Send a Raven: Newsletter #3
Travels, media consumption, upgrading my writing space, and learning how to adapt to the world of short-form content as an long-form author (oh, and another exciting top secret ARAC update)
Happy July, Ravens!
If you read my last newsletter, it is my great displeasure to announce that I am (un)happily eating my words about the weather. We went from cold and rainy to full blown heat wave status in a matter of days (which brought on a LOVELY head cold during my busiest week of the year). But I can’t complain too much, because it provided the blast of warmth that my cold, rigid bones so desperately needed to come out of hibernation (be careful what you wish for). As I write this, Stampede, a roadtrip to the coast (that was nearly sabotaged by 4 full ferries in a row), and the best Nickelback concert I’ve ever been to (yes… I’ve been to multiple) have come and gone (as has my voice), and aside from a quick overnight trip into BC next weekend with my nephew, my social calendar is officially cleared for writing… until next month.
Though I would’ve much rather been writing (more exciting news on that… keep reading), I guess I can’t be too upset that this is what my July has looked like…
As far as media consumption goes, my brief reignition of TV bingeing has come to an end (with a weird stint of Intervention somewhere in between) but in a surprising turn of events, I’ve somehow found myself back in the depths of true crime (and I fully blame the new season of Worst Roommate Ever).
I used to be the dictionary definition of a crime junkie, I’m talking binging docuseries’ on release day, rewatching 300+ episodes of forensic files, the list goes on. But the older I get, the more intentional I try to be about the media I consume, and how it effects me. So in the name of trying to reduce the anxiety that’d become crippling, I deleted my podcast apps and deactivated my Tiktok account. And, to nobody’s surprise, it worked! I noticed a drastic reduction in my daily anxiety. But as somebody who tends to operate on both ends of the extreme before settling at a happy medium, I now find myself moving towards the middle with these topics. Which brings me to the first semi exciting announcement of this month’s newsletter (finally, I know), but I finally bit the bullet and made a Booktok.
Have I posted on it? No. Do I plan on scrolling on it? Also no. I absolutely D E S P I S E the toxic community that is the clock app, but for marketing purposes (and some cool ass fucking promos I have planned) I digress.
Contrary to my TV bingeing coming to an end, my desire to see every single new movie hitting the theatres has ramped right back up. Pre-covid, going to the movies was one of my favorite things to do, and even though nothing as of late has wowed me, I couldn’t be more excited about being excited to go to the movies
For my current reads/summer hopefuls, I can unfortunately feel the phase fizzling out. I guess it’s not much of a surprise that I struggle to read consistently when I spend every day writing/reading my own work, especially when things get busy and I don’t even have the time for that, I just wish it wouldn’t happen when I’m in the middle of such a good book.
I think another reason I struggle so much to read consistently, is because I’m still trying to figure out what I like to read. A writer who doesn’t know what they like to read? Crazy, I know. But I’m coming to the realization that what I like to read is what I can’t write. I’m somebody who becomes so easily influenced, so the trap of comparison is easy to fall in to. And as a friend put it best: “I like to write my own porn, not read somebody else’s”. (I still like to read someone else’s sometimes… But when I spend all day writing my own, I think I need something completely different to really keep me engaged). So on that note, I think I’m going to move more towards some thrillers rather than dark romance (aside from the Ruinous Love series… Because that is golden combination)
Okay, now onto what you all actually want to hear about…
Closing up my tattoo books was the final block that I needed to remove to tap into my full potential as an author (an ‘energy leak’ as
puts it). And since doing so, I’ve never felt so dialled in. I can’t describe how much easier it is to pour my energy into writing now that I have the energy. Tattooing was never supposed to take priority over writing, and it never did, but the energy that I had to put into tattooing was inadvertently draining the energy that I needed for writing, and had me constantly fighting burnout (I was sick 4 times in the less than 1 year that I was taking clients full time).There’s been a drastic change in how much work I’m able to sustainably put into writing every day. I’m doing more in a week that I was doing in months, and I couldn’t be happier to finally feel confident in where I’m at on this journey. And the writing nook that I put together a few weeks ago has only supported that progress (who would’ve thought… An office space actually does promote work).
Thanks to the motivation that has come with this new space, I’ve been working my little tail off writing, editing, slightly more comfortably making cuts, designing release promos, and working out scheduling. So needless to say, I’ve been kept very busy, which means that I have also been kept from eating everything in sight (shoutout skinny… The best diet is a good hobby). Which brings me to the second exciting announcement of this newsletter (yes, there’s one more), and that is that I will be opening a Street Team and sending out ARCs for ARAC #1. I know I said I wasn’t going to, but I don’t see the harm in getting it into a few extra sets of hands. That’s all I’m going to say about it for now, but there will be plenty of information on how you can join the team and/or apply for an ARC in the future (you guys will get first access).
OKAY NOW THE REALLY EXCITING ONE. I’m not even going to beat around the bush. ARAC HAS BEEN PRE-APPROVED FOR GOODREADS.
I know it may not seem like a big deal to some, but for me who has likened myself to nothing more than a fanfic writer for so long, it’s absolutely surreal that my work will be listed on the same site as some of my favorite authors. Having ARAC be a part of my bibliography has been a dream for years, and it was a dream that always felt impossible until now.
I will let you all know when it is officially listed and ready to be added to your TBR, but it is no longer a matter of if, just simply when. This time last month, they were working through the backlog from July 2023, and as I write this now, they’ve already moved onto February of 2024, so I’m hopeful that by next newsletter, we will be off to the races!
