So April was probably one of the biggest months of my life. I turned 30, had a baby, announced my first published novel—and as if that weren’t enough, I chopped 10″ off my hair last week.
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| Before | After | How I do it |
(I do this every year, except that I never got around to it last year.)
April accountability
So amid all that, I worked on my goals for April:
- Finalize my presentation for LDStorymakers next month—DONE!
- Get those last 12,000 words done? Maybe?—Looking back, that was actually 19,000 words that I needed to write. Ouch. I managed to squeeze in a couple thousand words (with some help from #writeclub on Twitter!)
- Take care of business—Check! This also included working on the publication side of I, Spy.
- Do a final read-through for each of my critique partners—fortunately, they complied, so check!
- Finish inputting the paper edits and incorporate my critique partners’ feedback on my novella—Part A I finished earlier in the month; part B I finished on May 1.
- Read!—Check! I knocked out six books (not including my CP’s MS) on my TBR pile!
Most importantly, of course, I’ve worked on keeping my four kids alive. (Clothed is a bonus.) My mom was able to stay until my baby was 9 days old, and then my youngest sister and her new husband came to help for another week (thank you thank you thank you!), but since then I’ve been on my own with a newborn, a toddler, a preschooler and a grade schooler. (Honestly, the hard part is making it to schools on time.) Luckily, my physical recovery is going EXCELLENT so I’m managing pretty well 😀 .
May goals!
- Practice for and give my LDStorymakers presentation.
- GET. THOSE. WORDS. DONE. For real, finish this novel. Considering my last three novels were written in a total of 8 weeks, and I’ve been working on this one for three months, it’s driving me nuts to still be working on it!
- Business: finish the last couple steps for the publication side of I, Spy.
- Plan & prep for launch party (more on this as it gets closer!)
- Finish edits on novella
- Prep the first part of my novel for critique
- Read! There’s always something on the TBR!
How was your April? What’s coming up for you in May? Come share!
Yay for you on all counts, Jordan!
April Accountability:
WRITING:
1) Camp NaNo: 75,416 words for my fairytale mashup
2) Savvy Authors April Boot Camp: 75,145 words for my contemporary fic
Those two alone were kinda crazy, as I originally planned on doing one story for both challenges but couldn’t decide between the two.
BLOGGING:
3) Blogging A to Z Challenge: All letters posted. An interesting experience as it’s my first time blogging. Visited some great sites during the blog hop.
4) Round of Words in 80 Days (#ROW80). Check-ins every Wednesday and Sunday have helped me keep track (and, of course, accountable) for my goals.
May Goals:
WRITING:
1) 100 Pages in 7 Days Challenge. I’ll continue working on the fairytale mashup with this challenge and throughout the month.
READING:
2) Deb Marshall has a Middle Grade Reading Challenge for May (#middlegrademay). Since ‘Read more’ is part of my May goals, I thought this to be fitting. I read mostly craft non-fic *ahem ahem* last month, so it would be nice to supplement my reading (and trim the ever growing pile).
BLOGGING:
3) 50 more days left in #ROW80. This should keep me focused.
4) Work on blog content. I started my blog the last week of March. It was an education to post every day in April. I’ll space them out more this month. I have Wednesdays and Sundays to blog about my #ROW80 progress and Mondays for #middlegrademay. Deb will also be hosting Monday Check-ins for our continuing #wipmadness. I’ve met lovely writers through this group. Great support there throughout the year. They were the catalyst for my writing progress since I first started with their March Madness last year. I ended up with drafts of two novels, a screenplay, and a short story, now in various stages of revision. Today, I’ll be posting a Blogging A to Z reflections post and might use Fridays for future book reviews (aside from and after #middlegrademay is over).
That’s me for the next few weeks. This, aside from my usual writerly tasks, and work, and family. Oh, and life, and all that. Should tide me over, yes?
Cheers,
Tonette
P.S. Still patiently waiting for I, SPY. Excited for that. I’m a genreholic so I won’t be sticking to just MG reading forever. ;-D
WOW. Is that 150,000 words just in April? I’m blown away! You’ve been very busy, and very productive! Hope you’re enjoying blogging—A to Z is a baptism by fire 😉 . Good luck for May!
Oh, and PS–thank you!
Happy News: Flying to Utah for the LDStorymakers Conference! Getting my first novel, Three Reluctant Promises to the publisher!! Managing a community-wide fundraiser for my 17-year-old neighbor who needs a kidney transplant.
Middling News: Ugh! Moving in May (as long as the sale goes through on the 31st.)
Rotten News: Moving in May as long as the sale goes through.
Wishful thinking: Wish I were working on the Promises’ sequel. My editor keeps asking for it…
Can’t wait to read I, Spy, the finished product!
Yay for happy news! Boo for moving. Good luck with that!
Thanks!