Tag: writing

November Write Day: A Week Late

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Fantasy, On LifeLeave a comment

October was a frenetic month, capped off by Halloween festivities and a brief trip I took to L.A. with one friend to visit another friend. I neglected to post this last week, so here we are almost halfway through November.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Finish three books.
  2. Stretching & exercise.
  3. Continue organizing around the house.
  4. Community resilience.
  5. Take writing notes.

Finish three books?

I finished one book in October – The Terraformers, by Annalee Newitz, for which I’ll post my review next week. I’ve made progress on other reads, and I’m more than halfway through an Arthurian fantasy book: The Bright Sword, by Lev Grossman, so I should be able to hit two or three books in November.

Stretching and exercise?

I did four shorter stretching/yoga sessions in October, short of my goal. I’m hitting another motivation wall with exercise. Luckily, I went on a lovely hike in California last weekend that has given me at least one day of above-average exercise.

Continue organizing around the house?

We got our front hill landscaped, Halloween decorations put out and now cleaned up, and cleaned up the backyard a bit. I still want to build storage shelves in our shed. Some of our neighbors are already putting out holiday lights. We’re not mentally prepared to do so yet, but it will certainly be a topic of conversation and planning in our house until Thanksgiving or so.

Community resilience?

No news on this front. Still pondering.

Take writing notes?

I managed to spend a couple of brief sessions taking notes on stories floating through my head. I also played Dungeons and Dragons over the weekend. During our trip to L.A., our friend organized a one-shot session with his local friend, who DM’d for the three of us.

I used a character I had only used one time before, so I already had a bit of a backstory outline in my head. Playing (and beating!) this one-shot quest has me thinking about this even more. I don’t know if or where I will provide any information for my character, but I will definitely count this towards writing this month.

Goals for November

  1. Finish three books.
    • Current reads: The Bright Sword, by Lev Grossman; A Promised Land by Barack Obama; The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Alan Poe, by Edgar Alan Poe and Benjamin Franklin Fisher (editor)
    • Likely next reads: Haven’t looked that far ahead yet.
  2. Stretching & exercise. Aiming for 5-10 shorter exercise sessions, and 2-5 longer yoga or weightlifting sessions (or a hike in the mountains).
  3. Community resilience. Similar to last month, I need to find ways to contribute more directly and proactively in my community.
  4. Take writing notes. I’m taking notes and thinking more regularly about writing, but my attention at the moment is split between two stories in my own fantasy universe and my D&D character. Not a bad thing, I’m just letting my writing curiosity take me where it will for now.

Steve D

October Write Day: The Turn

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On LifeLeave a comment

October came upon me so quickly that I forgot to do this post last week. Luckily, I had a book review to post instead.

Halloween preparation is in full swing on our street–now that we know a fair number of our neighbors, we’re all enjoying the friendly decoration competition and watching the neighborhood kids get excited. And Halloween is on a Friday, so it’s likely to be crazy.

I feel pretty good about September. Everything is a work in progress, as always.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Finish three books.
  2. Stretching & exercise.
  3. Organize around the house.
  4. Community resilience.

Finish three books?

I finished two books in September: I, Jedi by Michael A. Stackpole, on which I was lukewarm, and The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar, on which I was much warmer.

I’ve made marginal progress on a couple other reads, and I’ve started a sci-fi novel: The Terraformers, by Annalee Newitz. I’m enjoying its rich world-building and high-concept post-Earth civilization so far.

Stretching and exercise?

I stretched nearly every day in September, out of necessity. I also did a short resistance training routine five times, and a proper yoga session (20 minutes or more) once. Not great, but it was consistent across most of September, and it helped me feel good overall.

Organize around the house?

This is a never-ending process, so it’s more about getting things done consistently than actually “finishing”, unless there’s a larger project. I have yet to build the shelves in my shed, but we definitely cleaned out some old things. Now the focus is on Halloween decorations, which is a different sort of organization.

Community resilience?

Still mostly pondering. I’m getting more involved in the local chapter of an environmental organization, by going on hikes and such. And I’m trying to be more conscientious about reading the news from the sources I trust on a regular basis, including local ones. Still trying to find how I can meaningfully contribute, though.

