June Goals & News

A summery (summary) patchwork of life and writing updates. No, I’m not sorry for the pun.

oh hey, it’s me! Your friendly author trying to do all the things book and family-life related! Thanks for being here!

Reach: debut novel progress update

My debut novel has been returned from my fantastic editor (Caitlin Miller, if you’re wondering) and I am working on addressing her suggestions in my manuscript.

I was so nervous about sending my work out for critique, but after working on it in fits and starts for a decade I needed a critical eye to discover plot holes and help me make the story even more engaging. Opening the document comments made me cry, in a good way. Caitlin was so gentle and kind in her suggestions. She made valid points to really deepen the impact of my work, this wasn’t a blow off- but it was done with care and respect.

June goal: complete addressing all comments in the manuscript, then do any scene adds in July

I anticipate this taking most of the month- so I’m giving myself a July 15th deadline and trying to knock out one-three chapters each day this month.

In other exciting news, Benita of Kairos Cover Designs has been diligently working on the initial draft of my cover- expect a cover reveal in the near future(like maybe June 30th!)

AND- I’ve set a tentative release date of November 1st! If you’re interested in possibly being an ARC reader, please let me know in the comments! I would love to have 50 reviews ready for release day (which sounds crazy for a debut author but let’s dream big here!)

Polar Bear Summer

My middle grade novel has such a special place in my heart. I love my characters, Annette who is nonverbal/ mute (disability representation is SO important to me!) and Muruaneq, the momma polar bear.

Right now, Polar Bear Summer is participating in a writing contest. The contest involves the first five chapters being scored in a peer critique forum. There are a lot of unknowns with this type of contest and the forum is working out kinks as they go, but it’s been exciting overall. The winner receives a traditional publishing book deal with a small press. Yes, even without an agent! MG is one of favorite audiences to read and write, but it’s very difficult to indie publish (I’m sure it’s possible but it’s not easy according to my research).

What I’ve discovered from my critiques is that I struggle to include enough action in the chapters featuring Annette’s POV. The chapters with Muruaneq have more action, probably because it’s hard to be ‘in the head’ of a polar bear.

June goal: rewrite chapters 4 and 5 of Polar Bear Summer to include more action and submit to the contest

I’m very passionate about this story and even if it isn’t the winner, I will be taking what I’ve learned and working on this manuscript in the hopes of querying and landing a traditional publishing deal for this work.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

SURPRISE! I’m in an Anthology!

This is extra special because it’s the first time one of my pieces has been published! That’s right! I’m published!! One of the groups I’ve connected with in my author journey is for Catholic and Orthodox writers. I often see authors sharing that they’ve won awards and I feel intimidated, less. When I saw that Legend Fiction was having a contest, I figured, what the heck! I’ll try it. I didn’t win first, second, or third, but my story is featured in the anthology as an honorable mention! It turns out that to win awards as an author, you actually have to submit things. I’ll get those awards one day.

The Unburned Oak is a fantasy short story of about 3,000 words… and did I mention, the theme of the anthology is “there be dragons”? Going from novel writing to short story in a genre I don’t typically read and have definitely never written in was tough —but it ended up being so much fun. My second daughter, Maria, loves dragons and I wrote this story for her. One day I’d love to write even more in the world I created for this story- even if only for her.

If you’re interested in checking it out I’ll share a link once Ingram Spark populates the anthology out to the whole Internet! The sale of the anthology supports Legend Fiction and helps keep it up and running. There might be religious themes present in the stories, so please keep that in mind.

Here’s a snippet of The Unburned Oak

The stench of onions fills the air as my branch, Cait, and I stop at the water trough in the town square of Vidalia. Cait prepares to dunk her entire body into the trough, but I pull her back by her leather belt, stopping her from spilling cinders, ashes and grime into the water the good people depend on for their livestock. 

Cait grumbles but finds the bucket left by the trough for passers-by, and promptly dumps it all over her head. I lift the singed hem of my tunic and sweep the remnants of battle from my eyes. A little girl’s voice rings out behind me. 

“Mama! Mama! It’s them, it’s the Oaks!” 

“Here? In Vidalia?” There’s worry under her words, I can hear it. 

The little girl scampers up to Cait and I- we stand rigid, at attention, as is proper whenever someone notices us. Cait is sopping wet. “You’re Oaks! I want to be an Oak when I grow up!”  She’s slight, wearing a dress of faded blue, with long black hair in braids and bright blue eyes.

She’s right. Cait and I are indeed Oaks.  We are the Lady Tree Guards…

Marketing is HARD

I have never felt like a ‘business’-oriented person. I will claim the title of creative with every breath I take, but business? Yeah, no, that’s not my strong suit. This foray into authorship has been interesting because it IS a business. Or at least it has to be one if I want to continue writing and publishing.

I have been diving into the world of marketing and purchased Rachel Parker’s Bookstagram academy for authors. It focuses on closed door romance authors, but has a high cross over to other genres. I have already learned so much about how to use Canva more effectively. I’m looking forward to learning more as I move through the self-paced course.

June goal : complete the Bookstagram Academy course

Garden

It’s finally summertime in Michigan, and that means my strawberry plants have gone wild. Every day we get more and more berries to pick. It’s hard to keep up with it, but that’s a great problem to have!

In my previous newsletter I shared my graphic about being a plantser. It only seems fitting that I share some plant-based material with you all. If you’re wondering, I’ll be snacking on strawberries for days.

Marathon

If you follow me on Instagram you might know I’m a runner, and was training for my second marathon. My first marathon was in 2019, I was in my 20s, hadn’t yet lived through a global pandemic and had three babies. Since 2019, there’s been covid, my dad passed, and I’ve had two more babies, all in addition to getting older (hello mid 30s!)

At the end of May, my husband, Patrick, completed his second marathon. He ran his first in 2021, attempted a second in 2022 but a ruptured Achilles prevented that and finally succeeded another 26.2 in 2024!

I had every intention of running my second full this year, but it became apparent that would be too much for my body, my family, and this author life. So, I’m going to enjoy my second ever competitive half marathon at the end of August!

Me and baby Paxton after my husband’s second marathon. Visiting local breweries is one of my husbands favorite things to do when we go new places- I was DD and the food was AMAZING

Me after returning to my personal training with renewed purpose.

Thanks so much for following along! To quote the villains in Tangled “go, live your dream!”

Olivia