Not gonna lie… this month feels like it dragged on for.e..v…e….r……
May is hell month in the education world, where everyone is burnt out and over it, wishing that everything would just slow the eff down as it inevitably hurtles toward a finish line everyone wants and no one is ready for.
So, yeah. A great time to try and write a book!
Last Month
- Finish the novel
- Return to blogging schedule
How'd I Do?
- Finish the novel
- LOL. No.
- Return to blogging schedule
- Yes? I feel like I made a pretty good effort at getting the blog back on track.
Total Word Count: 5,544
This was an absolutely unhinged month. I feel like I only have glimpses of the things that happened, or the stuff that I did. I can’t grab onto any one thing as concrete. Other than my Story Hour reading, mainly because it was recent and terrifying and wonderful and I’m really proud of myself for doing it!
There weren’t any new story releases this month, but the reviews for Life Beyond Us continue to come in! Foreword Reviews said “The Lament of Kivu Lacus” was most compelling, and The Library Journal said it was “most impactful” which is absolutely mind-blowing to me. It seems that people are connecting with my strange, sad story about love, loss, and space whales and that makes me incredibly happy. So, like, maybe buy a copy?
On the submissions front, it’s been a slow and steady sort of month. Lots of things were rejected at the start of the month, and thus sent back out. I’ve got one short story out that has been consistently held for consideration (and is currently being held) so fingers crossed that I get an acceptance soon!
I’ve got Destined to Drown, my Frankenstein retelling, out with an Indie publisher right now, so we’ll see what comes of that later in the summer.
Queries continue to trickle on. I haven’t had any new interest, and the most recent pitch event I participated in led to nothing. July will be the one year mark of querying this book. I know I went slower and more considered than is strictly necessary, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be trunking Something Sulfurous this summer once the current project is ready to query. I might pursue an Indi Pub route with it, but that isn’t a priority right now. We’ll see how things go. Who knows? Maybe something crazy will happen between now and July?
One really good thing that happened this month was the return of Outdoor Adventure Season! Two hikes, an urban paddle, and a foray into vegetable gardening, and I am full to bursting with dopamine and vitamin D. Thank God.
Hours Check
- Novel: 6.5 Hours
- Reading: 26.5 Hours
- Willamette Writers Meetings: 8.5 Hours
- Website Management: 13 Hours
- Short Story Submissions: 1 Hour
- Queries: 1 Hour
- Workout/Outdoor Time: 13 Hours
- Podcast: 8.5 Hours
- Miscellaneous: 2.5 Hours
Total Hours: 80.5
Huh. Well, that was unexpected. I knew I read a lot this month, I just didn’t realize it was THAT much. I’m also happy with the uptick in time spent on the novel. I didn’t write much, but it was substantially better than April’s output, so I’ll take it!
The podcasting time increase makes sense, since we’ve kinda sorta doubled up on the show. If you haven’t listened to The Saga Saga: Volume 1 yet, get while the gettin’s good! Volume 2 comes out in two weeks, and the May episode of Top Shelf Librarians is out TODAY! You can hear about all this reading I’ve been doing!
June Goals
- Finish
- the
- fucking
- Book
That’s it. That’s the goal.
Obviously, there are more things I’m responsible for in the course of the month. There’s submissions and queries and podcasts, oh my! But, realistically I’ve got these things into a sort of routine, which allows them to get done in a timely manner without devoting too much energy on them.
And so, the only goal worth mentioning, worth the space on my website and my whiteboard, is the book. I need to get it done in the next… two weeks? Max. Which, of course, are the busiest two weeks at work, but you know. Like. Whatever, man.
Shit’s gotta get done.
Also, just a reminder that the May Newsletter is late and will go out this coming Sunday! Which means you have time to sign up and get a free, exclusive story in your inbox every month. Do it, you know you wanna.
All right. That’s it. That’s the show. I’ll be back Monday to talk about goals. Again. Forever and ever, amen.
Until then, Bloggarts.
BZ