Goals for October

  1. Finish three books.
    • Current reads: The Terraformers, by Annalee Newitz; A Promised Land by Barack Obama; The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Alan Poe, by Edgar Alan Poe and Benjamin Franklin Fisher (editor)
    • Likely next reads: I recently purchased The Children of Gods and Fighting Men, first in a historical fantasy series by Shauna Lawless about Vikings in Ireland — so it’s directly in my wheelhouse. The audiobook is also narrated by Aoife McMahon, who is a top-tier narrator.
  2. Stretching & exercise. The goal is to do better than last month, so 5-10 shorter exercise sessions, and 2-5 longer yoga or weightlifting sessions.
  3. Continue organizing around the house. Halloween is the priority, but yardwork needs to be done to prepare for next spring, too.
  4. Community resilience. Similar to last month, I need to find ways to contribute more directly and proactively in my community.
  5. Take writing notes. I’ve started doing this, just to get my stories back into my weekly/daily brain space. I’m also considering options for publishing stories online, just to get my stories out there again. No decisions have been made yet, but I want to keep pacing down this path.

Steve D

July Write Day: Carry On

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Fantasy, On LifeLeave a comment

Only when I looked for my last goals post to prep this one did I realize I didn’t do any goals post for June. It’s been a busy few months with work (always busy), family matters, the school year ending, and our first proper vacation this year. So, apologies.

But, we’re here now.

Last Month’s (May/June) Goals

  1. Finish three books.
  2. Small acts – Exercise. Bare minimum: stretch and meditate every day, and if I do any of the following in addition, that’s ideal.
  3. Small acts – Writing. Bare minimum: get back to posting here every Wednesday and Sunday, and not just haiku. Achieving some combination of the following throughout a given week is ideal.
  4. Continue daily meditation/affirmation.

Finish three books?

Alright, I said May/June at the top, but I only finished three books total between those two months. I completed Dreaming the Eagle and Dreaming the Bull, books one and two of Manda Scott’s excellent Boudica series. I’ve already reviewed the first and have yet to post the review for the second.

I also finished We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I did not conduct a full review of this book, and will not, because it deserves every reader’s attention as one man’s (the author’s) experience and work on racial injustice in the United States during the eight years of Obama’s presidency. Even though the featured essays were originally printed in 2008-2016, and the volume was published in 2018, it is entirely relevant today and will continue to be so.

Small acts, exercise?

I exercised seven times in May and five times in June. I did not explicitly count a ton of activity during the week we spent at the beach. I made it a point to be active each day, running around with my boys, swimming in the waves or the pool, and just all around enjoying active playtime with them.

I haven’t been to the gym in a few months, and I still find it hard to find the motivation, even as I try to exercise at home a few times per week.

Small acts, writing?

As you can see, I have not been specifically active in the writing space of late. However, I had a bit of a writing revelation recently. Most of this year, I’ve been agonizing over what to do with my duology, whether it’s “ready” to pursue for publication or not.

I kept thinking that just by getting it out there, I’d figure out what comes next. But there are more stories I want to tell around these characters, and I already have a framework to do so as a third novella.

So while I don’t have a whole writing plan laid out, I have at least made the mental decision to write a third part, make this a trilogy, and round it out in a more fulfilling way. When and in what form publication comes is a question for a future day.

Goals for July

  1. Finish three books.
    • Current reads: Boudica: Dreaming the Bull by Manda Scott; A Promised Land by Barack Obama; and Star Wars Legends Collection: The Empire, Vol. 1 by John Ostrander, Randy Stradley, W. Haden Blackman, et al.;
    • Likely next reads: I’m halfway through book three of the Boudica series and will definitely pick up book four. This series is excellent.
  2. Small acts – Exercise. Bare minimum: stretch and meditate every day, and if I do any of the following in addition, that’s ideal.
  3. Small acts – Writing. Bare minimum: get back to posting here every Wednesday and Sunday, and not just haiku. Achieving some combination of the following throughout a given week is ideal.
  4. Continue daily meditation/affirmation.

Steve D

Book Review: A CLOSED AND COMMON ORBIT lands as cozy sci-fi with intimately personal stakes

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On Storytelling, ReviewsLeave a comment

After gulping down the audiobook form of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, Becky Chambers’s first in the Wayfarer series, I did not hesitate to pick up book 2: A Closed and Common Orbit.

