Too Many WIPs on the Desktop
Is this too many WIPs? It feels like too many WIPs. Also, WIP = Work in Progress, which really means the plural should be Works in Progress, which means the acronym should be WsIP, but that doesn’t roll of the tongue quite so well, sooooo…. Also, I am terrible at naming my projects before they’re done. Look at these working titles… “Crazy Cat Lady?” That’s now Something Sulfurous. “Woman in the Woods?” The Finest Creation of an Artful God. Sadly, Victoria isn’t done yet, so that project is just referred to by the main character’s name. Which is normal for me. Between “Crazy Cat Lady” and Something Sulfurous, the novel was simply called “Tavi”. An epic fantasy series I’m “working” on (*snorts*) is just called “Jordinn’s Story”. I HATE titling novels. Short stories are fun, because you can find a line or an image and run with it, but for…
The Recap – May 2022
*GASP* Another blog post? On time? Maybe that weekend at the coast knocked something loose and got my butt in gear… one can only hope. May Goals Finish Tavi (Something Sulfurous) Revision Finalize Query Package Submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God How’d I Do? Finish Tavi (Something Sulfurous) Revision Nope. But I am working on it now and am a few chapters in. Finalize Query Package YES!!!! Yes. Yes. Yes. YES! This is done and just waiting for the manuscript to be “done” so I can start querying! SO. CLOSE. Submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God *sigh* No. But again, I’m close. Just need to harass my beta readers and get some feedback to be sure it’s ready to send. Total Word Count: 1,208 That… doesn’t feel great. That word count could be a lot higher. But… it just isn’t. My brain was in revision mode,…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #21
I just want everyone to notice that this post is on time. This hasn’t happened in months, but here it is. On schedule. *bows to the audience, to roaring applause* Last Week QUERY PACKAGE!!! Polish/submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God Read! Follow writing schedule Record Podcast How’d I Do? QUERY PACKAGE!!! YES!!!! The query letter and synopsis are DONE! The first two chapters are also DONE, but more on that in a bit. Polish/submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God Nope. But close. I just need to touch base with my betas and get some feedback. Read! Yep! I read a whole book last week! Follow writing schedule Yes? I didn’t write on Tuesday like I’d planned, but I made up for it by writing on Thursday, which wasn’t planned. I call that a win. Record Podcast Nope. One of our hosts was feeling under the weather. Hopefully we…
Antici…pation
I have news. News I can’t talk about yet. News that I want to talk about, very very badly. I think it feels more important than it is because I *can’t* tell you about it yet. And also because there were a few months there where I really thought my writing life was fizzling out. We all go through that, right? The imposter syndrome? When the words won’t come and the rejections pile up, and a little voice starts to whisper, “maybe you are as bad as you think.” and “maybe this is the end. Just give it up.” But you don’t. You don’t give up. You keep staring at manuscripts and tapping at keys until you meander your way through a book. You open submission emails, swiping away rejections until one finally says, “we really enjoyed this story!” Those emails are a breath of fresh air. Validation when you’re…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #20
I know it’s been literal months since I’ve done a Goals Summary post, but I’ve spent more time in my office this week than I have in forever. And if I stare at this whiteboard long enough, I naturally want to write goals all over it. So, that’s exactly what I did on Wednesday — write goals for the remainder of the week. Last Week Edit and post podcast episode Revise/finalize query package Revision #2 of The Finest Creation of an Artful God Read something How’d I do? Edit and post podcast episode Yep! The newest episode of Top Shelf Librarians is out now — listen here! Revise/finalize query package Nope. But, to be fair, I only refocused on this goal this week. I plan to get it done by June 1st. Revision #2 of The Finest Creation of an Artful God Yep! Officially on its third draft, I’ve sent…
Spring Cleaning, aka Brain Dump
Ok. It’s May, and it’s been a minute since I’ve written about what I’m working on in any detail. You know what that means? It’s time for my Quarterly Review! Or is it a Triannual Review? I don’t know, Man, I’m just gonna talk about what I’ve worked on this year and what I’m working on in the coming months. If you’ll harken back to January and February, you’ll see that I really started the year out strong. I was reading a lot and writing a bit. My big focus was revising Tavi (now titled Something Sulfurous) and writing my query letter and synopsis. And I did those things. Y’all, when I say I’m so close to being DONE with this book… it’s SO CLOSE. Like, probably two weeks’ worth of polish and effort, and it’s ready. Which is, of course, why I haven’t done it. I’m terrified to query…
The Recap — Mar/Apr 2022
It’s been a minute since I’ve posted anything. Let’s fix that!
Treatment — Week 2
It’s Friday, the last of my non-work days for the school year, and I’m sitting here after breakfast, sipping coffee and reflecting. I know it’s been a while, Blogland, and there’s good(?) reason. The not-so-good reason is my ongoing obsession with Horizon Forbidden West. Another reason was Spring Break (we’ll catch up on that soon). But the biggest reason is… I started treatment for ADHD. The week I started taking my meds I happened to have one of the worst migraines in recent history, which (long story short) led to a dental issue that had me in pretty bad pain for a week. I’m good now, it was much easier to resolve than I feared, and all is well. But it made my first week on meds pretty atypical. I couldn’t really properly analyze how the meds were affecting me while I was in so much pain. So this week…
Distraction or Reward?
Look. Drafting Victoria has been very slow, okay? It’s just a weird book. It doesn’t call to me the way other drafts have. It makes no demands. When I do sit down to work on it, it flows out of me without much effort at all, which is amazing! But, with my delightful ADHD brain, sitting down to work on something that isn’t obsessing me is honestly painful. Once I’m there, it’s fine. I put on my headphones, jam out to my baller playlist (listen here!), and hammer out some words. But getting there is HARD. The other night I wrote in a whirlwind and wound up with almost 1300 words. A great evening of output, to be sure. So what did I do? Nope. Unh-uh. Not that either… What’s that? “Play Horizon Forbidden West?” DING DING DING! When it comes to my brain, rewards don’t really work. They become…
Monthly Recap – February 2022
Time is a construct, and nothing quite drives the point home like the shortest month of the year in the third year of a pandemic, with a highly anticipated game release capped off with the start of a war in Europe. God damn. And yet, here we are, living our lives and talking about dreams and goals. Call it futile. Call it resilient. Call it whatever, I guess. I’m just caling it past due. Let’s get this show on the road! February Spend at least 16 hours with Victoria Prep Tavi Query Letter and Synopses Read four books How’d I Do? Spend at least 16 hours with Victoria …. *sobs* Prep Tavi Query Letter and Synopses Yes! I’m doing some more revisions this week, but rough drafts were finished and even revised some in February! Read four books Close! Three books and most of a fourth. Not too shabby! Total Word Count: 3,541 Hours Check Here’s…