Tag Archives: katie j gallagher

Chapter Thirty-One of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!

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Illustration courtesy of Ally Grosvenor.

The thirty-first chapter of The Gold in the Dark is out! New chapters, complete with brilliant chapter illustrations courtesy of Ally Grosvenor, release every other Sunday at 11 AM EST (and many times earlier)! You can get started on the series with Chapter One right here or on Wattpad.

So I’ve been absent from the blog for two weeks. 😦 I’ll be honest–worry about the coronavirus has been affecting me for a while, and lately I just… haven’t been in the mood to do much of anything. I’ve actually been following the whole coronavirus story closely since January; for anyone who’s read Specter, it probably won’t come as a surprise that a certain portion of my online hangouts are places that discuss conspiracy theories, “hidden knowledge,” etc (not that I’m necessarily a believer–I just like to read about these things for entertainment!). Anyway, my own personal experience living in China back in the day combined with talk about coronavirus on the websites I peruse has had me low-key freaking out for months–and that feeling has come to a head in the last few weeks as the virus has started to affect life in the United States.

Plus now I’ve woken up this morning with a sore throat and a ninety-nine degree fever. Fucking fantastic. Did I buy all those Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer for nothing?? D:

So as life has become a bit stranger in my area of the world (my husband is on indefinite paid leave from his job, I’m suddenly working from home, we’re ordering most of our necessities online, and all non-essential businesses are shutting down tomorrow at 8 PM), I find that I haven’t been so motivated to blog. That feeling will come back, I’m sure–actually, I’m finishing up an ARC that I can’t wait to write a review for.

What’s been nice is that with the shift from working in an office to working at home, I’ve been able to write more of my WIP. Beauty and the Beast and Aliens continues to crawl along, and like I’ve said before, I really like this book–it’s just that the process has been slooow. On a random note: does anyone reading this post kayak or have a friend who kayaks? Because there is an extended kayaking scene in the book, and I’m certain that some things are incorrect, so I’m on the hunt for someone to give me pointers. :XD

Anyway, I’m going to wrap it up here. Have a great (and healthy) rest of your weekend, and enjoy Chapter Thirty-One. ❤

Chapter Thirty of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!

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Illustration courtesy of Ally Grosvenor.

The thirtieth chapter of The Gold in the Dark is out! New chapters, complete with brilliant chapter illustrations courtesy of Ally Grosvenor, release every other Sunday at 11 AM EST (and many times earlier)! You can get started on the series with Chapter One right here or on Wattpad.

Chapter Thirty marks the end of Part Two, and it’s one of the key chapters of the book. Reading through the chapter gives me such nostalgia, because I spent so long crafting the rest of the book so that it could lead up to this point. Unlike my other books, I spent a long, loooooong time brainstorming for The Gold in the Dark and working out plot points, since I was a new (and hesitant) writer. Now reading back through the chapter, I almost think this turn of events is too much, but I’ll stick by it–I’m mega proud of GitD as a first book.

This week I’ve been rekindling my love for my WIP. Writing the Beauty and the Beast and Aliens book hasn’t been the smoothest journey if you’ve been paying attention to these updates, but I do think that I’m settling into drafting again, as best I can. What can I say–I’m an editing kind of girl! I can edit for hours, but drafting is like pulling teeth, mostly because I just want to edit what I’m writing the whole time. And even though I hate drafting, I do really like how this WIP is progressing! Will anybody else want to read it, or just little ol’ weirdo me? Time will tell, hahaha.

Anyway, I’m going to keep it short and sweet this week. Have a great rest of your weekend, and enjoy Chapter Thirty. ❤

Chapter Twenty-Nine of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!

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Illustration courtesy of Ally Grosvenor.

The twenty-ninth chapter of The Gold in the Dark is out! New chapters, complete with brilliant chapter illustrations courtesy of Ally Grosvenor, release every other Sunday at 11 AM EST (and many times earlier)! You can get started on the series with Chapter One right here or on Wattpad.

