I spent a little time today giving my next Kickstarter project legs. I won't link it quite yet, as the page isn't quite ready for people to go looking. But it's up, so if you go searching I won't say anything. Very happy that The Wards Will Fall will be my next published project.
I was also invited to talk on a podcast, which is both terribly exciting and somewhat terrifying as I have never done something like this before. So stay tuned for more info about this.
FOCUS: I wrote 1098 words today in Mageruins and more importantly, finished this first chapter. HURRAY. Chapter 2 is in a state of being put together, but is approximately 25% of the way done, so if I'm lucky I'll have this chapter also finished by this weekend. I still can't believe how I'm flying through this draft (and I know it's a little premature of me to say this, given it's only a chapter and a half), but I'm going to celebrate this win.
PROCESS & SUCH: I'm really trying to ensure my days are structured for writing sustainably so I don't spiral out into an ADHD fog of half-finished house work and minimal writing. So I got up at my customary 5:15am time and got a few sprints in, before feeding the cats, making breakfast and taking the dogs for a walk. Then it was back to sprints, lunch, more sprints, and then chapter end. Timed sprints in 30 minute intervals are continuing to work well for me and provide that structure I need to actually get writing done.
WATCHING: I've been getting the itch for some more reality TV so yesterday after watching the most recent episode of Below Decks Mediterranean (a guest breaks their shoulder, and oh my god I felt awful), I ended up watching Real House Wives for the first time (Real Housewives of Rhode Island specifically, as my friend is a huge fan and recommended this one). I liked it way more than I thought I would. I will probably be watching more.
LISTENING: I'm going to get a little vulnerable here. Sometimes I listen to a single song on repeat when I write. And I'm not talking 30 minutes. It might be an hour or two. Of the same song. And there's one that I come back to often, especially when drafting Maxwell's story. I can't describe why it works so well for me, or why this particular song, but today was one of those days where I listened to The Evil Dab by Voicians for entirely too long.
READING: Continuing to read through Night's Master, by Tanith Lee (Bookshop, Kobo, Amazon). This book continues to impress me. The writing is gorgeous, and I can't get over how each short story leads to the next, to build into the larger story. It's frankly—beautiful. Not that I would expect anything less from Tanith Lee, but I continue to marvel at everything she's written that I've read from her.
LINK: A newsletter I greatly enjoy is Counter Craft, from Lincoln Michel. He sent out a post today called 'The Roots of the Novel are Parody, Pastiche, and Play' about reading Don Quixote and how it has held up all this time. I was immediately intrigued, as I have never actually read the book. I hadn't realized how...weird and modern it was. So I might need to give that a try.
UP NEXT: Tomorrow I focus on Chapter 2 of Mageruins. I have a good idea of what I want the shape of this to be and how it ends, so I'm hoping I get some good, fast drafting in.