September has been a pretty slow month overall.
Marketing
I've tried to pick myself back up on terms is Twitter/Social Media lately. Over the last few months, I just fell out of the routine I had set so I've been trying to get something posted somewhere every day. I need to get back on some more engagement and follow trains and things but socialising can be hard even in an online format. I at least got Moon Girl into a local interpendent shop in town. It's not a book shop so I'm greatful they decided to take on my little book desipte that. If you are local to Chester you should check them out:
Patreon/Ko-Fi
Patreon has been a lot of fun lately. trying to think of things to post that people actually want to pay for is a hard but fun challenge. I can only hope I'm making it worth it for my one Patreon so far. For those who haven't become a Patreon, if you do today you get access to:
-A Magic and machines/Moon Girl crossover
-An image sneak peek of new characters appearing in Moon 4
-A Moon Girl fact file based on Fire Emblem: Three Houses
-Inside info about my new project, title, blurb and more
-Writing extra set before Moon Girl 1 featuring Leo, Tim and Henry
The list will just keep growing. I have some fun things planned for the spooky month of October so become a Patreon to get access:
Moon Girl 4 Stage: Editing
Editing is actually pretty fun. Recently I've been finding it easier than writing as the book is mostly done and all I'm doing is enjoying the story while tweaking sentences and trying to catch as many silly spelling/grammar mistakes I can. I'm about halfway through and, with all the time off I have booked next month I'm hoping to have it mostly done. After that, it'll be one more pair of eyes over it (This last beta reader is normally pretty quick so shouldn't be long).
Moon Girl 5 Stage: Planning/First Draft
I'd been having trouble with an aspect of the current work in progress draft, mainly it's pacing. Without sugar coating, it was just slow and boring. There's a lot of world-building to be done around this time which isn't something I've done as much with the other books so I struggled to balance that out with any kind of action. I knew that if I released it in the form it was in the pacing compared to the rest of the series would be guaranteed make it the worst book in the series but I carried on anyway because until I figured out how to fix it there was no point in putting it on hold. Finally, I realised what I can do to fix it this month, though, I am having to sacrifice a lot of work to do it. I'm not exaggerating when I say it's nearly half an average Moon Girl books worth of writing I'm having to throw away. It's a little sad and disheartening but it's what's needed to make the book the best it can be so I have to do it. Again, I have a lot of time booked off work next month so I should hopefully have time to recover a lot of what I have lost.
Other works
With the hit to Moon 5, I haven't really been able to look at the other thing I wanted to do which is a shame. *fingers crossed* I can get it caught up and get myself back on track soon because I really really want to get onto this new piece!
Next month should be able to help with how behind I have gotten. Due to not taking enough holidays in the year and having to use them before the end of November I have booked every Friday and nearly a whole week in October so I'll have a lot more free time to hopefully finish as much editing as I can and catch up with writing so, in a way the set back has come at a really good time. I'm looking forward to what I can achieve with that time :)