Rochelle L. Sharpe

Welcome back to another writing update. March seemed to fly by way too fast. It was a busy month for me personally. I was so busy that besides my regular one day a week off from writing, there were five days where I didn’t get a chance to write!

The Perentie Prize, which I entered my graphic novel script into, was announced and unfortunately I didn’t win. I was sad about it, but I made it to the shortlist which was quite the achievement for my first attempt at writing a graphic novel, so I was happy about that.

I also had the short story I sent to the Project Oz short story anthology rejected. I had a feeling it was going to be. My story was a light-hearted comedy and judging by other anthologies I’ve read of theirs they go for a more serious tone. I did have an idea that would have been better suited but I didn’t get it finished before the deadline.

Saying all that, I did get some exciting news during March:

I had a story accepted into the first issue of Sparkler Magazine! Sparkler is a brand new YA flash fiction magazine launching April 14th 2026. You’ll get to read my Alice in Wonderland retelling them.

Although I didn’t get my short story accepted into the Project Oz anthology, I did get my poem accepted into the Project Oz Poetry anthology. I’ve posted poems on my blog and social media before, but this will be my first official poetry publication! (Confession, when I was much younger I had a poem accepted into an anthology which turned out to be a scam. They were a vanity publisher that accepted everybody who entered and got you to buy copies of the book to make money. So I’m not counting that one.)

Here is what I worked on in March;

Short Stories:

I worked on the edits for my story that is going to be in the first Issue of Sparkler Magazine.

I worked a little bit on a short story that I will probably giveaway in my newsletter when I start it.

I was also slowly chipping away at A Dragon For Christmas. I didn’t post any more chapters, but I have been writing them so I can release them in quick succession.

Novels:

I finished my read through of Project Portal Fantasy. I highlighted all the things I need to change in preparation for draft two.

I am so excited for this project. I have a publisher in mind who I think it might be perfect for, but it needs a lot more work before it will be ready to submit.

I haven’t talked much about it yet, but it is a portal fantasy rom-com for adults with all the romantic comedy and romantasy vibes mashed together. It is clean with some faith elements, and it is just pure fun to work on. I will reveal more in the future.

That’s it for me.

How did your writing go in March? And if you’re not a writer, how did your reading go?

Let me know in the comments.

Until next time, happy writing!