New Steps
I did it! I won NaNoWriMo! I know I’m a little late letting you all know, but there it is. Unlike last year, I cut this one right to the last day finishing up around 8:30 pm on 11/30/2022 with 50,158 words. This year, I was working exclusively on my Professor’s Apprentice trilogy. I got the first volume draft completed and around halfway through the draft of the second volume. That being said, I still have a long way to go to finish the drafts, but it always feels good to meet a milestone number. The hard part will be keeping up the momentum, while not being too hard on myself.
Having said that, going forward, my plan is to edit one story and draft one story at the same time, rather than focus solely on one aspect of the writing process. I get burnt out on editing very quickly if it’s the only thing I’m focusing on. I don’t fulfill my creative side if I’m not writing. If I’m only writing, I tend to bounce around, which is why I end up working on fourteen story ideas and produce half a dozen other half-baked random scenes that don’t fit in with the stories I’m currently working on. I literally have hundreds of files that will probably never see the light of day. I believe it is the same trait that makes it nearly impossible for me to concentrate when it is silent. I need music to write, edit, work… live or I don’t get anything productive done.
So, I have a plan for this month, which so far, has been working okay.
Firstly, I’m getting back to editing Desert Home, which was deprioritized during NaNo. I had hoped to get it out before November, but alas, it did not happen. So, I am ramping it back up this month. The cover is made; I love it.
I’m putting the story through ProWritingAid for the final major edit, and then I will read it out loud (again) and then do the final proofreading and formatting. Then I’ll be done, and I can publish. Assuming I can keep my work schedule consistent, I will be releasing this month. (*UPDATE: I wrote this last week, and I have not stayed consistent actually, but I still have enough time to get it published this month) .
For the writing half, I have continued to work on the draft of the trilogy. I figured I should since I’m still in the story and have momentum on it.
The Breakdown
I recently found out that the Doctor Who series (the modern reboot) is on HBOMax. I am a diehard David Tennett fan, which admittedly is not fair because I have only seen snippets of the Doctors after him. When I found out that Tennett is reprising his role as the Doctor in the upcoming 60th anniversary specials before Ncuti Gatwa takes over in 2023, I, of course, decided that I needed to catch up. I won’t go into it because, as River Song would say, “Spoilers.” So far, Tennett is still my favorite, but I’m still highly enjoying it. And I think I finally converted my sister. She resisted for a long time, but she happened to sit down during a fantastic episode that made her cry, which finally convinced her it is not all goofy weirdness. Yay! I do think that, unfortunately, the new episodes will only be available on Disney+, which I currently do not have. Bummer. I might get it just to watch the new episodes. We’ll see.
Living Life
I’ve been a bit under the weather for the last two weeks. I tested negative for COVID. My mom thinks it’s the flu, which thankfully I got the vaccine for, so that would explain why it was mild. The fact that my boss and several of my co-workers have gotten sick as well, one of which was confirmed to be the flu, seems to suggest that her opinion might be correct. I’m nearly over it, but I’m not quite at 100%. All-in-all, it wasn’t that bad except for the first day. I will admit, I was sweeping yesterday, and I got tired just from that. Discouraging.
Cold medicine is a wonderful thing. When I was young, I was told that taking cold medicine would make a sickness last longer because it was suppressing your body’s response to the virus. I don’t know if that is true. I don’t remember where I learned that from, but for a long time I was very stubborn about taking medicine. It meant I suffered, and I had a lot of sleepless nights. These days, while I still don’t know if that’s true or not; I don’t know enough of the science, I happily take cold medicine so I can get sleep at night. I’ve come to the age when not getting enough sleep just on its own is a recipe for having a crappy day. Throw illness on top of that, and I would gladly take a day or two longer of said illness and be able to get good sleep. Besides, getting consistent, adequate sleep has been known to boost the immune system, so maybe it balances out. Assuming medication actually increases the time of a cold.
Okay. I’m rambling now.
I also finally got around to some dental work that I’ve been neglecting <cough> avoiding <cough>. So, the weekend blew… again. I’m hoping that once that heals up, I will be feeling better. I’m really tired of my body not feeling normal.
That's it for this week. I'll keep you updated as to when Desert Home is being released. 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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