Hello, hello, all my fellow bookish folks of the interwebs!! ^^ I hope you’ve all been doing lovely this week, and that you’ve all been reading some Very Good Books. (See, I hath even capitalized it! XD One must always capitalize the essentials, as Aunt Eugenia has reminded us, in her very Aunt Eugenia-esque way. My fellow Emma fans shall understand this reference.)
My week has been filled with a great deal of tea and pigeons and books (absolutely delightful ones!! I am quite liking all the new books that have been added to Kindle Unlimited). I have also, however, been swamped. I have been buried in books, lost in the woods of my own mind (for my mind is very much a whimsical, twisty forest woodland now), and have been lost in the swamp of emails I ought to answer… Hence why I haven’t written on this blog for quite a bit now. (I miss writing to y’all though!! And bombarding thee with books!)
And so, today, I thought I perhaps might wander onto here and update you all on where I have been in February.
And regarding the title…
Well, I was searching for dramatic quotes for “I have returned!” and this one popped up. XD Who can resist a Gandalf quote?? No one, that is who. Especially not me. I jump at any chance to quote LOTR at you. I simply cannot help myself. It comes with being a Ringer, after all.
I… do not really know what this post is to be about. A tad rambly, no doubt. I’ll probably go from talking about pixies to random tangents about which bread is the best. 🙂 *shrugs* Who knows?
Oh yes, and I’ve been meaning to show you this for a bit now…
….
Hehe… :DDD
I was bored.
I saw Millie Florence make this on her Pinterest.
Like an utter madwoman, I decided why not make one of my own…. XD
It is… peculiar and strange and very very odd. But at the same time, very very accurate. So…. ta-da?
I also filmed a little day in the life vlog a couple days back! Which I rarely do because as much as I adore fun writerly vlogs, I adore the editing bits of it much less. However, if any of y’all are curious as to what a day in the life of a teen author looks like (and would like to this strange, interesting tree I found), tis up on YouTube!
Aside from all those, I’ve been mainly cozied up this week with books or writing my own story. Writing has been going semi-well for me. It’s been lovely to write a new book and to just wander around in this story world and see where it takes me. <33 (And pixies!!! I am one of those writers who works best in secret, but I shall say one thing: there are pixies in this book and they are gloriously chaotic and fun. And they have such fun names!!!)
Of course, I am in Act Two. And so it is all sort of a dreadful mess at the moment. (It’s… a lovely concept. I cannot say the same for the writing though.) To be honest, I… have been struggling recently.
Part of it is because I’ve been swamped. With reading and trying to pitch myself to podcasts and book blogs and trying to manage a YouTube channel.
And the other part of it is… probably self comparison and perfectionism.
It really is hard. Very hard. To look at other people online, other middle-grade authors, and see how well they’re doing. Book signings, school visits, productive writing days. And it’s hard not to look at that and wonder, “Why am I not there yet? Why amn’t I good enough?”
Which is, of course, ridiculous. After all, it hardly makes sense for me to compare myself to someone who’s been publishing and writing for over ten years. But perfectionism and self comparison has always been something I’ve struggled with. Every time I think I’ve beaten it, it rears its wretched, ugly head and rises up again. *sigh*
I did, however, while writing this book, realize that I’ve given every one of my main characters these two things: a sword and a cloak. How can I not give my characters those, really? I adore swords and cloaks.
I’ve also been trying to pitch myself to podcasts and book blogs. It’s been… going… alright, I suppose. I’ve been scrounging the interwebs to find podcasts and book blogs to pitch to, and so far, I’ve gotten one no, and two yes’s! Which is really exciting!!
Truth be told, it’s also terrifying. I would indeed rather be curled up in my little writing cave with just a cup of tea and be left to write alone. It is… scary, putting one’s book out there. But staying alone in one’s writing cave hasn’t gotten any writer anywhere, has it? (Well, I suppose it has. Finishing drafts and such. But it shan’t do any good if you’re trying to get your book out there.)
It’s been both exciting and mildly exhausting trying to scrounge up said podcasts and book blogs, so if any of y’all have any recommendations to who I could pitch myself to, that would be greatly appreciated it!
I suppose that’s where I’ve been these past few weeks. <3 I do hope, however, to get back to my usual blogging schedule (I say that as if I have any schedule at all… XD I do wonder now. Ought I have a blogging schedule? Say, Monday and Friday?) soon!! I have indeed missed y’all greatly.
Do let me know down in the comments what you thought and how your own writing is going! I’d love to hear from you! :))
And before I leave you, here. A lovely, little quote about spring. :))
courtesy of pinterest.
Till next time, and wishing y’all a very wonderful month ahead!
-Isabelle
I love the title! As soon as I saw it, I was intrigued… 50% because it was indicative of an announcement, and 50% because it was a LOTR reference.
I also love the nutrition facts-style review. I’d love to see more of those!
