My Month in Writing — June 2025

Hello, hello, you all!! ^^ It is officially July, and that means it is now time for my usual “Month in Writing” post to update you all on how writing, life, and publishing has been going! I actually got the idea from my wonderful friend, Journey Bloomfield, and I decided that just doing a “Month in Writing” update would work better than my very random, not-at-all consistent writing updates — mainly because I am the kind of writer who works best in secret. I might share all my writing struggles with my friend, but that is it. Everything else is COMPLETELY under wraps until the project is done because somehow, I just work better that way………

But anyway, June has been… uh, hectic to say the least. (Well, that’s what I say about every single month of the year so… 🤷‍♀️) I’ve been prepping for the release of the final book in the Enchantria series, Enchantria: The Last Hope, and aaah, oh my gosh, the blog tour is shaping up and I cannot wait to share all the dates with you guys!!!!! I’ve also been trying to plan teasers to release on YouTube like what Kelly Yang does, except I’ve been struggling…

Writing

I’ve been working on Island Keepers, and honestly, I’m not sure how to update you guys. It’s just been such a rollercoaster, and while I do really love the book and the world and the characters, writing this book is also maddening in the way that I know it’s not ready yet. And the fact that it’s already been 7 months and the book still isn’t ready yet is just, well, making my brain freak out.

I have 60K words written, nineteen chapters completed, and really, it feels like an absolute mess. Not to mention that I just got a very shiny, new idea for a villain origin story (more to be revealed on that later), and I really want to write that book just because it’s new and shiny, even though I know that two scenes into Act Two it will no doubt betray me and be just as (or more) frustrating than Island Keepers. But as messy as it is, I do know one thing about Island Keepers and that is this is going to be a CHUNKY book.

And by chunky, I mean really chunky. This is possibly going to be 90K, stretching even to 100K. Too long for middle-grade? …maybe… But my book genuinely is quite a sprawling story! There is no way it is ever possibly going to be shrunk down to 60K. I know that for certain. Not sure if it’s a good thing or not, but the story insists, and so we must obey….

I’ve been going back and editing some of the previous chapters I’ve already written to tweak some stuff and cut down on some repetition which someone just informed me was quite unnecessary… Quite frankly, I agree, and yet repetition still seems to be one of those sneaky things that’s always in my writing! I actually went back to edit what I already had and cut down 2,000 words of repetition in the book! I also shared my manuscript with a friend of mine who’s also a writer, and he has had some wonderful feedback that has been ever so helpful!! …Even if I wanted to throw a very heavy book across the room when I saw just how many notes he’d sent me about my book… (Apparently, my second drafts are known for epic inconsistencies….)

But even if the plot is a terrible tangle right now, I do love the lore of this world very much! It’s got a lot of eerie little clues and lots of magic (elemental magic! explosions! Steeds!), and I just really, really, really love the world!!! I really was trying quite hard to craft out all these little tiny details which (I hope) make the world feel real! I also made a moodboard for Island Keepers with Pinterest, and that was so much fun and it’s been incredibly inspiring for me!! I won’t share the moodboard with you all right now because it is far too early in the writing process for me to tell you too much about this book, much less share a moodboard which, well, shares a lot of what this book is about.

Naming the characters in this book has been such fun as well!! Enchantria has a lot of very intricate and complicated fantasy names (which I have heard pronounced all kinds of different ways!), but Island Keepers doesn’t really have that many very long and complicated names. Most of the names are quite a bit shorter. I suppose it does have a bit more variety which has been making it super fun! I’ve also enjoyed looking up meanings for all the names as well! (Turns out the name Aisling means “dream” or “vision” which is actually rather perfect for that character…)

Publishing

Let’s see… what is there on the publishing side of things to tell you about… Not much, to be honest, and I think much of the “get-this-done!!” rush has faded since I have most of the blog tour set up. There are still a few book bloggers I do need to confirm with (very few though), but all the blog tour dates should be ready to be announced soon!!! (Or at least, the blog tour dates I do have confirmed… I may have to update you guys later on this…)

I’ve also been working on getting ARC copies out to reviewers, but sadly, I was randomly kicked out of my Google account (AND MUST LOG BACK IN!!! I have no idea how…. It is quite a hassle), so if you signed up for an ARC copy and haven’t received one yet, that may be the reason why…. I haven’t been able to log back into Google, and so I cannot see the responses to the Google Forms…. Sorry!

