Category: Ground Of Insurrection

July Goals: Results

7/31/2015

I did manage to get a lot done this month! Too bad that next month I'm going to be far too busy. That's why my biggest goal for July was to write as much as possible. Here's how I did:

Writing. Dragon Soldier has tripled in size. The story is almost halfway done and in a good spot for me to pick it up again in September. My superhero story fell to the wayside this past month. I was working on everything else on this list instead. The Case of the Wandering Wolves is complete and off my to-do list. Completing one of the stories here was also a goal, one I am very glad I was able to get done. TCofWW is with a beta reader; I should see it again in September when I'll get it edited and formatted for submission. The Oracle's Current is growing steadily. There's still a lot more to do, but I don't foresee any difficulties with it.
Editing. The edits for The Oracle's Sprite are back with LT3. The story should be with the copy editor and will definitely be available on September 30th. Since I also received the edits for Dragon Deception I added them to this goal and they are back with LT3 as well. I also made some progress in Ground of Insurrection. The edits from my beta reader were amazingly helpful. I'm not done yet, but I made a lot of progress. Part two has begun, but does need some more planning before I can really get into it.

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July is a month of ups and downs for me. I enjoy summer and July is when the last vestiges of spring finally fade away. My birthday is also this month and I love presents just as much as anyone. There is a big downside though: my job from hell starts on the 24th. It's six days a week, full time, for six straight weeks. It's tiring and it's infuriating, but they pay me, which is why I go back every year. What the start of the job from hell means is as of the 24th my writing time utterly vanishes. I'll be able to squeak in a few minutes here or there, but any progress won't be significant. I need to get as much as possible done this month before the job starts and my goals list reflects that. Here's what I'm planning:

Writing. Work on Dragon Soldier, my superhero story, Case of the Wandering Wolves, and The Oracle's Current as much as possible. The more I'm able to get done, the better. Ideally, I would like to finish writing at least one of these stories so I can cross it off my to-do list entirely.
Editing. Work on The Oracle's Sprite. I want to have it back to LT3 within the first two weeks of July. I also want to make some progress in Ground of Insurrection. The edits my wonderful beta reader left me have been languishing for far too long and part two of the story is still begging to be written.

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May Goals: Results

5/30/2015

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May ended up being a pretty interesting month. I got a lot written, but not for the stories actually in my goals list. I also got to go shopping for a new car. The former was excellent, but the latter really wasn't. I know I'm going to like my new car a whole heck of a lot more than my old one, but the hassle of one car dying and having to scramble for a new one wasn't fun. Anyway, here's how I managed with my goals for May:

The Oracle's Sprite Edits. It took a few extra days, but I got them back to LT3. They should be with the editor for another round.
Finish Dragon Dilemma. Completed! This story is done and I set it aside. The plan is to return to it next month to edit and format it for submission.
Ground of Insurrection Edits. After the edits for Sprite, I made the executive decision to not drive myself crazy by starting these edits too. I had a look through what the beta reader left for me. She made a lot of good points and there are some scenes that need rewriting, but overall the story is good. Look for this to appear in my goals again, just not when I'm already exhausted from finishing edits with a due date.
Superhero Story. I know I said I would get a lot written in this story this past month. That didn't happen. I picked up Dragon Soldier and Kelpie Blue instead and got a lot written there.
Justified. I didn't get to this goal, but I hadn't expected to. Hopefully I'll be able to continue working on this story soon.

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News: Release Date and Edits

5/25/2015

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5/25/15

In case anyone missed the news from last night, I announced the release date for The Oracle's Sprite. September 30, 2015. It is currently available for pre-order at a 15% discount at LT3. Get your copy today: http://www.lessthanthreepress.com/books
I have also heard about the status of the edits for The Oracle's Sprite and for Dragon Consultant, the first book in my Supernatural Consultant series. Sprite is back with the editor for the second round. I should see it again sometime in June. The edits for Dragon Consultant are also supposed arrive in my inbox at the same time, which means I'll have a lot to do in very little time. I'm looking forward to what each editor has to say.
I have made a mental health decision and have set aside the edits my beta reader gave me for Ground of Insurrection. After getting the edits completed for Sprite and knowing that the edits will return to me in a few short weeks, plus knowing that the edits for Dragon Consultant are also on their way, I decided to set aside the non-essential edits in favor of letting my brain rest. Once I know I have more than a few weeks of recovery between each round of editing I will absolutely be returning to GoI. I did take a moment to glance through what my beta reader said. There's a lot to do, but the overall reaction was very positive. I hope to see GoI back on my goals list this autumn.

