Cheryl Mahoney's Blog, page 4

Writing Update (December, 2022)

After a very busy November, writing has slowed down a bit in December.  However, I did finish the first draft of my NaNoWriMo project, otherwise known as Thorns Saga #3!  I did 50,000 words during November, and finished out the project with only another 5,000 words.  I plan to expand significantly in the revision process, so after I finished drafting I read back through it and made notes on additions and new details.  Not sure when I’ll actually do the revisions, but at least I have the plans fo...

NaNoWriMo: End of the Month Update

It’s December 1st, meaning NaNoWriMo wrapped yesterday – and I’m pleased to say that I hit my 50,000 word goal!  This is the first time I have since the pandemic and having a toddler, so it feels especially significant to have got back to that level of writing.

I did a lot of planning throughout the month, trying to build up word cushions before days that I knew would give me less opportunity to write, and that worked really well. I wound up with an easy final day, only needing 835 words, or hal...

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (November, 2022)

With NaNoWriMo in progress, my main focus this month has of course been more on writing than reading, but I’ve been through a number of books too.  Can’t write all the time!

I’m continuing my reread of Catherynne Valente’s Fairyland series, with Books 3 and 4, The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and The Boy Who Lost Fairyland. I particularly enjoy Book 4, which shifts the perspective to the point of view of a changeling brought to the strange land of Chicago.  Seeing our world translated through ...

NaNoWriMo, Day #19

Nearly three weeks into NaNoWriMo already!  I just passed the 32,000 word mark, which puts me right on track for the 50,000 word goal.  Things haven’t been progressing as quickly as they did in the first week, but I expected that – I built up a significant cushion the first weekend because I expected a number of days when I wouldn’t have as much time to write.  So far that’s kept me above the goal all month, though I’ve almost been through the cushion.

The story is still progressing nicely along...

NaNoWriMo, Day #11

I usually get a NaNo update out sooner than this – but I’ve been busy writing away at my NaNo project!  As I announced in my October Writing Update, I am tackling National Novel Writing Month again this year, my first time aiming for 50,000 words since 2019 (which, as we all know, was a completely different world!)  I’m drafting Book 3 of my Thorns series, and so far it’s going along very well.

As I’m typing, I passed 20,000 words earlier this morning.  I have slightly over 2,000 words cushion a...

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (October, 2022)

November will soon be upon us, so it must be time to give an October update on recent reads.  I’ve been continuing with a lot of sci fi and fantasy, and an unusual number of rereads as well.

I continued the Murderbot series by Martha Wells, reading Network Effect.  The longest in the series so far, I think it was also my favorite.  The trouble with the novellas is that I just get oriented and then they’re done! This one had time to explore something more complex, as Murderbot, our non-human hero...

Writing Update (October, 2022)

This will be a short update this month, and mostly an announcement of things ahead!

I spent September outlining the next two books I plan to write, Books 3 and 5 in my Thorns series, and I’m excited about both of them.  I’m hoping the more extensive outlining will help me stay focused and make the actual drafting go more smoothly.  In between outlining, I played with some writing prompts – I wrote 15 brief pieces in response to prompts, mostly using them to go deeper into the characters from my ...

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (September, 2022)

Looking back on recent reads, I find I’ve been reading a lot of science fiction and fantasy – which is not exactly unusual, but is not as much the case anymore as it was, say, five years ago!  In fact, I didn’t read any nonfiction this month, which isn’t the norm anymore.

I read a very odd book, Meet Me in Another Life by Catriona Silvey, which…I hesitate to categorize as sci fi or fantasy, because I don’t want to give too much away.  The two main characters keep repeating their lives and meetin...

Writing Update (September, 2022)

It’s been a busy past month in my writing.  I attended my annual writing retreat just after my last update, and had a really great weekend.  As a group, we made some progress on our collaborative fantasy romance, as well as digging deeper into our next project, a planned collection of sci fi stories.

The sci fi stories center around a group of characters on the run (via spaceship), with each author taking ownership of two characters.  We wanted to explore how the group got together, so we played...

What I’ve Been Reading Lately (August, 2022)

I’ve been reading more fiction since my last update, and fortunately having better luck with it too – for the most part!

The highlight has been the Clocktaur Wars books by T. Kingfisher – a duology (or one book that got really long so she split it in half, according to the author’s note), I read both The Clockwork Boys and The Wonder Engine.  They were excellent.  Exciting and engaging, but mostly I just really loved the characters.  The story revolves around a suicide mission to an enemy city t...