I’ve also been working on doing a few fun giveaways for the release of Enchantria: The Last Hope (digital, of course… No physical bookmarks and book boxes, I’m afraid!), as well as a live launch party on YouTube, which is still being sorted out! But aah, oh goodness, despite the fact that part of the rush has died down, I legitimately still cannot believe this!! And ever so often there will just be a moment where this thought just flies into my head. The thought/realization that, “Oh my gosh. Book four is going to be released. Book four is going to be released. BOOK FOUR IS GOING TO BE RELEASED!!!”

And in 15 days nonetheless!!!

Oh goodness… 15 days……

Aaand now the thought of “WHAT THE HECK AM I EVEN DOING” has just flown into my head.

I want to jump up and celebrate and also curl into a teeny ball under my desk and just, well, cry.

But yes!!! 15 days till the release of my new book!!! And thank you to everyone who pre-ordered it on Amazon!!!!!!! This is the first time I’ve actually had anyone pre-order my book, and eep, I’m so excited for them to read it!!! (I won’t lie, I don’t have too many pre-orders. Yes, it’s less than 5 orders, but still!!!! I’ve never had anyone pre-order my book before!!!! So this is still a reason to celebrate!)

Life in General…

I won’t lie about this… There’s good stuff and bad stuff… but mainly the bad stuff… and also the fact that some bastard cut down my magnolia tree! (I am not joking… There’s a beautiful magnolia tree outside my window….. Well… was… 😭😭) And said bastard also uprooted our whole garden to cut down all the trees there… (And yes, it is legal and no, a random stranger did not decide to attack our house… Twas the maintenance people in this gated apartment complex, I suppose). My heart is completely broken… Ever was a beautiful tree, and she was always right outside my window….. and she was chopped down!!! We weren’t there either (we were moving some stuff to our apartment), and when we returned….

(sobs)

I’ve also read some fantastic books this month! Some of my favorites being:

• Ready or Not by Lisa Fowler
• Wrede on Writing by Patricia C. Wrede (huge thanks to my best friend, Journey Bloomfield, for recommending this book!!!!!)
• Plain Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brosgal — a fantastic graphic novel that’s beautifully illustrated with a wonderful story and wondrous themes!
• The Princess Curse by Merrie Haskall
• The Handbook for Dragon Slayers also by Merrie Haskall (I love Haskall’s books!!! They’re like the older 2000s MG fantasy with traditional princesses and dragons and knights, and they’re such enchanting books!!)
• Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker (the pen name of Seanan McGuire)
• and more!

I also saw some wonderful movies, and because I was sick, I did manage to knock some movies off my to-be-watched, including Over the Moon, Wish Dragon, and the new movie, K-Pop Demon Hunters which I absolutely love!!! The songs in the latter movie are WONDERFUL, and as a huge K-Pop fan, I was so excited to see k-pop finally brought to the big screen!!! And I, like many others, really do want a sequel…. Honestly, I’ve been crying from all of Netflix’s movies recently, and I’ve no idea why, but they do have some fantastic movies!

June was also the month I (and Hallie Kropf and Journey Bloomfield) started a secret, exclusive society for young writers! It’s not quite secret since everybody on my blog probably already knows about it, but it is exclusive, and it is basically a society for young writers!!! And I am so excited to officially be one of the three co-Founders of this society! Thank you so much to Hallie Kropf and Journey Bloomfield, two of my best friends, who have decided to hop on this journey with me! Here’s to many more happy years of writing for The Society of Ink and Stars!

I was also inspired by Valinora Troy’s newsletter (which is wonderful, and you also get a free book if you sign up, so do sign up here!) to create a comic strip for my stuffed panda, Izzy! And I also discovered that I’m much better at writing than I am at drawing comic strips…. So I attempted it? I’ll update you guys later on this because, again, I’m just dreadful at drawing comic strips. And having to squeeze in those tiny letters as well!

But yes, that was my month in writing for June 2025! What about you? How did your own writing go? And do you have any plans for this July? (I myself am hoping to finish Island Keepers, though I’m silently thinking that that is not going to happen….)

Anyway, I suppose that wraps up this post!! Thank you guys so much for reading, have a wonderful day, and do let me know down in the comments how your writing went! Farewell, my friends!!

Isabelle