I don’t know about all of you but the end of August and the beginning of September only ushered in chaos around here. Those days when nothing can get done because you’re driving all over to appointments? Those happened. The days when you have too much “household” stuff on your plate to do anything else? Those happened. 

But I can’t make excuses if I’m going to make progress. Instead, I have to take a look at how much I was able to get done in spite of that chaos. On that note, let’s check my August progress. 

As a reminder, we began 2026 with these (lofty) goals in mind:

Each month, I take a look at that document and get myself some focuses for the coming month. In August those focuses were:

1. Proof read the Apocalypse Project
2. Finish the draft of Superhero 2
3. Adjust the outline of Superhero 3
4. Outline the Secret Project
5. Attend the Desert Lit event

So, let’s take a look at how I did, shall we?

APOCALYPSE PROJECT

I did start on the proofread of this one in August, but I regret that I didn’t finish it. I have a lot of notes to input but I have to finish the proofread first! It won’t delay anything. I will make it a priority in September. 

SUPERHERO TRILOGY

I finished book 2 by adding the final 5,550 words to that draft. Then I started adjusting the outline for Book 3. Those outlines were written at the same time, when I started the project. So the book 3 outline was pretty skeletal since I’ve drafted in a lot of details as the series has progressed. All that to say it’s taking me quite a long time to get everything into the outline that I want in there. It’s coming along and it’s still hitting all the major plot points I needed but it need more time. 

OTHER GOALS

• One of my 2026 goals is to either outline or abandon the super secret project. I worked more on the outline of this one in August but I didn’t complete it. This was more for a lack of time than it was a signal I need to abandon it altogether. 
• The Desert Lit event was a success! We sold out of some formats but not of any titles, which is good. We met a lot of people, had a TON of fun, and only had a minor possible heat exhaustion (oops). All in all, a successful event and we will keep doing events with Not Your Average Book Club!

With all that inputted, the August journal pages look liked this: 

So What’s Next?

• I’m FOR SURE getting that proof read done in September. Preorders for Once They’re All Gone open September 13th and while I don’t NEED the proof to be done before that, I’d feel better if it was! 
• I’d like to see the Superhero trilogy conclusion outline DONE in September and the draft started. I want to keep up the momentum of this project. I did a mini glance back and book 1 and already found things I’d change a little (mostly voice related things) but I want to finish the drafts before I even THINK about editing. 
• I’d like to outline that super secret project. 
• And … since I feel my brain already wanting to go in that direction, I’m going to let myself start thinking about what the 2027 calendar looks like. 

TLDR: August proved to be challenging but still kept me having some forward momentum for those year long goals. 

STATS

For those who like numbers

• 5550 words added to the Superhero Project
• 1498 words written on blog posts
• 4374 words on book reviews
• 3665 words added to the idea journal
• For a grand total of 15087 words in August.

Also 5149 pages read in August, but you’ll have to check out https://alltherightreads.com/ for more info on that.