hiatus update - what i'm doing, where everything is, and also directing a play is hard

Hello everyone! I'm posting on a Friday, shocking, I know. I just wanted to give an update on my un-scheduled hiatus.

I am currently polishing the last draft of my book (for now, who knows if more edits will come), and that, along with directing a play which is bringing up interesting challenges. I plan to write a post when we perform that is gonna be called something like "things i learned by directing a play." Look for that around November 11th *wink wink*.

It's actually making me think about making a new series called "things i learned" to chronicle my new experiences and things I learned (clearly). What do you think?

It's my name!

My book is going well, thanks for asking although I'm not sure you even did. As you all probably know, I'm represented by Hartline Literary Agency, specifically Cyle Young and Tessa Emily Hall. It's really weird to go onto the website and see my name listed––but cool too. I'm polishing it and hope to have it finished by November 1st (if I could finish and send it on Halloween that'd be really cool. Or beforehand. I want to finish it soon). As always, I will keep you guys up to date on everything.

The last page of the last book's outline, with THE END
written in dramatic fashion.

I've finished plotting out the entirety of The Sleipnir Chronicles. It's really interesting, having finished something like outlines for four books. It's done, I wrote where the end is, I wrote how it ends... and honestly, the main thing I'm trying to understand is that it ends. I know it does, but I'm sad. Yes, I've got 4 more books to hang out with these characters in this world, but when that's over... it's over. I'll be able to go back and read them, but I'll no longer get to actually interact with them. It's like acting... you get so used to and in love with a role, but it has an end date. I know who dies, I know who lives, I know what happens with who, I know who wins, I know who is broken at the end and I know who is whole––I know the story, even though I haven't written it yet. And in that sense, it's already kinda done. I'll miss it, but I'm excited to finish it and write other books (I have an insane amount of ideas).

The original "last draft" in book form next to my laptop,
holding my current "last draft."

I'm a senior in high school and that's going relatively well. My classes are easy this year––mainly due to the fact that I actually like them. AP Literature, Economics (I fricking love economics), Business (fun but not a top one), Philosophy and Worldview Studies (basically a Bible course where we learn how to think about and support our worldview... we talked about ghosts and whether purgatory was real or not for a good two hours. It's fun), even PCAT (pre-college algebra and trig... I actually really like my math course this year which is shocking because normally I hate math). So yeah, it's really fun. I've got a writing class the admissions lady made for me simply so I can work on my book and write stuff for a surprise extra during the release of my book (look forward to that, it's full of book and character secrets and behind the scenes). It's called "Creative Thinking, Writing, and Research" and it's really helping me keep working on my book.

So yeah, that's a bit of an update. Just so you all know, I'm still going to be on hiatus until October 31st, although I will be posting something tomorrow. Either way, just so you know, I've got a list of things to write about and I've got a few things to post that I've written (all for my AP course, but it can still work).

See you all on October 31st. Or... whatever the Saturday after that is.

OLIVIA ANN