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Belinda Kroll

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8 June 2007 Belinda Kroll

Quote: Open a Vein

There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.
– Red Smith

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About Belinda

Known in social media as “Worderella,” Belinda has been writing and blogging about writing since 2003. Busy with a full-time job, family life, and the ever-present desire to write fiction, this blog is updated when the spirit moves her to do so. Visit her on Instagram @worderella for more frequent updates.

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Happy #snippetsaturday! Here are the opening lines for my new short story, coming October 2021 in eBook across multiple vendors. Preorder link in my profile! A lot of readers wanted to see more of Dame Hartwell from Haunting Miss Trentwood, and I'm more than happy to oblige. "Miss Preston's Predicament" is a Victorian fantasy immediately following the events of Haunting Miss Trentwood, and later in the story we get a taste of what makes this a "Jane Austen meets Buffy" tale. This will also be available in print sometime in September, as I'm hoping to make some fun Halloween reader box gifts on Etsy!

Been a chill weekend of more cleaning and sorting in my writing space, and... this! I finished the interior formatting for the print and ebook editions for my short story, Miss Preston's Predicament. Think of this as "Jane Austen meets Ghost Hunters with a dash of Buffy." One of my favorite tropes is "kicking butt in all her finery" so I'm so excited to get this out to you guys.

It's the end of an era. I've had my Kindle Keyboard for 11 years, though I couldn't get the battery to charge the last couple of years and began reading on my phone. My eyes are taking a beating from all the screens, so I invested in an e-ink Android tablet so I can borrow and read library books from a single device while reducing eyestrain. Say hello to my new Likebook p6 from @boyue_likebook 📚📖❤ I'm going to take an old hardcover book velcro the reader inside, just like I did with my old Kindle. It's gonna be great!

Listening to the submitted files for THE LAST APRIL's audiobook by @rachaneelumayno. I'm so excited! ...Pay no attention to my pandemic remote work desk in the background. I work in the dining room during the week so I can mind the kids, too. I've been using the konmari method in my writing space downstairs, I hope to share some before and after pics soon. This and the new audiobook have been months in the making!

I am very sad to hear of the passing of @jfbookman. His contributions to the self-publishing community cannot be overstated. He was a positive disruption, teaching us all how to craft our covers and content to best benefit our readers. He was amazingly generous with his knowledge. He featured my blog articles on his website a couple times as part of the Self-Publishing Carnival. May he rest in peace. I never got to meet him in person, but it was clear from his internet presence just what a kind, "bosom friend" sort of soul he had.

#tbt over the last two weeks, where I received an amazingly positive response from my editor, became fully #vaccinated after the two week waiting period, and the trees were still blooming and pretty, but destroying me with their pollen. I'm getting pre-orders set up for my Edgar Allen Poe anthology and brand new short story bridge for Haunting Miss Trentwood. Newsletter subscribers will hear about these projects and others in the works first. Otherwise, I'm looking for more #gaslampfantasy to read, so tell me, what'cha got?

As seen on our walk today... A t-rex skeleton and tardis tucked into a flower bed. It's like they knew we were coming.

Not only did I make my goal of writing a 5,000 word short story, I made it through 7 rounds of edits. The longest draft was over 6k words, but right now it's hovering around 5.5k. I sent it to an editor last night! 🥳

If you were ever curious to what length of obsessive detail authors go through for their projects, here is an example. I mentioned in my newsletter (link in profile) that I'm working on making Haunting Miss Trentwood a series. These are the covers. I can't tell if I need the extra bit of flourish in the collection in the bottom row versions, or if the border makes it too busy. What are your thoughts?

My #authorlifemonth2021 #shelfie for the last year was and is 100% escapist and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Working remotely with my type of meeting schedule means my eyes are tired and strained, requiring eye drops. It also means I gave up reading ebooks for all of 2020. I'm back to reading ebooks due to the late night feedings of the baby, so not pictured are also ebooks by Sheri Cobb South, CJ Archer, Tilly Wallace, and Olivia Atwater.

Don't worry about it honey, I'll take your car to get new tires. Oh, I'm only taking my laptop just in case... 😉 I guess sometimes all it takes is an uninterrupted hour because I was able to edit out 400 unnecessary words and added 800 words to the short story following Haunting Miss Trentwood. My goal is 7,500 and I'm hovering around 5,800. Tomorrow I'm going to print out during lunch, knowing I'll have to edit in bits and pieces throughout the week. I'm pretty excited about this and about a little project that I hope will be a teaser for Haunting Miss Trentwood. With these projects, Haunting Miss Trentwood will expand into a series I'm calling the "Hesitant Mediums." If you want the first scoop for when these projects go live, sign up for my newsletter (link in the profile).

You'll find me on any given evening listening to writing podcasts and eating cheez-its or graham crackers while taking care of the kids. And then I often pull out my laptop after they fall asleep and try to write while my husband does the dishes or laundry. Tonight my head hurts too much so instead I drew this venn diagram after being inspired by @anxiousmoms

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Current Projects

Short story bridge between Haunting Miss Trentwood and sequel novel
Haunting Miss Trentwood sequel
Historical fantasy set in 1909-ish Columbus, Ohio

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