Haha!! XD Indeed. LOTR is brilliant. I adore LOTR references.
And oh my. I’m really glad you liked it!! I… probably will not do too many of those, just because it’s just a tad cumbersome. I might make some for the rest of my books though! We’ll see!
Great post, Isabelle! I loved your Day in the Life, and I really love your nutrition! What a nice idea! Congratulations on getting Yes to some of your podcast queries! Happy writing and I hope you have a wonderful March!
Thank you!! ^^ I’m really glad to hear that!! The Day in the Life was great fun to film. (The nutrition thing as well! It’s a bit tiresome to get everything lined up, but it is so much fun and makes for a strange, weirdly accurate description of one’s book.) I’m wishing you a wonderful March full of writing as well!
Ahh Isabelle thouest has missed your blogs! I look forward to watching your writing vlog, I love those sort of videos I know that M.B Springer has a podcast (she’s on Story Stewards and did one with Justice!) I’ll be praying that things will start getting less muddly for you. Do not worry about writing to us though, we will be here waiting for whenever you’re ready ☺️
Lovely to see thee on here, Molly! And I hast greatly missed writing to you all as well. Hope you enjoy the writing vlog! It was great fun to film! And ohh, I’ve heard of MB Springer! (I saw the episode she did with Justice!) Her podcast looks so cool. I might reach out to her. And thank you — I greatly appreciate it. <3 Here's to a hopefully less muddly March!
Always love these cozy, update-type posts!
Wishing you joy and carefree writing in your WIP!
Ooh, that’s so exciting! A recommendation for an author interview podcast to pitch to: Ice Cream with Authors—I’ve listened to a few of their interviews, and it’s super fun and sweet! I’m not sure at all how one goes about pitching this kind of thing, so apologies if this isn’t a helpful recommendation!
Also, I love that Nutrition Facts Label for your book—that’s so fun!
And that quote about Spring is so beautiful!
Aw, thanks Lola!! I’m glad you like these posts! :)) And thank you! So far, I’ve been trying to let go of pressure and I’ve just been listening to Christian music while writing. (For some reason, it helps me let go of pressure. Do you ever listen to music while writing by the way?)
And ooh, thanks for the recommendation! I’ll check them out! They sound really interesting. And no worries at all! I appreciate any recommendations anyone has!
And haha, I’m glad you like it! I had fun making it! And yes, it really is. Part of me can’t believe it’s already spring… Gosh, where has time gone?
Aww, I love that you listen to Christian music as you write—how amazing!
I don’t usually listen to music as I write (but now that’s because I’m writing at school or in the cracks where I can) but I have turned on some music ever now and then that fits the mood of the scene I’m writing—especially if it’s sad or high stakes! What’s your favorite music genre?
Indeed. I always have, ever since I wrote my first book!
Ahh yes, this makes sense. I find it hard to write without music, honestly. It helps block out my inner critic. And ooh yes, I’ll do that too!! I have this whole playlist of just sad songs. And then a playlist of songs for the climax and bittersweet scenes.
Oh my. One does not simply ask me what my favorite music genre is. XDDD I have waaaaay too many!! I really like Christian music. And I absolutely adore folk music and Celtic music. Those are probably my top ones. (I also like pop and K-Pop. And also country!) What about you?
Oooh those are wonderful genres! I love Christian worship music and whatever my family is listening to in the car! 🙂
Oh, also, I tagged you a little bit ago for Iona’s Unsung Elements I’d love to see in Christian Fiction tag! No pressure to do it, as I know you’ve got a lot going on, but I just wanted to let you know!
https://lolamaewrites.wordpress.com/2026/02/18/unsung-elements-i-would-love-to-see-in-christian-fiction/
Again, you totally don’t have to do it if you do not wish, I just wanted to make sure I told you!
Oh, thank you, Lola!! I’m not sure if I’ll do the tag since I don’t read a lot of Christian fiction. (Tis not that I don’t read a lot, it’s that I just… struggle to find good Christian fiction books, if that makes any sense.) I might end up doing the tag though! It looks like a fun one to do! 🙂
Okay! No worries, and I totally get that! Just wanted to let you know in case!
You got this Isabelle I know the pain, its easy to compare yourself to others and let the voice of self-doubt take over (Glares scathingly at Brian), but you are a fantastic author! I love that quote it’s beautiful! And now I scamper of to go watch your blog, which YouTube did not notify me you put out, despite me having all notification turned on for you (also subjects YouTube to scathing glare XDDD)
Thank you, Hallie. <33 It definitely is far too easy to compare yourself to others, especially now, with social media and such. Which is... well, tis not good to do so. I mean, everyone has their own writing journey. Everything comes on its own time. Which is hard to keep in mind, but it's something I do think we all need to do.
And haha! XD Hope you enjoy the vlog!! And how wretched of it. (behats YouTube)