The past two months have been mentally draining. Most of July was crazy because of work. Summer holidays are always high-traffic days in grocery stores. I still managed to get a lot of writing done that month. It felt great.

August was a different story. A family issue that came to my attention gutted me. It was hard to concentrate, period. Going to work took most of my energy most days. On days off, I was focusing on getting other things settled. Sitting down to write was almost a foreign concept. That drove me nuts the most. As of writing this, not everything is settled, but I feel in a better place with it mentally.

A goal I originally had for this time frame had to be pushed back. I wasn’t in the right headspace to get a blurb together or to find a cover artist. So, my next timeframe for that is by the end of the year. Which seems doable for me. The family issue isn’t fully resolved and won’t be for a bit. I’m trying to give myself some grace during this until it’s resolved.

Writing Progress

Mielea’s Lost– No further progress on the path of publishing since May/June. It takes time to get everything together.

Broken Shackles– I wrote six chapters of Mielea’s Lost’s sequel in July. One chapter was added in August. This story is going in some directions I wasn’t expecting, but it’s a good thing.

Project Trapezoid– Over the past two months, I have made more world-building notes. In July, I decided on a starting place and began writing chapters. That month I wrote three chapters. In August, I wrote another two chapters.

This WIP is harder to write mentally for me. One MC is so hard on himself, and getting into his headspace wrecks me. The other MC is also challenging, but not because of personality. I wanted to try writing a character where English isn’t their first language. So I find myself trying to figure out how they would say things in dialogue.

It is only a rough draft, so I’m trying to get out of my own head and ‘just write’. It doesn’t always work.

Next month’s goals?

At this point, any writing I get done will be fine by me. Until this family issue is resolved, I’m trying not to be hard on myself.

Unless I have a significant update, I won’t be posting until October. So, see you then!

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