Word Count Update!

Well. It's Friday, and I thought I'd post an update.

No, wait a sec! It's past midnight here in Sydney, so I suppose it's technically Saturday. LMAO.

Either way, it's time to weekend. 😁

So, how are ya? What have you been doing this week? How's the new year treating you? I've been busy writing, but the world is such a fucking mess right now. Between people idolizing loser billionaires who have no fucking clue, greedy haters who can't mind their own business, and intense climate change events... I just don't know where the fuck we're going. Or WTF we're doing.

I really wish we paid more attention to history, instead of repeating the shitty parts over and over. Ugh.

Let me get back to the writing. I'm working on my current WIP and still having a blast.

Here's my progress:

• Monday: 58,120 (+4,521w)
• Tuesday: 62,584 (+4,464w)
• Wednesday: 69,251 (+6,667w)
• Thursday: 73,961 (+4,710w)
• Friday: 79,223 (+5,262w) 

Not bad, right? This was actually the first full week of writing I've had for a while after so many cool public holidays. And because I'm so caught up in what's happening, during every session this week I churned out high word count additions.

I stopped at a good spot tonight. The downward spiral to the end is going to be intense and very bloody. I can't wait to write it, but won't go back until Monday.

Also, if you follow me on social media, you might have noticed that this week I started posting graphics & small quotes from my upcoming short story collection. I'm having a great time sharing bits and pieces about each individual tale. There are 17 of them, and I've already shared five.

Oh! The first Goodreads review for MELANCHOLY DELUSIONS has been posted and it's fantastic! Check it out HERE! I absolutely LOVE it! Thank you, Rose Devours Books. 

One last thing, since a lot of crap has been going on with Meta—ranging from AI bullshit, removal of fact checking, allowing hate speech—I'm seriously thinking about signing out of the two social media accounts I have with them. I haven't decided yet, but I'm certainly getting sick and tired of fucking asshole tech-bros.

In the past two years I deactivated accounts at NaNoWriMo (gross behaviour with minors), Substack (gave nazis a platform), Twitter (destroyed by a dickhead) and Discord (nothing related to the actual app, more a bad association because of assholes). 

No matter what, you can find me on Bluesky, which is where I post the most. ☺️

Okay, that's it for today. Have a great weekend!!

SAGA #71 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

Saga #71 by Brian K. Vaughan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Might as well start the week with the latest installment of this awesome series.

Yikes! There's SO much packed into this one, but everything feels like a preview/tease of more serious/important things to come. Like the bubble is building and very soon, it's going to burst.

As always, the art is beautiful in this issue. I absolutely love the aesthetic, style and colours in this world. It captures the wonder, danger and violence very well.

Apparently there's one issue left to end this current series and I can't wait to see what happens!


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Still writing...

Hey! How are you? This isn't technically my first blog post for 2025, but it's definitely my very first update post. 😁

So, how's the new year treating you? It's a shame to see that the world insists on carrying forward the crappy violent and vile stuff. Between stupid people who don't understand how the world works, shitty 'politicians' and all the AI BS, it's sometimes really frustrating.

That's why I'm trying to concentrate on the good stuff. On all the things that make me happy: my awesome husband, writing stories, reading, cozy games, and going for nice walks.  The simple things in life are often the best and most fulfilling.

BTW, in case you're interested, this is how my 2024 Goals turned out, as well as the books I read last year. And here are my 2025 Goals.

Wednesday was a public holiday, so I only wrote four days this week. The only thing about taking a break is that when I get back to it, I end up doing quite a bit of backtracking. I don't mind because when I do, I end up adding details that I missed during my initial word frenzy.

Anyway, here's my word count progress:

• Monday: 41,523 (+4,667w)
• Tuesday: 47,570 (+6,047w)
• Thursday: 50,018 (+2,448w)
• Friday: 53,599 (+3,581w)

As you can see, the new year is here but I'm still writing my current WIP. I managed to add quite a few words and I'm really happy with how the story is going. As well as the unexpected surprises that keep popping up. Love it when that happens.

The other side of this story is turning out to be a lot darker than I expected. In the best possible way, of course. ☺️

Well, that's it for this week's update.

Have a fantastic weekend! 

SAGA #67 - #70 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

Saga #67 by Brian K. Vaughan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a great way to start my 2025 Reading Challenge! I love this series and every time a new arc is released, I'm right there.

Great start to Hazel's story. It looks like the family is getting into the whole travelling circus thing and we're about to meet some new characters. Some old ones, too. The overall tone of the story already feels bleak, though, so I'm looking forward to finding out where it goes...

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Saga #68 by Brian K. Vaughan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, I'm already getting a bad feeling about some of the new characters. As much fun as Hazel's new friend seems to be, I think Emesis is going to get her into a lot of trouble. And the emo kid is going down a dark path, too. 😳

Anyway, I'm really enjoying this. It's always great to catch up with Petrichor!

One final note: as usual, the artwork in this series is FANTASTIC! So colourful. Just stunning.

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Saga #69 by Brian K. Vaughan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Yikes! That cover is really something. 😳

This issue presented a whole bunch of new problems that will definitely affect or destroy Alana, Hazel and Squire in the future. I have to admit that makes me nervous because I can see a bunch of betrayal on the horizon.

Also, there was a page in this instalment that totally freaked me out. It's cool to see Lying Cat again, though.

Let's see where this leads...

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Saga #70 by Brian K. Vaughan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this volume, but now I have a new character to fret over. That precious corgi must stay safe at all costs.

Anyway, just like the previous issue, a lot of things are being set up that will come into play later on. I'm curious about Hazel's band, want to see where Petrichor is headed, hope that things work out for Squire, and I'm glad we finally found out who's leaking information out of the circus.

Looking forward to the next one.

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Some Kind of Goals

HAPPY NEW YEAR! ☺️🎉

I hope that 2025 is an awesome year for all of us.

For me, January usually feels like a clean slate, but this year I'm carrying forward a project.

In the past, by the time December hits, I'm mentally exhausted and stop working on new stuff. But this past December, I started writing a new novel even though I knew there was no way I'd get it finished by December 31st. 😅

Either way, I'm still going to add a list of personal plans and goals right here. I don't like to make New Year resolutions because I never stick to them. But I do put together a goals list because it's a lot easier to accomplish.

So, here are my 2025 Goals:

• Continue to go for long daily walks
• Try to get back into (at least one weekly) yoga workout
• Finish writing my current first draft WIP 
• Celebrate the release of my first short story collection: MELANCHOLY DELUSIONS 
• Write between 100-200k words
• Read 52 books
• Revise/finalise the two vampire first drafts
• Work on edits when they hit my Inbox
• Write a novel (or two)
• Write a novella (or two)
• Write a few short stories
• Keep playing Animal Crossing daily
• Get into other cozy, cute puzzle games

Well, that's it! ☺️

Are you making a list this year?