2014 Goals: July Status Report

July is always a strange month. I’m still basking in summer vacation, yet at the same time my “day job” starts to creep up on me. As the new school year approaches, (August 12), I can’t stop myself from getting a jump on lesson plans and classroom preparation. What can I say, I like to be way ahead of the game before the first day of school!

That being said, I still managed to reserve part of every day for writing. Whether it be poetry or paging through edits on my novel, my muse and I were very mindful about staying on track for this year’s goals.

1) Pitch The Muse.

I am more than halfway through reading the edited version of The Muse.  The process has been very exciting and enlightening. So far, I am on board with all the changes my editor has made as they are very subtle.

Even though most of the comments are absent from the edited version, there are a few that offer suggestions for change or point out discontinuity. In some cases she fixes it and in others, she leaves it alone offers possible ways to fix the problem. As I read, I’m keeping a log of notes with her comments, my thoughts, and the page number. Once I get done reading the draft, I can start working my through my notes.

On the query letter front, I spent some time editing the new format. The word count is a little high, but I think a few more revisions will fix that problem. Meanwhile, I found two more literary agents to add to my “possible agents” folder.

2) Outline and start writing The Muse: Lineage

This month, I focused a lot of my attention on adding to my playlist for this project. I found some great music to help me construct the next phase of my characters’ journey. In particular, Imagine Dragons and Coldplay are helping me feel what my characters are feeling.

3) Submit writing.

I’m so busy playing with my edited novel, I haven’t had much time to think about anything else!

4) Continue to build author platform.

I’m still having a blast on Facebook and traffic is up even though my Likes haven’t grown by much. The interaction is a lot of fun and I hope to keep the momentum going. However, Twitter continues to be a struggle. I don’t hang out on that platform very much and as a result my followers have dropped. Perhaps, it’s time to get back in the Twitter groove!

Facebook likes grew from 371 to 373

Twitter followers dropped from 560 to 551

Thanks so much to everyone for clicking those follow and like buttons! Your support is greatly appreciated.

5) Inspire others.

As always, I hope I am a positive presence.

The invisible goal:

6) Be flexible.

Even though I’d like to land a literary agent, I’m also looking into self-publishing. I’ve researched several companies and platforms that fit my budget. Plan A is still the ultimate goal, but I like having a Plan B in my back pocket!

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c.b.w. 2014

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