The Recap – September 2022
I gotta say, the view from my desk does NOT look like October. Like, at all. It’s blue skies, a lovely 74 degrees, and the trees are still entirely too green. It feels like the end of summer, not the first, fledgling days of Fall. But how things look and feel ultimately have little impact here. Time trudges on, and the goals go with. So let’s get to the good stuff! September Goals Write Victoria Query Package Rough Draft Read 20 minutes/day Finish Victoria Revision #2 How’d I Do? Write Victoria Query Package Rough Draft Yep! I actually got this to a point where I think it’s closer to a final draft. I’m comfortable sending it out to an editor in the shape its in. Read 20 minutes/day Yes! More on that in a bit. Finish Victoria Revision #2 Close! I am very very close to getting this revision done (3/5 goals completed!). Total Word Count: 3,997 September…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #38
Someone needs to get ahold of whoever is in charge of time and tell them to take a chill pill. I cannot keep up with this calendar, folks. It’s going TOO FAST! Is Ricky Bobby at the helm of this year or what? Last Week Victoria Revision Pass Write 1500 words Read 20 minutes a day Prep Newsletter How’d I Do? Victoria Revision Pass Hahahahaha *sobs* No. Write 1500 words Nope. Read 20 minutes a day Yep! I’m still working my way through The Story of the Hundred Promises, but the Ghost Files series premier came out on Friday and then Trev and I spent Saturday playing silly video games together and split a pizza. I have no regrets. Prep Newsletter Yes! The newsletter is written and scheduled and will be out before this post is published! Weekly Word Count: 870 Look. This isn’t the greatest word count ever. But it…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #37
It’s Monday, y’all. You know the drill. Last Week Victoria Query package Rough Draft Read 20 minutes a day Write 1,500 words Writing Admin How’d I Do? Victoria Query package Rough Draft Yes! This was one of those things that you dread and put of because you think it’s difficult, and then you sit down to do it and it’s cake. Read 20 minutes a day Yep! I’m making slow and steady progress on The Story of the Hundred Promises, and I also read a graphic novel, The Crossroads at Midnight. Write 1,500 words Not quite. Writing Admin Yep! There was a bit of time spent last week on short story submissions, revisions, and querying. I’d fallen behind on a lot of it because school started and I’ve just been so wiped when I get home. But I’m all caught up now! Weekly Word Count: 1,216 Honorable Mentions There were a handful…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #35
I’m having trouble pinning down all the things I did last week. What did I plan to do? What did I actually manage to accomplish? Thank goodness for planners and whiteboards, or else I’d never be able to tell you! Last Week Finish Victoria Revision #1 Query Package Rough Draft (Letter + Synopsis) Read a book Edit + post new episode of Top Shelf Librarians How’d I Do? Finish Victoria Revision #1 YEP! And boy does it feel good! Query Package Rough Draft (Letter + Synopsis) Lol, nope. Read a book Yep! I finished reading Gallant on Saturday and I loved it very much. Edit + post new episode of Top Shelf Librarians Yep! The new episode is out now! So give it a listen if you haven’t yet. Weekly Word Count: 606 Not too shabby, methinks. Especially considering how busy my work week was. God, it was so busy. Busy enough to leave me…
The Recap – August 2022
Oh, Blogland… How is it September already? Surely that’s illegal? It ought to be illegal for summer to go by without my enjoying a single hike! I want to talk to time’s manager! August Goals Read + Revise Victoria Read 4 Books Survive this month How’d I Do? Read + Revise Victoria Yep! I have read it through (twice!) and finished the first round of revision! Read 4 Books Hahahahahahahaha. No. Survive this month I suppose that, since I am typing this, I am technically alive, which would suggest survival. Sanity is a separate matter… Total Word Count: 2,497 If July was lovely, then August was…. bustling. Between twitter pitch events, day-job responsibilities ramping up, a writing conference, a family reunion, and a pretty ambitious set of goals, it’s a miracle I’m upright! It’s also been hot as balls this month and when I tell you I am sick of sweating… Anyway.…
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 #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…
Mental Meanderings
Good morning, Blogland. We woke up early today so we could get our AC unit fixed (again), and now I’m sitting in my office sipping iced coffee trying to make sense of the putty in my brain. This is a good thing! This summer break has been very different than I’d hoped (so far). A lot less adventure and a lot more lounging, but it’s been good for my creative muscle. I’m reading widely, getting into a twitter routine that isn’t completely soul-sucking, and writing whatever clamors to be written. I’ve also been experimenting with poetry, basically since the pandemic started. Back in the summer of 2020 poetry was the only writing I could do. The words came in a trickle, and the best I could do by them was to arrange them in interesting little lines. Currently, I have folders of poetry organized by year (2020, 2021, 2022) for a…