This was a week . . . That’s really all I’m willing to say for sure. The plus side is that didn’t need a second hand to count my anxiety attacks this week. Not sure what happened, but I was able to handle the stress. That or I didn’t have as much because I really got into the editing vibe. We’ll see how next week goes before considering that this is a permanent upswing. The two days where I felt like the joy had been drained out of me should probably be mentioned as a strike against me. Anyway, I’ll save this stuff for my Anxiety Journal, which started Thursday.
It took me two days to finish editing Quest of the Broken-Hearted and that’s because last weekend didn’t go smoothly. I was supposed to get some done, but the wacky weather gave my son a bad asthma attack. Spent most of last Saturday tending to him while my wife went out looking for kid rain boots, which don’t exist. She came back with a Pokemon sheet set and plush Togepi for the little guy. I’ll put a picture of him at the bottom for those who don’t know. Sunday was not any better since the morning saw me suffering from exhaustion and the little energy I gathered sleeping in was absorbed by playing Lego Indiana Jones with a very irritable kid. Heads were butted, feet were stomped, and scowls were exchanged when it was time to turn the PS2 off. All of this means I didn’t get back to my editing until Monday.
After the first project, I tackled War of Nytefall: Lost, but that ran into some issues too. It’s 17 chapters and one would think I could do 9 in three days, but I only made it through 7. It was disturbingly warm this week, which drained me a bit and I made the tactical error of asking if people needed anything from the grocery store. My list grew much larger on Thursday, which saw me only getting 1 chapter done. I tried to make things up by slipping a few July posts into the mix. The later part of the week really did have a lot of ‘use what little time I have’ with various levels of success.
A great belated birthday present showed up too on this day. A pair of headphones that I could plug into my laptop when I’m working downstairs. That’s going to happen more often if the heat remains because the upstairs gets sweltering rather quickly. The headphones are padded and make it that other people can’t hear what I’m listening to while I can stay hear them. I thought this would fix the interruption issue, but there’s a small caveat. People have to see me before they start talking, so a person walking into the room talking will still get me. Even so, I do enjoy the comfy headphones infinitely more than earbuds.
Want to say other things happened this week, but it was the usual author and father dual role. Since my son got moved up to the older martial arts class, I’ve had to rearrange the schedule a bit. We’re still trying to master that since it requires an early dinner and negotiating away from snacks. I can’t dive into night writing as easily, but that’s probably more my mental state. I’ve been going full tilt on writing and editing since January with only two weeks of rest. By the end of June, I’ll have published 1 book, written 3, and edited the published and 2 of the 3. That’s in the face of anxiety attacks, blogging, family events, holidays, and birthdays, so I think I should be proud if I can make it. Definitely a pizza reward moment.
This week will be kind of the same with editing and then I’ll be using the end of the week to do July blog posts. I don’t want to tackle War of Nytefall: Temptation until I have most of a week to start it off. This is the December release, so getting it done this early in the year would be great. I might even do something crazy and rest throughout July/August while the kid is home for summer. Not sure what I would do with myself though. That’s down the road. For right now, I’m just going to take my projects in turn with some planning. Besides, I can’t go for long without writing in some form. I’ll probably just outline.
Small aside before the goals: I keep bouncing around with my superhero series by having it on Earth or in Windemere. I’m leaning back towards the latter because I worry that the trend is dying. Putting these superhumans into a world of magic and monsters will give it an interesting twist. It means the characters who use guns or giant robots might have a small problem, but I can try to design magical equivalents. Considering I already mentioned the Mylrixians, I should probably consider doing this since the superhumans were supposed to be these mystery beings.
So, what’s the plan for the week?
- Finish editing War of Nytefall: Lost
- Work on July posts
- Look into a promotional opportunity
- Contact cover artist about Quest of the Broken-Hearted
- Snooze at times
- Read more ‘Ready Player One’ and march to the end.
- Enjoy my headphones
- Look over outline for War of Nytefall: Temptation
Togepi
Legends of Windemere 
Best wishes for the week.
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Thanks. Looks like I’m going to need it.
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Thought you might.
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I think you get tons done. I have to steal moments from weekends or take vacation time. This is a social media break. Then I need one more promotional post of some kind. After that it’s hoses and sprinkler systems for the rest of the day.
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Took me far too long to see you wrote ‘hoses’ instead of ‘horses’. Maybe I expect too much from my time. Things are getting tighter with school coming to an end.
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Actually there are horses involved today too. Updating my site right now.
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Kentucky Derby, huh? Just heard it on the tv.
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Loading the gate right now.
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Good luck with that editing. I am doing my umpteenth review of my book prior to printing. Can’t wait to get it over with.
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Thanks. This is the second run through and then I hand it off to another beta reader. It’s still a harrowing project at times.
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Hope you had a wonderful birthday! Hope your editing goes well!
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Thanks. Editing might not be touched until tomorrow.
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Hi Charles,
Yes, the editing is time-consuming, but it comes with the territory. Do you use any of the editing software that is out there? There are three that I have used, Hemmingway Editor, Grammarly, and ProWritingAid. Each one has a free version, but the premium (paid) are better. Neither of them is expensive. I hope you also use the services of an editor for the final review. I shopped and have one that is reasonably priced. Hang in there.
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I use beta readers and myself. Even the cheap editors are beyond my finances right now. Since I write in present tense, it adds an extra wrinkle. I used to have an editor who helped me out, but they had to step away for their own stuff. So I’ve worked within my means and become a very meticulous in how I even do my first draft.
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I am just entering that phase Charles and sorting out a schedule that keeps various plates spinning. Still we are the devils who put ourselves there…..enjoy the week.
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Have a fun week too. Oddest thing is that my wife took our son to a carnival last night and they had a plate spinner. They showed how it was done with small indents on the underside of the plate. Anyway, authors can do something similar? 😛
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I should have joined a carnival…..
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All the cotton candy one can eat? Sign me up.
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Sounds like you had quite a busy week. I. Hope you get some time off this weekend to relax. Good luck with all your goals for next week.
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Wait. I’m allowed to get time off on the weekend? It’s been full chaos and running around.
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Well I try to relax on weekends, I thought everyone did.
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Trying is always as far as I get. Succeeding isn’t always possible.
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Doesn’t sound like too bad of a week. Not compared to some of your weeks, I mean. Anyway, good luck with the coming week.
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Thanks. Have to admit this week has already taken a few schedule hits. I’m going to be dragging myself to finish line, which is frustrating.
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Headphones sound perfect!
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They’re working so far. Haven’t tested them with the kid around though.
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That will be the real test! 🙂
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