Last month I decided to post my accountability post directly to the blog instead of making a YouTube video. This month, I figured I’d do it again!
Let’s talk about my April Progress!
You probably already know that I have a set of year long goals that I’m working towards in 2021.
ZERO DRAFTS
In January I played around in the idea journal.
In February I picked the theme for that anthology and wrote the first two stories.
In April I decided to add on a little side project for Kingdom of Fraun and wrote that entire thing (it’s short). Then I decided to focus on those “new things” on the goals. I took some time flipping around in the idea journal until I found something that grabbed my attention. The apocalypse project has been something I’ve been kicking around for over three years. It had 14 pages of my idea journal as I tried to figure out how this was going to work and how to make this different from everything else that was out there. The exciting news is that I’ve figured out the twist! I wrote the entire outline and even started the draft in April. I’m excited to have this new project to work on! That’s a productive April already.
EDIT/REVISION
I hadn’t started revising ANY of the projects that were written in 2020 yet. So, in April, I dug into editing Fraun 5. Now, if you’re subscribed to my newsletter you already know that Fraun 5 isn’t really another full novel. It’s a prequel of sorts and will likely feature short stories from the Fraun universe. The biggest story has been written for awhile and in April I got it edited! I’m really excited about the way the story is coming together.
I will eventually need beta readers for the GhostlyYA, the YA Contemporary, and the Hitman story. So if any of those sounds like something you’d be interested in and you have time to beta read (basically just read and talk to me about it) LET ME KNOW!
PUBLISH
This is where most of my focus went in 2020 so far, obviously.
Empowering Sawchett is available for preorders now and is officially celebrating a release on May 4, 2021. I’m VERY excited to meet this part of this goal.
The MagicalYA, which I’d also like to see published in 2021, is back from betas! I have a single chapter that needs to be revised and then it’s off for editing. We’re making GREAT progress on this one, too. These two goals are ON TRACK.
YEAR LONG GOALS
READ 104 BOOKS
Finished the month at 41 total for the year (not too bad, right?)
As a reminder, here was my official April TBR. These included review copies and advanced reader copies I had to get to before the month was over.
- 1 ARC: Scars of Cereba
- 4 Review Requests: Stonebearer’s Betrayal, A Soul Fractured, The Tech, and Chimera
After I finished these 5 I started the bonus wheel. Again, I’ve ADORED this bonus wheel! For this month I decided to put all genres up on the wheel. Each spin was a different GENRE and then I chose from my TBR within that genre.
My first spin landed on FANTASY.
I used a random number generator to pick which fantasy book from my list would be up next. The random number generator picked RUIN by Rebecca L Garcia. This was a gift from my sister. Technically, she purchased me a Nerdy Book Box and THIS was inside!
The book was GREAT. HIGHLY recommended for fantasy fans. My full review is on the Goodreads and Amazon page for the book.
My second spin landed on MEMOIR.
I used a random number generator again to pick which memoir I would read. It picked Things My Son Needs to Know About the World by Fredrik Backman. Backman is one of my FAVORITE contemporary authors so I was excited about giving his nonfiction a try.
This book was FANTASTIC. If you’re a parent and you enjoy humorous books about parenting, GET THIS ONE. My full review is on Goodreads and Amazon.
My third and final spin landed on CONTEMPORARY.
Again, a random number generator picked the book for me. It chose What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. I borrowed this one from my sister. Again, this one was GREAT. The book has good characters and makes you think about your own life. The review is up on Goodreads and Amazon but I recommend this one if you like contemporary.
With those books being finished, my April Actually Read looks like this …
4 Review Requests, 1 Advanced Reader Copy, 5 Audiobooks from the library, the 3 bonus wheel spins I previously mentioned, and 1 bonus wheel spin I started in March and finished in April. BUSY READING MONTH!
What’s Next?
In May I (again) have 5 books on my required TBR.
- 2 ARCs: Mula and the Fly and The Last Imperator
- 3 Review Requests: A Trade in Tears, The Threadbare Prince, and They Lived They Were at Brighton Beach
With 5 books already on the TBR (again) I decided to drop the shield challenge for the second month in a row. I feel a little guilty about it … but not enough to stress myself out and add a sixth book. Instead, I’ll start spinning the bonus wheel again when I finish the five!
52 YOUTUBE VIDEOS
Again, I’m having a little trouble getting this schedule going with all the medical appointments and what not.
In April, we added two videos to the channel. That puts us at 13 total videos for the year. That’s 25% of the yearly goal but we’re more like 33% of the way through the year. That means I’m behind on this one. I’ll have to do some serious planning to figure out how we’ll recover from this one!
BLOG REVAMP
Man, I’m really falling down on some of these.
OK so WWWAAAYYY back in February I actually started running some sample pages and taking a look at them. But then things got nuts and I didn’t go back to it. I had hoped to revamp the blog around the time Empowering Sawchett was releasing. Now I’m not sure I’m making that happen. But I’m planning … still.
Alright, that’s it for me and my April progress report.
Thanks to everyone who preordered Empowering Sawchett (it’s not too late).
Thanks for the feedback about what you like on the blog and the YouTube channel. Keep sending me feedback, let me know if you’re interested in beta reading, and let me know if you need anything!
See you next time!
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