I just went searching back through my old documents and in the MOST 2021 move ever … it seems I never actually posted (or looked at) my second quarter stats in 2021. Is that right? It doesn’t seem right, but here we are. 

SO today I’ll make sure I compare the 3rd quarter (which just wrapped) to second and first. That way, if I never posted a second and you care enough to see them, they’re available! Yeah? It’s gonna have to work. 

Reminder for all of us: here was the 2021 goals I thought I would be working on back in December of 2020 when I made this graphic. We all know 2021 has NOT gone as planned for most of us and I’m honestly just not sure if this is even still relevant … but here we are anyway. 

ZERO DRAFTS

Back when I created this graphic with big dreams I wanted to fully draft the short story anthology and two other things. How’d progress go on those?

First Quarter

• I picked a theme for that anthology and started choosing stories for it. Yup, that’s about it. 2021 was off to a snail’s crawl of a start. 

Second Quarter

• The Apocalypse Project became the first of the New Things and I added about 30k words to that draft. 

Third Quarter

• I basically wrestled with the Apocalypse Project and rewrote the first 25k words. 

Really, I can’t imagine this progress looks particularly fascinating but let’s take a look anyway. Here’s the words written in each quarter.

That would be impressive if we were talking about a span of a month each. But three months? C’mon, I can do better than that. Really, in 2021 so far I have finished absolutely NO zero drafts. I’ve started two, wrestled with them both, and finished neither. 

I may have to sit down with a blank journal and unblock myself here to get the fourth quarter off the ground. I may have to shelf the Apocalypse Project until it decides to stop being unruly. I may have to let myself write something else for a while. I have no idea what any of that will look like or if it will work. Stay tuned, I guess. 

Back to those 2021 goals.

EDIT/REVISE

The next section at the top there is the Edit/Revise spot. If you remember, when I made this little graphic I had 4 projects I had fully drafted in 2020 that were going to require editing. That was my goal. 

How’d I do?

First Quarter

• I did the final editing pass for Empowering Sawchett (boy that seems like a long time ago).
• I did the first round of editing/cuts on Fraun 5. This is actually how I came to realize that Fraun 5 would need to be short stories from/around Fraun instead of part of the actual timeline for the series. Really, can I call Fraun 5 my short story anthology? Maybe I’ll do that. 

Second Quarter

• I did the final editing pass on A Spark of Magic. Ok, that’s not entirely true. There will have to be one more, but that’s the proof read so it doesn’t really count. 

Third Quarter

• I edited the GhostlyYA.

Sometimes, when I edit I also add words. So let’s look at the total words written by project to sort of sum up these first two categories of goals. 

Rewriting the Apocalypse Project really made it stand out, right? FACEPALM

Seriously though, writing is what I do but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy. I share this stuff even though I HATE admitting it’s been slow and I’ve been a little unproductive because I want you to know that someone who has published 6 books (7th coming next month) in her lifetime (2 this year) can still have unproductive moments. I share this stuff because sometimes the dream seems REALLY BIG and the progress REALLY SMALL but progress is progress. 

So, the point of all this? I didn’t do everything I set out to do. BUT I did do something and that’s ok.

Anyway, back to the graphic. 

PUBLISH

Hey, look, a goal I actually made!

First Quarter

• I did nothing except prepare.

Second Quarter

• Published Empowering Sawchett (Fraun 4). Seriously, this was a GREAT ending to the Kingdom of Fraun series. I’m biased but I HIGHLY recommend it. BIG themes about knowing/loving yourself, walking away to move forward, and (of course) government. The Kingdom of Fraun series is DONE. Don’t be confused by me talking about Fraun 5, those will be unrelated short stories just to satiate everyone’s love of Fraun. I promise. 

Third Quarter

• I did nothing except prepare (which is really a lot of work, I’m not discounting that) because A Spark of Magic drops November 9, 2021. GET READY! Preorders will open here shortly and this one is GGGOOOOOODDD.

