Kristina

Too funny not to share! @kristinastyping: 
          https://sites.google.com/view/4jk7hge?q=542287

Sorry for disappearing... Y'all, I've had a hell of a month. I just went through a rough breakup, work changes, blah blah boring life drama, new anxiety meds, et cetera. Lately, my WIPs have been the absolute last thing on my mind. Hell, I've only willingly picked up one book to read since April, and I normally aim for at least seven a month. I so have not been with it, but I need to take time to heal. I want with everything in me to find my passion for writing again, I really do, but it's just not here right now. And that's okay! In the meantime I've been perusing Tinder and TikTok alternately and trying not to fall into a spiral of self loathing. I'm still active on my Instagram, the @ is kristinathompsonx if you still want to keep up with me during my absence. To my mutuals, I have been trying to keep up with your stories when I log on sporadically, and I hope you know I haven't died (well maybe just a little)... Hope you all are doing well overall though :) I am trying to get better! I'll see you all when I have another update, or God willing, the energy and motivation to write again.

First drafts are rough for me (and everyone else, I'm sure). I have a habit of overexplaining my character and their motives, especially in the first half of my draft. I'm not criticizing myself for this, but I am fully aware that my worst flaws as a writer stem from this. I overexplain my characters because I, like you, am meeting them for the first time, and I can't resist leaving out any detail that could potentially become essential to their existence later on in the story. Admittedly, I am also not a huge fan of character and world building planning separate from my first draft because it feels too deconstructed for my creative process, and I just like getting the words out on paper.
          This being said, I know I have been MIA about Skylark, but I am very much deep into editing Songbird. It feels very odd continuing on to another project when my initial work is not even remotely revised. It's shitty of me, I know, leaving you all on a cliffhanger and all. However, I think prioritizing my revisions of Songbird and slowly releasing Skylark when I see fit to do so make the most sense for my story. The plot of Songbird already has a lot going on, and I'd like to minimize, if not eliminate plot holes so that Skylark can be a fulfilling ending to Songbird.
          Again, thank you all so much for your patience and also for keeping me in the top three spots in the 'Ancient Rome' tag for nearly a month straight. :)

The prologue for Skylark will be up soon! I'm ironing out the synopsis and cover. In other news, I just received the first print copy of Songbird. :) I will never shut up about it!!! I can't wait to get back to writing, but my hands are kind of tied up with midterms at school right now. I will get back to it as soon as I can. I have also noticed that I have quite a few new reads on Songbird, and I was #1 in the Ancient Rome tag (now #2). That makes my heart so happy, and I appreciate you guys so much!!! <3

I'm sure you guys already saw that Songbird was completed. Sorry I'm lagging on updates, I was just so happy to be done, and I closed Wattpad and Google Docs for a solid couple days. And I was like 'Oh wait... I'm forgetting something, aren't I?'. No duh, Kristina. Gah, I feel like perpetually banging my head against the wall because I've been so busy and forgetful lately. Good news though: Songbird is being printed (a copy for me to edit, at least). I'm so excited, it arrives on the sixth. The new cover and author's note are exactly the same as my physical copy. I had a hell of a time reformatting my entire Google Doc in Microsoft Word so that it would print correctly in a 5.5" x 8.5" book. And then there was my war with Canva. Y'all, tell me why I thought it was a good idea to rework my synopsis in a Canva textbox instead of using Google Docs and Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V?? Now my officially printed back of the book will have a couple grammatical errors that are unnoticeable at first, but then when you see them, you SEE them. I announced that I was done with Songbird on my personal Instagram page, and tell me why everyone I went to high school with saw it? AND why people are asking to purchase it? The chances of someone I know IRL stumbling onto this page are still slim, but they have still increased. I will be mortified if anyone I know reads it before I edit and publish it. But anyways, I don't want to gloat, but I am so incredibly proud of myself for reaching 100k words! I thought the printed copy was going to be 350 pages, but nope- it's going to be 502 pages long. And I have a sequel in the works. I mayyy be a certified yapper at this point. If only I could dedicate that amount of energy to papers for school. Insert collective group sigh here. But I digress.

