The Recap – July 2022
*Waves goodbye to July while “Slipping Through My Fingers” by ABBA plays in the background* July Goals Read at least 4 books Write at least 5,000 words of fanfic Fill the well How’d I Do? Read at least 4 books Yes! I read exactly four books in July! Write at least 5,000 words of fanfic Lol. No. Wrote a little over 2k words though, so at least it’s something! Fill the well Yes! I think. I’ve spent time outdoors, with friends and family, and doing simple little things that bring me joy. Playing video games, drinking iced coffee, tending to my plants. It’s been a very calm month, personally, and I’ve been basking in the serenity. Total Word Count: 8,607 July was a lovely month. There were fireworks, lots of time spent with delightful books, and even more time spent writing weird little stories with little to no concern about their…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #30
This week has been a blur of good news, revision, and video games. I have no complaints. Last Week Finish + submit The Secret Ingredient Finish The Hard Decisions Read a book Prep July Newsletter Write 3500+ words of fanfic How’d I Do? Finish + submit The Secret Ingredient Yes! This story came together much more easily than I expected. Revision was straightforward too! It’s now on submission at the market that inspired it, so fingers crossed! Finish The Hard Decisions Yep! This story is still a weird one to me. Another one of my stories that doesn’t really seem to fit anywhere. But I’ll keep sending it anyway. I’ve learned that lesson well this week. Read a book Yes! I finished reading A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver, and you can hear all about it on the next episode of Top Shelf Librarians! Prep July Newsletter Yes! It is done and should have…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #29
Gang! It’s Monday! You know what that means? Yeah you do – it’s blog time! Last Week Finish a chapter of HFW fic Finish The Secret Ingredient Read a book Finish The Hard Decisions How’d I Do? Finish a chapter of HFW fic Nope. I looked at it a couple of times, and reread the whole fic so far to get back into the story. But I didn’t put any words down on it this week. Finish The Secret Ingredient Yes! I’d thought the story had fizzled, but I sat down to it and the ending wrote itself in an hour. That was really nice. Read a book No. I’ve been playing video games in my non-writing time… Finish The Hard Decisions No… Didn’t even look at it this week. Weekly Word Count: 608 Well… that’s not much writing. Or progress. Or much of anything. So what the heck DID happen last week? Honorable…
What is a Literary Agent & Why I Want One
Good morning, Bloggarts. It occurred to me that some of my readers might not know what a literary agent is, why a writer would want/need one, and what the querying process looks like. Since I’ve jumped feet first into this stage of my writing career, let’s talk about it! What is a Literary Agent? A literary agent is someone who represents authors and their work to the editors at publishing houses. Publishing is a giant business with only four major players (Simon & Schuster, Penguin, Hachette, and HarperCollins). Each of these big companies have smaller “imprints” which typically focus on particular genres of work. And at all of these imprints are Acquiring Editors. People who read manuscripts to find books they want the imprint to buy and publish. But, very rarely will an acquiring editor look at an “unsolicited” manuscript. Meaning, a manuscript that isn’t sent to them by a…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #27
The summer is flying by. I don’t know how to feel about that. On the one hand, I’m really happy. Keeping busy, getting a lot of quality work done, and generally getting that sneak peek at what a full-time writing life would be like. I really like it. This always happens to me. Every break, every vacation, I get a taste of this freedom and it tastes so fucking good. But it’s always temporary. Short-lived. I know that in about a month I’ll be back to the day job. And that’s hard. I genuinely like my job. I like my co-workers and my work and the kids. I do. But if I could afford to quit? If healthcare didn’t rely on my employment? I’d drop it in a heartbeat. Because nothing I’ve felt working at the high school can compare with the peace and contentment that comes with sitting at…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #26
It’s the 4th of July, which means exactly one thing: I must listen to “4th of July” by Soundgarden today. That’s it. That is the one thing that MUST happen today. In fact, it’s happening right now! Any other “celebrations” will not be had. I may even be a real curmudgeon and complain loudly about amateur fireworks and the inherent danger of letting drunk people blow things up, you know, as a treat. It’s the least I deserve as a newly minted second class citizen in this “great country.” ANYWAY! Let’s talk goals! Last Week Finish Something Sulfurous Read two books by July 1st Post a chapter of fanfic Look at old short stories How’d I Do? Finish Something Sulfurous Yep. Yep yep yep! It is done and the first round of queries have been sent! Read two books by July 1st Yes! Thanks(?) to a migraine, I listened to an audiobook…
State of the Author – 2022
I wrote a post like this last year, over on the old site. There hadn’t been much productivity in 2021. Posts were inconsistent, but the summer saw a sort of rejuvenation for me. I was thinking about writing for the first time in a long time and I was so damn excited about it, that I couldn’t help but take some time to look at the big picture of my work and feel good about it. Since it is officially the last half of the year, I thought it was high time to take a look at how I’m doing. Not just how I’m doing re: 2022 Goals, but what my story stats look like, what news has come out this year, and what projects I’ve finished, and what are still on the table. So let’s. First thing’s first, what is this year’s mantra? REACH This year’s intention is meant…
The Recap – June 2022
Well, being on Day 9 of quarantine wasn’t how I planned to spend the last weeks of June, but here we are. What impact did that have on the month? Let’s find out! June Goals Finish Something Sulfurous revision Polish and submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God Write two chapters of Victoria How’d I Do? Finish Something Sulfurous revision YES! YESYESYESYESYES! It is finished! Polish and submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God Yep. Yeppity-yep. This story is done and on submission. Write two chapters of Victoria Yes. Ahem, most definitely yes. Maybe more like… six chapters? Or you know., all of them? Total Word Count: 20,389 Oh, how not having to go to work every day suddenly makes way for writing endeavors. Being quarantined has also been helpful, in its own way. I haven’t been too ill, but being unable to leave the house means I’ve been in writing mode for basically two weeks…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk 25
Yes, yes. I’m aware that it’s Sunday. I know! I know I usually post these summaries on Mondays. But my “week” starts on Sunday, so I always write these things on Sunday, I just don’t usually post them until Monday. So, psych! I gotcha! Honestly, though, I don’t know if I’m just ahead of the of the game because I’ve been stuck in the house all week (Trev tested positive for COVID on Wednesday), or if I’d be this motivated (writing-wise) even if I could run to the grocery store. Quarantining sucks, but I’m making the most of it, I guess. It’s been a doozy of a week, so let’s get into it! Last Week Revise >30 chapters of Something Sulfurous Write >500 words of Victoria Revise and submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God Keep working on fics Record Podcast Episode How’d I Do? Revise >30 chapters of Something Sulfurous No. BUT,…
Book Report: #TheLongestDay
This post probably should have happened yesterday, but there was absolutely no juice left in the tank to talk about anything even remotely writing related. Also, we found out we’d been exposed to COVID yesterday and Trevor tested positive, so I really viewed the day as one of rest and resetting. Today is a day of action, I think. We’re quarantining through the first week of good weather here in like, 10 months, so I’m sunbathing on the front porch as I write this. I’m going to write this post, work on this month’s newsletter, and then do some choring around the house so Trevor doesn’t have to convalesce in a sty. But, first things first, how did The Longest Day go? The Longest Day So, I’ve already had a whole blog post introducing the idea – I won’t rehash all that here. But, to sum up, a bunch of…