Long time no...email? Anyway. Hey! Hope you had a nice holiday!
Many of you will remember that at the beginning of November I set a rough schedule for the end of this year. This hinged on me completing a 40,000-word challenge last month—and I'm very pleased to say that I did (more on that below!).
Now, as promised, I'm putting out the official call for Beta Readers of my novel, codenamed Project Curses.
For those who haven't encountered this concept before, Beta Readers are, typically, a test audience for a manuscript (in this case, a big honkin' novel) who provide feedback before it gets sent out into the world (for me—for now—that means querying agents). These readers aren't professional editors—more so representatives of a target audience who help authors (me!) identify plot holes, pacing issues, and other story problems from a reader's perspective.
If this is something that interests you, and you'd like to learn more, please reach out! Sending your information isn't a commitment—just an opportunity for us to connect. There's a link to a sign-up form below—but first, I want to give a few details and disclaimers:
The ideal candidates here are avid readers who engage with literary criticism and might have an interest in writing themselves, and who enjoy speculative fiction, literary fiction, and/or character-driven stories. If that's you, sign up! If that doesn't describe you, don't self-select out! I'm interested in and grateful for all perspectives.
As mentioned above, Beta Readers aren't editors—in other words, I won't be asking you to fix my spelling and grammar, or to clean up my writing. The feedback Beta Readers give is mostly story focused—things like pointing out sections where the pacing feels off, identifying obvious plot holes, commenting on whether characters feel believable and have satisfying arcs, etc.
Now, a word of caution for those lovely friends who might be tempted to sign up just to get an early glimpse at the manuscript (you know who you are): please keep in mind that this will be an early, messy draft of the novel. There will be typos, and plot holes, and sections that may be changed or removed entirely. It's unfinished—which is the point—soif you really want the full experience of reading the final, polished novel for the first time, you may not want to peek behind the curtain.
Note that, based on my current projections, the manuscript will be ready for Beta Readers toward the end of January, give or take a couple weeks. Plan accordingly!
Lastly, to be candid, this is a volunteer role! I can't offer much compensation beyond my undying gratitude. With that said: if I'm fortunate enough that the book is ever published, your name would naturallygo in the acknowledgements. Publication is still a big if, though, so don't count on it!
Whew! Okay! If I haven't scared you off and you're still interested, please click the button below and fill out the form. I'll be in touch soon after!
For everyone else—please enjoy an abbreviated newsletter. I missed y'all last month, and I appreciate you!
☕ Project Curses
Okay—like I mentioned up top, I hit my revision goal last month, meaning I'm right at the two-thirds mark in the novel. Hooray!
Here's a brief breakdown of my challenge, because, honestly, I just want to brag a little:
I wrote a total of 40,233words toward the revision of Project Curses in November.
That's an average of about 1,341words per day—though my median word count was around 1,250 words. My maximum was 2,963, and my minimum was 258 (oof!).
If you count outlines, I actually wrote 43,384 words toward the novel, which I'm pretty proud of. And, if you were to count the multiple drafts of the short story I wrote, my total was 50,038 words—just over the actual NaNoWriMo target!
Novel Progress Bar
% revised
📓 "Tipping Point"
I finished a new story in November too! It's the first proper epistolary story I've written (i.e., a narrative told through documents like journal entries, letters, or emails), and I'm pleased with how it turned out. I polished it just in time to send out with MFA applications; I hope to send it off to magazines soon too!
A quick note: I know I don't share my actual writing here very much—that's because posting a story publicly, unfortunately, counts as publication, and thus bars it from being accepted by journals and magazines. That said—if you, dear reader, would ever like to read something I've written, don't hesitate to ask! I'd love to share a copy and hear your thoughts.
♟️ Project Rift
Don't fear: Project Rift is still alive! Both my co-author and I are chomping at the bit to return to it in January, once other deadlines have passed.
Novel Progress Bar
% drafted
📚 Reading
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman | Between filling out job applications, putting together MFA applications, and writing over 50,000 words last month, my brain was in dire need of a break: I craved something fun to read. This is absolutely that. Dungeon Crawler Carl is the unholy lovechild of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Running Man, raised on a firehose diet of pop culture and bedazzled in the structure of a video game RPG. It's...it's good. Weird, but good.
What of Our Natureby Haley Heynderickx & Max García Conover| Longtime readers will know that I've been obsessed with Heynderickx's music for years, and this release is no different; I've listened to the album half a dozen times since its release. What of Our Nature is the second collaboration between Heynderickx and Max García Conover, and, once again, they bring out the best of each other's talents. If nothing else, I recommended taking a listen to "Fluorescent Light".
In the frame: A photo from a recent hike. "Let's do a fun one," they said.
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Second, I'm kind of skipping Show & Tell again. Sorry. Instead, I'm leaving another link to the Beta Reader Interest Form 👉👈
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