Sarah Z. Creates

Ah, February … one of my least favorite months of the year. So few days to get so much done. 

The Progress

But it’s also the month of love, which is perfect, because I’ll be unveiling a short story about that topic around Valentine’s Day. Not romantic love. No, this is family love and the betrayal you feel when what you know is right breaks, and the people you love suffer for it. 

The story is called “Making Stitches,” and it features Mona of Syrrel as the lead character. Mona is one of the primary characters in my Reckoning series, though this story happens before she ever arrives at the Schola.

The Goals

• Line edits on “By the Weight of Blood” (The Reckoning Book #3). I’m so pleased with how this book has progressed, and I’m excited to share it with you soon! If you’d like to be alerted when this book is available for pre-order, you can do that here.
• ”Harbinger” – Yep, the Sundered Realms has nearly endless stories, some of which are already drafted and languishing for attention. So my February goal is to re-read “Harbinger,” which is the beginning of the First Daughter’s saga and picks up the Sundered Realms story.
• Syslen — If you’ve already read The Reckoning books 1 and 2, you know that syslen is a special fabric made by Selah’s family. In February, my plan is to knock out a short story that explains how this fabric came to be.

The Reading Life

I met my reading goals last month! Just by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin, but I made it. Look for posts reflecting on those reads soon. That said, here’s the list of things I’ll be reading fresh or reading again in February. 

• Genre book: “The Name of the Wind” by Patrick Rothfuss. This is a re-read for me (which is good, because this is a looooong book to fit into a short month!).
• Classic I managed to miss: “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut.
• Craft book: “How to Write Short Stories” by James Scott Bell. I’ve been writing a lot of these lately, and I’d like to make sure I’m crafting them as best as I can!

Wow. Looking over that, it’s a lot for a short month. But I have faith! It’s going to be a great February … even if it’s cold, short and busy! If you’ve got any tips, though, for keeping focused during hectic short months, I would certainly not turn them down. And if you’re just in the mood for a short story, check out the Selah post below.

Related links you might find interesting:

If you’d like to explore a little deeper in the Sundered Realms, these posts might help:

• Meet Selah of the Weavers – This is a similar post to what Mona’s post will be like, and Selah’s post also features a short story (“Magic & Mischief”) to introduce you both to her as a character and her world. 
• Progress and Goals – April 2025 – This is fascinating to me, because this is the post where I announced that I’d finished drafting The Reckoning series. And here I am, less than a year later, getting ready to launch that last book! It just goes to show you how intense (and long) that revision phase can be!
• The Hungering – This is a world-building post I crafted a while back: a mother and her young daughter having a conversation about some of the traditions they observe to remember the costs their ancestors paid.