Status Updates From Alpha/Beta Read

Reading Project Amberlin by Dorothy Brundage

AHHH THAT CHAPTER WAS SO GOOOODDDD!!! I can't wait to finish it but it's also so good, I need book two already 😭

Grimalka by Emily Marie (me)

Legit got very little editing done today, but I did edit one of my favorite scenes, which consists of Calliope kicking Fallon where the sun don't shine and then Fallon subsequently rage-baiting her after she apologizes

Chapter Nine is honestly one of the hardest chapters to write due to how heavy it is. At least I get to edit Fallon and Calliope's first meeting after it, which is like a breath of fresh air after the absolute darkness of the previous chapter

Dude, that chapter wrecked me in the best way possible

Hello, angel of death.
This is not an angel of death that stares at me, dressed in pink finery. Yes, the title still holds true, but rather than masquerading as my true self, I hide my hideous truth under the guise of love and affection. Pink perfection masking the bloody, gruesome horrors beneath.

All right, who snuck into my google docs, cuz no way I wrote that

I'm going to try and average a chapter per day, and I have forty more chapters to edit, so, hypothetically, I should have it done a few weeks before Christmas

Finally making progress on my beta read! I have another in my queue already 😭

"I ship them so hard I'm giggling so much" I say like a crazy person like I didn't WRITE this couple that isn't a couple yet

The very specific scene that made me giggle is in comments if you're interested lol

YES I finally finished chapter 6! It only took me two weeks 🫩

You know you're exhausted when you write "thuddering in my chest" instead of "thudding in my chest" but you also wanted to write "thunder" in the next sentence so you wrote "thuder"

I need to go to bed (I say as I continue to edit)

I've had like five headaches already the editing is not editing it feels like I'm walking through tar...

They say a father is a daughter's first love, but Bryony never knew her father. All she had was Fallon. So her big brother was her first love. I love writing families

Just finished editing an execution scene and now I think I need to go touch grass...because that was a little dark

At least Grimalka is living up to its genre. I was afraid it wasn't dark enough to be considered "dark fantasy" but I think it fits the bill save for the fact that my mc isn't morally gray

"[I]t is far easier to place the blame on the face, or lack thereof, present, rather than the one pulling the strings. Everyone will point their fingers at the puppet, but forget about the puppeteer. If his face is not seen, he will not be imprinted into the memory of the one taking their brethren's lives."

132k words

Y'all realize Grimalka COULD very well could be a 600 page novel if I end up reaching the goal I estimate I'll reach after editing...

"No God could ever wipe away the blood of thousands of lives. My hands are not just stained red—there is so much blood that my entire heart is pitch black. My ivory skin is a deception, because underneath the flesh that caused so much misery is a spirit tainted by murder and death. No God has such power to purify such a tarnished soul."

“Obedience suits you, little one.”

How did this monster come out of me? I didn't understand why y'all wanted to punch him so bad but reading through I'm like, Gosh, this dude is AWFUL."

“Traditions change, and so do laws. This is the new law. This is the new truth.”

I really hope ppl will see the nods to today's political climate when they read this. There are so many things that relate to today's society

GOSH
Chapter four took me like five days to edit 😭
At least Calliope's chapters are easier, and one of hers is next

editing this while listening to the crescendo of "rescue" by Lauren Daigle

I'm not ok

Me: Calliope and Fallon have a very strange way of flirting in book two, but Cuba and Lilian are rather normal

Book one: *Lilian pointing a kitchen knife at him while cutting carrots but a carrot slice is stuck to the tip so he leans over and bites it off in a flirty way and the romantic tension is thick*

Me: *rubs temples* I need to reevaluate my definition of normal

"Bryony likes to say Cuba is our personal blessing: the older brother I always wanted, and the father she always needed. When she was younger, she was convinced Cuba was an angel, with his bright hair and bright eyes, and she’d ask him to take her requests to God. He was always quick to say that there is no need for intercession: God hears her prayers, and no one needs to bring them to Him."