Looking for this month’s Freelance Article Round-Up? It’s here – under a new name!

The Freelance Article Round-Up series will now be known as Time Flies!, a monthly wrap-up article that… well, does exactly what the Freelance Article Round-Ups had been doing. Originally, the round-ups were designed to share my columnist projects at A Bibliophile’s Reverie, Grub Street, and DIY MFA. Then I started including other happenings related to writing, this blog, and life in general. And so the round-ups evolved into something more – and a couple weeks ago, I realized the title didn’t fit the purpose anymore. What do you think of the new name? And the new logo? 🙂

Let’s jump right in with this month’s updates:

DIY MFA

My latest article in DIY MFA’s Theme: A Story’s Soul column posted yesterday! “Identifying a Novel’s Themes Using the Title and the Blurb” explores how titles and blurbs (a.k.a. jacket copy) can reveal a lot more about a novel’s potential themes that we may think.

Tea Time At Reverie (A Bibliophile’s Reverie)

One of my favorite things about being a tea reviewer is the variety of brews I’ve had the privilege of trying. This month is no exception; the two teas I covered couldn’t be more different! Here are links, for your convenience:

• Teasenz’s Red Dragon Pearls (black tea)
• Compassion For Mrs. Bennet’s Nerves from Bingley’s Teas (herbal tea)

What’s Coming In January

Right now, it looks like January will be only tea reviews. My posting schedule for DIY MFA is every 5 weeks, meaning the next Theme: A Story’s Soul article won’t be online until early February. (Though it does mean I should start writing it soon!) One or two other opportunities (most likely one-time guest-blog articles) are also in the works. Let’s see what pans out over the next month.

Other Happenings

Holy snowflakes, December was INSANE. Especially offline. (Who isn’t crazy-busy offline in December, though?) I actually had a mini-meltdown of sorts the week before Christmas. Basically, I worried too much about finishing everything I wanted to do before the big holiday, and overwhelmed myself to the point of exhaustion. 😦  But I was able to pull out of it by taking time away from the Internet and holiday preparations for some desperately needed “self-love” – in the form of tea, reading, Top Gear (the challenges on that show are HYSTERICAL), and two nights’ worth of beauty sleep. So, no worries! I’m feeling much better now, and I was able to enjoy Christmas the way I’d hoped to.

Also, just before Christmas, I saw “The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies.” It was… well, messy. For the first time, I walked out of a Peter Jackson / Middle-Earth film disappointed. It pains me to say that, especially since I loved the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and enjoyed the first two Hobbit films despite their flaws. But it felt rushed, underdeveloped, and sloppily directed, IMO. There were some bright spots, though; I loved Martin Freeman’s and Richard Armitage’s final performances as Bilbo Baggins and Thorin Oakenshield, respectively. I might see it again later this week, just to see if I feel any differently about it the second time around… but who knows?

Tending to life offline meant that the blog suffered a little bit last month. I was still active, but a few articles I’d hoped to write by now aren’t ready yet. But that’s OK. It happens every now and then, right? Besides, January’s still an appropriate time to share one’s favorite reads of 2014. I’m hoping to post my list next week.

Between now and then, I’ll be away from here to focus on my fantasy novel. My goal is to finish the first draft by February 28th, with somewhere between 125,000 and 130,000 words. Right now, the WIP stands at 104,000+ words. GAH! I’m so close to finishing that my desire to jump to the end could kill me. *lol*

What else to expect in January? More book reviews, another Chronicling The Craft – those are definites. Other random ideas are bound to come up, too. I’m also pursuing two authors for possible interviews, but I doubt either will be ready until February at the earliest if they work out. So, right now, January is shaping up to be a relatively quiet month. (Hope no one minds!)

By the way, you may have noticed a few updates to my sidebar this month. I finally figured out how to get my Goodreads / Currently Reading widget to show up. (I’m slow at learning things like that…). I also added a Bloggers Commenting Back button a while ago, courtesy of Readers In Wonderland. Consider it my pledge that if you comment on my blog, I will do my best to a) reply to your comment, and b) visit your blog and comment on one of your articles in return. 🙂

*whew* That turned out to be quite the monthly update! The next Time Flies! will post on Saturday, January 31st. Until then, see you around! And, have a safe and happy beginning to 2015!

~ Sara