I’m happy to report that I’m finally feeling better and my mojo is coming back! I’ve been in a serious funk lately, in terms of all sorts of aspects of my life: health-wise, reading-wise, writing-wise, and spirit-wise. Blerghhh–but things are on the up swing, and I’m finally making progress with my Beauty and the Beast and Aliens WIP! So much of writing is a mental game; I used to think topics like mindset were boring, but now I do pay attention to things like that, since I’ve noticed that my own well-being has such a profound impact on my productivity.

There is no question that I’m behind on my personal schedule of where I want my current WIP to be. I’d been hoping when I was planning my project timeline to be done with my first draft at the beginning of February and starting revisions mid-March. Now I’m hopeful to be done with my first draft by the end of March and starting revisions by mid-April. Yup–that’s how much my funk has set me back. Anyway, I’m not overly disheartened by the setback, since I still think a publish date of early July will be pretty easy to meet. I came up with that publish date, by the way, because I want to get on a one to two book a year schedule, and Specter released July 7th. I’ll be mega-proud if I can meet that goal, and maybe then I’ll push my next book release date up a little–perhaps April or May 2021.

All right, enough about me and my goals. Have a great rest of your weekend, and enjoy Chapter Twenty-Nine. ❤

Chapter Twenty-Eight of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!

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Illustration courtesy of Ally Grosvenor.

The twenty-eighth chapter of The Gold in the Dark is out! New chapters, complete with brilliant chapter illustrations courtesy of Ally Grosvenor, release every other Sunday at 11 AM EST (and many times earlier)! You can get started on the series with Chapter One right here or on Wattpad.

I’m going to keep things extremely short this week, the reason being that I’m sick and scarcely have the energy for anything that’s not Tik Tok. 😦 It’s NOT the coronavirus, but it’s been a nasty enough virus to keep me home from work for most of last week, and I’m not totally convinced I’ll be good to go in tomorrow either. My appetite is slowly starting to return, but the fever I thought I ditched yesterday came back this morning. So here’s to everyone’s health and happiness–I hope everyone is feeling better than I am! Have a great rest of your weekend, and enjoy Chapter Twenty-Eight. ❤

Chapter Twenty-Seven of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!

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Illustration courtesy of Ally Grosvenor.

The twenty-seventh chapter of The Gold in the Dark is out! New chapters, complete with brilliant chapter illustrations courtesy of Ally Grosvenor, release every other Sunday at 11 AM EST (and many times earlier)! You can get started on the series with Chapter One right here or on Wattpad.

This past week I’ve been crawling my way out of a reading slump. Nothing of what I’ve been reading has really grabbed me, and I think that lack of forward momentum, combined with a knowledge that I have to get through these books because they’re ARCs, has just dragged down my mood in terms of all things books. I find it so much easier to write when I’m reading something great–anyone else with me? Good books just get my creative juices flowing.

I’ve been working on adding texture to my Beauty and the Beast and Aliens WIP these past couple weeks. That oddly involves a lot of details about plants, which is hard because I’m not a plant person. My mom, though, has a very green thumb, so I’m lucky enough to have an expert just a text away to answer such questions as, How long does it take tomatoes to grow from seed to a stage where you can eat them?, or, How many black bean bushes do you need to plant for a one-person crop? Yes, I really do need the answers to these questions for my book about aliens; you’ll see how it all comes together in the end. Thanks, Mom. XD

I also need a copy of the 1971 edition of The Anarchist Cookbook, for research purposes. Yup, that book.

Anyway, I’m going to head off and get some work done on my WIP. Hope everyone’s having a great weekend, and enjoy Chapter Twenty-Seven. ❤

Chapter Twenty-Six of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!

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Illustration courtesy of Ally Grosvenor.

The twenty-sixth chapter of The Gold in the Dark is out! New chapters, complete with brilliant chapter illustrations courtesy of Ally Grosvenor, release every other Sunday at 11 AM EST (and many times earlier)! You can get started on the series with Chapter One right here or on Wattpad.

Work (the real, boring kind) has been the theme of the past couple weeks. It’s the busy season at my job, and I’m just happy to get home every day and curl up with my dog, a glass of wine, and season three of True Blood. So I won’t say I’m off my game exactly, but I’m just kind of waiting out the days at this point until things calm down again work-wise and my creative well refills.

