Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #12
Gang. This week? Absolutely nuttters. Nothing has gone as expected, and as someone utterly reliant upon their routines, it’s been A LOT. Let’s dive in, shall we? Last Week Write 3x #StoryADay Read a book Return to Routine How’d I Do? Write 3x Yes! #StoryADay As of this writing, I am two days behind, but I’ll get caught up – I pinky promise! Read a book Yep! I finished reading The Fire Opal Mechanism this week. Return to Routine Yes! Somehow, impossibly, I’ve stuck to the routine this week. Weekly Word Count: 4,645 Look, for any other week’s metric, this is a bomb-ass week. But this was my last “normal” week of the month and I really wanted to cross the 10k mark on the book. It would have been the most advantageous jumping off point for my spring break writing retreat. But… That spring break writing retreat has quickly…
On Querying
I figured it was time to shut up about this post and actually write it. Before we hoark down this meat and potatoes, allow me a few disclaimers/caveats: This is not your usual querying advice blog post. I’m here in the trenches with you. I have no tips and tricks for success, because I have yet to succeed in signing with an agent. That’ll be a different post someday. I’m not going to tell you how to write a query letter – there is an abundance of resources available online, all of them more legitmate than anything I might suggest. A quick google search will set you on the path. What I will tell you about is my experience querying in this odd post-pandemic, over-saturated landscape. Because it’s a different game than it was even in 2019, and a lot of the authors talking about signing and debuting got their…
Outings! – Battle Creek Park
Welcome! As promised, I’m finally back with a new edition of Outings! Sorry for the break, but between some stressful weeks and shit weather, we just haven’t made it outdoors in while. Which, honestly, made today’s walk all the more delightful. Battle Creek Park Not gonna lie, “Park” is a bit of a misnomer. Is it, technically, a park? Yes. But it’s also, actually, a decommissioned golf course. And while that might sounds janky, it’s actually one of my favorite things about this space. A quick google this morning told me that Battle Creek Park, formerly a golf course, is now an undeveloped park used primarily for walking. Dig a little deeper, and you’ll learn that the park is slated for development to help restore wetland habitat and thus improve flood plain mitigation. I don’t know why, but that is just super cool to me. Probably because I think golf…
Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #11
Yes, this post is on time. No, it is not a miracle. My weekend was actually fairly normal, and it was so, so so so nice. What isn’t normal is that I have a little bit of news to share before we dive into the meat of this Goals Summary. Announcement! IT’S RELEASE DAY, babeyy! You can read my short story “In the Librarian’s Garden” TODAY at Tree and Stone Magazine! A quiet story about finding yourself and your true home, it holds a very precious space in my heart. I really hope you enjoy it. You can read it (and other stories) online here. (It officially releases later this afternoon. I’ll post on socials about it.) Or, you can support a young magazine and buy an ebook copy here. Thanks so much for your support, and for reading! And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming. Last Week Write…
Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #10
Hi. I’m sorry this is so late. These past two weeks have completely smashed my routines into little, shiny fragments. And without my routines, things like accountability posts tend to fall by the wayside. You’ll also notice that, again, there’s no Outings! post this week. Yeah. I’ll get into the reason for that in a bit. But first, let’s look at some goals. Last Week Write 3x Keep reading Tidy up office (for realsies this time) How’d I Do? Write 3x Yep! It wasn’t all on the novel, but my butt was in the chair three times last week! Keep reading Yep! Tidy up office (for realsies this time) Hahahahahahahahaha *sobs* Weekly Word Count: 5,309 Okay, so if all the writing wasn’t on the novel, what was I working on? Well, there was a big chunk of words spent on an emotional support chapter of fanfic. And then another chunk…
Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #9
Today is a slow day. A day spent sleeping in and watching robins hunt for worms in the front yard. We were out late last night, singing karaoke with friends until the bar closed. Like we’re still in our twenties. We are not. Trev’s had the worst of it, while I feel fine other than a slightly sensitive stomach and hoarseness I haven’t felt in a long time. I love karaoke, y’all. Like, a lot a lot. And when I go, I go hard. If I’m not a little raspier the next day, did I even have fun? Point is, we had fun, and we’re paying for it now. So while it’s quiet, let’s talk about goals, shall we? Last Week Write at least 3x Send Newsletter Keep reading Edit + Schedule Podcast Tidy up office (lol) How’d I Do? Write at least 3x Yes! It wasn’t all on the…
Top Shelf Librarians – New Episode OUT NOW!
That’s right follks, it’s the first Friday of the month, so the new episode of Top Shelf Librarians is live! Find it wherever you listen to podcasts (spotify, apple, etc.,) or here on this very site. What are you in for in this episode? Well… We think we can all agree that February is just a weird month, right? Right. So it only stands to reason that this episode of Top Shelf Librarians is a little extra weird, right? Good, we’re glad you agree! This month Brittany gets cringier than usual, Heather admits heartburn will be a factor, and we absolutely slay this episode. We explore reading related injuries, the natural lesbian habitat, and Heather teaches Brittany that doodlebugs are, in fact, real and gay af. Prepare yourself for the return of Brené Brown and Jeff Bezos, and of course, our Beautiful Bear Bast*rd, Craig. Told you things were gonna…
The Recap – February 2023
February’s come and gone in a flurry of snow days and frozen cul-de-sacs. I spent the dreariest of months consuming television and movies, reading an insane amount of all kinds of books, and writing. An actually decent amount of writing. But don’t just take my introduction as proof! Let’s look at the stats! Last Month Write at least 3x/week Read 4 books Keep on schedule How’d I Do? Write at least 3x/week Nope. I wrote two times a week, every week in February though! Read 4 books Yep! Actually, I doubled it – I read EIGHT books in February! Keep on schedule Yes? Aside from not writing the three times I week I wanted to, having a set schedule for writing, blogging, and marketing has been critical to my consistent output this month. Total Word Count: 11,787 In true February fashion, the month went by in a blur of snow…
Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #8
There’s still snow on the ground, more stubborn than I expected it to be. It’s hanging in there, winter’s death rattle as spring lurks just a few short weeks away. Not that I’m counting down or anything… Last Week Write 3x this week Organize/Tidy up the office Keep reading Prep Newsletter How’d I Do? Write 3x this week Nope. Managed two times though! Organize/Tidy up the office Nope. Keep reading Yes! Prep Newsletter Nope. Weekly Word Count: 2,470 Okay. I know this looks bad. Let me tell you all the reasons it isn’t. The biggest reason I’m not more stressed about this collection of bullet points is that I’m really happy with my word count this week, and how the writing felt when I sat down to do the work. Taking a brief pause to do a little more research helped ground me in the book and gave me firmer…
Outings! – Clark Creek Park
Welcome! It’s that time again, Gang! And thankfully, this week we actually got to enjoy a park uninterrupted! If you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about, please check out last week’s Outings! post. If this is your first time here and you’re wondering what in all hells is an Outings! post, start here. Clark Creek Park This city park is deceptive as hell. Your odds of simply driving by it are low, since it isn’t on any main street – the street it is on is a winding back street with older houses on larger swathes of land than is common these days. The first time I saw this park I had deliberately decided to get lost and adventure through the city. we’d just moved to Oregon and I had a lot of curiosity about roads that weren’t on a grid like in Phoenix. I can’t help it, y’all.…