Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #21
I just want everyone to notice that this post is on time. This hasn’t happened in months, but here it is. On schedule. *bows to the audience, to roaring applause* Last Week QUERY PACKAGE!!! Polish/submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God Read! Follow writing schedule Record Podcast How’d I Do? QUERY PACKAGE!!! YES!!!! The query letter and synopsis are DONE! The first two chapters are also DONE, but more on that in a bit. Polish/submit The Finest Creation of an Artful God Nope. But close. I just need to touch base with my betas and get some feedback. Read! Yep! I read a whole book last week! Follow writing schedule Yes? I didn’t write on Tuesday like I’d planned, but I made up for it by writing on Thursday, which wasn’t planned. I call that a win. Record Podcast Nope. One of our hosts was feeling under the weather. Hopefully we…
Antici…pation
I have news. News I can’t talk about yet. News that I want to talk about, very very badly. I think it feels more important than it is because I *can’t* tell you about it yet. And also because there were a few months there where I really thought my writing life was fizzling out. We all go through that, right? The imposter syndrome? When the words won’t come and the rejections pile up, and a little voice starts to whisper, “maybe you are as bad as you think.” and “maybe this is the end. Just give it up.” But you don’t. You don’t give up. You keep staring at manuscripts and tapping at keys until you meander your way through a book. You open submission emails, swiping away rejections until one finally says, “we really enjoyed this story!” Those emails are a breath of fresh air. Validation when you’re…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #20
I know it’s been literal months since I’ve done a Goals Summary post, but I’ve spent more time in my office this week than I have in forever. And if I stare at this whiteboard long enough, I naturally want to write goals all over it. So, that’s exactly what I did on Wednesday — write goals for the remainder of the week. Last Week Edit and post podcast episode Revise/finalize query package Revision #2 of The Finest Creation of an Artful God Read something How’d I do? Edit and post podcast episode Yep! The newest episode of Top Shelf Librarians is out now — listen here! Revise/finalize query package Nope. But, to be fair, I only refocused on this goal this week. I plan to get it done by June 1st. Revision #2 of The Finest Creation of an Artful God Yep! Officially on its third draft, I’ve sent…
Spring Cleaning, aka Brain Dump
Ok. It’s May, and it’s been a minute since I’ve written about what I’m working on in any detail. You know what that means? It’s time for my Quarterly Review! Or is it a Triannual Review? I don’t know, Man, I’m just gonna talk about what I’ve worked on this year and what I’m working on in the coming months. If you’ll harken back to January and February, you’ll see that I really started the year out strong. I was reading a lot and writing a bit. My big focus was revising Tavi (now titled Something Sulfurous) and writing my query letter and synopsis. And I did those things. Y’all, when I say I’m so close to being DONE with this book… it’s SO CLOSE. Like, probably two weeks’ worth of polish and effort, and it’s ready. Which is, of course, why I haven’t done it. I’m terrified to query…
The Recap — Mar/Apr 2022
It’s been a minute since I’ve posted anything. Let’s fix that!
Distraction or Reward?
Look. Drafting Victoria has been very slow, okay? It’s just a weird book. It doesn’t call to me the way other drafts have. It makes no demands. When I do sit down to work on it, it flows out of me without much effort at all, which is amazing! But, with my delightful ADHD brain, sitting down to work on something that isn’t obsessing me is honestly painful. Once I’m there, it’s fine. I put on my headphones, jam out to my baller playlist (listen here!), and hammer out some words. But getting there is HARD. The other night I wrote in a whirlwind and wound up with almost 1300 words. A great evening of output, to be sure. So what did I do? Nope. Unh-uh. Not that either… What’s that? “Play Horizon Forbidden West?” DING DING DING! When it comes to my brain, rewards don’t really work. They become…
Monthly Recap – February 2022
Time is a construct, and nothing quite drives the point home like the shortest month of the year in the third year of a pandemic, with a highly anticipated game release capped off with the start of a war in Europe. God damn. And yet, here we are, living our lives and talking about dreams and goals. Call it futile. Call it resilient. Call it whatever, I guess. I’m just caling it past due. Let’s get this show on the road! February Spend at least 16 hours with Victoria Prep Tavi Query Letter and Synopses Read four books How’d I Do? Spend at least 16 hours with Victoria …. *sobs* Prep Tavi Query Letter and Synopses Yes! I’m doing some more revisions this week, but rough drafts were finished and even revised some in February! Read four books Close! Three books and most of a fourth. Not too shabby! Total Word Count: 3,541 Hours Check Here’s…
Goals Summary 2022 — Wk #8
Remeber when I said I didn’t have high hopes for my productivity this week? Ha. Ha. Ha. Last Week Tavi Query + Synopsis Revision Spend >2hrs with Victoria Write/Prep Newsletter Podcast How’d I Do? Tavi Query + Synopsis Revision Nope. Spend >2hrs with Victoria Nope. Write/Prep Newsletter Nope. I’m really sorry about this and will get it out sometime this week. Pinky promise! (Maybe sign up if you haven’t already? And if you do, don’t forget to check your spam box!) Podcast Yes! Recording went… slowly. there were a lot of technical issues, but we eventually sorted it out and got the show on the road! Weekly Word Count: 0 Well. I knew it was going to be a rough week for productivity. Mainly because I have no self control and I played over 50 hours of Horizon Forbidden West. I think at this point I’m just going to focus on finishing the game…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #7
I know, I know, this is late. But with the holiday and a highly anticipated video game released on Friday, my schedules and routines have been severely impacted. There’s lots I forgot to do, and the weekly update was one of them. Sorry. (ALSO, Horizon Forbidden West is amazing and I have zero regrets.) Last Week Send Query + Synopsis to Mentor Spend at least 2 hours with Victoria Read The Secret Skin by Wendy N. Wagner How’d I Do? Send Query + Synopsis to Mentor Yep! This was a big challenge — synopses are not my fave — but I got it done. Spend at least 2 hours with Victoria So close! I spent about an hour and a half on Victoria this week, and I’m calling it a win. It’s output and it’s consistent. Win. Read The Secret Skin by Wendy N. Wagner Yep! It was quite good, creepy in all the best ways…
Goals Summary 2022 – Wk #6
Hey Blogland. As of this writing, it’s Sunday night, post-Super Bowl. I spent the day lounging and eating tacos so I can’t really complain. Now there’s the steady hum-thrum of the washing machine as I prep for the work week. But there’s much more to think about than just laundry, so let’s get into it. Last Week Draft Tavi synopsis Spend three hours with Victoria Finish reading The Last Graduate How’d I Do? Draft Tavi synopsis Mostly? I have, like, a paragraph to go. It’s SO close. Spend three hours with Victoria Hahahahahahaha no. Finish reading The Last Graduate I have about 130 pages left. I’m hopeful that, if I get this blog post done and update my planner for the week in a timely fashion, I *might* be able to finish it tonight. Weekly Word Count: 1,022 It was a busy week. I spent an hour with Victoria and got through a bit that was feeling pretty…