Tuesday 1 August 2023: The month ahead

And here we are, August at last. Where is the year going to?

Monday

After a very busy and slightly fraught weekend, Monday arrived with a bit of a bang. The poet left for a three-day work trip, the dog had all of his tablets and even ate some food, and it started to rain again. We were so lucky at the weekend to have such a lovely day on Saturday and to catch the dry part of Sunday. I think the rain is here for at least a week.

I started the day with reading, once social media and emails were done over breakfast. I read one chapter of How to Write Short Stories and Get Them Published, and I read a short story in a Christmas anthology. Yes, yes, yes, Christmas in July (or August, as it will turn out when it’s finished). And I had a look at the reading list for one of the archive study along workshops.

I’m seriously considering looking at the Romance Writing study along before joining the Romance Ghosts writing workshop next month (September), and I initially went in to collect the reading list for that, but it wasn’t there yet. It was supposed to be up in July but unless they do it this evening (which will be this afternoon west coast time), they’re going to miss the self-imposed deadline.

So I looked at the other one and I have the grand total of one of the ten books they want us to read before starting the workshop. And… not one of them appeals to me, other than, perhaps, the Fiction River anthology. So I might skip the reading list, as I won’t be submitting the assignments anyway, and wait for the new reading list to pop up. Or I might just read the three free books and the one I already have.

I completed yesterday’s blog post and turned to the proofreading, finally finishing my own read-through of the Taliban book. I had a break, and then I started to consolidate the proofreader’s amendments with mine. I had another break and transferred the revisions to the pdf. Then I sent it back to the client. (Yay!)

Hello August

For the month ahead, then, I’d like to crack on with the following (not necessarily in order). Some have been carried over from last month, Some are not negotiable:

• monthly schedule planning ✔️
• new month wordcount & progress spreadsheets
• write the next short story for 12 Stories in 12 Months
• attend 2 medical appointments
• weekly tech scan & backup
• weekly diary work
• attend PF Writing Hour on Twitter every Tuesday ✔️
• revise Fireworks at Killiecrankie and send it to market
• revise Killer Queen and send it off as a workshop assignment
• take car in for service
• brainstorm, outline and write a story for Hidden Villains: Betrayal
• read set books for Romance Ghosts workshop
• continue to proofread the Vietnam book and consolidate proofreader and author amendments with mine
• Monkey Dust admin every Monday
• Diane’s gig list admin every Monday and Thursday
• continue typing Catch the Rainbow
• continue writing Project Management for Writers: Gate 3 – How?
• revise the last remaining online workshops I’ve already watched and made notes on thus far
• continue watching the motivational Monday workshops
• watch archived study along romance writing workshop
• go on holiday (yay!)
• attend a Charlatans gig
• write A Death in the Night and send it to market
• continue planning The (new) Fool
• continue planning The Beast Within
• July/August newsletter
• finances for September

As well as all the usual admin stuff.

I’ll have an update at the end of August, along with any extras.

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