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May Goals

5/1/2015

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April showers bring May flowers, which also brings along allergies. I am allergic to being outside in the Spring, so I'll be sneezing and sniffling all month long. It's awful, but at the same time I love being outside and playing in the dirt. My strawberries are coming up and pretty soon the vegetable garden will be going in. There's lots to look forward to and hopefully I'll be able to get a lot of writing done too.

The Oracle's Sprite Edits. I only have a few short weeks to finish all the rewrites and return this story to LT3. Getting this completed is priority number one and only afterwards can I really focus on anything else in this list.
Finish Dragon Dilemma. I am so close to finishing this story. I only have 3k words more to write and that is more than doable this month. If I complete Dilemma in May, I should have it and Dragon Detective submitted to LT3 by the end of June, which is amazing.
Ground of Insurrection Edits. There are two things I need to work on with this story. First, I need to go through the edits and suggestions my wonderful beta reader left for me. Second, I need to start working on part two of the story. I want to have this submitted to a publisher in 2015, which means I need to get hopping.
Superhero Story. The writing for this story is going really well. I have a lot of it already planned out. Since I'm still not certain how long this story will end up being, it's very possible I might finish writing it this month, which would be cool. LT3 might kill me for submitting three stories this summer though.
Justified. Since I know I'm going to continue working on the prologue this month, I decided to include it in my goals list. There's still so much to do in this story that I'm willing to label this as a secondary goal to the previous ones. I guess I'll see whether I get to it or not.

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April Goals: Results

4/30/2015

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Passover did take up a very large chunk of my writing time for the first week of April, but after that it was smooth sailing. I got a good bit written and have also planned out a lot of future writing. Then the edits for The Oracle's Sprite arrived and getting those done trumped writing. I still managed to get a lot completed. Here's how I did in April:

Supernatural Consultant Series. The goal was to get Dragon Dilemma completed this month. The story isn't quite there yet, but it's certainly close. I reached 26k words and I know how the rest of the story is going to work so it should be easy to finish the last few thousand words. I was able to reach a point this month where I can definitively say that I'll definitely have it completed next month.
Other Writing. This was a broad category and I chose to fill it in a few ways. First, I continued working on Justified. I'm still writing the prologue, but there's a lot of set up for the rest of the book that needs to be done. I know exactly what needs to be written, it's just a matter of getting it all onto paper correctly. I only wrote 3k in April, but I've worked hard to make sure I'm prepared to write the next 7k of the prologue in May.

Second, I worked on my still untitled superhero story. It's definitely turning into an anti-hero story, but I think it's coming out well for my first attempt at writing in the genre. I added over 5k and have figured out most of the rest of the plot. I really just need to come up with a title.

In addition to the edits for The Oracle's Sprite, the edits for Ground of Insurrection are back from my beta reader. She did an amazing job. It's a big project that will unfortunately have to wait until Sprite is back with the editor before I can tackle. I'm really looking forward to it.

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News: Edits and Writing

4/20/2015

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4/20/15

The edits for The Oracle's Sprite have arrived! I've glanced through them once and there's a lot to do, as always. Editing is a mixture of me shaking my head at myself because I really messed up a scene or a bit of dialogue and fixing a lot of little things like missed tenses or extraneous words. It's also one of the best learning experiences I have as a writer. The opportunity to have a professional look through my book and point out how I can improve is something I look forward to with every round of edits I receive. Editing might be difficult and time consuming, but it's so very worth it. Hopefully these edits will go smoothly and I'll have The Oracle's Sprite back to LT3 quickly.
Ground of Insurrection should be back from my beta reader later today. I am really looking forward to starting those edits as well. The time sensitive edits for Sprite have to be completed and back to LT3 first before I can start tackling GoI, but that's only more incentive to work hard.
Dragon Dilemma is so close to being finished. There's still a lot more to write, but I have everything already planned out. I just have to get it onto paper properly. What I like to do after I finish writing a story is to let it sit for a few weeks. I'm hoping to have this story done soon because that means those few weeks of sitting can also be done soon. I'm looking forward to having Dilemma edited and submitted, because then I can edit and submit Dragon Detective and start really delving into Dragon Soldier.
Usually about the time I receive the edits for the next book in the Oracle series I announce how far I've gotten in writing the book after that. Unfortunately, I haven't been very successful with working on this series lately. There's just been too many other stories taking up my time. I think the next book that will be completed is The Sentinel's Prophesy, a side story, but I'm not certain anything from this series will make my monthly goals list again until the fall. I'm sorry if that disappoints any of you, but I promise I will return to this series. There's still a lot of story to tell and I am looking forward to telling it.

