Monthly Review & Quarterly Goals

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It was Friday when I remembered that I hadn't posted a Monthly Review. I'm sorry guys. I actually had surgery on my neck a week and a half ago, so I wasn't able to look down at a screen for long periods of time.

October FLEW by. I don't even know if I did any writing. I finally finished The Bluest Eye, and that is not a book I ever want to see again. Aside from the fact that I just couldn't stay engaged in the book, the core of the events are triggering and drawn out. There was also a bad take about asexuals that turned me off, but I was almost done by that point.

I finally get to read the finished version of Jodi Meadow's When She Reigns. The series has been a journey, from making a new friend to helping her get through the scrutiny from other authors and readers for an issue that wasn't completely under her control, to encouraging her when publishers didn't push the sequels probably due to the scrutiny (like they didn't have a hand in it, but whatever), I'm so glad to have been a part of the Fallen Isles trilogy, and I can't wait to see what Jodi's fans think.

My quarterly goals are to keep writing and reading. I have a couple more ideas, one that stemmed from finally catching up on the Supernatural episodes I missed. My sister re-watched all 12 seasons she had watched, then caught up on the 13th and 14th. We both agree that the show should have ended after Season 5 the way Kripke intended, but it was a cash cow, so . . . Now, let's get my boys some counseling and new jobs to work on. Anyway, if my mind were that meme of the boy with the girlfriend looking at the other girl walking by, the boy would be me, the girlfriend would be my working in progress, and the other girl would be my new story ideas. I'm sorry, WIPs.

Don't eat too much candy tomorrow!

October Writing Update

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As I renewed my domain for another year, I realized it's Wednesday. I'm a terrible blogger.

Writing-wise, I'm reviewing and rewriting some things I did on my NA Fantasy, so that it's a little more cohesive. Some things just aren't making sense plausibly, so I need to get those kinks out before I go any further.

Sequel-wise, I've gotten a few more words down on Divided Princess. Fleshing out the characters in their new setting (no spoilers) isn't that hard, but it is fun to explore their personalities right now.

Also, I need that meme of the guy with his girlfriend, but he's watching a girl walk by. He is me; his girlfriend is my WIPs, and the other girl is new ideas, because those are popping up! I can't wait to work on them, but I think my WIPs would protest.



How has your writing been going?

Wednesday Words: Still Reading The Bluest Eye


This is going to be a short one.

So, I've been on and off reading Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye for a month now. I don't know what it is about it. It's probably one of the shortest books I've picked up in a while, and still it took me a month to get halfway through it. The chapters have a purposeful feel of being disjointed, so that could be one of the issues. It can't be that it's a period piece, because I had no problem getting through Sula. I guess some books just don't hook you the way others do.

Have you ever had that issue with a book?

IWSG: Writers Who Don't Read?


It's the last quarter of 2019! This is getting ridiculous. But, that also means it's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post! IWSG was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can visit his site as well as the official IWSG site to join us or read other writers' posts.

So, if you read my quick post last week, I didn't have food poisoning, but my stomach definitely did not agree with what I had eaten the night before. I also had a cold I wasn't aware of--I thought it was allergies until it went from my head to my chest, the normal route for colds in my body. But anyway, Tobago was BEAUTIFUL, and I would love to visit it again.

Now, IWSG has a question every month we can answer if we like. This month's is especially interesting: It's been said that the benefits of becoming a writer who does not read is that all your ideas are new and original. Everything you do is an extension of yourself, instead of a mixture of you and another author. On the other hand, how can you expect other people to want your writing, if you don't enjoy reading? What are your thoughts?

My thoughts: 1) there is nothing new under the sun. No matter how much someone may try to be original, it's already been done before in one shape or another. Thus, there are no new and original ideas, not completely.

2) Are there really writers out there who don't like to read? How did they start writing in the first place? All writers I know got their start from reading others' works. It helps you become a better writer, find your place as a writer, and it just helps broaden your horizons. I don't read as much as I used to, but I still love to read when I can.

3) And I agree, if you don't enjoy reading, how can you expect others to want to read what you write? And wouldn't be a little arrogant to not like reading others' works but write for others to read yours? In my opinion, yes.

What do you all think?