May was such a relaxing month compared to April and March, for which I’m grateful. I was able to recuperate a lot of my energy and work on edits for The Heart Is a Weapon without stress. I didn’t do nearly as much marketing for The Devouring, either, resulting in far fewer sales this month, but I’m not worried. Self-publishing is a long game and I’m willing to be patient. Taking care of my mental health and physical well-being is paramount, so I am doing everything I can not to burn out in this first year of being published.
News & announcements
That said, I am officially participating as a panelist for the WriteHive Annual Conference this year, a virtual, free conference taking place July 10-12. More information to come as the program information is made available. My co-panelists and I recorded our conversation last weekend, which was an amazing time. I’m really excited for everyone attending to watch the panel and hopefully gain some insight into our chosen topic!
I was also interviewed by DILIM Press, a small, independent press that celebrates Filipino authors around the globe and their stories. They were looking for Filipino authors to feature on Instagram for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, so naturally, I signed up. I had a lot of fun chatting with Nikki Flores about The Devouring and my writing process.
Writing update
I’m happy to share that the second draft of The Heart Is a Weapon is complete! I finished it on May 20, which is a pretty funny coincidence to me, because I finished the first draft in twenty days, too. I ended up rewriting many of the middle chapters, resulting in a stronger storyline and deeper characterization.
Reflecting on it, my attitude toward rewrites is completely different this time, compared to how I felt about rewrites for The Devouring. Last year, I rewrote two-thirds of the first draft for the second and developed such a negative opinion about rewrites that I vowed to plot my future books with such detail and precision that rewrites wouldn’t be necessary.
Oh, how foolish I was. I had to confront the silliness of the idea and make peace with rewrites as part of the writing process. And now, with Heart, I see how necessary they are. How the story can change so much between first and second drafts—not because I’m a stupid writer who can’t string a plot together on the first attempt, but because writing is an act of discovery. No matter how much you outline ahead of time, the best ideas don’t always occur right away. Sometimes they happen during the drafting stage, and sometimes only after you’ve written the whole manuscript. There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s just how writing works. Now that I understand that, rewriting excites me.
Anyway, I have handed off Heart to my alpha readers. Though I’m already starting to receive their comments and feedback, I haven’t given them a deadline because I don’t know how long I’ll take to write the first draft of RewriteWIP, the reshuffle of what was once Crucible of the Broken Moon. I began the rough outline of the plot this past week, and I have all of June to put together a detailed outline of Act I and enough worldbuilding that everything feels cohesive and real—which should be a piece of cake. I’m looking forward to it!
Recent delights
- Earlier this month, I attended Halfway 2 Halloween, a small horror convention in a nearby town. My acquaintance Besu suggested I check it out and meet other local horror authors. I was only able to attend for an hour, so I couldn’t stop by every table and speak with everyone or peruse all the wares, but it was still a fun experience! It stoked my excitement for future conventions and book festivals—especially when I’ll have my own table to sell my book!
- Page One to Done by Jessica Brody came out this month, a book I had preordered because it claims to teach writers how to write a first draft in 30 days (give or take). Curious about her techniques, I read it in a weekend. Though I was familiar with or already do much of what she includes in the book, I still found a lot of value in her suggestions, insights, and advice. Armed with this book, I’m eager to tackle the first draft of RewriteWIP in July.
A. M. Shilling 
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