Fall Update
This post should be a Goals Summary or even the belated Monthly Recap, but I’m gonna be real honest with you – I don’t have the energy for all of that right now. Fall is here, the weather is dark and a little dour. I’ve been off my ADHD meds for about a month and I’m exhausted. What energy I do have is getting divvied up between my home, family, work, and the book. That’s it. For those things to go well I have to let the blog and Newsletter go for now. I hate that, truly, but also, the amount of relief I feel at admitting it tells me everything I need to know. Putting my online presence/activities on pause is the right call. So, what does this mean? Basically, don’t expect much regularly scheduled content on the website until December, maybe even the new year depending on how…
Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #41
The rain is back in full force today. But after some morning yoga, iced coffee, and listening to a podcast from my favorite youtubers, it’s feeling pretty sunny in my office right now. I’ve got a list of chores that should feel overwhelming, and yet I’m settling down to write with a smile on my face and Jason Mraz playing in my headphones. Point is, life is good today. Let’s see how last week compares. Last Week Finish scene rewrites Start scene splices How’d I Do? Finish scene rewrites Yes! Start scene splices Yes… technically. I did, in fact, splice a scene together, but I didn’t make as much progress as I wanted. Weekly Word Count: 3,404 These goals are broad, deceptively simple, and very big. Two little bullets, six words that encompass a giant task, and I’ll admit I felt a bit daunted by them. But, I rewrote the…
Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #40
It’s a gorgeous fall day, and I spent the morning weeding the garden. Trevor went to get coffee from our favorite coffee shop, and now I’m listening to the new Staind album thanks to a very excited text from my mom. Yes, my mom is listens to Staind. What I’m getting at is, it’s an absolutely lovely day so far. So let’s talk about goals! Last Week Start revisions Update website Send newsletter Edit and schedule podcast How’d I Do? Start revisions Yep! I’ve re-written the entire intro, reorganized some scenes. Nothing too major yet, but I’m just revving up. Things should get grittier in the weeks to come. Update website Yep 🙂 Send newsletter It’s in your inbox if you haven’t read it yet. Edit and schedule podcast Yes! Have you listened to the September episode yet? Weekly Word Count: 1,560 For revision, that’s a stellar word count. Those…
Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #39
Well, hello there, October! It should come as no surprise that I’m rather fond of the Spooky Season, and even the moderately cool temperatures that come with it. I’m looking forward to wearing my jean jacket and my doc martens, to watching The Crow and indulging in a Chai Latte every now and again. But before all of that, lets talk about the last week of September. Last Week Finish the book Prep newsletter Record podcast How’d I Do? Finish the book YES! Which you probably already know if you read yesterday’s Monthly Recap. Prep newsletter Yep! It should be in your inbox now. If you haven’t signed up, now would be a great time. You don’t want to miss out on book reviews and original fiction direct to your inbox, do you? Record podcast Yes! And I got it edited and scheduled already. It’ll be live on Friday! Are…
The Recap – September 2023
It’s officially October, the spookiest of seasons, when my goth little heart is happiest. Yet today the sun is out, the temps just north of chilly, so it seems summer and autumn are still doing their waltz, trading leads as they see fit. I’ll cling to these last few sunny days, before winter settles in to smother me once more. September Goals Finish Novel Complete at least the first revision Keep up w/submissions and queries How’d I Do? Finish Novel YES! YES YES YES YES! The rough draft is finally, wonderfully DONE! Complete at least the first revision HA! No. Keep up w/submissions and queries Yeah. Things are slow in September as publishing shakes off the last of its summertime slump. But, I made sure things went out as rejections trickled in. Total Word Count: 11,442 That word count should be a pretty clear indication of how I feel about…
Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #38
Fall is here. I welcomed it with a date night to our favorite restaurant. We had the walleye special, which was incredibly nostalgic for me as I grew up eating fried walleye, and had a couple of my favorite adult beverages (caipirinha – kinda like a Brazilian margarita, but BETTER). Then we went home, I cut a few sprigs from my herbs and used them for my bath. Now, I am not typically a bath person. There’s a lot of reasons for this, but largely I just get bored. Bubbles only entertain me for so long, I don’t trust myself with a library book near water, and I don’t sit still well. Baths are actually the opposite of relaxing to me. But, I wanted to try an herb bath. I was relaxed from the cocktails and I’m reading an ARC right now, so if the book gets damaged, who cares?…
Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #37
I’m thinking a lot about symbols today. Obviously, symbols are important in writing – they offer subtext and deeper meaning to the story told on the surface of the page. But symbols are important in our daily lives too, and today I’ve found myself tripping over a lot of symbolism. I’m feeling a bit mired today, low energy and with a sciatica flare up that has me stiff and sore. But I promised myself that 11a-2p on Mondays is writing time. So I stepped into my office and was met with the physical manifestation of my psyche. I haven’t truly cleaned my office since we got the house back. Boxes of bathroom supplies, hampers of blankets, and a box of keepsakes from my last job pretty much stuffed any and all floorspace. There was a path to my desk chair and that was it. Even getting to my house plants…
Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #34
Ok. So, fun fact. I’ve been tracking weekly goals all month, I just haven’t blogged about them… whoops. This is the firs Sunday where I’ve actually felt up to dedicating some serious hours at my desk to anything other than work on the novel. So, let’s talk goals! Last Week Finish the Book Prep Newsletter Podcast Catch Up How’d I Do? Finish the Book Haha. No. But…. Prep Newsletter Kinda? Lots of notes and outlining, but I’ll be actually writing and sending it out today (Sunday). Podcast Catch Up There’s progress here, but I haven’t quite got 100% caught up. So also kinda? Weekly Word Count: 4,024 So, as you can see, that’s no small amount of words. Progress has been made on the novel pretty consistently this past week, and I’m really hopeful that I can call this rough draft done soon. That’s really been my focus this week.…
The Recap – July 2023
Yes, I’m aware this post is late. I’m sorry about it, but there just wasn’t much I could do about it. See my most recent post to learn more about where I’ve been this past month. Otherwise, I’m just gonna dive right in. July Goals Finish the book Finish “King Tide” Start book revisions How’d I Do? Finish the book Nope. Finish “King Tide” Yes! Start book revisions lol no. Total Word Count: 5,565 So. I have some thoughts about this. First, that I’m not completely unhappy with that word count. It’s the most I’ve written since March. So obviously something was working. But, I couldn’t maintain it through the rest of the month. Things petered off fast as the start date for my new job loomed closer and closer. Between that and the house renovations, I only had so much bandwidth for creative endeavors. And by “so much” I…
Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #27
Well, will you look at this! A blog post and mostly on time. What a crazy, random happenstance. Let’s get to it! Last Week Write at least 3x Read something Edit + Schedule podcast How’d I do? Write at least 3x Yep! Read something Oh, yeah. Edit + Schedule podcast Definitely! Weekly Word Count: 5,565 So… uh. Yeah. That happened. This last week really felt like I’d settled into my vacation and my brain was ready to get to work after a week of relaxation. I wrote exactly three times, and each session was more productive than the last. If you’re paying close attention, you’ll see that my short story “In Debt to the King Tide” is no longer in the drafting stage. I finished writing it last week and am knee deep in revisions. I’ve also made some really good strides on the novel and am creeping up to…