October 2023: An Update
A view of Grinnell Glacier
After publishing Wonderland in May, life has not stopped throwing me new experiences and surprises.
I moved into a new place, watched my child graduate from college, took a vacation, and got engaged! My best intentions to spend the summer hiking and working on the first draft of my next novel were both thwarted by all the changes, but I am definitely not complaining.
Our vacation to Glacier National Park in August was amazing. This makes for our third trip to the park in six years. We finally visited Waterton Park, stayed in a cute little cabin, and rode horses in the Bob Marshall Wilderness (The BOB), along with several hikes and boat tours. Chris really made this happen with no help from me. When we found ourselves alone on the banks of Upper Two Medicine Lake, Chris proposed. It was a perfect moment. I really am lucky to have him, and I cannot wait to write our future together.
Now in October, Wonderland’s sales have begun to slow, but I think for a debut self-published novel, it has been a smashing success. In total, Wonderland has been ordered 5,931 times on Amazon alone. Granted, the majority of these were free copies offered on promotion, those still equate to readers. The Kindle Unlimited readers finished a whopping 139,751 pages of Wonderland which translates to nearly 725 reads. The physical copies are still selling, and I am restocking The Dusty Shelf every few weeks. My next goal for Wonderland is to produce an audiobook.
Most important of all is Lester. I am still in the “shitty first draft” phase and while I had hoped to have a completed draft before we left for Glacier, moving into a new place pushed that deadline considerably. Presently, I am 70% of the way through. I am hopeful to complete this draft mid-November. This manuscript has been more difficult than I anticipated. Not only has a significant amount of energy gone into tracking down information about the town, but I have chosen to interweave that history alongside the main narrative. The result is writing the main plot and multiple short stories in order to bring the story elements together. It’s a lot to keep track of. We may not see Lester in its final form until the Summer of 2024 as I suspect life will have more to throw at me. On the bright side, when I complete my second draft edit, those of you signed up for my newsletter will receive a sneak peak of the one of the chapters.
A couple short updates. In addition to a monthly newsletter, in November I will be going live with my website. I have been hard at work on that project during the fall months. On November 4th, I will be appearing alongside several local authors at The Dusty Shelf for the Enumclaw Wine Walk from 4pm to 7pm. I will be signing books and handing out the amazing stickers my dear friend Nicole made.
Thank you so much for following my journey!