Sunday, October 5, 2014

Sunday Update - Week 40

Good Morning!  It's Week 40 of 2014, which means there are only 12 weeks left before a whole new year. Since I didn't do much last week, let me start out by saying what I hope to do in the next 12.

First off, I'm planning on doing NaNoWriMo.  (50K words in 31 days.)  I have a new story idea that's been percolating in my head for a couple months now, and I'm anxious to get started.  It's an urban fantasy with an Arthurian angle.  To that end, I've been trying to give myself a refresher course on all the major players in the old story, so I can stay true to certain aspects.  But hey, it's urban fantasy, so obviously, I'm not even going to be close to most of the aspects.  We'll see how it works out.

Second, I've been busting my bootie to get manuscripts whipped into shape for publication.  Dying Embers is back out into the world.  Djinnocide is this close to being ready to go.  And I'm in the early stages of getting Wrongful Termination into shape.  To that end, I also plan on picking one of my dystopian stories to get ready by the end of the year.

On the home front, the weather is getting cooler - which means the ticks and the snakes are going dormant for the year, which means I can go back into the woods again.  I already know I have clean-up work to do on the trails.  And a huge branch feel onto a smaller tree right off the yard, so that has to be taken care of so it doesn't stunt the new growth of the little tree.  (It's not broken - just bent.)  I also have to separate my irises and find a new bed for the ones I need to move.  Then, of course, the leaves are starting to fall, so there'll be loads of raking to do.

Now, onto the stuff I accomplished this week.

Like I said, Dying Embers has been sent out.  I got the auto-reply that it's been received, so that's all I can do about that for another 12 weeks or so (unless I hear back sooner).

I'm about 50% of the way through Wrongful Termination's note-taking.  Pages and pages of notes, but hey, this was kinda first drafty, so that's to be expected.  I still love this book and I'll love it even more once I make it pretty.

This past week also saw a lot of time being devoted to Maxie kitty.  He was feeling poorly due to an infection in his mouth.  And then he came home from the vet's and while he felt better, he also felt like being picky about his vittles.  It's been a trial trying to figure out what he'll eat and then fixing meals for him rather than just opening a can.  Last night, he had chicken, tilapia, rice and kitty formula mixed in a bowl.  Not his favorite meal, but he ate some and got those important nutrients.  This morning, he ate almost like a normal Max.  We'll see how that goes.

So, I've been kinda wrapped up in taking care of kitty, which leaves me too tired or too dragged out (between the worrying and the constant 'I want food' from Max) to really accomplish too much.  Except for last night when I was so frustrated, I sat down here and wrote a few pages in a totally different new story.  The beginning is edgy and gritty, so it fit my mood.  I'll revisit that much much later - like spring or summer of 2015.  It just felt good to write new words.  I can't wait for NaNo.

How have things been in your world this past week?  What plans have you got for the next 12? 

4 comments:

  1. First, ditto on your post yesterday.

    Second, you got a lot accomplished last week. Maybe not anything on your list but as we all know, Real Life is what happens when we make other plans. ;)

    Me? I guess it's time to crawl out from under the rock I've been living under. I have to write a blurb. I have to start laying groundwork for BLUE MOON's release--hopefully around October 15. I have to lay out my writing/publishing schedule for the next year--with expected changes in case of any extended Harlequin contracts. I, too, am doing NaNo, which is a given. I do it every year. This year, I have two projects to pick from--either the compilation of the first two Moonstruck books with new bonus material (like what happens between Book 1 and Book 2) and the next book in the series, MOON SHOT, which is a crossover novel into my new Hard Target series. I'm excited.

    So, this next week is paperwork, social media catch up, and planning. And hopefully new words!

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    1. Thanks!

      And thanks for saying so. Real life can be a real PITA sometimes, when I have other stuff I want to do. LOL

      Ugh, you schedule makes me tired just reading it, but then again, if things go according to plan, I might have to adopt your schedule, so I better get used to it. You can do this, Silver. And so can I.

      Yay for new words!

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  2. Hey, you got a lot of work done, and lots of Real Life stuff settled. Sometimes (most times) the outer world need to come first. Max appreciates you!

    Yay for new words of any kind!

    I'm still in a "I hate my writing" phase, so I won't be doing NaNo. I'm working on my non-fiction, which looks like it needs to be split again. The page and word counts are reasonable, but once I add the illustrations, I think the page count will double. I want to go through a few more sources (famous last words), then start seriously cleaning up and checking for duplicate info. Trouble is, with every new source I find something I didn't know before.

    Have I mentioned lately that I'm soooo envious of your wooded trails? :-)

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    1. Thanks, Deb! I'm sure he does, and if not, he's just a cat. LOL

      I'm sorry you're hating your writing right now, but at least you can still do the non-fiction, so that's something awesome. I totally hear you on finding new stuff and adding it in, though.

      Not lately, but then again, I haven't talked about them much since they got all ticky and snakey. I'm dying to get back out there.

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