After putting a call out for suggestions (and getting some excellent ones) I opened one of the library apps to find Miss Percy's Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons by @quenbyolson.bsky.social was finally there. So I have been enjoying that.

@quenbyolson.bsky.social Just finished MISS PERCY’s POCKET GUIDE TO THE CARE AND FEEDING OF BRITISH DRAGONS and wanted to stop by and say I loved it! A fun story that made me wish for a pet dragon 🥰

"How have you been, Quen?" So! My mom had a stroke over the winter and I'm her full-time caretaker. I'm pulling my book that had been on submission for the last year off submission at the end of this month and self-publishing it. Miss Percy went a little bit viral in June.

And the new dragon scale gloves are now up in the shop! www.etsy.com/listing/4449...

And now, to finish off this less than stellar month... I am coming down with a cold.

I have been doing Pilates every day for almost a month (it's an app, no big thing) because I am an old and joints like to hurt, and I have to admit it's helping. Dagnabbit, now I have to keep this up.

Well, um, I have a Bookbub deal going on this week, if you'd like to take a break with a short prequel novel to Fortune's Fool, in which Kyrra teams up with her mercenary friends to cause maximum chaos and take a little revenge in the process... 💙🪐📚 #BookSky www.bookbub.com/books/smuggl...

I need you to know that one of the best things you can do for an author you love is to talk about their books. This post popped up in r/cozyfantasy this week, and I had one of the best sales weeks I've had in a while. Likely because of this post. If there's a book you love, shout about it.

Second pair I've had to make of these with this yarn because the first pair sold in a hot minute.

My days, generally: wake up anxiety tea call/email reps write for one hour eat unload/load dishwasher crochet acknowledge children and their needs maybe eat? chores schoolwork with children crochet eat? oh, water. right. shower anxiety spiral in shower extra-curriculars anxiety eat crochet sleep

I've been working on making dragon scale gloves where the scales go past the thumb hole and down into the wrist and beyond, and I think I've finally got the pattern down pat. One more pair after these, and I think I'll trust myself to write the pattern down.

Anyway, I'm nearly 60k through my next book (NO, not the cozy horror best friends fighting vampires one, that's still on submission) and this one is not cozy at all. Sorry, people.

Huzzah! Enchanting the Fae Queen is out in North America today, & I've written about it here: www.stephanieburgis.com/2026/01/ench... I can't wait for you all to watch my mischievous fae queen and stoic, noble general spar their way through a lethal fae tournament to true love! #romancelandia

Anyway, what have I been up to? Writing (I'll update soon!), baking, teaching kids, ballet (I WAS IN THE NUTCRACKER!), crocheting, reading, etc. And it snowed this weekend and I made a cardigan.

So HEYYYY how have things been lately? *anxieties*

Anytime I panic that I'm not being creative enough with my marketing or spending enough time on it, I remember that these are the kind of posts that get the most sales and traction for me, and they take about 0.3 seconds of thought before I post them.

Just found out that both my girls won a teacher-nominated dance scholarship that will pay for their first few months of ballet tuition this fall and I am in tears.

I am currently prepping for homeschooling four kids next week, shifting one kid over to an online charter school (so paperwork, transcripts, evaluation reports, etc.), while also trying to keep the house from falling into chaos, take care of myself, etc. Every word written in there is a win.

Me: I am a paragon of homeschooling moms. My children are little geniuses! They are going to conquer the world with the skills and intelligence they gained under my tutelage! My 14yo: Do rats lay eggs?

I have no where I HAVE to be today, for the first day in weeks. I think some coffee shop writing might be in order.

Yes, this is the rom-com that I speed-wrote something like 30k words of in a few weeks, and have already added several more thousand words in the last few days. You might be getting a rom-com from me next year!

Quenby Olson@quenbyolson.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Reading over an unfinished wip I set aside in June because I thought it was terrible, and it's actually decent? Like, maybe even good? What is this sorcery?

Reading over an unfinished wip I set aside in June because I thought it was terrible, and it's actually decent? Like, maybe even good? What is this sorcery?

My 14yo and my 12yo have begged their dad to teach them how to play bass, and this fills me with so much glee.

Mildly frustrated by the fact that I put aside the story I wanted to write because I thought it wasn't the story that I should be writing (the sequel to a book currently on submission) and opened up the first story today and wrote over 4k words. Dagnabbit, I guess I have to finish it now.

And it's finished! 1773 words. The most I've written in a day in weeks and weeks!

Quenby Olson@quenbyolson.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Woke up to a short story idea, and it feels wonderful. I've had trouble getting some words on the page lately, but this feels cozy and fun!

Woke up to a short story idea, and it feels wonderful. I've had trouble getting some words on the page lately, but this feels cozy and fun!

Started listening to the Series of Unfortunate Events audiobooks with my kids and WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THEY ARE NARRATED BY TIM CURRY??? THE Tim Curry. They are fabulous and I HIGHLY recommend!!!

I think one of the harder parts of having a book out on submission - having come from self-publishing - is the wait. If I had decided to publish this book on my own (and I still might if there aren't any bites) it would likely be up for pre-order already. There'd be a cover. It would be ready to go.

So we're still working our rears off to make sure my kids keep up with their ballet training. We're not as behind as we were! But fall classes are starting soon and pointe shoes are being run through faster than ever. IN RELATED NEWS I have an Etsy shop with cute dragons and books.

The hardest part about being an author is figuring out how to market your books in a social media post with a character limit. Cake. Baby Dragons. Found Family. Middle-aged main characters. Bonnets. And... done!