A. M. Shilling

This year is already so hectic for me, and it’s only been a month! Between spending more time with friends than usual, two separate vacations in Florida and Virginia, the snowstorm that rocked the eastern half of the United States, and falling ill for the first time in two years, I feel like my daily routine has been totally upended. Here’s to hoping I can get things back on track in February.

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Writing update

The announcement that eBook preorders for The Devouring were available was a huge success. I was so moved by how many people liked, reposted, and commented on the announcement post in Bluesky. I won’t be able to see the exact number of preorders placed until its release on April 9, but I’m confident I’ve sold at least ten books—the goal I set when I started writing it in 2024.

Paperback preorders are now available, too, on Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and a few other retailers. As of writing this post, it’s still not available on Amazon, but that’s all right. I was able to purchase 15 author copies from Amazon to give to friends, family members, and even any unfortunate strangers who end up talking with me about the book.

In terms of Crucible of the Broken Moon, I continue to chip away at it. I had a difficult time meeting my daily goal of 500 words per day in the first few weeks of January, and only now am I hitting my stride again. However, I have managed to write 13,000+ words this month and finish four chapters, which is pretty good progress, all things considered.

It is somewhat disheartening, though, to go from writing 1500-2000 words per day when I worked on The Devouring to only writing 500-700 words per day for Crucible. I know it’s better for me in the long run, and certain aspects of my life have changed so that I simply can’t write as much every day. Still, I had come to equate my writing speed with how awesome I am, and that’s simply not true. I need to decouple these two traits that for the sake of my sanity.

I have to remind myself: all progress is good progress, and the creative process is not linear.

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Recent delights

• Of all the books I read this month, Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer has to be my favorite. I loved the creeping dread and unknowable horror. The descriptions were all excellent, and the fact that it was written in first person POV actually enhanced the story, in my opinion. 5/5 stars.
• The long-awaited second season of Trigun Stampede, called Trigun Stargaze, is finally airing! As a long-time fan of the manga, I’m curious how Studio Orange adapts the primary bulk of the original plot and brings everything to a finale as grand as what we had in the manga. I’m honestly nervous, but I still have hope!