S A B Murphy

I’ve set aside my WIP for a few weeks now, and am now feeling ready to dip my toes back in with a narrative summary and an analysis of my plot points and character arcs. I’ll then take those to direct draft 2. I sent a new small batch of queries for project #1 last week, and we’ll see where it lands. I’ve been considering revising the manuscript so my FMC is human. It would be a huge revision…

Celebrating having finished a rough first draft of my latest wip this weekend. There’s still a long road to go but I’m so proud to have the essence of the story down on paper. I want to approach the editing of this project from a more strategic, efficient angle than UOS. I’d never edited a novel before UOS, so I did multiple front-to-back edits looking for places to improve, without really…

Happily back in the saddle with my wip, making good progress and feeling confident I’ll reach my target of having a fully-fleshed out draft in June. I’ve already started listening to Some Desperate Glory on audiobook, which has gotten rave reviews. Two things have struck me so far: first, it starts with a sci-fi equivalent of a dream sequence, which shocks me since that’s something I’ve been…

Another 1000 words inked today. It feels good to be making progress again. I think the new aim is to complete this draft by June 15, then spend June-July doing a dev edit-like draft two. I’ll then set it aside for a bit to start working on another project I’m excited to write. The more I write my current wip, the less sure I am where its home is going to be. Is it one worth polishing up to…

I’ve been doing very thing but working on my WIP lately. Mostly I’ve been knitting and listening to audiobooks, which is so much easier than putting myself on the line. I really think part of my blocks is my active queries for UNDER OTHER STARS. I’ve had no bites yet, and didn’t get any interest in #pitdark, which is discouraging. I know it’s all luck of the draw, and many don’t succeed for a…

I’ve been binging The Murderbot Diaries which I am woefully late to have started, and just started book 4 and I am beyond hyped that Mensah’s becoming part of the storyline again. Cannot wait for this reunion. I’d love to blame it for my lack of progress on my wip, but the truth is I keep struggling to sit down and write it. This happens, I tend to cycle though periods of intense reading vs…

After over a month of workshopping my query letter, I’ve finally sent out a batch of queries. It’s nerve-wrecking to put it out there, hoping you’ve done it right, knowing each query is a chance lost if you missed a beat. I’m tempted to send out more but I know the smart thing now is to wait and see if anything leads to a full. The last editor I had review my query package said if you don’t get…

I’ve never been a big audiobook person, but when I saw Spotify had added them to its Premium model and it had several of my TBRs, I decided to give it go. Overall, its definitely slower than reading an actual book, but it’s letting me knit and listen or walk my dog and listen, which is a huge plus. In the beginning, the voices and intonations of the narrator took a while to get used to. I felt…

Today’s my 29th birthday and I’m enjoying a beautiful, sunny day off of work. It’s the wrap up of a humbling year, both in my writing and my personal life. I’ve learned so, so much about the writing and editing process this year and there are so many moments where I look back and think how naive I was. And I know there are going to be so many more to come. My hope for this next year is to be…

I just finished Caraval, which was great fun and I should have picked the book up years ago. The world building was fantastic as was the way Julian and Scarlett’s relationship developed. However, by the end, I felt the number of false reveals and twists became a little much. On the writing side, this was a good example of a ‘standalone with series potential’ where it leaves off with just enough…

I need help with picking a title for my romantic sci fi novel. I've flickered between a few of these, I have a favourite but have gotten mixed reviews from others.