Life is but a dream

Jul 16, 2025 5:46 am

Greetings and salutations, Word Lovers!

How is your summer going so far? I'm up to the eyeball-poking-out stage of my summer work project, so taking a break to write this little missive is just what I needed.

In case you were unaware, besides my writing endeavors, I also work as an editor. Now, when I'm helping authors make their stories shine by adding a little clarity and banishing grammar errors (like the misfortunate lack of understanding regarding the past perfect tense) I absolutely love my work. My philosophy of editing revolves around the preservation of voice. Every writer has a voice, and my goal as an editor is not to rewrite their words to sound like mine, but to help them strengthen their own specific style. Okay, I know you didn't come here to talk shop about editing, but all this to say, I love working with authors and keeping my pricing affordable so that every writer can have access to quality editing. But, I also have to pay the bills, so I do work for business as well, thus the current mind-numbing summer job.

Phew! Now that we got that out of the way, take a moment to pause and appreciate my very own gorgeous physical copies of One Must Die and Of Clockworks and Daggers! Notice: I cleverly added the little linky thing so you can snag one of these beauties yourself, if you feel so inclined. I've had so much fun just flipping through the pages and enjoying all the little details. A huge shoutout to Candice Yamnitz for all the wonderful artwork!

June was a fabulous month full of wonderful visitors. First off, my dear friend of a very large and unseemly number of years (we've been buddies since we were two!) came to visit me! Do you have any of those friends who you can be separated from for years, then get together and feel like you last saw each other yesterday? Well, Nicole is one of those people for me, and having her visit was a huge blessing! Here we are in the square in Cheb, the town where I used to teach English, and where a lot of Bohemian Dragon Awakening is set.

Smack dab in the middle of her week here, two of my sisters came to visit me too! When it rains it pours in the best of ways in this situation. So, I sent us all traipsing to the train station, and we visited the nearby spa town Karlovy Vary. I hadn't done the tourist thing in KV for like 15 years, so it was an adventure for me too.

My sisters were here for ten days, and I really put them through the paces with castles and sights. Here we are enjoying the castle in Cheb, also a very important location in BDA.

We finished their trip off with three days in Prague, just us girls, and it was a blast to shop until we dropped. It was during that last trip that I got this fabulous Peaches shirt, a wonderful tribute to my writing friends and our Screaming Peach Cafe Easter egg!

That's pretty much it from me for this month. There hasn't been any writing done, as I've been very busy since my last newsletter, but I have been compiling feedback from my beta readers on my URBEX/time travel/WWII mashup, so keep your eyes open for more on that!

Until next time,

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to let me know what's got you busy this summer!

Sarah

This month's featured author is:

ERIN R. HOWARD:

BOOK TITLE:

Beyond the Gates

BIO:

Erin R. Howard is the award-winning fantasy author of Window of Time and the Managing Editor for Expanse Books, an imprint of Scrivenings Press. Her other titles include The Kalila Chronicles (YA urban fantasy) and The Gates of Deceit (dystopian) series.

When she’s not writing or editing, Erin loves playing video games with her husband, watching movies with her children, and fueling her many craft addictions. Erin has a Creative Writing degree and is a member of Realm Makers, RagTag Writers, and Once Upon a Page. She resides in Western Kentucky with her husband and three children.

Tropes: