Hi, how’s it goin’?
New Steps
I am on track to finish the improved, re-edited (holy hell there were so many errors I did not catch the first round) version of The Professor’s Apprentice by the end of the week. I will submit it to the Writers of the Future contest as soon as I finish, so it isn’t hanging about on my to do list.
I’m plugging away on the changes in my novel to improve cohesiveness, which is going well. I haven’t run across any problematic things yet (I probably just jinxed myself). It is still early, but hopefully I can get these revisions done by the end of October, and then I can start the heavy, soul destroying editing process. I can’t wait.
It just occurred to me that, I don’t think I have really given any info about my novel in these check ins. So here it goes. I am currently working on the first book of the Sets and Soldiers series, called King and Councilor. It is a urban fantasy/same sex romance about druids and a clandestine organization loosely affiliated with the FBI, whose sole purpose is to study and police preternatural creatures. The books chronicle the shenanigans they get in together, relationships that are formed, and the mutual fight to neutralize enemies. The first book focuses on the relationship between Aiden, the eldest druid, and Harper, the organization’s lawyer… among other things. The romance is definitely the focus of the story, but there are several other arcs and sub plots throughout. I say the first book, because I already have very loose ideas for the next two in the series. Ambitious, I know.
The Breakdown
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
This book is the one most often recommended when I am consuming productivity or self-improvement materials. It is an exploration of how habits are formed using examples from a wide array of businesses and individuals. It gives you tips on how to adopt more beneficial habits in your life and how businesses can create better routines and culture. It is a really interesting and detailed read. If you are looking to replace some bad habits with good ones or cultivate new habits, this is an extremely valuable resource to check out… which is why everyone talks about it.
Living Life
I’ve read The Power of Habit before (a few years ago), but I felt the need to refresh myself on it as my bad habits have re-emerged with a vengeance in the past several months. I’ve also discovered some new habits I would like to cultivate. Because I have a lot of free time right now, it is the best time to work on this stuff. I should have been working on it long before now, but it is what it is. Hind sight, of course, is ever 20/20. And, as I cannot change the past and thinking and worrying about it is useless, I can only move forward from here with the best of intentions.
The last few years, I was making an effort to include more non-fiction and off genre books in my reading. By off genre, I mean books outside my ‘normal’ comfort zone genres. Part of this was an effort to learn more about self-improvement (and give me motivation to make some changes), part was to expand my knowledge base, part was to inspire more curiosity in general. Regrettably, it is one of the habits that has fallen off in the last several months. And I desperately want to pick it back up.
I’ve been in a major reading rut since I moved to Knoxville. Really before, if I’m being honest. I used to include a TBR page in my bullet journal to plan which books I’d be reading and track my progress. I stopped doing that at one point… I’m not sure why, I just did. That might be part of the reason my reading has been the way it has. No plan means I fall back into my comfort zone. (The same issue I have with my cooking and diet) So, next month, I am bringing back the TBR to my bullet journal. I am planning to read at least one book every month in a few different categories:
Biography: any story talking about someone’s life, whatever form that may take
Self-improvement: there are wide variety of topics here from wellness to business to organization, etc.
Topical non-fiction: which is a book about a specific topic, for example: What’s Your Pronoun by Dennis Baron
Classic: this can be anything from The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius to Candide by Voltaire to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Any off genre fiction book: basically anything but romance and urban fantasy, which are my go to genres.
This shouldn’t be too ambitious as it isn’t unusual for me to read upwards of twenty books in a month. Granted, because of the types of books I normally read, they are usually pretty quick to get through. But it should be in the goldilocks zone of not too easy, but not too hard.
I don’t have anything else this week, so I will close it here. This turned out to be a longer check in than I thought it would be. I might have rambled, but what can you do.
As always, thanks for checking out the site and I hope everyone is doing well. If you feel so inclined, check out my social media .
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