Anyway, this goal was here to remind me that putting all the words down on paper and editing them is only a step to the real deal — getting books in the hands of readers. So no matter what else happens, I did that this year. That’s a win for me (AND you, the reader).

Speaking of reading … 

READ AND REVIEW 104 BOOKS

Yup, that’s right. 2 books per week no matter what. That’s the goal. 

First Quarter

• I read and reviewed 29 books. 

Second Quarter

• I read and reviewed another 36 books.
• I also DNF (did not finish) a book for the first time in a long time. I didn’t count that one, obviously.

Third Quarter

• I read and reviewed another 25 books. 

That puts my total so far at 90 books read and reviewed. 86% of the way through the book goal and 75% of the way through the year. I think I’ll make this one, honestly. 

Let’s hit a few common questions about my reading, shall we?

Most of the books I read continue to come from the library. I am back to doing parent drop off/pick up so I’m back to an obscene amount of audiobooks. Sorry not sorry. 

I tell people all the time that I read a pretty equal amount of audiobooks, ebooks, and paperbacks. Guess this is the graph I can use if I’m ever challenged on that. 

Here’s a fun one: what genres did I read?

The way this graph works is it stacks on itself. So the big red section in Nonfiction, for example, means I read a lot of nonfiction in Quarter 2 (red). But the big tall bar in Fantasy that shows all three colors is because I read a lot of that genre in each quarter. 

No real surprises here. Fantasy, Contemporary, and Mystery top my genres but I do dabble in a lot of everything. 

As always, if there’s anything else you’d love to know about my reading or reading habits, JUST ASK. I’ll find you an answer! 

Anyway, I could talk about my reading habits all day. To keep myself from doing that, let’s move on. Where’s that graphic?

Ah yes, the final two. The two I have basically abandoned like houseplants I forgot I owned. Yikes, let’s make this fast like ripping off a bandaid. 

YOUTUBE

I haven’t posted to the YouTube channel in 4 months. The last video was the May 2021 wrap up. I think about it all the time. I even have a note on my laptop to RELAUNCH YOUTUBE channel. But I haven’t done it. I think the problem I’m having is that I need to find the time to record and edit content. I’m struggling to even find the time to write and read right now, can I really add on something else? I will come back. I have video ideas I want to share with all of you. I have content to bring you. I just need to get my schedule in order and figure things out. Thanks for hanging on and waiting for me. I appreciate you!

BLOG

Really, the blog answer is the same. I have a standing note on my desktop to REVAMP THE BLOG. I even have drafted pages. But I haven’t pulled the plug on that one yet, either. I think I want to hit the relaunch on all that at the same time. It’ll happen. Maybe the fourth quarter is the magic quarter. We shall see. 

IN CONCLUSION

2021 has been rough, right? I know it’s not only been rough for me, it’s all of us. Someone explained it on Twitter by saying 2020 turned our normal upside down and we’re still trying to find our bearings. We feel disconnected, uncomfortable, and lost. We feel the stress flooding back in and we feel like we’re drowning in it. I think that’s where I am as well. I’m not sure what works anymore or what’s normal. I’m not sure what the goals are or if I’m hitting them. Things just feel weird. 

But

• I published Empowering Sawchett, putting a beautiful finishing touch on a series that I love.
• I did find a new WIP and made progress on it. The Apocalypse Project has taught me that I can persevere through problems a WIP throws at me, one at a time. 
• I am SO HAPPY with A Spark of Magic (formerly referred to as the MagicalYA) and excited to bring that one in November. The first two reviews are in (hopefully more are coming soon) and they’re both GREAT. This one is one to be proud of.
• I did fully edit the GhostlyYA and it is also AMAZING. That will need a real title (I’m throwing some ideas around but titles are not my strong point) and may need a few extra scenes thrown in (it’s sitting on the back burner so I can come back and decide that). 
• I’m still here and I’m still writing. That’s the biggest win of 2021, I think. 

Drop a comment and let me know what you think of the progress. Thanks for being here, thanks for reading this far, and have a great rest of your day!