S Murray
Joined August 2026
Just a California girl raised in the Arizona desert. I thrive on coffee and stories. Been writing since I was 12, and finally decided to pursue my lifelong dream of being an author. When not writing or reading, you can find me crocheting, watching a movie (Disney or romcoms), or chasing after my boys.
No books yet. Check back soon!
Never stop chasing your dreams.
— S Murray
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Drafting
Blog PostAdded November 1, 2026
It takes at minimum at least the three drafts to really shape a story. The first one is simply getting the story out there. The second, is about addressing plot holes. And the third is all about lines and grammar.
Sounds easy, right?
Wrong.
Each draft is hard, each presents its own set of challenges. The first draft seemed so daunting in the beginning but at the end, a sense of relief washed over me. I’ve written many different stories since I was 12, and few have made it past this stage. Even fewer actually made it to completion. (I have 6 finished manuscripts, with 4 unfinished.)
The second draft is even harder. I’m more of a plotser (a mix between plotter and pantser), so I have a rough outline of how my stories should go, and a general idea of what plot points I need to hit, but everything else is usually a free-for-all. That means that some of it fits (yay!), others not so much. So rolling up my sleeves, I reread draft one and worked meticulously at powering through this draft. It was a lot harder as inspiration felt dim. Life kept trying to pull me away, but I kept on coming back to it, taking little breaks as I went and I finally finished it right before October. (With 3 extra chapters and an additional 15k words give/take)
I took a much needed break. And I’m now in the process of reading through draft 2 and making notes for draft 3. So far not many major plot holes, but definitely need to smooth out my prose. (Purple pros aren’t my thing) but I’m trying to make things pretty. One thing I struggled with was remembering the descriptions for the more minor characters, so I’ll be taking notes on appearances, the world, the rules and anything that I find might be contradictory later.
Now you might be wondering how long does this draft take? Draft 1 took 3-4 months, draft 2 took me about 4-5 months and draft 3? I’m hoping to complete it by the end of the year then seek beta reader feedback. Unfortunately do to the heavy AI usage and pirating, I will be reaching out to my reader friends and fellow indie authors directly for requesting feedback at this time.
If you are interested in reading The Flower Witch before publication, fear not, I will be doing ARC reads and those applications will be available to the public/my followers. So stick around.
A little bit about me.
Blog PostAdded August 16, 2026
Almost everyone’s stories are similar, but unique in their own way. I started writing fanfics at age 12, but really didn’t move into story telling until I was 14. Sitting at a table with my freshman friends, we created a contest to see who could write the best story. A few weeks later I came up with a story that ended up being 40 pages upon completion. (Needless to say I won that round.) I wrote my first actual book in high school, well first and second book. (Thank you Becca Fitzpatrick, Hush Hush was my inspiration.) It was originally going to be a trilogy but I got burnt out. I tried to write 2 other manuscripts and life got in the way.
Several years and one English degree later, I decided to try rewriting my first book. I had attempted it several times before albeit unsuccessfully, but this time something clicked. I rewrote the first and second. (They were romantic thrillers as that was the genre I wanted to write.) But then my friend dared me to write fantasy. So I wrote the first book to my elf fantasy idea from back in college. It was fun but challenging in the best way. I thought I’d debut with that but then, I had the idea for my most recent manuscript, The Flower Witch and suddenly everything clicked into place.