I had thoroughly enjoyed the first series entrant as a galaxy-crossing sci-fi adventure, so I was a caught a bit off guard to discover that I would spend all of book 2 with characters who were only a footnote in book 1.

Part of this is my fault, because I neglected to read the blurb before purchasing and beginning A Closed and Common Orbit. So I was a bit surprised, a little confused, and then curious.

This book follows Pepper, a tech whom the crew of The Wayfarer encounter in book 1, and Sidra, a conscious AI placed into a human-like body. Pepper’s and Sidra’s stories meshed well and approached themes of identity, predestination, and humanity with thoughtfulness. The two spend much of the book trying to navigate their own senses of self, while also figuring out how to integrate Sidra into Personhood and the local society of pepper’s home city.

Pepper’s story also looks backward, beginning with her life a child to explore how she got where she is. I was intrigued by Pepper’s hardships as a teenager, and I felt that her transition from that life into the one she built for herself was glossed over. However, her backstory clearly focused on and succeeded with explaining why she has such an affinity for advanced AI’s and their personhood.

Both character arcs are effective in demonstrating and resolving their respective emotional journeys.

Surrounding these very intimate themes of identity, the story barely touched on how Pepper’s and Sidra’s society did not accept AI’s as People, and what that might mean for Sidra. I would have liked to understand more about how technology and sapient AI was viewed and treated in the Galactic Commons at large.

Rich world-building surrounds this story, but it’s a little too focused on the characters’ internal struggles. I kept looking for a broader view to balance the intense personal stakes of the story. Similar to its predecessor, A Closed and Common Orbit excels in displaying what life is like for people on this planet, a sort of cozy sci-fi setting for these poignant themes.

Still, this was very much worth the read, and I’m interested in continuing this series in the near future.

For the audiobook, I found the narration stilted with unnatural inflection in many places, especially with dialogue. I think this may have been intentional by the narrator to reflect Sidra’s voice as an AI, but it honestly became more and more grating as the story proceeded.

Steve D

April Write Day: Change

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On LifeLeave a comment

I don’t remember much about March except that it was stressful. Lots of family obligations. A long weekend trip for my grandmother’s funeral. And some work things to keep me occupied.

My grandmother’s funeral was bittersweet in the appropriate way. We saw a lot of family we don’t see very often, and the entire service provided some much-needed closure on her years-long battle with Alzheimer’s.

The drive back from the Midwest was like seeing the transition from winter to spring in real time. As we crossed the Appalachians, the grass became greener, and more trees sprouted buds. In the Maryland piedmont we found many trees with new leaves, and plenty of undergrowth. I’m glad spring is here.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Finish three books.
  2. Small acts – Exercise.
  3. Small acts – Writing.
  4. Continue daily meditation/affirmation.

Finish three books?

Yes! I finished Aspects by John M. Ford, and then powered through audiobook versions of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers.

Beginning with Aspects for my first Ford read is likely not ideal, since he passed away before finishing the first of what was evidently planned to be an extensive series. But, I will definitely be returning to his other earlier works for a voice and style that I really can’t compare to anything I’ve read in the fantasy realm.

Chambers’s first book in the Wayfarer series, my review of which you can find linked above, was delightful. The second book was different in a way I wasn’t quite prepared for, and I’ll get into that more in a review next week.

I’ll return to this series. I’m just taking a bit of a break with some reading I’m greatly enjoying. See below.

Small acts – exercise?

I feel like I was pretty active in March, which is always a good place to start. I went to the gym once for a 1-hour session and had seven shorter sessions of resistance training or yoga. I also swam a bit with the kids and stretched nearly every day; I just didn’t track those activities.

I’m definitely still hitting spells where I don’t feel like I have time for much aside from stretching for two to three days at a time. However, I think I’m getting better at taking the time I have and dedicating it to more intense workouts, even if it’s only once or twice per week. So that’s something.

Small acts – writing?

Meh. I posted here four times total in March. If I had stuck to my Wednesday/Sunday schedule, I should have posted nine times.

I haven’t done any story writing. One interesting development is that I don’t feel guilty about it. It’s not that I don’t care about it. I’m just not kicking myself for being preoccupied with so many other things. I know I want to make more time for it, so that in itself feels good.

Meditate & affirmate daily?

No, but I’ve become more consistent, and it’s definitely helping.

