They say that after you graduate high school that time starts soaring by, and now at the age of 24, it feels like 2018 has become some kind of time-fast-forwarding vortex! How on earth is it already April?! Anyway, today I’d like to share with you all the adventures and cool happenings of the first quarter of this year:

January

• January 1: Received my first review for Can’t Beat the Heart of a Carolina Girl on Goodreads!
• January 4: Snowstorm Grayson left half a foot of snow in my town and it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g because we hardly ever get snow here!
• January 7: Sketched the first concept art for Speak Your Mind‘s cover!
• January 20: Found a way to casually sneak a character from CBTHOACG into Speak Your Mind 😉
• January 24: Bowled a 98 average without my contacts in.
• January 28: Realized I had written 48 pages in a two-week span on Speak Your Mind!

February

• February 5: Currently 2 to 3 chapters away from finishing Speak Your Mind and already experiencing separation anxiety!
• February 10: Daddy found a piece of wood in his shop that I had written on when I was little that said, “You are a toy! You can’t fly!” #ToyStoryFanForLife
• February 14: Got three fillings and a beautiful Snoopy charm for Valentines Day.
• February 17: Celebrated my adorable/crazy cousin’s sixth birthday!
• February 22: Celebrated my 24th birthday, CBTHOACG‘s first published anniversary, got a Kindle Fire 8 from my sweet boyfriend as a present, and… FINISHED WRITING SPEAK YOUR MIND AT 1:56 P.M. AND CRIED!
• February 23: Went to Buffalo Wild Wings to eat for my birthday with my family and sweet ole Joshie! 🙂

March

• March 1: Finally got to eat the cake my boyfriend’s bowling friends bought for my birthday the week before (that we didn’t get to eat due to the league running late) at Chick-fil-a!
• March 2: Family bowling night with Josh’s family.
• March 4: Read Speak Your Mind aloud/listened to Microsoft Word read it to start editing, and pure wept after the final chapter! (No shame. Absolutely no shame.)
• March 5: Started back to posting on my Christian blog, Jesus: Be My Escape!
• March 9: Was pleasantly surprised when an indie Christian filmmaker messaged my Facebook author page and thanked me for my review of his film!
• March 10: Best day for views on Authoring Arrowheads thanks to said filmmaker’s publicity help!
• March 11: More editing for Speak Your Mind! #SundayEdits
• March 12: Another light snowfall after it was 75 degrees only three weeks prior
• March 18: Began the umpteenth rewrite on a WIP I’ve been trying to write for 7 years 😬
• March 23: Went to the movies to see I Can Only Imagine with Josh, and we both cried multiple times! Everyone needs to go see that movie!
• March 24: Found two alpha readers for Speak Your Mind!
• March 29: Had an Easter egg hunt at work, and found out Andy’s Rainbow listed my review on IMDB AND MADE MY LIFE! 🎬

What I’ve Read in the 1st Quarter:

• Once and for All by Sarah Dessen
• The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill
• Disowned (Allegiance #1)  by Sarah Addison-Fox
• Dissemble (Allegiance #2)  by Sarah Addison-Fox
• Castaways (Castaways #1) by Jes Drew
• Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World by Max Lucado
• Letters From Home: A Civil War Story by Grace Matlyn Buckner
• Miss Novelist by RA Rooney
• Fugitives (Castaways #2) by Jes Drew
• Discover (Allegiance series shorts) by Sarah Addison-Fox
• Stronger for Language (short story) by Perry Elisabeth Kirkpatrick
• Red Boots (short story) by Kate Willis
• Whispers of a Faded Dreamer (Dreamshare Book 1) by Celesta Thiessen
• One Week (Stolen Kiss #0.5) (short story) by Shana Norris
• The Boyfriend Thief (Stolen Kiss, #1) by Shana Norris
• The Motorcyclist by RA Rooney

Overall, 2018 has already started out being chock-full of blessings! Thank you to everyone who has offered to read/review CBTHOACG on Goodreads and to all that’s added it as To-Read as well! I’m very blessed to have the support of the Indie Christian author community! I can’t wait to see what God has in store for the next quarter of 2018! ❤

-Allyson 😀