The Rough Draft: September

Hello, lovely reader, another month has passed us by and it’s been a busy one. I recently had someone describe September to me as the ‘Thursday’ of the year – the slip towards the Christmas season has begun… I even spied fruit mince pies in my local supermarket!

But before we get ahead of ourselves, lets catch up!

Writing

As my masters draws to its conclusion, I’m hard at work on the major creative project I’m writing. I don’t want to say too much here, but it’s in the historical fiction genre and has a little bit of magic (because I just can’t help myself!)

I workshopped the first chapter in class this week and have gotten some useful feedback and a sense that I’m heading in the right direction. I’m excited to bring this project to life, as it’s been on my heart for a long time now.

A few weeks back myself and some fellow writer friends had the joy to be hosted for the day by the amazing S.K Stapar – lots of words were written, and delicious food eaten! Something I’ve found so valuable in my own writing practice is writing in community.

If you’re a fan of romance and fantasy, I’d recommend checking out S.K Stapar’s website and keeping an eye out for Midnight Gate, which is her adult romantasy coming soon!

Editing

Lately I’ve been chipping away at a few non-fiction titles, as well as some fantasy, children’s books and more. It’s been a real mix-bag lately!

I’ll be taking bookings for editing projects for 2025 soon – so if you or someone you know needs some editing in the new year, please get in touch!

Studying

Uni is intense! We’re well and truly into the last semester of my Masters and while I’ll be glad to graduate, I’m enjoying the scope and focus of my final subjects.

Resting

In such a busy season, I’m trying to do my best to intentionally rest and refill my cup. It’s not always easy to do this, and there’s definitely been some ups and downs this past month – but this is how I’ve been resting lately:

• Jigsaw Puzzles: It turns out I love them. I did know this, but had forgotten in the fog of adult life. This year I’ve fallen into a rabbit hole of collecting the ‘World Of’ series of puzzles published by Laurence King and illustrated by Adam Simpson. They’re STUNNING.
• Gaming: Cozy Grove is providing a nice little unwind time. The art style is lovely, and the game play simple enough but rewarding. For me, the soundtrack is a real highlight for me and I often find myself humming it after I’m done playing.
• Book Launches: Have I read many books this month? No. Have I purchased books? of course. This past month I’ve attended the launches for Fyrebirds by Kate Armstrong, The Heart of The World by Amie Kaufman, and The Wedding Forecast by Nina Kenwood. A friend and I went to these launches together and is there anything better than time with a friend, talking about books? I’ve started reading The Wedding Forecast and I’m loving it so far – I’ll hopefully post a review sometime soon!

Open Tabs

The new section of the newsletter… exciting, right? It’s okay if it’s just me.

But if you’re reading this newsletter chances are you’re a readerly writerly person, and you might just find these articles enjoyable! I know I did, so I’ve saved them up to share them with you.

In this new section of the newsletter I’ll be linking to a few articles I found interesting over the course of the last month or so. These might be writing craft focused, industry news, other book reviews, or just a thought-provoking piece of writing that struck me this month…

• This article by Ellen Vrana about Dani Shapiro on the Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life was striking for its reflections on memoirist Dani Shapiro’s creative process. It’s a very grounded attitude where she talks about writing as her vocation, as well as the ‘not knowing’ of the writing process.
• Writing Happiness: Why It’s Worth It to Look on the Bright Side of Stories, Maribeth Fischer on the Joys of Creating Joyful Fiction. I find that much of writing from what is ‘known’ can skew towards focusing on the struggle, our pain, and traumas. Of course, those are all valuable, important stories. But I found this discussion of the beauty and challenge of writing about joy, to be highly refreshing.

I hope you find these articles as inspiring or thought-provoking for your writing practice as I did!

Cat Corner

Because who is more popular on my socials – me or my cats? We all know the answer there…