Spring 2020 Wrap-Up/Summer Goals

Actual depiction of the first few months of the year
From Giphy

We all know how spring went. No need to rehash it. Let's just get right in to what I've been up to!

~Writing~

1. Jules and I had a beta read for Ships, Secrets, and Survivors and I am screaming!! Like, obviously, it's never fun having your story ripped to shreds, but at the same time, it's so nice to have guidance on what works and what doesn't. Also, we panicked in March when we realized we only had a month to incorporate Evan's alpha notes before sending it off. <-- also, if you've never had the privileged of having Evan give you an alpha read rap-up, I feel sorry for you. It is possibly the greatest thing I've ever experienced in my life and my only regret is not having it caught on video.

But anyway, we powered through our edits (aided by the ever-so-helpful quarantine) and got it out on time. Go us!

And now we're back at edits.

Also, if you missed my post a few weeks ago, we have now turned it into a series!

2. Finished the first draft of The Gingerhaired Girl, which I am so excited about! Don't know if I am completely pleased with the ending, but I'm still thrilled that it's done!

3. Began outlining my NaNo project for the year. I'm not yet ready to divulge in information, but I'm really excited about this one. I think it'll be a fun change from my normal set of characters. Can't wait to work on it!

4. And as I mentioned two weeks ago, Jules and I wrote the second book in the Pirate Hunter Chronicles. It was such a fun experience and I'm kind of sad that it's over. Hopefully, though, we'll have a few more opportunities to experience writing books together now that it's a series! There'll be at least two more books, for sure.

5. I wrote new scenes for The Fall of Chemmit and began edits, which is super cool. This series is going to hurt going through, I can already tell.

I also decided to not query The Dawn of a Hero another round just yet. I feel like I want to do one more round of edits before I'm ready. Probably won't get to it until September as I've got quite a bit of stuff on my plate.

~Life~

March:

March was...hard. Aside from the C-word causing a great deal of stress and panic for many people, I had a lot of personal struggles I was working through.

After 2.5 years of ED recovery, I thought maybe I was in the clear. That I would be okay. But then I stopped eating again, and it all went downhill from there.

I spent all of March and a good portion of April working on recovery. I'm learning not to fight the need for taking care of myself, but promising that I'll be better equipped to work hard if I do what needs to be done without griping about it. Having that mindset shift doesn't take away the fact that you're sick, but it does help you have a better attitude when facing it. I'm definitely feeling much better now. Not 100%, but getting better every day.

One of the best parts of March was just a tiny thing: a sweet night with Dustfinger. I was attempting to foam roll and he decided he wanted pets, so he came in and put an end to it. We kind of just chilled and hung out and it was really special. It was the first time in a long time that I was really in the moment and I loved it!

April:

Again, spent the month mostly at home except to go get groceries. Even though I consider myself a homebody most of the time, I still do like having the option to leave the house and actually get to go somewhere, so at this point I was kind of getting tired. If it weren't for Camp NaNo keeping me busy, a friend randomly reaching out via email *waves enthusiastically because I know she's reading*, and my regular phone calls with Jules, I think I'd probably have gone insane.

I had a blogging hiatus, which was nice. It gave me a little time to step back and actually plan my content a bit instead of being a little haphazard with my posts. I think I have almost all of the posts planned for the rest of the year? Maybe? At least, I have a general idea of what I'm going to post.

Also, my younger brother had his birthday.

And I had several video chats with friends, which was so nice!

May:

At this point, Jules and I were done with the whole quarantine thing and really desperately wanted to get together again. We, along with Evangeline, as well as Jules's younger sisters, headed to a greenway that was halfway between our houses and just went for a walk while chatting about our stories and whatnot.

Then Jules and I got together again for another hike a few weeks later, along with Joe.

So basically, May was just me getting back into the swing of things after a long break away. I also had a really chill day in the middle of the month, where I basically set up my bullet journal for the rest of the year. I still have to add in all of the calendars, but for the most part it's ready for me to throw things in!

Oh, and there was this really cute bunny has set up shop in some of the trees by our pasture and I passed it every morning on my walk. He was so chill, just eating his breakfast, not bothered by my presence at all.

His name is Guinness

~#textchats~

#awkward

Humility is not one of his strong-suits

There are no words

Best response to my Insta story!

This is the stupid stuff my brain comes up with right before bed.
In case you're wondering, I do hate myself for it. But not really.

~Summer Goals~

1. Rewrite The Rise of the Prisoner. Over the spring, I decided to set this one aside for a little while. I was writing 500 words/weekday, but then my workload got bigger. Since I knew that I wasn't going to go to RM, that left July open to work on it (not that it really matters much now that RM is going virtual). So I'm planning on finishing the rewrite during Camp. See how that goes.

2. A secret project that won't be secret for much longer. AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Keep your eye out for more information soon!

3. My blogoversary is coming up and I couldn't be more excited about it. I'll have been blogging for 3 years! It feels like just yesterday I clicked "publish" on my first post and now we're here!

4. Complete edits for The Fall of Chemmit. I'm hoping to finish these by the end of June so I can just focus on my rewrite of tRotP.

5. Participate in GTW's 100-for-100.

Onto y'all. How have you been? What ups and downs have you experienced these past few months? How can I pray for you?