I cant draw Claude consistently, but I do enjoy drawing him(he's the one holding the bottle). Hoping to get a commission of him soon because he's the only one I dont have a picture of on my wall of the main cast. Anyway, more character doodles. #writesky #art
Just finished editing chapter 30, which means this pass of edits is done! Well... almost. There were a couple of notes I made of things I want to go back and tweak a little, but the bulk is done, which means another round of critiques before hopefully gearing up to query! #writesky
Finished Mate by Ali Hazelwood. This took me back to my high-school wattpad days where I'd read almost exclusively werewolf stories. They are definitely a guilty pleasure, and Mate fell solidly into the category of entertaining and enjoyable. #booksky
Finished The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune. This gave me Escape to Witch Mountain vibes in the best way possible, just more adult. I loved that movie as a kid, and I also enjoyed this book. It struck a good balance of emotional and funny depending on what the scene called for. #booksky
Text: Current WIP Merrow By: Hannah Smith - new adult fantasy Current Stage: editing and critiques Image: a woman's left arm with a silver armband on it. Gray hair is waving in the wind towards a wooden boat on the open ocean.
Text: Blurb Nerissa has lived her life waiting for death so she can be reunited with her deceased fiancé. The only issue is she isn’t aging. Living decades past when she was supposed to as a Merrow, she struggles to come to terms with how long her life stretches out in front of her. Then, nearly a century after her fiancé's death, Nerissa receives an invitation to a party. Its host is none other than Blanche Child, the Witch her fiancé had been working for when he died. All the extra years start to make a little more sense. She had always been suspicious of the circumstances surrounding his death, and this party may be the perfect place to put proof to those suspicions.
Text: Comp title Image left: Book cover for Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune Image right: Book cover for The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd Jones
Merrow is a new adult fantasy novel in the final editing stages. It follows a grieving widow who hasn't aged since her fiance's funeral in search of the truth behind his death, a supposed work accident caused by a misfired spell, nearly a century after it happened. #writesky
-Querying summer 2026
Finished Eona by Alison Goodman. This was a good end to the duology. The stakes were intense and kept the plot moving forward. The ending was a bit rushed but everything was resolved. I also missed "Eon's" character as I found him to be a more unique and interesting protagonist than "Eona." #booksky
Nerissa is my protagonist, and there's a reason she's my protagonist. But my favorite character to write is Galya. There's something about the scenes she's in that just get the creative juices flowing. And part of that is how she interacts with Nerissa and part of that is just who she is. #writesky
Some more library books to add to my mini bookcase. Fixed two that I made mistakes on earlier and included two that I currently have checked out and am in the process of reading. I do my best to wait until I have a full page of stuff to print so I dont waste paper. #booksky
Finished Monstrous Nights by Genoveva Dimova. This was a good wrap up to the duology. I think it had been a bit too long since I read the first one because it took me some time to remember everything that was happening. I greatly enjoyed the setting and worldbuilding in this series. #booksky
Took a break yesterday and did absolutely nothing. Today I was back on the grind and edited chapter 21. I have 30 chapters at the moment so I'm close! Once I'm done I'll have to go back and fix up a couple of things, but at the very least I'll be ready for another round of critiques soon! #writesky
Finished A Harvest of Hearts by Andrea Eames. This started a little slow but really kicked in once it got into the details of heart magic. I could see why Howl's Moving Castle was a comp title. Overall, this was an engaging read that I finished super quickly. #booksky
Finished Lightbringer by Claire Legrand. It was a great end to the series and probably my favorite book of the three. All the different elements really came together for the climax.
