Well, I’ll admit, this wasn’t the plan today. I started out writing a short personal note at the beginning of my queued post, but then I kept going, and going, and going, and I realised that since I started this blog, I’ve never really taken the chance to sit down and talk to you all about this space, how it’s grown, and what it means to me. And mostly? I just want to thank you. So if you’re just here for the writing tips, I don’t blame you if you want to hop in your time machine and skip ahead to tomorrow’s post. But I really hope that you’ll stick with me here and allow me to share my heart, just for today.

Three Years Ago…

On February 8, 2020, I sat at my favourite Starbucks and clicked “publish” on the post that launched this blog. I had no idea what I was doing. The post wasn’t good, but it was from my heart. I was working a part-time job and only just starting to freelance, struggling to figure out my life after I quit at the very start of my teaching career. Amid that tumultuous time, some of the things that kept me afloat were the memories of my trip to the UK with my best friend in the summer of 2019. The more I thought about those memories, the more I wanted to write about them, and so I did. Rather badly, at first.

Looking back now, I needed this blog. It was my outlet, especially as the world changed on a dime and I found myself in lockdown…while navigating an increasingly serious relationship with my boyfriend…while changing my entire career to revolve around writing…while trying (and pretty much failing) to figure out self-publishing. I wrote about anything and everything, and if you’ve been sticking around since then, well, God bless you. You put up with the scatter-brained, rambling, not-very-consistent-or-helpful version of me.

(Wait, is that still me? Hm…)

The Blogger

It was all rambling and shouting about Doctor Who until I did something new a few months into running the blog. I wrote about writing. And I realised that even though I’d never really done anything like it, it was all there in my head, pent-up after years and years of consuming and writing stories both good and bad. I discovered that I knew what good stories looked like. I knew what they needed, and I knew what was missing from stories that didn’t satisfy me.

I, the fiction-only writer, actually enjoyed writing about writing. And even better: I saw that it actually helped people. For the first time, I began to see myself as a blogger.

The Author

Almost exactly three years ago today, I published my first book: The Drabbles of a Dreamer. I was thrilled beyond belief, as publishing a book had always been my biggest dream in life. This blog was where I shared my excitement and then promptly vented my frustration as I tried to figure out how to tell more people about my book baby (advice for past E.J.: marketing is a thing…).

After that, I came out with Colours, then The Dragon’s Den. And every time, you were there to support me. You shared, commented, and gave me feedback. A few of you even bought and read the books, then shared your thoughts with me. As an indie author, I see every single book purchase—and still, it feels personal, like you’re there giving me a hug, a thumbs up, or simple encouragement to keep going.

Flash Forward…

Through all of this, I learned. I met some amazing people here on WordPress. I kept writing and discovering the theme of this blog. I kept penning stories and learning from your feedback. And now, here we are. I’ve settled into a comfortable post schedule, I have a series of related topics to write about, and the blog has gained nearly 200 followers in the past year alone. Wow!!

When I began this journey, I could have never imagined how I would grow. And it’s all thanks to YOU! Without your constant support and encouragement, this blog wouldn’t exist. I won’t sugarcoat it—some weeks, especially when I have a lot of work and a lot of life stuff going on, it’s difficult to find the six-ish hours I need to complete a week’s blog queue. Even if I find the time, it can feel like a chore.

But when I sit down to write and I just don’t feel like it, I remember something important: when I started this blog, it was for me. Now, it’s for you. If one sentence, even one word in an entire post helps a writer in need, it’s all worth it. If one story makes someone smile, my work has been worthwhile.

A Massive Thank You!

You all are amazing. Really, truly, incredibly amazing!! Thanks to your donations alone, I’ve been able to purchase a membership for the Florida Writers Association, a desk chair, and now, a standing desk! (I want to give a special shoutout to my wonderful friend Minola, whose donation yesterday now makes my purchase of a standing desk possible!)

I want you all to know that your support is sincerely and personally appreciated, every single time. Every donation, every comment, every follow, every reblog or share—it may not seem like much, but it shows me that you care enough about my blog to take action, and I feel that so deeply.

I hope that as I continue learning and growing, I’m able to provide more content that’s helpful and meaningful to you. One thing I want to focus on more is sharing my personal writing stories and what I’ve learned from them. I’ve been shying away from that recently because, to be honest, I feel like I’ve been failing quite a bit as an author over the past couple of years. Very recently, I’ve come to understand that as I grow and change as a person and my life gets more complex with more responsibilities, my writing process is changing as well. I can’t write the way I did even three years ago, and I’m still figuring out a comfortable rhythm to settle into. 

That being said…

Unexpected Announcements!

I really didn’t plan to share this either, but with all that you guys have supported me in the past, I think it’s only fair that I give you a glimpse into what’s coming up. This isn’t as grand as my start of the year announcements (oh, naive me who had no idea how much stuff life would throw my way in just the first half of the year!), but just a quick rundown of my current goals/thoughts for the future. 

