I thought I didn’t get anywhere with the goals I made last week, but then I realized that I made them very vague. War of Nytefall: Eradication was released and I’ve sold a whopping 2 copies. Although, around 10 have told me they bought copies, so I don’t know what’s going on anymore. Maybe I’m more successful than I realize, but Amazon doesn’t want me to know. Whatever. Right now, I’m so drained that I barely have the energy to write this up Friday night. By the time it goes live, I might just getting out of one of the sources of exhaustion. What could that be? I need a list to keep my head straight.
THE GRE
For those who don’t know, this stands for the Graduate Record Examinations. It is a 6-7 section test with 30 minutes for each one. Two are essays, two are math, and two more are verbal with the last being a randomly chosen research one that doesn’t count. You aren’t told what the last one will be, but it’s either a third math or verbal. The questions are designed to confuse and trick the tester even though the information it looks for is middle and high school level. Kind of like being asked what ‘2 + 2’ is, but in a foreign language that you have to decipher. Verbal is even worse with obscure words being pulled out that you don’t see outside of the test, a crossword puzzle, or somebody trying to appear smart on an Internet forum. In other words, this test is a beast and I need it to get into a Masters Degree program in the Fall.
I was studying for a few weeks and decided not to put off the test, so I signed up to do it this morning. My son is with his mom, so I had the luxury. Meant no writing Friday night and probably not later today when I’m destressing with Castlevania Season 2. Fun part is that I was asked to show up even earlier because a lot of people signed up for the exam, so I get less sleep and easing into the day time. Needless to say, I’m tense and the only sections I’m confident on are the essays, which look to be the same design as how I do blog posts. Opener, 3-4 body paragraphs, and a closer coming in at around 500-600 words. I’m already at 397 here. Fingers crossed on this thing.
It’s Official!
Yeah . . . The divorce was finalized this week. Some people who I told gave me congratulations. Most asked how I felt and admitted that they didn’t know what to say because congrats seems insensitive. Apologies isn’t much better for some because they know how sour things went in the last year. There were other issues that added to me feeling the bittersweet taste of it all. I’m single again and . . . what does that actually mean to me? People tell me to start dating again, but I have no interest. Focusing more on my job, books, and son. Get all of that in order and I can do something about the loneliness that is still plaguing me. Honestly, this really is a rough week to get hit by this since I have that test.
Writing
Nothing happened in this arena. Didn’t even tackle the May blog posts because I was studying every night. I thought about a few things. Mostly ‘So, You Want to Be a Fantasy Author?’ (too arrogant a title?) and how to write the entries. Really want to keep it casual with little to no jargon. Each entry would be similar to blog posts, so part of me wondered if I should do a collection of ‘7 lists’. Problem with that is it really limits how much I can talk about things. Some subjects have a lot while others have a little. Maybe I should just make them look like what I’m doing now. Entry, 3-6 body paragraphs, and a closure. It would be an essay collection for those that want basic info and tips about the overall genre.
The Future
Don’t have a plan for this week because I don’t know how the test will go. Gotta hunt down two reference letters and figure out how to write a personal statement. I can craft worlds from nothing and paint verbal pictures of heroes battling monsters and villains with ease. Write about myself? I don’t even know where to start because I find myself boring. Saying ‘I want be teacher. I need degree. Let me earn degree.’ probably wouldn’t get me very far. I went looking up examples of personal statements, but they’re all right out of high school and I haven’t been at that age in 21 years. They don’t even ask questions like in the past. Anyway, I’ll have to think about that once this other challenge is taken care of.
Goals of the week?
- Make it through GRE.
- Have lunch and eventually dinner.
- Laundry
- Put backings on more puzzles. Only 30 more to go.
- Watch Castlevania Season 2.
- Have a celebratory drink . . . Not sure what I’ll be toasting.
- Return books to library.
- Go to bed because all of that is Saturday and I’m not thinking beyond that.
Legends of Windemere 
I hope your GRE went well!
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It . . . went. I’m still feeling like I want to cry because the math was a nightmare. Got 148 on math (18 out of 40 right) and 160 on verbal (30 out of 40). No idea if this is good or not.
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I think the drink is for handling a too many things and still be able to keep going.
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I’ll have to see how I’m doing. Energy plunged once the test was done. It’s like adrenaline was the only thing keeping me conscious.
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😊 Best wishes.
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Wow! So much going on. You made it through the GRE! That’s worth a toast.
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Toast was all I could stomach this morning due to nerves. 😁
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Charles, you’ve taken on a lot, again. Really hope the GRE is good enough. 🥳 I think more than one celebratory drink is called for—getting through it all. 📚🎶 Christine
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It’s hard to tell. Math was the lowest score I could get and still be considered typical passing/good. Verbal was great. With me wanting to be a special education reading teacher, the verbal might hold more weight.
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Verbal will hold more weight, Charles. Fingers crossed for that! Let us all know. We’re behind you, cheering you on! 📚🎶 Christine
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You know I’ve been in pirate mode again. With that thought I’ll address your plan. “I like it. Simple. Easy to remember.” Chill out for a day and enjoy your drink.
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I shall. Except I already ran out of double-sided tape and have 25 finished puzzles left to go. Dang it. Aluminum foiled again.
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Thank goodness the GRE is over. That’s big, and of COURSE you did well in the verbal, which will carry more weight. Chill. You deserve it after a tough week. Best to you, Charles.
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Thanks. I’m trying to relax, but I got myself so worked up that it’s taking a bit of time to come down. That and I ran out of double-sided tape for my puzzle backings. Thought I had enough to cover all of the puzzles, but my math was . . . Okay, now I get the ‘meh’ math score.
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You’re the best, Charles!
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I definitely did buy the new book, and have read it too. Review is on Goodreads, and will appear on my blog on Thursday. Sorry it’s not on Amazon, but I rarely do that these days, since it takes me long enough to make it happen on Goodreads and my blog. Wish there was an option to make reviews you put on Goodreads automatically show up on Amazon. You’d think there would be, especially since they’re owned by the same company these days, and you can sync your shelf with Amazon to add books you brought, so you’d think you could do it in reverse to post reviews.
Anyway, hope the test went well. I did see in the comments about the kind of score you got, so at this point I’m hoping those numbers are good enough to be considered passes. They seem like decent scores to me, but I’m not in charge of deciding, so… Yeah. Good luck.
As for the divorce… Well… I’m glad it’s finalized, but sorry it had to happen in the first place. Hope you’re coping OK.
Hope you got at least most of that checked off your Saturday goal list – especially the part where you sleep – and good luck with the rest of the week.
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Thanks. Saturday was kind of lazy once my energy dropped. I’m hearing a lot of people say they no longer review on Amazon. Not sure why that exodus happened. Seems only those who send out hundreds of free copies or recruit friends get a good amount of them these days.
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I think part of it is how Amazon keeps changing their review policy.
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I don’t even know what it is these days.
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That makes two of us, and I’m pretty sure we’re not alone.
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Amazon won’t let me post reviews as i’ve not spent enough with them. They say you need to spend in excess of £50 in a year.
I hope everything goes well for you in your exams.
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That’s a really silly rule.
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Take care of yourself, Charles. You have so much on your plate.
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Thanks.
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