Another month has come and gone! I wasn’t quite ready for February to end as I have a few things due in March. I did accomplish a few things I wanted to though, so lets dive in!
On the blog:
My goal was to post 8 times – twice a week. Thanks to some cover reveals I signed up to, I ended up posting 7 times during February. Almost there. Let’s see if I can reach my goal next month.
I didn’t get as many reviews posted as I wanted, but I did managed to post two:
The first was a review for a sweet Amish romance with disability rep: With All Her Heart by Kelly Irvin. This was a 5 star read that I highly recommend for those who love Amish fiction.
The second was a sweet contemporary romance featuring single parents: The Distance Between Us by Lisa Renee. This was a 4 star read I really enjoyed.
I interviewed Australian YA author Lynne Stringer. You can read about how she got published here.
And if you want to see the cover reveal for some exciting new books check out the covers for Seasons of Romantasy: Spring Anthology, the new YA novel by Moriah Chavis The Curious Case of the Midnight Specter! and the anthology full of dragons that is raising money for a special teen battling cancer Amidst Fury and Valor.
Reading update:
I have not had as much time to read as I would have liked and am a bit behind on my TBR list.
I read 10 books during February, and two short stories. I only managed 10 because 2 of those where picture books and 3 were junior readers. These were for research as I have an idea for a junior reader and wanted to read a few samples of what is on the market.
I managed to read two ARCs (I still have 7 to go!). I am going to need to be even more selective of what ARCs I take on in the future as I just don’t have as much time. I also have a goal to read books I actually own.
Writing Update:
One of my goals for this year was to start an Instagram account and I am pleased to say I have completed my goal! If you would like to follow me on Instagram you can do so here.
I was working on THREE projects during February, which was a bit of a juggle, and one of the reasons I had less time to read.
I am pleased to announce I finished my first draft of the cozy portal fantasy I was writing. I will be referring to it from now on as Project Portal Fantasy. It came in at 91,091 words. I am now resting it for about a month before I start draft two.
I also started my contemporary romance. It has not gone as smoothly as when I write fantasy, but I think the idea is good. I think I am feeling a bit more pressure than when I usually write because I plan to enter this into Harlequin’s The Great Love Inspired Author Search 2025. The first round I need to submit my first chapter so I have been focusing on perfecting that.
My third project was a short story I have been working on since January. It is just under 7k. I plan to submit it in March. I sent it off to my critique partner and she was wowed by it, so that was reassuring.
That’s it from me. How was your February? Did you reach your goals? Let me know in the comments, I love to hear from you.
Rochelle L. Sharpe 