Goals for April

  1. Finish three books.
    • Current reads: Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle by Manda Scott; and We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates
    • These are both hefty enough that I have no particular sights set on my next read. If Scott’s historical fiction is as deeply intricate as the first few chapters indicate, I may just continue with the Boudica series.
  2. Small acts – Exercise. Bare minimum: stretch and meditate every day, and if I do any of the following in addition, that’s ideal.
    • Bronze medal: short yoga session
    • Silver medal: longer yoga session and/or resistance training at home
    • Gold medal: 1-hour gym session
  3. Small acts – Writing. Bare minimum: get back to posting here every Wednesday and Sunday, and not just haiku. Achieving some combination of the following throughout a given week is ideal.
    • Bronze medal: basic admin for this site, my email, my imprint, etc.
    • Silver medal: take notes, or organize older notes
    • Gold medal: Revise/rewrite my duology in, at least a 15-minute focus session
  4. Continue daily meditation/affirmation.

February Write Day: Smaller Steps

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On LifeLeave a comment

Well, January has been… interesting. Being in the U.S., there has basically been a near-constant barrage of infuriating news/rumors ever since the inauguration, and it’s been tough to keep up with and also maintain my own sanity.

I also just discovered that someone basically stole my domain, I assume to siphon SEO traffic off it — this is the only logical reason I can think of, and it’s not at all comforting.

So, if you’ve been trying to access my website for the last month and hitting a DNS error, I deeply apologize. This is a blatant testament to the fact that I have not put much thought into this endeavor in recent weeks. I was able to access my WordPress site without issue, and had no need to visit my own website to check that it was working properly.

Ugh. Anyway.

I’ve been trying to get a better handle on balancing all the various priorities in my life. I think the last few months have felt like trying to scoop up sand with my bare hands, only for the grains to sift through my fingers, so I’m never able to do as much as I want or need to.

My brain is cluttered, and I end up vacillating on what my “real” priority should be in any given moment.

Focusing on Small Acts

I’m trying to focus only on small acts — across the board in my life. I have an incredible skill/curse of always being able to see the forest for the trees, but sometimes feeling overwhelmed by it.

Writing. Exercise. Family. Community engagement. I think about these things in terms of grand gestures and statements, rather than small acts I can build routines and habits around. I need to remember how to play the long game again.

So, that will be a focus of this monthly series for some time.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Read three books.
  2. All the routines, but more.

Read three books?

Just one – Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller, for which I have yet to write a full review. I also made progress on three others and ended up finishing one of those right at the beginning of February.

It is far too early to be concerned about my GoodReads Challenge of 24 books. Small acts!

All the routine, but more?

I think I’ve done alright on the exercise front, where I’ve managed to intentionally do some kind of physical activity and track my progress several times per week. What I haven’t done is get back to the gym in any meaningful way — maybe once in January.

I haven’t made much progress on the writing front, either, but I have definitely been thinking about it more and more. I used to think about my fantasy universe, Úr’Dan, every single day, turning over story details and ideas in my head constantly.

While I have managed to think about my writing more in recent weeks, it’s been more in the vein of how I want to publish and to what extent I want to market my books. At this point, I just need to get back to writing, and I think I’m in a better place to do that now than I have been in about a year.

Goals for February

  1. Finish three books. I’ve already got one down, since I finished the massive encyclopedia of The World of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin. This took me several months to read in little sections at a time, so I wish I could count that effort, but I’m at least 1/3 of the way through my February goal.
    • Current reads: Aspects by John M. Ford; and We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy, by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
    • I’m not far enough in either of those to really think about my next reads yet. I may pick up a paperback of The Hobbit, just for comfort. It’s my all-time favorite.
  2. Small acts – Exercise. Bare minimum: stretch and meditate every day, and if I do any of the following in addition, that’s ideal.
    • Bronze medal: short yoga session
    • Silver medal: longer yoga session and/or resistance training at home
    • Gold medal: 1-hour gym session
  3. Small acts – Writing. Bare minimum: get back to posting here every Wednesday and Sunday, and not just haiku. Achieving some combination of the following throughout a given week is ideal.
    • Bronze medal: basic admin for this site, my email, my imprint, etc.
    • Silver medal: take notes, or organize older notes
    • Gold medal: Revise/rewrite my duology in, at least a 15-minute focus session

I want to make progress. I just need to narrow my mental energy to the here-and-now.

