I write books about spaceships, samurai, and alternate worlds. And I like coffee. And cats.
Ink & Acorns 🐿️🌰 - The squirrelly newsletter of Author A.C. Williams 🐿️🍂
Published about 17 hours ago • 5 min read
tl;dr
(IN A NUTSHELL)
Thank you to everyone who helped me choose the title of my newsletter! We're going to have a great time with this.
As promised, I'm back with news. I've returned to drafting and have made excellent progress, and I'm SO HYPED to tell you about a dear friend's new book that's releasing next year. I've also got some exciting events planned for Q4, and don't miss the Nutty Adventures section toward the end for a laugh.
🐿️NEW FREEBIE
If you'd like to grab the new freebie I'm using as an incentive to sign up for my newsletter, you can! It's my recommendations for the tea to drink when you're reading my books! LOL!
I haven't heard any word on "Space Grannies" yet, but that's not uncommon. It has been about 15 weeks since I was asked to submit my full manuscript at the conference. So far, I've submitted to three different agents. If you guys are interested, I'll keep track of who I submit to and share the process.
Agent 1: In-Person full MS request on June 9 - No word yet
Agent 2: Cold Query with first 10 pages submitted July 1 - Rejected
Agent 3: Cold Query with first 10 pages submitted August 20 - No word yet
Currently Reading
In other "Book News," while I was driving to my writing retreat last week, I made excellent progress on my audiobook of OATHBRINGER by Brandon Sanderson (it's 55 hours ... seriously). He is truly a master of epic fantasy. While I was gone, I also started and finished MOSS'D IN SPACE by Rebecca Thorne, a newly released cozy sci-fi novel. It's truly the first new cozy sci-fi title I've actually enjoyed. It's cute, quirky, and heartwarming, although if you aren't comfortable with discussions of same-sex relationships it may not be for you (and good luck trying to find any kind of cozy spec that doesn't ... outside of mine lol).
Pre-Orders Are Open!
The other "Book News" I'd like to share is from a dear friend of mine, Ruth Nguyen. Her debut novel is releasing from Park Row (an imprint of Harper Collins) next August, and her preorders just opened! The cover hasn't dropped yet, but I am SO EXCITED about this book. It's creepy and scary in spots, but the depth of Ruth's prose and her exceptional writing skill make The Devouring of Bernadette Quan a must-read title for me. I also love how she is integrating so much of her Vietnamese heritage into the story.Check out the gorgeous art she commissioned on Instagram!
🐿️Current Projects
The Meg Mitchell Book
I haven't got a good title for this one yet, so this is what I'm calling it. This is the revised version of Meg Mitchell and the Secret of the Journal, which is becoming a trilogy. I started working on it at my writing retreat, and I am currently about 15,000 words into it. And I'm loving it. I'm having a great time, and my alpha readers are happy. We'll see if I can stay on track. I managed to come down with a bad virus this week, so I'm clawing my way back from that.
My favorite flash fiction magazine dropped their new season themes, and they're all about friendship and relationships. So, in my copious spare time, I'm going to put some flash fiction together! Hopefully one a month. We'll see if I can get it done. Right now I'm planning to set all my submissions in the "Space Grannies" universe. I already wrote one for them that was accepted that actually featured a character from my "Space Grannies" book: Etta Mae's Lucky Day (if you have a subscription, you can access it).
Fun Fact: If you recall the short story anthology I was accepted into for Craig Martelle's Expanding Universe, that story had my "Space Dads" in it in a short story called Little Ship of Horrors. That is ALSO the same story universe as "Space Grannies."
If you'd like to try writing for Havok (I highly recommend it), check out their new season themes, and if you haven't bought a subscription, you should. This is some of the best flash fiction online, and a subscription is $5 a year.
🐿️Upcoming Events
Here's what I'll be up to in the months ahead. If you're in the area, drop in and say howdy! I'd love to meet you in person.
We just finished the Kansas State Fair here in our area, so mentioning my state fair novel sounded like a good idea. This was a crazy, silly idea I had to take a Bible romance story and match it with a modern romance trope. I took the story of Isaac and Rebekah from Genesis, tossed in the Secret Billionaire trope and set it against the Texas State Fair ... and added a cantankerous camel named Karen. It's really funny.
Many of you actually voted to name this newsletter "Squirrel Tales" and the other close contender was "The Nuthouse Gazette" ... so I thought it might be fun to include a small section with a story about the nutty things that happen to me on a daily basis. Maybe it's because I'm a writer that I notice these crazy things, but I think it's more likely that I'm just special. I guess this isn't exactly about a squirrel, though. It's about a cat that ACTS like a squirrel ...
This crazy animal is a 15-pound Maine Coon. At least, we're pretty sure she's at least mostly Maine Coon. She has the physical features and personality. She adores this little bitty Bath and Body Works box, and she sleeps in it all the time. We have taped and re-taped and re-taped it, and she is just FAR too big for it.
So, since it's fall, I just broke down and ordered some more fall-scented girly soap. Hopefully it will be here soon, and we will try to replace her box without her knowing. I'll let you know how it goes.
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