Summer Thinky-Thoughts
This is it. The last Friday of my summer break. I go back to work on Monday… I have a lot of feelings about that. A lot of them are good. I’m excited to meet our new staff members and reunite with co-workers I haven’t seen since June. There will be tales of summer adventures, healing sunburns, and summer-bloomed freckles. And so many smiles. But I can’t deny a building sense of dread. It isn’t the work itself that I’m dreading, I genuinely like my job. Buying and processing books, helping teens find their next favorite book, and working with our Associated Student Body to make our school a place kids want to be. These are all amazing things I get to do for 198 days a year. But… Going back to work means I’m no longer just a writer. It means that I have to schedule writing time into…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #31
I’m off to a slow start this morning. I’m back home after an amazing weekend at the Willamette Writers Conference, and though I’m happy, my brain is, well, mush. So let’s take a bleary look at last week’s goals and see if I can come up with something to shoot for this week. Last Week Prep elevator pitches for Something Sulfurous and Victoria Prep additional Something Sulfurous pitches for #DVpit Draft packing list/pack for #WilWrite22 Enjoy #WilWrite22 How’d I Do? Prep elevator pitches for Something Sulfurous and Victoria Prep additional Something Sulfurous pitches for #DVpit Yes and No. I didn’t really prep formal pitches/elevator pitches for Something Sulfurous or Victoria. I talked about them more organically with fellow writers than I expected, which I’ll talk more about in my Conference Wrap Up post later this week. However, I did participate in #DVpit and did get an agent like on one of them, which I’ll talk more about later in this…
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 #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…
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…
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…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #24
“O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention, A kingdom for a stage, princes to act And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!” – Henry V Prologue, Shakespeare It is 5:32am as of the writing of this post. Six minutes ago, Ben Gorman read the entire Prologue of Henry V (this is just the first few lines) to a Zoom room of sleepy-eyed writers to kick off the start of #TheLongestDay. If you don’t know what that is, check out my post about it or head over to the “Latest” page to see the announcement. Now lets get to the meat and potatoes of this thing. Last Week Revise >30 chapters of Something Sulfurous Write >500 words of Victoria Connect with last Beta Reader re: The Finest Creation of an Artful God Keep working on fics Record Podcast Episode How’d I Do? Revise >30 chapters of Something Sulfurous…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #23
It’s Monday, and while this post is on time, I’m feeling very far behind in basically every other aspect of my writing life. Let’s take a look at why! Last Week Revise >20 chapters of Something Sulfurous Revise and submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God Finish next chapter of my Horizon Forbidden West fic/post new chapters of various fanfic projects Write >500 words of Victoria Record podcast episode How’d I Do? Revise >20 chapters of Something Sulfurous Fun fact. My printer ran out of toner and I started running low on paper. I used that as a not-so-convincing excuse to avoid revision and work on other things. Revise and submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God See above re: paper and toner shortage. Finish next chapter of my Horizon Forbidden West fic/post new chapters of various fanfic projects Yes? I had to go back and confirm, but yes. I finished that chapter of my Horizon Forbidden…
Goal Summary 2022 – Wk #22
Two weeks in a row! How many weeks counts as a habit? Asking for a friend… Last Week Polish/submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God Revise >10 chapters of Something Sulfurous Write ~500 words of Victoria Finish the current chapter of my Horizon Forbidden West fanfic Read something How’d I Do? Polish/submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God Lol. Nope. Did not look at this project at all this week. Revise >10 chapters of Something Sulfurous Yes! This revision is mostly line level stuff, which is my jam! It’s much easier to convince myself to do these sorts of revisions, lemme tell ya. Write ~500 words of Victoria Hahahahahahahahahaha. No. Finish the current chapter of my Horizon Forbidden West fanfic Nope. But I did work on it a little (and on another fic, shhhhh) so that seems good. Read something Nope. Or at least, I didn’t finish reading anything. Weekly Word Count: 1,147 So… this week…
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…