Time Flies!: February 2015

Welcome to the latest edition of Time Flies! It’s my version of a monthly update, where I recap the past month’s accomplishments and articles, share news and random things from my offline life, and hint at what may be coming in the month ahead.

First of all, thanks to all the new visitors who came by this month for the Maria V. Snyder and #1000Speak articles! I hope you enjoyed what you read and will continue to visit as time goes on. And if you haven’t yet, make sure you enter the Shadow Study giveaway for a chance to win a signed copy of Maria’s new book. The giveaway ends on Wednesday, March 4th at midnight EST, and is international (i.e., open to everyone).

February was much less stressful than the past couple months had been. (*whew*) It was also a super-busy month writing-wise, which is never a bad thing – especially given one of the milestones I reached recently. 😀  Some of you may already know what I’m talking about. If you don’t, no worries. That’s part of this month’s recap.

I’ve tweaked the format for Time Flies this month. If you’ve seen the past monthly updates, let me know you think this one’s an improvement over the last one.

This Month’s Posts

• Recent Reads: “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak
• Joining 1000 Voices For Compassion
• Stacking The Shelves, Vol. 8: “Shadow Study” + Author Interview Announcement!
• Beautiful People, Vol. 1: Valentine Edition
• Acts of Compassion In Literature – A Special #1000Speak Edition of “Theme: A Story’s Soul”
• Recent Reads: “The Night Butterflies” by Sara Litchfield
• Interview with Maria V. Snyder + “Shadow Study” Giveaway!
• #1000Speak: On Self-Compassion
• Recent Reads: “Shadow Study” by Maria V. Snyder
• Chronicling The Craft: FIRST DRAFT – DONE!

Guest Blogs and Columns

• “A Case Study on Trust as a Literary Theme” (DIY MFA)
• “Tea Time At Reverie: Sanctuary T’s Spring Harvest Green Tea” (A Bibliophile’s Reverie)
• “A Pep Talk for Slow Writers” (Wendy Lu Writes)
• “Tea Time At Reverie: Yezi Tea’s Yi Fu Chun Black Tea” (A Bibliophile’s Reverie)

What’s Coming in March

March will bring the usual guest blogging /columns. My next DIY MFA article, which will cover mirror characters and theme, is scheduled to post around Monday, March 9th. I also hope to have a couple more tea reviews for A Bibliophile’s Reverie this month.

Apart for blogging, I was recently interviewed for a podcast at DIY MFA. It was a lot of fun – and for someone as shy in person as I am, a bit nerve-racking. But I’m glad I did to help conquer my public speaking anxiety. (And now I pray I sound intelligent in the final cut!) The podcast should be live in late March or early April, and will touch on my column “Theme: A Story’s Soul” as well as versatility in one’s writing.

Other Happenings

In case you missed it earlier this week… I finished the first draft of my fantasy novel!! 😀 Even though several days have passed since I typed The End, it’s still hard to believe that I won’t be working on the book today. I’ve already planned my next steps for it, which I outlined in the Chronicling The Craft article linked above. And later this month, I’m planning to reveal the novel’s current title in an article on (what else?) strategies for titling your book. I hope you’re as excited to find out what it is as I am to share it with you!

Two upcoming tea samples from Inspired By Jane for Tea Time At Reverie

February also brought lots and lots of tea! Inspired By Jane sent two different canisters of tea for future tea reviews at A Bibliophile’s Reverie. If you haven’t guessed from the company’s name, all of the teas are inspired by characters and places from Jane Austen’s novels. So, these two teas – Donwell Abbey (black tea with cinnamon and marsala flavoring) and Pemberley (lavender / lemon herbal) – will fit nicely with ABR’s primary purpose as a literary blog.

Packets of tea samples from Adagio Tea. You may now call me a “mad tea scientist.” *winks*

Speaking of tea inspirations, I’ve officially “opened” my Tea Test Kitchen! Adagio Teas allows customers to create and sell customized tea blends using dozens of Adagio’s teas, and I thought I’d create a line of tea blends to go with my fantasy novel. The photo above shows the first batch of samples I bought to mix and match at home. And so far, it’s been a neat experience! It’s really interesting to taste how each blend comes out, and then fine-tune them until they’re just right. I’ve already “finalized” two of the four blends I wanted to start with; the other two need more tweaking. Especially the tea representing my protagonist, Eva. Hers didn’t come out the way I’d hoped it would. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that her tea is the one giving me the most trouble. 😉

That’s about it. I haven’t been up to much else, not only because of being super-focused on finishing the novel this month, but also because winter reared its ugly head. Since January 27th, we’ve been blasted by one snowstorm after another and battered with snow and arctic-like cold. I haven’t measured how much snow I have at home, but Boston (about 30 minutes northeast of where I live) has recorded almost 100 inches of the white stuff in the past month – almost twice as much as we normally have by this point in the season. Blah. I hope your seasonal weather has been warmer and less chaotic!

Almost forgot: I joined BlogLovin’ earlier this month. If you’re on there as well, click here to follow me.

The next Time Flies is scheduled for Tuesday, March 31st. Until then, come back for the article on book-titling advice, book reviews, a blog hop I didn’t get around to this past month (sorry, Angela! *blushes*), and other articles. See you around!