I promise I'm not dead! School, my internship, and work have been taking turns body slamming me every time I think I have a spare moment to write. And then when I actually have time to write, I'm so exhausted that I either don't write at all or write a paragraph at a time, but I promise you, finishing Songbird has been at the top of my list this week. I've actually been writing both of the final chapter simultaneously, and I somehow ended up focusing more on the last chapter, so the last chapter is basically complete and the second to last needs some TLC. Unfortunately, I cannot post the final chapter out of order, but on the bright side, you all will be getting the final two chapters posted at once. As of today, Songbird only needs 2,000 words until it is done. I am going to take a bit of break between Songbird and Skylark, just so I can focus on school a bit more, but don't worry- I am always using my hobbies to procrastinate. I will back to writing sooner rather than later. That, and I think I need a little bit of time to sit back and enjoy my accomplishments. I will be getting Songbird printed as a paper back as soon as it is finished, and I will be getting two copies: one for editing purposes and the other just to have. Like isn't that crazy! I will have a physical copy of my own book. I'm so excited, eek! Anyways, see you guys when I eventually finish this book. Thank you for being patient. :)

Chapter Twenty-Four is up now! We only have two chapters of Songbird left, which is both relieving and unsettling. I'm working hard to finish it up, and I only have 5.5k until I hit my word goal. Thanks for sticking along! I am grateful to the readers who have been here since August 2023 and to the new readers I have acquired along the way. See you when the next chapter drops! :)

Oh, sidenote, I can't believe 2025 is my ten year Wattpad-iversary. Not on this account, obviously, but I started a 1D fanfic account on here when I was in middle school.  Wattpad was not my first introduction to online writing, Quotev, if any of you are old enough to remember that, was. I also read an inhuman amount of 1D fanfics on there, especially this "Adopted by One Direction" novel that I thought was the best thing since sliced bread. Now I'm an adult writing dramatic and smutty historical romance. Crazy times man.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I intended to have Chapter Twenty-Three done before 2025, but that definitely didn't happen. I got so, so busy with the holidays, both with personal plans and with work stuff. But I digress. Did you enjoy seeing this chapter from Dora's POV? I felt that writing this chapter from Thalia's POV would have been very boring and easy for my readers to anticipate. Besides, I wanted to giver her and Marcus' story some finality in this book (for now, that is... they will definitely be making a comeback in Skylark where their drama truly begins, I'm sure you can guess what that's about at this point). There will be three chapters left in Songbird, and at least two of them will be relatively short. We are almost at 100k words, only 8k left. My greatest hope is to officially be done with the first draft of Songbird this month!! Then I will start uploading chapters for Skylark. I have another book waiting in the drafts, but I want to fully commit to and flesh out Skylark before touching another WIP. Again, Happy New Year! This year my resolutions are to: read 100 books, buy more furniture and decor to match my adult aesthetic, and to get a fulltime job in a museum, preferably as a curator, but beggars can't be choosers (I just want to use my degree). I would give myself a writing New Year's resolution, but I feel like I would be jinxing myself. Anyways, talk to you all when the next chapter drops, or perhaps sooner. Who even knows at this point anymore?

Chapter Twenty-Two is up! Y'all I am slumped- November is literally the worst month for college students. I have been drowning in assignments and exams, so this chapter came out way later than I expected. How did you feel about this unexpected POV?  I wanted to explore her character and background further to make her less static, and I felt that this perspective made the scene more interesting. Initially, I planned to write it from Thalia's POV, but it just didn't feel right. Sorry for the impromptu history lesson midchapter, but I felt it was a necessary creative decision to flesh out her character. I tried to make it interesting!! Anyway, I'm really hoping to have Songbird finished by the New Year because I basically have the entirety of the Prologue and Chapter One done for Skylark. There will be exactly four more chapters, and I have a pretty good idea of what I want to happen in each, and I've assigned POVs to the final chapters. Obviously, the final chapter will be from Thalia's POV, and Alex will make a comeback in one of the last chapters. I can tell you right now that it will not end how you expect, but that's for me to know and you to find out. I have so many plans!! But ugh. I have been SO freaking busy, plus my anniversary is this month, and I'm taking a weekend away for that. Also, I swear I have been trying to use BlueSky, but I just haven't curated the same feed that I had on Twitter. Where are my writing/reading besties?? Let's be mutuals my @ is kristinathompson.  So sorry for the long announcement, but we haven't talked in a while. See you when the next chapter drops (or before then, depending on how busy I am)!