May 7, 2021

Monthly Author Check-In: “Signs of Life” Edition

What I’m Writing: All the things (details below)
What I’m Reading: Self Care by Leigh Stein, and A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
What I’m Loving: Shadow and Bone and Jupiter’s Legacy on Netflix

WIP excerpt:

Recently I posted on Twitter for the first time in ages, and one of my oldest followers commented that it was nice to see some signs of life from me. And honestly? Same.

There are plenty of reasons why I’ve been somewhat absent from my writing/blogging/social media life for a while now, none of which are really worth getting into except to say, you know, 2020/2021. But recently I quit my job, so for now at least I have a lot more time to really get back on my game when it comes to this side of my career.

So here’s a couple of recent updates, and what you can expect from me moving forward:

1) I’m going to be doing a lot more writing

In terms of how I approach my work, I’m very much a whirlwind of organized chaos. As a result, there is no primary focus quite yet in terms of where I’m pouring my creative energies. My writing muscles are stiff from lack of use, and I definitely need some time to warm them back up. But once I’ve gotten my momentum going again, I have big plans to get some more books wrapped up as quickly as possible.

First on the docket is almost certainly going to be Hopefuls 3 (title still to be revealed). That’s the one I kept trying to work on throughout the pandemic, and as a result it’s… a bit of a mess at the moment. It’ll be getting an overhaul soon, but I’m really excited to work on it. The above is a teaser of what’s to come, but basically: Jane ends up getting body-swapped for essentially a younger version of herself, and if you like Freaky Friday or 13 Going on Thirty, only sapphic and with superheroes, you’re going to love this book. I love this book. It’s nostalgic and silly, but with the heart you’ve come to expect from this series.

But fantasy fans, there’s good news in your future, too. I’ve recently untangled some knots in the final two Beacon Campaigns books. Ideally, I want to wrap up both of those back to back and release them close together to finish out the series.

No specific timetables for either of those goals yet, but that’s the general plan. I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going.

Speaking of updates…

2) I’ve been back on Instagram for about a month now

While my Twitter presence is still lagging behind in terms of both regular activity and a clear vision of what I want from the platform, I’ve really been enjoying posting to Instagram. It started when I saw that the #AuthorLifeMonth challenge had come around again, hosted by Dahlia Adler, but now that’s wrapped up and I (shockingly) still have plans to keep posting without that pre-defined structure.

So if you’d like to follow me on that platform, please do! I post under @jenngottbooks, and it’s mostly a mix of stuff about my writing, other books I’m reading, and misc slices of my daily life—with plenty of adorable cat photos thrown in for good measure. I’m also planning to revive my Twitter account soon (@gottwords), but right now that’s still much less active.

3) I’m redesigning my website

Hopefully that will be live by the time I post this, but if not, it’s coming very soon. Functionally, it remains very similar to the old one, but it’s getting a fresh coat of paint, some streamlining, and a lot of behind-the-scenes improvements. I’m also taking the excuse to revamp my book pages, and now there will be some bonus content listed for both The Lady of Souls and The Private Life of Jane Maxwell. (Check it out at the bottom of the pages!)

That’s it for the big updates. In my personal life, I’m thrilled to say that I’ve gotten the first dose of my vaccine, and will be going back for shot #2 this week. And like I said, I’m making a number of changes in terms of my job and career plans, so… that’s a little bit terrifying but also very exciting. I’ll probably talk a bit more about that as things solidify over time, but suffice to say, I am happy with how things are looking at the moment.

Hope you all are well, too. I finally feel like I’m stepping out from under the pandemic cloud, and I gotta say, it’s looking really pretty out here.