I do wish we found out what happened to some of the side characters, but I also understand why we don't. #booksky
I've hit a really good stride when it comes to editing Merrow. I also want to try writing some of the short story/flash ideas I've had taking up space in my head. Merrow takes precedence, but hopefully I'll carve out some time today to at least get a draft down of a short story. #writesky
Finished Kingsbane by Claire Legrand. This was a great continuation from the first book. I definitely had some predictions, most of which I was more or less accurate on. I also really like all of the side characters in this series; they're really well fleshed out. #booksky
Just a quick doodle of a scene I recently edited in my book, Merrow. Still playing around with underwater outfits. I tried out using figure skating costumes as the reference in this drawing as they allow for a lot of movement in the legs, which is important in swimming. #doodle #writesky
February reading wrap-up! My favorite was definitely Legendborn, but they were all good reads! #booksky
Just reached the midpoint in my edits, so I'm going to use today's editing session to do a read through of everything and see if there's anything I've missed. It feels like a good time to take an overarching look. I already have a couple of notes of small details I want to add/change. #writesky
Finished The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland. This book had me from the first page. It struck a good balance between the present and the past. The main character's struggles were well written and engaging. I did feel the ending fell a little flat, but it resolved everything nicely. #booksky
Finished reading The Golden Key by Marian Womack. This book was very atmospheric, and the prose really lent itself to an immersive setting. While I enjoyed reading it, it wasnt my cup of tea. I think the ambiguity was intentional, but there were questions I had left unanswered by the end. #booksky
Finished Oathbound by Tracy Deonn. I thought this was the last book in the series and it was only with 200 pages left that I began to question if everything would be resolved only to discover there's a fourth book on the way. This book was awesome, and I cant wait for the next one! #booksky
Finished Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn. Another great book that was just as good as the first in the series. It expanded on the world while still following the unresolved plot points from the previous book. The characters showed growth but still felt like themselves. Onto the last book! #booksky
Finished reading Legendborn by Tracy Deonn. All I can say is that there's a reason so many people recommend this book. The characters are well written with clear motivations, and the worldbuilding/magic system is interesting and lends itself beautifully to the plot. I highly recommend. #booksky
Finished reading The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. This was a good book, but its long. While I was engaged the entire book, it wasnt until half way through that I got fully invested. The events leading up to the climax also felt rushed for the length. I'd still recommend. #booksky
The background is a photograph taken from under the water. Half the photo is taken up by the waves on the surface that are broken up by sunbeams penetrating the water. On each corner is a white corner decoration with straight lines curling as they meet each other. Text: Merrow By: Hannah Smith - New Adult Fantasy - Editing
The background is a photograph taken from under the water. Half the photo is taken up by the waves on the surface that are broken up by sunbeams penetrating the water. On each corner is a white corner decoration with straight lines curling as they meet each other. Text: Pitch The only thing Nerissa wants is to grow old, pass quietly in her sleep, and finally join her fiance Dylan in death. Finding out she’s got another couple of centuries to live doesn’t change anything; it just complicates it. Her only source of comfort is the engagement band she had used to propose to him before he left. Then she receives an invitation to an employee appreciation party hosted by the family of Witches her fiance was working for when he died. She begins to think that maybe there was a reason she’s lived for so long. She had always been suspicious of his death, and this party may be her only chance of finding proof to her claims. What’s an extended weekend when she’s got centuries ahead of her? Getting the proof isn’t as easy as she was hoping, the employees are tight-lipped and most of the Estate is closed off to the guests. It’s only thanks to the young heir of the family breaking into her room that she manages to broker a deal: information in exchange for Nerissa’s engagement band. Now Nerissa must decide between uncovering the truth and risking the last piece of Dylan she has.
The background is a photograph taken from under the water. Half the photo is taken up by the waves on the surface that are broken up by sunbeams penetrating the water. On each corner is a white corner decoration with straight lines curling as they meet each other. Text: Excerpt Firstly, letters were supposed to appear in Nerissa’s mailbox, not in her hand. The fact that this letter had appeared in such a way did nothing to lessen the torrent emotions currently fighting for dominance in her stomach. That was just the first thing too. Then there was the matter that the Child family was writing to her after all these years. After decades of silence there was no real reason for them to be reaching out to her in this moment. Not anything good anyway. The last time Nerissa had received a letter from them it was to tear her heart out in the most impersonal way possible. She was almost afraid to touch it again. She stuck out one finger and gently poked it, wondering if it would disintegrate in the water and spare her the trouble. It didn’t. In fact, there wasn’t even the barest hint of warping, which could only mean the paper had been treated to survive in this very setting, and more likely than not, she was its intended reciptent. The letter rotated once again, the bright gold lettering catching the icy blue light filtering in through the roof above. Nerissa squinted as she tried to read it, the sheen hiding some of the letters against the dark green backing until it tilted away from the light just enough to read: To the spouse of Dylan Price.
The background is a photograph taken from under the water. Half the photo is taken up by the waves on the surface that are broken up by sunbeams penetrating the water. On each corner is a white corner decoration with straight lines curling as they meet each other. Text: Comp Titles Image Left: Book cover for Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune Image right: The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones
#questpit Nerissa hasn't aged since her fiancé Dylan died. She considers it a curse until an invitation manifests in her hand, an invitation from the family Dylan was working for when he died. His death was always suspicious, now Nerissa has a chance to prove it. #W #F #A #amediting
Finished A Steeping of Blood by Hafsah Faizal. This was a great book and a great series. The characters were well written and went through engaging character arcs. The pacing balanced the high stakes with quieter moments that still pushed the plot forward. Highly recommend. #booksky
Finished The Working by BrightFlame. I enjoyed this book, especially the pagan/new age magic system that felt very grounded in real practices. The characters all had good arcs throughout the book, although Betsy started to get on my nerves a little towards the end. Overall, a great read! #booksky
I've been stuck on editing the first chapter of Merrow for a week now. Decided to try writing it by hand, and I think I finally have something that I can work off of. We'll see how I feel about it tomorrow, but it's funny how changing one small routine can break you out of a writing slump. #writesky
Finished reading Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. Starting the year off strong, I loved this book. I was always amazed at how clear each of the POV's voices were. The story is beautifully written and my only critique is there was a character whose conclusion I wanted a little more drawn out. #booksky
You got this!
