Welcome to my July author newsletter!

If you’ve been following me on social media (I mainly use Instagram, and I also cross post to Facebook), you may have noticed I haven’t been posting a great deal. I’ve been concentrating on is this newsletter, my blog (which exists, but I have yet to post to consistently) and of course, my writing.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes social media feels like you’re in a rush, constantly posting to please the algorithm. I’d rather focus on my writing and email, which goes to almost 100% of the people who ‘follow’ you. I haven’t given it up, but I am working out a way to best integrate it into my writing and marketing activities such that its helping me (and my readers), rather than supporting the social media platforms. That’s not what I’m here for.

In the writing space, I’ve been working on the second instalment of Pink Punch, getting up to about the 20k words mark in the first draft. The hard part has been finding time to write around my day job! As well as drafting in my spare time, I also go to my local writing group’s ‘Writing Friday’ (which occurs on a Saturday…) where we all sit down and write, and I’ve found this super helpful for getting the words down (as I write this now, with no one watching me, I’ve already stood up three or four times for no reason does not help my focus!)

As this newsletter is fairly new, I’m still working out what works best as far as content. So I’ll be trialling a few different things to include over the coming months. Please let me know what you like and what you don’t! This month, I thought I’d start off with some writing prompts. And for fun, a poll, which is further down.

Writing Prompts

Feel free to use these however you like. If you do write something, and feel comfortable to share with me, send it through.

• A kidnapping involving an icecream truck.
• Your child brings an animal home, asking if they can keep it as a pet. It is most definitely not what they insist it is.
• Lions, tigers and bears (oh my) had nothing on the creatures that slowly circled me.

Poll

It turns out I can put polls in the newsletter! So, just for a bit of fun:

What I'm Reading, Watching, and Playing

I'm going to include what I'm watching and playing in this section, because some months I don’t get much reading done if I’m focusing on other things.

Currently, I’ve been playing ‘Stray’ on PS5. Well, you play as a cat.

Said cat is separated from their cat family, falling into a walled underground cyberpunk city, and must make their way out with the help of a sentient drone, and a bunch of human-like (in behaviour and movements) robots. The visuals are stunning, and somehow a garbage infested underground city looks beautiful (except that level where the eyes in the creepy fungus glare at you from the walls).

Did I mention you’re a cat? Your escape to ‘the Outside’ involves knocking things over, climbing on everything, and slipping through small spaces, as well as befriending the robotic inhabitants of the walled city.

There's a meow button.

I finished this in about 10 hours, but it should have replay value, as completing side tasks rewards you with a badge, which goes on your little cat backpack (where you carry your drone friend so he can recharge).

Did I mention you are a cat?

That's all from me for now. Thanks for reading. Until the next newsletter!

Laura.

​ Haven't checked out 'Pink Punch' yet? Read a 3 chapter sample before you buy. Read Sample

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Laura Kinch Author of YA superhero novel 'Pink Punch' and scifi novel 'Control'. ​​​​