Runaways Beta Call and September Goals Recap

Hello my friends, I have a special announcement for you today! I am now recruiting beta readers for Runaways!

If you aren’t familiar with the story, Runaways is a middle grade fantasy novel that focuses on themes of betrayal, forgiveness, and sisterly love. You can read the synopsis and some early excerpts right now on its WIP Page, but I plan to release it serially on this website in the coming year, and I need help to get it ready to share. If you’re interested, please check out This Form – all the relevant info is in the introduction to help inform your decision. I’m super excited to share this story with the world, and I appreciate all the support so much. 🙂

While we’re on the topic of big updates, I also completed most of my goals this month! (?) School is now in full swing and I think I’ve finally adjusted to the balance of school, work, activities and writing. (If you want to hear more about that topic, you can check out this post). I spend most of my limited free time working on my books, so I’ve been a little more absent on social media, and while it’s frustrating that I can’t interact or edit as much as I like, I’m happy I still have these opportunities. So without further ado, what did I get done?

Won by 4 points! 12/14 goals

Pen Name Planning – I might have an exciting announcement coming up for the end of the year but I’m not sharing my schemes quite yet. I’ll give you a hint though, it involves puns 👀

Draw 15 things – I far exceeded this! I’ve been doing a ridiculous number of class doodles recently, since those are easier to practice than writing in the middle of Methods. I’ll usually post these to my IG or tumblr if they include my OCs

Experiment more with Reels and do scheduling for the month– I’ve learned that the drafts function doesn’t work lol. But despite the technical glitches, I still posted twice a week!

Reread and make edit list for Runaways – this unfortunately took a lot longer than I expected it to which set me behind for the rest of the month, but it’s done!

Finish editing 1/2 half of Runaways – See the above 🙂

Finish editing Runaways – this was a “reach” goal, so I’m not terribly worried that I didn’t finish it, but I’m still making good progress!

Edit anything in Storge – Another “reach” goal. As far as words-on-page go, I did not actually edit. I spent all my time working on Runaways, and put this story on the side while I focus on finishing that before my self-imposed deadline. However, I did some brainstorming on character arcs for both Storge and the Laoche Chronicles, so this counts as a win.

Write a chapter in LAFA – The last of my “reach” goals, and the lowest priority, so I shunted it to the bottom of my to-do list. When will I learn my lesson to not promise to write something if I never actually write it? Probably never.

Read Dawnshard (and Apartment, and Newsletter Ninja) – I’m making these three goals because I honestly didn’t expect to read much this month. I’ve made a deliberate habit of carrying my book in my hand instead of putting it in my bookbag, so then I don’t have to dig it out of the cluttered bookbag every time I want to read a few pages between classes. It’s a little thing, but my lazy brain and sore shoulders refuse to pick up my bag more than I absolutely have to, so eliminating that step means I spend more time reading instead of scrolling through my phone. And when I open my phone, bored and looking to kill some time, I replaced my social media apps with the library and kindle apps, so my fingers drift to my ebooks as the default instead of digging through my menus to find the true time-killer apps.

I loved all of these books! I am very very slowly catching up on the Cosmere (though I just saw that Sanderson released *another* book, so God only knows if I’ll ever really catch up), and I really enjoyed the Dawnshard novella. I’m curious where Sanderson is going with Lopen’s arc because the ending confused me, but I love Rysn’s character and I’m SO EXCITED for all of the worldbuilding lore.

This past July, I got a free copy of Apartment from my good friend, Hyba! I only just got around to reading it, (let’s pretend I was saving it for spooky season), and I’m so impressed at how well she pulls off blending psychological thriller and magical realism. If you’re looking for a creepy October read, I highly recommend checking it out!

I also challenged myself to read more nonfiction and craft-books this year, so this month I read Newsletter Ninja by Tami Labreque. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone else getting started on their author’s platform. It’s written in an entertaining manner so it doesn’t feel like a textbook, and she gives a comprehensive summary of the process from the on-boarding to end goals. I learned a lot from this book, and it gave me a lot of ideas for the future of my mailing list and website! Which leads us into the next goal…

Write a story for September Newsletter – Check out “Matter”! It’s weird, it’s got tea parties and black holes, what’s not to like?

Website maintenance and writing – It was a close call because I changed my plan halfway through the month, but I posted every week! This month’s theme was on Storytelling and STEM in case you missed those posts!

Make a linktree for Instagram – I’ve meant to do this for ages, and now that I have one, I’ve found it’s rather useful! This was a small task, but I’m glad it’s done now.

That’s all the more I have for today! Remember to fill out the interest form for Runaways if you’d like to be a beta reader. How did the start of your school year go, if you’re taking classes this semester? It’s hard to believe its already October wow. Is there something you want to accomplish this season? If you feel so generously inclined, you can support my writing by leaving me a tip on my Kofi or donating using the secure box below. Until next time, thanks for reading and happy writing!