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News: April Continues

4/16/2015

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4/16/15

The wonderful artist who works on The Oracle series has contacted me about starting the cover for The Oracle's Sprite. I know it's going to be a great cover. Sprite is the wind book of the series and she's promised me that she can include an amazing breeze-like effect. I'm really looking forward to seeing the results. The cover is due sometime in July, so in approximately three months I should have it for you to see.
My beta reader has promised to have Ground of Insurrection back to me early next week. I can't wait to see her edits and suggestions and to start working on part two of the story. It's definitely one of the more interesting worlds I've created and I really do hope to have it ready to submit sometime this year.
I have gotten a lot written in my superhero/anti-hero story. I've written 5k words in the last two days and hope to add another 5k before the weekend. I started writing the story without any final length in mind, which is an unusual goal for me to leave out, but it's starting to look like a 20-30k story. There's a few twists and turns I'm really looking forward to writing. Once those pan out I'll be better able to estimate how long the story will actually be. After the length is figured out, I then need to come up with a title. Does anyone have a suggestion?

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News: I'm A Distracted Writer

3/16/2015

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3/16/15

Cake decorating class, part two, went really well. I got to decorate an actual cake this time! It's really pretty easy, which is good because my artistic talents haven't blossomed. I can write a story, but I'll only ever be capable of drawing stick figures. The instructor asked if I was making a turtle in giraffe shape... Not sure if that was a compliment. I have two more classes to go. Next time I'm learning how to make frosting sunflowers and leaves on cookies. I'm really looking forward to it!

I haven't written much this past week at all. Two of my favorite authors released the next books in their series, which required that I reread all the prequels. Anne Bishop's Other's series is amazingly good so I powered through that one really quickly. I'm now reading the latest from Patricia Brigg's Alpha and Omega series, which is starting out really strong. I have a feeling that I won't be returning to writing until I've shelved all my books and returned the new ones to the library. In fact, I'll probably return to writing just in time for some edits to appear, which will pull me away from my ongoing stories yet again. Still, editing my contracted stories might be a good bridge between reading someone else's work and returning to my own.

Speaking of edits, I think it's past time for me to have heard from LT3 about some of the stories they've accepted recently. At this point I should at least have a tentative release date for The Oracle's Sprite and Dragon Consultant. Those contracts were signed in January. Surely two and a half months is enough time to slot them into place on a calendar? Maybe not.

I also haven't heard from my beta reader in a while. Luckily, Ground of Insurrection is no longer due at the end of the month since I've decided not to submit it to LT3's call, but I would like to get to work on fixing it up and getting the sequel planned out. I've got a tentative summary up for the sequel on my current projects page if you want to check it out. I'll have to poke her and LT3, but I think I'll wait until LT3 is back from the Con they're attending. Hopefully I'll have some news soon!

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News: Good and Bad

2/20/2015

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2/20/15

I have heard from LT3 about Dragon Deception and Thunderbird. They accepted Deception, which means my Supernatural Consultant series is chugging along quickly. I need to get back to working on book three, Dragon Dilemma, so I can keep up the excellent momentum. Thunderbird received a rejection letter. This means I will not have a story in LT3's Intertwined call. They said a couple of things in the letter, foremost of which was that the story needs at least another 10k words for it to really work. I'm not one hundred percent certain I agree with that, or with some of the other things LT3 said, but it's a point to build from. I would love to try fleshing out the story a bit more and attempt at fixing some of the other issues LT3 pointed out. Hopefully I'll have time to rework it and eventually resubmit it as a standalone story.
I have gotten a preliminary report from my beta reader about Ground of Insurrection and she's pointed out something I've been worrying over. I was planning to submit GoI to LT3's Devil's Land call and she said it fit the call, but she wondered if it might be better if I instead expanded on some of the plot points and submitted it as a standalone. I'm honestly leaning towards doing that. I love the story and I do think it would stand out, plus I have an idea for a sequel that I wouldn't write if the first story was stuck in an anthology. I think I'll have to wait and see what her final recommendation is. I have a feeling I won't have a story in any LT3 anthologies coming out this year, which would be the first time since I began submitting to LT3.
On the writing front I have more bad news. I just haven't had the will to sit down and write. I've gotten a few hundred words written here and there this month, but nothing substantial. It's definitely caused by a culmination of a lot of different things. The frigid weather and gray skies, stress and worry over possibly getting a new job, and too many books I want to read instead of writing my own. There are still a few more days in February, so there's still time to try to accomplish some of my goals for the month. Hopefully I'll get something done before March!

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July Goals: Results

July Goals

May Goals: Results

News: Release Date and Edits

May Goals

April Goals: Results

News: Edits and Writing

News: April Continues

News: I'm A Distracted Writer

News: Good and Bad

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