Hey, all! Hope 2021 is treating you well enough. I haven't been as active online as I usually am because I'm working on multiple projects at once!

1. I'm writing a YA fantasy novella for the Open Novella Contest (ONC) on Wattpad. Luckily, I made it through the first round, and I'm working to get the story to 20K words. Right now, it's at 12K.

2. I'm revising the mystery novel I finished in NaNoWriMo 2020, which is a rewrite of a story I've been trying to get to work since 2017. It's not the finishing the novel part that's been hard, but it's making a story that works on all levels! I let the concept get in the way of character arcs. Thankfully, this rewrite feels like how I always wanted the story to be, but I'm going through each chapter and polishing it.

3. I need to revise a completed novel and submit it to a publisher for a contract deadline. Already have a list of what to add and change, but I haven't gotten too far in this process yet. I tentatively feel like this revision might be easier than the others I've done because I'm so sure of where the story goes.

4. I've reached 40K on a speculative fiction romance; my goal is 70K. This is very exciting because I've struggled to get this story to work in multiple formats, such as a short story or screenplay, but this novel feels like the right go at it. I'm in love with the softness and "feel" of this story.

Generally, I try not to have so many writing projects going at once, but I'm happy to say I've been feeling more energetic and creative compared to where I was last year. I hope everyone is making progress on their projects. If not, I hope you get the rest and time you need to recharge.

Happy Halloween!

I finished my first Inktober challenge, just before NaNoWriMo, too. I'm a hobby writer still learning different techniques, but I decided to try my hand at doing art regularly. Writing's taught me forming a habit is pretty important.

The most important lesson I learned for Inktober is to keep it simple. The obligation of doing at every day is stressful. I dealt with balancing my writing while also contending with real life obligations and surprises. A few days ago, for example, during the hurricane, part of my house flooded and the stress occupied a lot of my time.

Unfortunately, I didn't always try the simplest of designs, but I learned early on to drop some of the more elaborate color schemes. The top thing is to finish and ink the sketch; it's not a finished product. I feel lucky to have completed thirty-one pieces, and I did by focusing on what I enjoy alongside sticking to black and white for the time being. Like NaNoWriMo, it's about having something to go back to and revise later.

Here are some of my favorite pieces I did:

Dramatic, huh?

If you haven't seen, I've changed from Emily to Morgan. Morgan Dante, to be exact. This is a pseudonym change, not a legal name thing. All my social media accounts are the same, just branded differently. I'll still keep my old author name on my old works.

This has been a long time coming, but I hesitated, worried over how much I'd need to alter or if it'd alienate or confuse anyone. Eventually, I took the plunge, and I'm so happy I did. It wasn't as big a deal as I thought it'd be.

Here's why I'm transitioning to a new author name:

I consider myself a hobby artist. I love all sorts of creative endeavors, but my professional interests lie in writing. Still, I find that engaging in other creative pursuits (like drawing or video game design) helps me keep my motivation. Also, it's super fun.

I'm a newbie to Inktober. Though I've always admired people for working at it, I never had much confidence in my art. Also, the fact it comes right before National Novel Writing Month makes October a hectic time for preparation.

Nevertheless, here are my finished pieces for the first week. Happy Spooky Month!

Raphael, an OC from my brother's RPG campaign, teaching two young women how to be based comrades.

Ishmael, an OC from my brother's RPG campaign, teaching two young women about literature. Definitely inspired by a certain cartoon character.

Beelzebub, a Prince of Hell, from Hope Springs Infernal.

Long time no see! I'm excited to announce that a fellow writer who has a great food-centric blog, Shelley Workinger, has published a piece where I discuss the meaning of food and an important food-related scene in my Southern Gothic horror novel, Rabbit Heart.

I enjoyed working with Shelley immensely, and the post was a blast to write.