I had an amazing dream about this blog last night. Everything I wanted to write about and discuss was coming along so smoothly, and the post was quite long, detailing a lot of the news in my life and involving books.
And then I woke up. Now I don't recall any of what I wrote about; not even the topics! Thus, I spent most of this morning at work thinking about what I wanted to write about and discuss. Keto, of course, but there haven't been many changes since Tuesday (I lost another pound and a half, and the Bowflex is almost built!). I haven't worked out yet, either, save trying to put the Bowflex together yesterday and losing to it terribly. And that about sums up my keto updates. Not much in the way of a blog post, unfortunately. I'll have more on Tuesday, I promise! :)
Books are another thing I always love talking about, but I've discussed release dates repeatedly the last few posts, so I'd like to take a break from those and talk about something else involving my work. One of the things I'd like to add to each blog post is a word count for each story or book I'm working on, so that you can see my progress, I can see my progress, and you can kind of get a feel for how I break up my writing week. Below, I've listed the projects I usually work on and each day I work on them. This list doesn't include my cartography work, because I typically do that either early morning or late at night, which I consider outside of my normal scope of a work day.
Monday
Mondays are typically my days off from writing, because I usually have a longer shift at my part-time job. Sometimes I'll jot down notes or work on a project for an hour or two, but I'm not bound to any specific project during this day. I also am going to start using Mondays to work on and send out newsletters! These will have a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff that won't be released on my blogs, short stories, contests, and a few other things. Yipee! If you're interested, I suggest you sign up now so you don't miss out!
Tuesday
- Frendyl Krune and the Stone Princess - Mostly revising copyedits and prepping for the final book at this time; also illustrating the book - Frendyl Krune and the Nightmare in the North - Drafting work and writing bits of the first draft - Frendyl Krune Origins: Their Pretty Bones - First draft mode: ON - Blogging on Tuesdays is a good addition to my week, I'm finding. It helps open me up and gets me motivated to work on new projects.
Wednesday
- Frendyl Krune and the Stone Princess - Mostly revising copyedits and prepping for the final book at this time; also illustrating (I'm working overtime on this project so we can get it done) - The Soulless King - Working through the first draft and making any major changes/edits as well and a lot of revision writing; despite the word count, it is far from being done
Thursday
- Frendyl Krune and the Stone Princess - cont'd - Paper Sun: An Ekra Clan Short Story - Finishing main draft and prepping to send to the editor - Princess Yorsyl's Rise: Book One: The Glass Heart - Planning and first draft work - I blog on Thursdays as well! This usually eats up a good hour or so of my time, but I enjoy it. :) - Thursdays are also great days for misc. project planning, such as the encyclopedia my editor and I are working on* and the reading guide for The Amuli Chronicles that I'm writing**.
Friday
- Frendyl Krune and the Stone Princess - cont'd - The Soullss King - cont'd - Princess Yorsyl's Rise: Book One: The Glass Heart - Planning and first draft (if I have time)
Saturday
- Frendyl Krune and the Stone Princess - cont'd (this is not a normal week for me; usually this book would be replaced with something else, but when it comes to crunch time, I always allot more time for the book due soonest, just in case something happens) - Princess Yorsyl's Rise: Book One: The Glass Heart - Planning and first draft
Saturdays are also my chore days; I do laundry, clean the house, etc., and try to catch up from the mess during the week. I'm not always successful. I think the house typically wins most weeks, but I do try.
Sunday
- Frendyl Krune and the Nightmare in the North - More drafting work at this time - Frendyl Krune Origins: Their Pretty Bones - More drafting work; hopefully this will be done soon! - Princess Yorsyl's Rise: Book One: The Glass Heart - Planning and first draft
If I have time on Sundays, I also try to get in some work on my newsletters done if I have time. :)
Do I stick absolutely to this schedule? No. I try my hardest, but some Frendyl Days, I want to work on Yorsyl's story. Likewise, some Yorsyl/ekra short story days, I want to work on The Soulless King. Mostly, I try to make sure every book has a slot, and I try to reach my word count on all of my projects by the end of the week (2,000 words each story each day). I don't always make this, but I sure as heck do all I can to make my days count. Mostly coffee helps that. And I have to admit, keto does, too. I think I've finally made my way out of the keto flu, which means I doubt I'll have a cheat day this Saturday, but it also means everything is a lot sharper and I can focus easier. That's an amazing feeling. :)
*My editor and I are also in the midst of planning an encyclopedia for the series, which will include names of every amuli noted thus far, their description, their blood-scent, House lineage, House banner/sigil, and a few other misc. things. We're going to release the first one near the end of the year or early next year. It's not only for my editor to help him keep track of people, but for me. Every time I add a new character, I'll add it to the encyclopedia, and once we have enough, we'll release a second volume. Likely, this will become an annual release as The Amuli Chronicles progresses. The encyclopedia will also include ekra and other non-amuli species and peoples.
**The book guide I mentioned is a pet project, one we're going to release for free to all readers. It will explain the three different orders in which to read the various series in The Amuli Chronicles, and as new books are released, we'll update the guide (like the encyclopedia, this will probably occur once a year). As The Amuli Chronicles kept expanding, I realized I needed to do something so that readers will know where to start. "Book One" applies to at least three series at this time, and will apply to many more as time goes on (I'm already planning two Young Adult series and a few others!).
Now, onto the current word counts for my projects!
Frendyl Krune and the Stone Princess: 71,838 Frendyl Krune and the Nightmare in the North: 5,183 Frendyl Krune Origins: Their Pretty Bones: 487 The Soulless King: 214,087 Paper Sun: An Ekra Clan Short Story: 6,382 Princess Yorsyl's Rise: Book One: The Glass Heart: 6,212
I have other projects I'm working on in my spare time (HA!) that may or may not be released this year. These include the below.
Legends: Mirijyl: 5,223 Legends: Vilboyen: 2,956 The Rise of the Four Kings: 11,053 The Vow of the Four Kings: 24,429
As of now, these are the major projects I'm working on and where they sit. This list doesn't include a project I'm working on with my sister and another one I'm co-writing with a friend of mine, but both of those are typically on hold during the school year so that everyone can study. It also doesn't include the other projects I have planned for this year; this is only what I'm actively working on right now.
I know it seems like a lot, and it is. I'm not going to lie--I burn out at least once a year, and last year, it was for six months. I've found a pace that works well, though, and while I still have days where I simply can't, I do my best to remind myself how much I love this story that I want to tell. How much it means to me that I even have the opportunity to write at this pace--because that is huge--often helps me keep moving forward. Without the support of my husband, I would not be able to produce this much. I'd not even be writing, probably. So, yes, it's a lot. Yes, I fight every day to work on these projects... and honestly, without my readers and my family, I couldn't do it.
Just... thank you. Thank you all for your support in this madness. I really, truly appreciate it. :) You're the reason I write in the first place.
See you on Tuesday!! Have an awesome weekend!
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