Nevertheless, my WIP is still ever on my mind, and I was really happy this past week that my husband took a look at my last few chapters and gave me some much needed feedback. My writing process and writing brain both work really well with an alpha reader, and my husband just so happens to be an excellent one; he’s forever finding the plot holes in TV shows and picking apart character motivations. It means we’re not True Blood buddies (alas), but that’s a small price to pay for having a strong manuscript. 😛

Anyway, I’m going to try to get some drafting done. Hope everyone’s having a great weekend, and enjoy Chapter Twenty-Six. ❤

Chapter Twenty-Five of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!

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Illustration courtesy of Ally Grosvenor.

The twenty-fifth chapter of The Gold in the Dark is out! New chapters, complete with brilliant chapter illustrations courtesy of Ally Grosvenor, release every other Sunday at 11 AM EST (and many times earlier)! You can get started on the series with Chapter One right here or now also on Wattpad.

These past couple weeks have been slow writing- and blog-wise, just due to Christmas and lots of time with friends and family. I’m chugging away at drafting as best I can, but I’ll admit that I’ve been making very slow progress. Regardless, I’m still looking at hopefully getting my first draft of the Beauty and the Beast and Aliens book complete by sometime in February.

For any writers out there, I also want to give a quick shout-out to the Six Figure Authors podcast, which I’ve been enjoying a lot in the last couple weeks. Their last episode featured an in-depth interview with Dean Wesley Smith, who had some really fantastic, unique advice about (not) editing, and the podcast before was just one revelation after the next about selling direct. I do sell direct already from my website, by the way, so if you’ve been meaning to pick up a copy of Specter and you want a little more cash going directly to me, please consider purchasing the book through my store!

I’m also working hard on getting my end of 2019 posts ready; I’m waiting until January to get them up because I do have the sense I’m still going to be finishing a book or two in the next couple days and I want all my stats to be accurate! I love seeing everyone else’s year end posts–best ofs, worst ofs, and everything in between. I think I’m also going to do a “state of the blog/business” post, with some New Year’s resolutions as well. I’ve always enjoyed setting New Year’s resolutions, even if my follow-through is only halfway there. 😉

Anyway, hope everyone’s having a great weekend, and enjoy Chapter Twenty-Five. ❤

Chapter Twenty-Four of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!

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Illustration courtesy of Ally Grosvenor.

The twenty-fourth chapter of The Gold in the Dark is out! New chapters, complete with brilliant chapter illustrations courtesy of Ally Grosvenor, release every other Sunday at 11 AM EST (and many times earlier)! You can get started on the series with Chapter One right here or now also on Wattpad.

These past couple weeks I’ve been continuing drafting my Beauty and the Beast and Aliens book (which now has a mock-up cover, oooh).

The title and cover will be changing, of course, but I just wanted to get a placeholder up on the blog so people know it’s coming. Getting the title right is going to be tricky, since I’m pretty positive this is going to be a series, so the title needs to have a specific word or cadence that can be used for books to come. Oh well, I’ll figure it out in time, hopefully. I was lucky enough with Specter to know straightaway what the title would be, though The Gold in the Dark took some work, and I was never completely satisfied with it if I’m being honest.

Drafting is going well; I’m slower after NaNo, but that’s also a ’tis the season type of thing with Christmas coming up. I keep having great ideas for this book/series, and that makes me very excited for things to come.

I’m also beginning work on my end-of-year posts, like an analysis of my 2019 reading habits, the books I want to read most from my TBR next year, my goals as a writer next year, etc. I’m finding that a lot of my TBR picks for 2019 were not actually books I got around to reading, even though this year I’ve read more than any year past by far! I think a good portion of that is down to me by-and-large abandoning reading fantasy; for the second year in a row I’m not really feeling fantasy for whatever reason. I’ll probably explore that more fully in my upcoming posts.

Anyway, hope everyone’s having a great weekend, and enjoy Chapter Twenty-Four. ❤

Chapter Twenty-Three of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!

