vanessa, and release day celebration posts from Saraina and Abbigail!
So, inquiring minds must know...how was your November? Did you participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)? Did you have a happy Thanksgiving? I wanna hear all about it in the comments!
Y’all have a wonderful December and a white Christmas full of peace and joy!
yours in spirit and script,
Grace
#welcometodecember #patreon #boundanddetermined #tellmeyouloveme #anthology #arcs #signup #sale #free #freebook #thegiftofherheart #onsale #readforfree #monthlyupdates #monthlywrapup #monthlygoals #readinghighlights #monthlyprogress #progressreport #topblogposts #followerupdates #guestposts #guestappearances #commentthesecretwordbelowtowin #thefirstcommenterwinsaprize #thesecretwordiseggnog #bestofluck #ohandthanksforreadingmyhashtags #itmeansalot
Yes! December has just dropped upon us. But I'm a little more productive on the the blog miss this year. I already have participated in one collab and I've got another one in the works. Congrats on getting bound and determined published! I really hope you get all your goals done this month, I wrote absolutely nothing for National writing month either.
I actually like your post titles in lower case. It adds personality to your blog and aesthetic as a whole.
And I hope you have a great Christmas season with your family this year, Grace!
*relates with the reading/reviewing backup... hehheh*
Wow, so much work! (Fun work, though, right? 😍) And you released a 800 page novel, too. (Is still amazed by that.)
And I think I might have written a little bit more in November than I did in October? (Which honestly doesn't say much.) Someday we shall get back to frantically typing out stories. 😂
Aw, I wanted to be the first commenter! And congratulations again on publishing BAD!!!!!