Steve D

January Write Day: Same Routines

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Fantasy, On LifeLeave a comment

The holidays have come and gone, and we had a good time over several family engagements. Both of our boys were off school/daycare for over a week, but we managed to fill most of the time with activities or family gatherings. Now, it’s back to the routine.

I spent quite a bit of energy in December trying to organize/reorganize things at home: toys or clothes our boys have outgrown, storage space, holiday decorations, etc. These are the types of things that prick at the edges of my mind until I do something about them, so I’ve tried. There are a few more big items I’d like to tackle as well, such as getting a shed installed to help us organize our yard tools, our garage, and other storage areas.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Read three books.
    • Current reads: A World of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, and The End of the Story, Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith, Book 1.
    • Likely next reads: I’m eyeing The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar in my Audible library. Not a series, but an intriguing fantasy novel nonetheless.
  2. All the routines, but more.

Read three books?

Yes! I finished four books in December:

  • Behind You is the Sea, by Susan Muaddi Darraj
  • The End of the Story, Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith, Book 1
  • The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
  • The Good Turn, by Dervla McTiernan

That last one was less than two hours long, and I definitely chose to read it to meet my goal more than anything else. My decent December reading helped get just a bit closer to my GoodReads Challenge goal for 2024. I had set out to read 30 books this past year, an all-time high for me, but only got to 24. I’ve set my goal for 2025 to 24, as that’s clearly been within my usual range the last few years.

All the routines?

Somewhat. I was a bit more consistent with exercise in December, although not as consistent or dedicated as I would have liked. I didn’t do any writing (or perhaps only one writing session).

On the writing front, I’ve stalled in the midst of a read-through of Uprooted, the first of my novella duology. I came to a section that I wanted to rewrite and reframe entirely, to better introduce characters and backstory, and haven’t had the energy to dig into it.

I’m hoping focusing on this section early in January will help me get back into it more routinely.

Goals for January

  1. Read three books. Even though my GoodReads challenge is only 24 books, I’d like to beat that number this year.
    • Current reads: A World of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, and Blackfish City, by Sam J. Miller
    • Likely next reads: The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar, and not sure what else.
  2. All the routines, but more. Exercise and writing, while trying to stay organized around the house.

Steve D

December Write Day: Tentative

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On LifeLeave a comment

November flew by. We had a great Thanksgiving, and aside from some significant work events for me, I don’t really remember what happened last month.

Our 11-year-old dog has been moving slowly, and we finally learned he has arthritis in his hips. A couple medications have him as perky as ever. We haven’t finished putting up our outdoor holiday decorations, and this week we’ve finally gotten a bit of the rain that the Mid-Atlantic has sorely needed. I’ll just need to wait for a clear day.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Read three books.
  2. All the routines, but more.

Read three books?

No, but I still made decent progress. I finished An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States by Kyle T. Mays and Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj, and I continued my long journey through George R.R. Martin’s A World of Ice and Fire.

I’m also listening through the first volume of a collection of stories by Clark Ashton Smith, a fantasy author who wrote during the 1910s, ’20s, and ’30s. I’m still deciding which series I’m going to dive into next, and I’m hoping to do so this month, when I have a week off work around the holidays.

I’m not on pace for my Goodreads challenge of 36 books this year, but I’m not that upset about it.

All the routines… but more?

Meh. I’ve been a bit more consistent about working out, but I still haven’t dedicated the time to it I had really intended. But it’s definitely making a difference to just do something on a regular basis.

Writing did not progress much in November. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been terribly absent from this site as well. I’m definitely still interested in my current routine of haiku, book reviews, and the occasional “blog” type update, but nothing more at the moment. I’ve found it difficult to sit down at my laptop for a dedicated amount of time, for a variety of reasons.

So, I’m just keeping it in my mind for this month without explicit pressure.

Goals for December

  1. Read three books.
    • Current reads: A World of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, and The End of the Story, Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith, Book 1.
    • Likely next reads: I’m eyeing The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar in my Audible library. Not a series, but an intriguing fantasy novel nonetheless.
  2. All the routines, but more. Again, just trying to develop more consistency with exercise and writing. A continuous work-in-progress.