Building a Strong Foundation

As I look back on the works I’ve published, I’ve realised that there are some things I want to tweak before I really dig further into my career as an author. I think that building a strong foundation is important, even with my older books, so I want to make some changes to the books I’ve already published (the wonders of self-publishing!). I’ve also learned a lot about marketing since I started, so I want to give my older books the attention they deserve and try to get them out into the world! 

Drabbles is not my strongest writing. Most of the short stories in the book were ones I wrote in high school, and while I don’t think they’re “bad,” the more I look back at them, the more I really want to take some more time to update them and maybe even remove a couple stories that I don’t think fit anymore. I also want to make a new cover that better reflects the contents of the book. So, yes, Drabbles will be getting a complete overhaul soon, hopefully this year! Don’t worry, you’ll hear more about it as it happens, and I really hope you’ll check out the updated version while I’m putting together Vol. 2 to be published next year!

Colours is my personal favourite out of all the stories I’ve published so far, and I honestly don’t think it needs any big changes. The only thing I want to change slightly is the subtitle. Right now, it’s An otherworldly short story series, but I think a more accurate subtitle is A time-bending flash fiction series or something similar. As I said, only a small change!

As for The Dragon’s Den, I’m a bit conflicted. Personally, I really enjoyed the story and had so much fun with it, but reviews are telling me that maybe it’s not as enjoyable for readers. Even though I never pretended it was anything more than a novella, I got the impression that people were wanting the story to be fleshed out a bit more. While I do agree that there can be more detail, I wrote it as a novella, not a novel, for a reason. It’s a fun concept, but it wasn’t a story that I wanted to be planning and worldbuilding for months and months. But maybe people just don’t enjoy fantasy novellas like that? I’m not sure. As I said, I’m still trying to figure it out. I may take the book down until I’m ready to spend more time on it (which likely won’t be for a few years, if I’m being honest), or I may see if I can make some smaller changes that will satisfy readers more. 

What Happened to Project Pea?

By now, you’ve probably heard about Project Pea, the big novel project I’ve been working on for many years. I’ve written it, rewritten it, and rewritten it again, and while it gets closer to where it needs to be every time, it’s just not quite ready yet. Actually, I realised that I’m not quite ready yet. Project Pea is my big goal, my baby, my most important book project. I love the story so deeply that I simply won’t be satisfied until it’s perfect. That likely means many more years of planning, worldbuilding, and crafting the whole series. 

This was a hard realisation to come to, especially since I’ve been working so hard on the story over the past few years. But another piece is that I want people to read this story more than any other story I’ve written. I’m not skilled enough with marketing and publishing yet to do this book justice, so it’s better that I wait and build up that strong foundation, anyway. 

So, What Now?

I have so many story ideas that there are several massive lists just sitting around, waiting to be rediscovered. Most of these ideas are not as intricate as Project Pea, so they won’t take as much time or brainpower to put together. Of course, I still believe in these ideas and love them deeply, but in many ways, they’re just easier to write than Project Pea, and that’s what I need right now as I work on planning Project Pea (and its series) in the background. 

I plan on my current WIP being my “debut novel” in a sense, as it will be the first full-length novel I’ve published and the first one I plan on actually marketing before its release. I don’t want to say much about it (I’m constantly paranoid of someone publishing my story idea before I can get to it), but I can say that it’s a middle-grade book (the first one I’ve written!) and it’s based on a classic story/fairytale…only, in a much, much different genre. And with a much, much different main character. I’m really, really excited about it—actually, the rough draft will be finished within the week! I’m hoping for a release before the end of the year, but we’ll see. 

As for the blog, my goals are simply to remain consistent, learn how to write better, more engaging posts, and bring you the topics that you want to hear about the most. 

Thank You—Again and Again!

All of that being said, I’m excited about where my writing career is taking me—and it’s all thanks to this blog that I’m able to do any of it in the first place. I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate your support, which is why I’ve said it at least five times by now! As I move forward, you’ll see that my donation goals will be more geared towards my books. Marketing is one thing I really need to raise funds for, so if you’re interested in any of my books, every dollar helps—really! 

But that doesn’t mean that I love this blog any less. This space continues to be a priority for me, which is why I keep it up even when life gets busy and tough! I hope that as I continue to learn more about writing, I can share that knowledge with you. 

Please, if you ever have any thoughts on the kind of content you want to see or if you just want to talk about writing, drop a comment or fill out my contact form. I’m open to new ideas, and as I said, this blog is for all of you! So thank you, thank you, thank you for sticking around, sticking with me, and reading through my rambling thoughts once again. You all have helped me so much, and I can’t wait to see how we grow together!

Happy, happy writing!
—E.J.

---

If you enjoyed this post, I hope you’ll consider buying one of my books, donating to the blog, reading my stories on Vocal, and/or taking a look at my RedBubble shop so I can continue to produce 100% free content!

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash