Quarterly Goals

 

It is the last Friday of September, which is a 5th Friday, so that means it is time to look at my quarterly goals!

I actually had a dream one of my friends from high school who also wrote a book series asked why I wasn't at a(n imaginary, because it was in my dream) book festival. I think it was Kitty Gang, and if it was I'm laughing. That is a term fans of BTS use for Park Ji-min. I told him I didn't know about it but also that I can't do any promotion until January because I'm technically still on contract. On that note, the countdown is ON. But that's for next quarter.

I also just realized I skipped July's 5th Friday because it was my birthday month. So, I have to look back at April's quarterly goals. I had only read 6 books then, and I'm at 11 now, one away from my adjusted Goodreads goal. I had the week off, and I wanted to read more, but I think I slept more than anything the first three days. I guess I needed it. Then, I caught up on some of my DVR and played a couple of video games. I'll get back to reading on the bus this coming week, and especially tomorrow, because it's football season.

The last quarterly post, I said I planned to publish Divided Princess by Winter next year...I mean, I guess it's still possible, but I'm only a third of the way done with it at the moment. Maybe I will do NaNoWriMo so I can work on more scenes, even if they're not in any particular order. We'll see. I actually just moved a scene or two around, and whereas I said I had 20 chapters in the first part, I merged a couple of chapters, and I also think I miscounted, so now there are 17. I'm still reading through, fixed some continuity, and making sure things make sense overall. The first few chapters are establishing what Jonnie and Cyan have been up to the past year, so diving more into their personalities and dynamic is one of the primary goals.

Ew, in April, I had that job interview for a proofreader that didn't pay anything. Fortunately, in that same post, I started doing freelance work with my sister's friend's company, and I'm now on their roster for proofreading projects when needed. I also did QA for the first time, and I liked it. We just finalized that project, so hopefully this will lead to more frequent work with them. I go back into the office Monday, and the only thing I'm dreading is the early wake up. I'm enjoying the job right now. Once we relocate, only a few months away now, I'll gain an hour of sleep back. I can endure. But I do want to be a full-time proofreader, whatever that looks like.

Tomorrow, I plan to continue my staycation vibes, but I hope that everyone in the path of the hurricane(s) is somewhere safe and with some semblance of power. Be careful out here! I saw a video where someone ordered UberEats, so also just be mindful and EAT WHAT IS IN YOUR HOUSE during storms!

Anyway, see you next month!

September Review

© Creative Commons Zero (CC0)

Welcome to Fall!

September has been a pretty okay month. I've been taking the bus to work, so I have a chance to read more. I cut my book goal in half for the year when I realized I wasn't going to reach 2 books per month. I might get in more than 12 this year, though, so I'll try 24 next year. I'll be on vacation next week, so I plan on sitting and reading, reading the first part of DP, and catching up on shows I've started and have yet to finish.

The job is going very well. With the whole department full of new people, we're all learning together, so my productivity has been higher than ever in any State job. haha The commute is draining, but we'll be moving a little further south early next year, so I won't have to get up before 6am to try to catch the bus. It's only 8-minute difference from one building to the other, but the new building would require too many buses, and I spend too much time checking routes and times for ONE bus every in-office day (anxiety is a bitch). Freelance-wise, I haven't received Fiverr requests for a long time, and Twitter won't let me send the Tweet to promote it for some reason. I'll try again soon. My other freelance proofreading work went very well this past summer. I'm finishing up a project this coming week, and hopefully I can work with the company again soon.

On another note, I'm going to cancel the Patreon. I know it's only been a few months, but it's not getting any hits, and I'm the kind of person who has no motivation to do things if no one is interested in it. I tried to hold out, but trying to drum up content for a patron who literally lives with me is disheartening. I can just tell her my updates. Maybe I can try again later when I have more engagement, but not right now.

Oh shoot, there's a 5th Friday this month. As usual, I will look back on my last goals, see what I accomplished, and also post what my goals for the next quarter will be. I'm excited for the end of the year, because 2023 means I will be free to start hyping, promoting, and SELLING Fractured Princess again. I can't wait, and I hope you can't either.

Enjoy the weekend!

September Writing Update

 

We're going to be in 2032 if we blink too long!

It's the THIRD Friday of September, can you believe it? Not only does that mean we are a few days away from my favorite season, but it also means that it's time for a writing update!

So last month, I mentioned that I finished the first part of Divided Princess. I started the first chapter of the second part. I did one major revision to it, because I brought in a character earlier than they were needed, and it was getting in the way by my forgetting they were there haha. I need them later, so I'll put them back in then. It just makes sense.