Steve D

November Write Day: Mentality

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On LifeLeave a comment

October was an improvement over previous months. Not necessarily for my goals. More for my overall mental health. By taking some pressure off myself and refocusing on my immediate priorities, I feel like I had room to breathe in October, even if that meant backing away from my usual goal-seeking.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Read three books.
  2. All the routines.

Read three books?

I completed two reads in October: A Curse of Krakens, which I loved and reviewed here, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, one of George R.R. Martin’s off-shoot stories from world of A Song of Ice and Fire. I also reviewed that one, here.

I ended up powering through A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms during our beach weekend in early October, which already feels like ages ago. Sitting on the beach while the boys played in the sand for a few hours was solid reading time.

I’ve also been working through A World of Ice and Fire, the encyclopedic history of Martin’s fantasy world, partly because I really enjoyed Knight, and partly because I wanted to arm myself with knowledge prior to watching House of the Dragon season 2. Season 1 was so grim that I don’t care about spoilers. I wanted to know the highlights of the Dance of the Dragons so I wasn’t shocked with whatever happened this season. I haven’t watched it yet, but I’m still working my way through the encyclopedia anyway.

I’m hoping it will actually provide some inspiration for my own fantasy world-building at some point.

All the routines?

I feel good with where I landed in October. I exercised a bit and set some goals to achieve by the end of the year — simple ones, like “go to the gym x times”. I had a much-needed vacation with just my wife and sons at the beach. I did some writing for the first time in a couple months.

Goals for November (even though we’re halfway through)

  1. Read three books.
    • Current reads: A World of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin, that encyclopedic history I mentioned. I doubt I will actually finish it this month. It’s a doozy. I also have barely started Behind You is the Sea, by Susan Muaddi Darraj.
    • Likely next reads: I’m still on the hunt for my next fantasy series. A family member recently recommended N.K. Jemisin.
  2. All the routines, but more. I have a couple soft exercise goals for this year, really just to be more deliberate about working out and go to the gym more often than I have been. I don’t have any hard and fast writing goals, but I’m thinking about it more, which is a step in the right direction. With the holidays coming up, I just don’t want to fall off a cliff again.

Steve D

October Write Day: The Lost Routine

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On StorytellingLeave a comment

September was crazy busy. Between our kindergartener starting school, some big family events, and work, I didn’t have time for much else. I basically fell off of every single routine I had, aside from work and family pick-up/drop-off.

I just realized that I didn’t even post a September Write Day post in September. I posted five haiku total, where I might have posted 10 times over the course of the month, including longer-form posts.

Anyway, I’m not trying to beat myself up. I’m just coming to the realization that an entire month of life has passed me by.

Last Month’s Goals (…meaning from August)

  1. Read three books.
  2. Plan for/test a writing routine.
  3. Figure out my next writing steps.

So that’s where I left off a full two months ago. I guess I’ll speak to each point, but not in terms of what I achieved. I need to allow myself space to reset.

Reading

I read during September, just not as much as I had hoped. I’ve completed A Curse of Krakens, which rounds out Kevin Hearne’s Seven Kennings trilogy that I’ve been working through. I really want to write a review, and likely one other post, about that one.

I also finished reading The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl, which I really enjoyed. Not the type of book I’m interested in reviewing, though.

Writing things

In August, before all of my routines disappeared, I had started to write/revise the first part of my duology. This wasn’t with incredible consistency or progress, but I had started tracking how much content I was able to write/revise in a short session, usually 15-30 minutes. The idea was to see how I could progress and increase my writing time each month, without necessarily chasing a specific word count goal.

I haven’t done any writing in weeks. Now that we’ve ironed out our home routine a bit better, I feel like I’ll be able to put a bit more attention to it, but it will still just be an effort to see what I can accomplish for now.

Goals for October

  1. Read three books.
    • Current reads: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, by George R.R. Martin, which has been on my shelf for a few years, and An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States by Kyle T. Mays, an historical essay that’s been in my Audible library for a while, too.
    • Likely next reads: I don’t know. I’m on the hunt for my next big fantasy series.
  2. All the routines. With our new pick-up/drop-off schedule that takes some pressure off my workday, I’m thinking about where I can fit in the things that I tend to put aside for family and work: exercise, writing, music. I have ideas for each. This has been the first week on our new schedule, so I’m still adjusting. Overall, I just want to get back to life in a way that I haven’t been mentally available for the past several weeks.

Steve D