diary of an indie author — logbook #1
what happened this week, what I watched, enjoyed, and worried over
I’ve tossed and turned over how to start this newsletter. Truth is, I want to make an even bigger mark in 2025. But saying that is somewhat dismissing the already huge mark I made by self-publishing my own novel in 2024.
So, instead, I want to establish a somewhat logbook on here. Part diary/part curation/part advice.
In today’s logbook, the first of 2025, I’ll be talking about my first week of the new year, writing I’ve worked on, what I’ve enjoyed, watched and worried over.
Since this is the first of the new year, I’ll also be touching briefly on my new project ‘Project Train’ with a sneaky quote.
So, about this week
Started off the year with some good karaoke with the family. This is always a good omen, beginning the year with a creative act (at least, I’m telling myself) This being singing, and dancing
Caught up with high school friends, and celebrated a dear friends’ birthday
Prepared for my upcoming Philippines trip, which is already this Friday. Don’t worry, I’ll be tapping away at posting a newsletter then too.
What I’ve read
Kickstarted the new year by mainly reading non-fiction books. I’ve always liked non-fiction books, but I’ve definitely gained a new affinity and liking toward it. There’s a sort of misconception that it can be ‘boring’ or something like that, but I’m here to say it most definitely is not. So here’s what I’ve enjoyed:
- books, mainly. I’ve finished ‘Steal Like An Artist’ and Show Your Work already, and am currently reading Keep Going! I highly recommend this for anyone who is in the creative field
Jacquie Pham’s These Opulent Days. She’s a dear author friend of mine I met in the author community, and feel so direly proud reading her debut novel. It’s a historical, murder mystery about four friends, set against the backdrop of the 1800s french colonial period in Vietnam. (Psst, it’s out now everywhere, but comes out Australia in February)
What I’ve watched
Are we surprised that I’ve already seen all of Squid Game 2? I wanted to binge it with my family before we left for Philippines, and finished it within 3 days. But that’s a whole other post…there’s a lot to unpack from that season. I’m keen for you to see
Alien: Romulus. Wow. Starting off the year with two great pieces of media, both that are 10 stars in my eyes. Alien: Romulus does something entirely different from the other Alien renditions I watched. And can I just mention, that the entire cast is hot? Why does it matter? Oh it definitely matters.
Project Train…tell us already!
Okay, okay, yes! I’ll stop dragging it on…and finally talk about the project I’m working on. I’ve touched on it briefly on Instagram but newsletter readers get extra special pieces.
Now, because I’m planning for upcoming marketing materials that slowly reveal things like names, title, etc, I won’t be revealing any of that right now.
But I will tell you what it’s about, and briefly on the inspiration (more on that later).
What is it about?
Simply put, it is a sort of second-chance romance (kind of), where-in our main character meets an old classmate on a train platform, 5-years after their graduation. This particular classmate was widely known for having feelings for him all throughout high school. They’d slowly built a strange sort of connection, but because he was a typically assholey type of teenager, he claimed to want nothing to do with her.
Fast forward to now, and they begin to grow close in the present. He begins to…develop feelings for her. But does she feel the same? Can he make up for how he acted in the past? And…she doesn’t like someone else right? What if she does? Is she worth this trouble?
When will it come out?
The date is still TBC, but I’m hoping, really hoping for the first half of this year.
Can we please have a little sneak-peak?
If you truly insist……..
Below is a little quote from the prologue of project: train (just note, that words may be subject to change during the editing process)
He wanted to forget her. Truly.
Wanted to forget the way her brown hair would curl as she tucked it behind her ears, forget the way she’d blush whenever he’d glance at her.
She was just a girl from her class, the girl with the crush on him that’d lasted through their high school years.
No one special. No one worth remembering.
And so, he spent the next 5 years after they parted, trying to forget her.
But [name redacted] wasn’t the type of person you forget. Not in the way that people forgot things.
Against his utter will, [she] continued to exist, tucked in his memory, within the liminal spaces of his mind.
Even when he hadn’t realised.
And so, there we go! A little sneak peak from Project: Train, alongside a sneak peak into my life. I hope you enjoyed this newsletter, and following newsletters. Next one, I’ll be typing up from my hotel in Philippines!