There’s a lot coming, things that have yet to happen. It’s called The Future (that’s for those of us who weren’t sure). More specifically, there’s a lot coming to Penprints because my life (yours, too) revolves around this blog.

So let’s dive into all the Future Stuffs. [gif warning]

Blogiversary.

First of all, I just want to say up front that no one really knows how “blogiversary” is supposed to be spelled, and so don’t go messaging me to tell me that I mispelled it because there’s no right way.

You say: “Blogoversary”, someone else says: “Blogiversary”, and another person says something else altogether.

Well…

How about we just call it a “blog anniversary” to make things simpler? Yeah, let’s do that. Anyhoo, Penprints is about to be four years old. And, yes, that means exactly what you think it means–I’ve been obsessing over this blog for four years now.

Tempus fugit, kids.

Am I going to do an over-the-top celebration replete with hundreds of dollars worth of giveaways in honor of this blog’s anniversary? Erm, that would be a no. Sorry, kids. :( I thought about it, but the grand celebration will have to wait until Penprints is five.

BUT, that leads us to our next piece of The Future:

A New Design.

In years past, it has been my custom to rename this blog around the time of each anniversary, but I will be refraining from that this year (I sort of promised my dad–my most loyal follower–that I would stop renaming my blog whenever the urge struck). However, a new theme and updated header and color scheme and such are all in the works as we speak (er, uh, as I type and maybe as you read).

I don’t have an exact date on when the new design will go live, but it is somewhere in the Near Future. Thus, I am mentioning it in this post on The Future.

Newsletter.

That’s right, kids, I’ll be starting a newsletter. This is also a Near Future sort of thing. I’m considering kicking it off in June while beta readers destroy my novel. Now, that will have all sorts of swanky giveaways to lure you all to sign up, and it will have newsy-type stuffs. There’ll be pictures of Graham (obviously), little writing updates, reading updates, life stuffs, a quarterly giveaway, and such. Does that sound like fun? The correct answer is “yes”.

Also, I’m getting published.

No, my novel isn’t getting published (yet). If you follow any of my social medias, you already know that back in March (The Distant Past) I signed a contract with Splickety Publishing Group, and they will be featuring a flash fiction I wrote in their April issue of Havok.

Me externally:

“Well, I’ve got a short story that’s getting published here in April, and so, yeah, I’m pretty excited.”

Me internally:

“SLDJF :SLD:JF LJKFLKJSOEJISDLKF! I can’t breathe!”

This. is. actually. happening. For the first time, I’ve been paid to write (of course, all the money they paid me rolled right back into ordering way too many wait, there’s no such thing as too many when it comes to this extra copies). Please excuse me while I go faint somewhere (again).

This leads into the next Future Stuff item.

The Penprints Flash Fiction Dash.

As prep for submitting to Splickety, I bought and read a book called The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction, and it has revolutionized the way I look at fiction as a whole and flash fiction in particular. I developed a great love for flash fiction, guys, and I want you, my readers, to love it as well.

So, I will be hosting a writing challenge later this month (that’d be the Near Future). Details will be released in a few weeks, but the idea is to get you writers writing a flash fiction and get flash fiction into the hands of you readers. I’ll share are the participation stuffs in the Very Near Future. I’m so jazzed.

My Novel.

I’ve begun edits on Beasts! And, as you may have noticed if you have eagle eyes, I mentioned beta readers in June (that was way back when we were chatting about a newsletter). Well, my edit has been rescheduled to July, and so I’m going to have time to give Beasts to some beta readers in couple months! So, if you’re interested in beta reading Beasts and your June looks fairly clear, comment below or message me, and I’ll add you to my list of potential betas. :)

In the meantime, I’ll be working through edits.

Let’s drop a futuristic bookend on this post on The Future.

What’s in The Future for you? Do you think you’ll participate in The Penprints Flash Fiction Dash? And what do you think about a newsletter? What Future Stuffs of your own are you excited about?

With love,

Rosalie <3