March was a rollercoaster of a month! Sometimes, it was so slow and boring that all I could do was languish in the long submission process. Other times, a spurt of unusual activity happened out of nowhere. One especially happened yesterday that inspired me to write this post hehe!
Personal Life
I’ll just start with it: I almost froze to death last night! Okay maybe not quite, but my mom was handling a catering job. And since my siblings and I are her assistants by birth, her having a work order means we have an order too. We were prepping ingredients for the main cooking the next day, when out of nowhere, in the end of March (March is our hottest and driest month in Nigeria), thunder started to rumble.
In no time, it was pouring and we had to move the pots, and pans, and burners under shelter—we love to cook in the breezy outdoors when possible. At first, we moved some tools under a tree, so the rain wasn’t too bad there. The walls were also shielding us. Until it was time to move the rest of the things to a different location. We rounded the building—and the full force of the rain hit. OMG!
I don’t remember encountering any rainfall that was such a shock to my entire system!!! It was like being thrown into an ice bucket. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the chill. Rain poured down my eyeglasses like water on a windshield. Honestly, my first instinct was to throw everything I was carrying away and run 😂 . My phone also provided the flashlight, and I was so tempted to run into shelter and abandon everyone else depending on my phone’s light 🤣. I don’t know where I found the discipline to keep moving at our slow pace until we all got into shelter. It was HORRIBLE! At the same time, I’m glad I experienced that!
When it rains, we’re always inside, tucked up, and cozied up. Being out in the elements like that feels—in hindsight—like enjoying the harsher side of nature. It felt like an adventurous shake to my routines. I think that I would also be able to write rainy scenes better.
We also had both women’s and men’s day in church this month, and it was fun helping to serve food and eating with church members. It really brought about an intimate and celebratory atmosphere we hadn’t had in a while! I used to be really quiet and reserved in church after I graduated from the teen’s class, but it’s been great being involved again.
Lastly, and sadly, a bird decided to nest outside our bathroom window and it was cute having a little chirpy neighbor. But one of those unexpected March rains fell and the wind blew away it’s nest and eggs. Or at least that’s what I believe happened; I hope the bird doesn’t think we threw it away 😦
Reading
I read 7 books this month—which I hadn’t been expecting since I kinda briefly lost the reading bug in February. I was so happy to try out the cozy mystery subgenre and discover I love it. I mostly read the A Bakeshop Mystery series by Ellie Alexander and had a swell, snug, and yummy time. I’ve stopped at book 6 but might go on later to complete the rest of the series.
I also read a fantasy book—which ticks my 2024 reading goal to read at least one fantasy book! I’m also reading another, and while I’m enjoying it, something about the book constantly makes me want to go back to read ADOBS 1. After many, many rounds of revisions on ADOBS 1, I hadn’t thought I’d be able to read it for a while yet. But it seems I’ve had enough distance from it because I’ve been enjoying it so much and even seeing it with new eyes!
I might finish this book (The Last Bloodcarver) before the end of March, if I can actually read more than a few pages without falling into a rabbithole of rereading ADOBS 1!
Publishing update
Something almost exciting is happening. A publishing house wants my fantasy books, but they are a smaller house. My agent and I are trying to see if we can make the best of the opportunity. I’m kinda excited, because it’s always wonderful to have someone really want your book. But my excitement is still tamed as I hope for something specific! I have some posts drafted about this and I hope to share them someday and soon!
A lot of drama also happened in the twitter writing community this month and that kept things… intriguing, I suppose.
Revising
I’m ABSOLUTELY in love with ADOBS 3! I’d forgotten some of the amazing scenes in there, and reading them as I revise just blows my mind. I’ve revised 282/419 pages and the word count has risen to 184,800 words. I am still trying to move as slowly as possible so I don’t finish revising it any time soon!
I also drew the official-ish map for ADOBS and I’m glad. I postponed it because I wanted to feel ready—like all the place names are final and like I’m ready for the stress of creating a map on Inkarnate. But it wasn’t stressful at all, and I’ve even gone back to change a few place names, realizing now that I didn’t love the old ones. Here’s a tiny peek:
Dear March,
I know you aren’t my favorite month as I don’t think your name is as cute as July or April or November. You are also wayyy too hot. However, you still have seven days left before you end. Please, please, please can I have my biggest wish before April? I will be very appreciative of it and will never forget you as one of the most exciting months in my life.
Thank you!
So these are my March highlights! God has been good. How has March been for you thus far?
Lucia's Fiction 
Leave a comment