UpDate #1

Sent via newsletter on December 14, 2025. Don't forget to subscribe to receive regular updates! 

Wow, my very first update. 

I have to admit, this isn’t my first go at a newsletter. In fact, I have written and managed newsletters professionally for various marketing jobs in the past. Maybe my professional experience with newsletters is why I always seem to fall off when it comes to being consistent with my own. 

So, this one will be a little different. Don’t expect to see me in your inbox on any regular schedule. You’ll hear from me when I have something I want to share. No pressure (for myself, that is). 

I hope that these updates will show up as a pleasant surprise in your inbox, an unexpected message from a friend. Just checking in. Let’s catch up. 

Last month, I took the leap and sent copies of my manuscript to trusted friends and beta readers. It wasn’t the first time I’ve asked for feedback about my manuscript, but this time was the closest it’s felt to a finished story. 

So far, I’ve received positive feedback with some insightful observations. My confidence has grown 10-fold from the experience. It turns out the story I’ve been working on for so long actually isn’t horrible. My imposter syndrome is gone. (JK, but it does help to get validation!) 

Waiting for beta reader feedback has been a practice in patience and peace. I suppose that’s the case any time you release a piece of art into the world, but my instincts scream for immediate validation. Please, tell me how much you like it. 

The truth is, most people have jobs and responsibilities and my book probably isn’t the number one priority. So I’ve had to give beta readers space to finish the manuscript in their time, which has been excruciating for me, but I understand. In the meantime, I’ve gotten some very interesting scene work done on my next project, which I can’t wait to share more about once ASOSA is birthed into the world. 

My goal for December is to input any beta reader feedback and to continue cleaning up the prose and doing line edits in A Song on Salt Air. I’m trying to clean up the grammar and punctuation as much as possible myself, since I am a certified copyeditor (humble braggggg), but I do believe I’m way too close to the text to give it a really honest edit. By January, I’ll be ready for a professional editor to take a look and clean up the messes I missed. And then, once the text is finalized, I’ll set a release date. 

But until I set the release date, I do have a very exciting update for you. My cover design is FINISHED! 

I LOVE it. There’s not really much else to say, other than, ta da! Here it is! It’s so crazy that this is the cover people will see before they ever read the book. This is their first impression. This is what people will buy and display on their shelves. I hope it satisfies those “judge a book by its cover” folks, of which I too am guilty. 

Life Updates

I don’t really have that many other updates at the moment. I’ve been heads down trying to get as much work done as possible while not neglecting my “real job” too much. Unfortunately (and also, fortunately … it’s complicated), freelance work has picked up this month, and I have several new projects to work on. I shouldn’t complain. Freelancers learn to never complain about a full workload. But I do miss having more time to write! 

Speaking of, you would think that this cold and dreary weather we’ve been having in Atlanta would make for perfect writing conditions, but instead I’ve found myself battling seasonal depression and binging Vampire Diaries on HBO. 

Good news, though. The sun came out today. So, time to get back on my bullshit. Or as Kim K would say, “Get off your ass and work.”