I'm going to pause the writing and read the first part back to see how it all feels. I think that will also help me with the next few chapters before I get to where I need to go in the story. One thing I do want by the end of the series is for there to be less crying haha. Jonnie cried a LOT in the first book. Of course, she went through a lot of grieving in that book, too, so it should be understandable. I just want NO tears from her by the third book, if possible haha. We'll see how that goes. 

In other news, I'm going to Kensington (Northeast Philly) tomorrow to meet MultiMind for her book signing! I featured her in my Black Author Spotlight back in January, and her hustle is so inspiring. I can't wait to be able to promote FP again. She's given me so much knowledge about self-publishing and has helped me in this journey so much, I can't thank her enough.

I need to try to record some Patreon videos today, one for last month and one for this, and I'm also supposed to be working (what else is new?), so I'll cut this here. Have a good weekend!

Weekly Words: Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland

 Happy Friday!

It is the 2nd Friday of the month, and that means I share with you what I am reading or writing, and I have successfully finished the book I'd been lazily reading since April and a whole comic book saga (The Dark Phoenix Saga, which was hilariously bad, but nostalgia), and have started a web series as well as a new book! And by new, I mean another book, because I bought it December 2020.

Justina Ireland's Deathless Divide, the sequel to Dread Nation, returns us to post-slavery, zombie-riddled America with Jane McKeene, zombie fighter extraordinaire, and this time, we also get to look through the eyes of her fellow fighter and former rival Katherine Devereaux as the girls try to get to California a la Oregon Trail...with zombies (they're not really taking the Oregon Trail, but could you imagine!).

This might be one of my favorite covers. Some covers with the characters on them tend to miss the mark, and these two really bring to life Jane and Kate for me, except Kate is described as light enough to pass for white, but that's the only difference. I can imagine her being out in the sun would give her this complexion. But anyway, the juxtaposition of their clothes also enhances it for me. Jane dresses to fight. Kate dresses to remain a lady. I do think it's funny, where I've gotten so far, that she keeps cutting off pieces of her petticoats to clean things. She's resourceful, I'll give her that.

I just started reading this on Tuesday, so I haven't run into any more shamblers (what they call zombies), but getting to see Kate's POV, we do get to read more about her ace/aro leanings. Seeing what Jane goes through with her on/off beau Jackson, Kate expressly says she will never feel that kind of push-pull and would never even sign up for it. It's great to see.

If you haven't read Dread Nation yet, I highly recommend it, and I don't even like zombies. I definitely remember yelling in fear reading the first book, so I expect nothing less with this one.

Here is the blurb:

After the fall of Summerland, Jane McKeene hoped her life would get simpler: Get out of town, stay alive, and head west to California to find her mother.

But nothing is easy when you're a girl trained in putting down the restless dead, and a devastating loss on the road to a protected village called Nicodemus has Jane questioning everything she thought she knew about surviving in 1880's America.

What's more, this safe haven is not what it appears - as Jane discovers when she sees familiar faces from Summerland amid this new society. Caught between mysteries and lies, the undead, and her own inner demons, Jane soon finds herself on a dark path of blood and violence that threatens to consume her.

But she won't be in it alone.

Katherine Deveraux never expected to be allied with Jane McKeene. But after the hell she has endured, she knows friends are hard to come by - and that Jane needs her, too, whether Jane wants to admit it or not.

Watching Jane's back, however, is more than she bargained for, and when they both reach a breaking point, it's up to Katherine to keep hope alive - even as she begins to fear that there is no happily-ever-after for girls like her.

 

What are you reading this month?

Black Author Spotlight: PYIF

 

Happy Friday!

It is the first Friday of SEPTEMBER, and we can freak out about that later. It is time for another Black Author Spotlight! The goal of this segment is to highlight black authors who are often marginalized and ignored in the publishing industry. Black writers usually turn to self-publishing--an already densely populated industry--to have their stories seen, and it is said that we have to work twice as hard to get half of what our white counterparts have. Hopefully, shining a little light on these authors will help to signal boost the work they are putting out there.

Today, I am highlighting Allen "PYIF" (Push Your Imagination Further) Greene.

This author is actually very near and dear to me: he's one of my cousins! We come from a very artistic family, from music to illustrating to writing, we are very right-brained.

PYIF is a sci-fi light novelist who is finally actively pursuing his dream toward publishing. I've had the pleasure of reading his first few draft pages, and I think readers will be in for a treat!

PYIF has created a GoFundMe to help with art commissions and copyright buyouts. Please support if you can! He's almost halfway there!

Follow PYIF on Instagram!

________________________________________________________________________________

If you are a Black author who would like to be in the spotlight, email me the following information at debreneebyrd@gmail.com

Name or Pen Name

Genre

Website/Blog

Social Media handles

Book (if any) and where to buy

Permission to use photos