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Illustration courtesy of Ally Grosvenor.

The twenty-third chapter of The Gold in the Dark is out! New chapters, complete with brilliant chapter illustrations courtesy of Ally Grosvenor, release every other Sunday at 11 AM EST (and many times earlier)! You can get started on the series with Chapter One right here or now also on Wattpad!

In writing news, NaNo is over!!! I was writing up until just a few minutes before midnight; I still came a little short of my goal (21k), but I still managed to hit 18.5k, which is still a very good writing month for me. That puts me at what I’m thinking will be the halfway point (35k) for my Beauty and the Beast and Aliens WIP–hard to say though, because who can tell how long it will end up being. I have a spidey sense that it will be a bit shorter than my previous books, but that’s just guesswork on my part.

This next week I’m going to be picking up all the other pieces of my writing life: blogging, Instagram, ARCs, Goodreads updates, etc. All that’s been terribly neglected in this NaNo push, and I don’t want everyone on social to take my radio silence as a sign that I’ve perished. 😛

Hmm, maybe I should also real quick jot down what I learned this NaNo so I have a historical record. First off, I’ve learned that my stamina doesn’t necessarily die after a couple hours of butt-in-chair time. I do have the capability of writing for eight plus hours and achieving a 1000+ word day. (That might sound ridiculous to some faster writers out there, but I am sloooooooow, and I do a lot of editing as I go, so more than a thousand words is a great day.)

I’ve also learned that I like letting other people know about my NaNo goals! I used to be pretty secretive about my writing life, but now I share it with the world. XD It’s pretty cool to go into work and have my coworkers ask me about my word count–I found it to be really motivating, since I didn’t want to be all “Oh, I’m doing this thing, but actually I’m slacking off on that thing, so just forget I said anything.” Nobody wants to be that guy. Gal. You catch my drift.

Lastly, I learned that getting out of my house to write really is the key for me. I wrote everywhere this month: many multiple coffee shops, a couple different libraries, work (sorry, boss!), an AirBnb writers’ retreat with my friends, on a Thanksgiving trip (another shout out to my amazing friends and husband who didn’t give a fig that I was desperately typing words while they were duking it out on Smash Bros).

Anyway, I’m going to wrap this up here. I’ve missed being present in this space, so expect way more posts for me in the run-up to Christmas. (Yay, Christmas!) Have a great rest of your weekend, and enjoy Chapter Twenty-Three. ❤

Chapter Twenty-Two of The Gold in the Dark and a Writing Update!

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The twenty-second chapter of The Gold in the Dark is out! New chapters, complete with brilliant chapter illustrations courtesy of Ally Grosvenor, release every other Sunday at 11 AM EST (and many times earlier)! You can get started on the series with Chapter One right here or now also on Wattpad!

First, I just want to give a quick update that Specter is still free on NetGalley right now. I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to keep it up on NetGalley through the end of the year, but still not sure about that, so I’d grab a copy while you can! It’s also free on Kobo through the end of today. I’m curious–does anyone use Kobo as an alternative to buying ebooks through Amazon? I know it’s big in Canada; the majority of my sales through Kobo are from Canadians.

In writing updates, my NaNo’ing has been less than stellar this past week. One of my region’s municipal liaisons sent out a little note at the start of the second week reminding everyone to buckle in because the second week is always the toughest, and man, was she right. Not that I’ve gotten nothing done, but I’ve just had a couple little things happen personally that have sapped my energy. Nevertheless, I’ve managed to get a decent amount done, and I have to keep reminding myself that a decent amount is way better than a negligible amount, which was my output prior to November. 😉

Looking ahead to this next week, I’m excited–I’ve taken three days off work to relax and get some writing done, so I have a five-day (!) weekend coming up. 😀 Could not be more thrilled. Maybe I’ll also get the PDF/EPUB/MOBI packet up for the first part of The Gold in the Dark; I’ve only been promising that for, oh, months?

Anyway, I’d better wrap this up so I can get back to my NaNo words. Have a great rest of your weekend, and enjoy Chapter Twenty-Two. ❤