Well, I had wanted to start off this year with a daily update to my blog about how the day’s writing had gone, but I sort of failed in that goal. I do have notes about what occurred, so I will get things entered and backdated where I can.
So, this is the official January 2010: End of Month Update to indicate what I achieved for this month in my writing career. Nowhere near as much as I wanted to achieve, but, lets see…
Shadowlord’s Gambit
I found the scanned in copy for Shadowlord’s Gambit, so I can get to work on that. Yay! Shadowlord’s Gambit is a novel that I wrote in a single month back in 1998, it has since then been a novel I have had a love/hate relationship with. I love it, it is finished and ready to be moved from rough draft to first revision, but I also hate it because it defies any efforts to make it read like a novel and not a transcript of a game of Dungeons and Dragons. I had great plans to use this book in my course on novel revision I am taking, but after enrolling in the class the dogs ate my homework.
Yes, I just said the dogs ate my homework. The beast chewed up the thumb drive that I had my cleaned up ready to go novel scans stored on. A thumb drive that also held the most recent copy of Heir To Magic. Arrrrgh! I think I have the last update for Heir on my laptop, juts have to locate the power cord for that now.
I found the original scans I had made before I cleaned the novel up, though, so I can just clean up the original scans again and get back to work on it.
Warmth – New heater installed
OMG warmth! We got a new heater installed, so now there are no more headaches because of the fireplace. No more losing work because I have to keep fireplace going or heat water on the stove or or or… I am feeling more productive already!
Getting Ready For Taxes
Ewww. Much as I hate to think about it, I have to start getting ready for tax season. I started getting all my bank information printed out and into Spreadsheets and stuff. Went over all the sites I use for making a living and calculated exactly how much I have earned in the past year – which is one of my lowest earning years.
Viruses and Anti-Viruses
The year started out with a massive virus attack on my computer. Really ticked me off. I think it was a sleeper that was triggered by a set time, cause hit me new years eve. I loathe viruses and the people that make them. Came very close to losing the computer with it, but I pulled it out and saved it. I decided after that to invest in a couple of programs to supplement Avast and Spybot.
Novel In Progress with Co-Writer
Started up a novel last year with a co-writer, my first collaborative effort and i have to say – never start into a collaborative novel effort if you and your co-writer can not scream bloody murder at one another, throw stuff at one another’s heads, and completely give up on the project. Then dive right back in ready to kick it into shape and get writing together again on it. Collaborative writing is not for the faint of heart or the casual friendship. It will test what your friendship is made of in unexpected ways. That aside, it’s been one of the most amazing and wonderful experiences ever and I can’t wait to finish this novel and start the next one with her. Our co-written novel has been on hold for a little while, but it is my no means abandoned, has just hit a point we can’t do anything more until we can dedicate full focus to what needs done on it.
Heir To Magic
I don’t even want to think about this one right now. ::cringe:: I think it was on that thumb drive the dog ate and am just hoping there is an older copy on the laptop so I did not lose the entire thing. I’ll find out next month on it maybe. For now, it is shelved.
Mars Station One
I need to start this one over from scratch. Lost it. Can’t find it. Was only up to about chapter six anyway I think. I’m going to start outlining this one again to be worked on when my current novels in progress are finished.
Work
Until my career as a published novelist takes off, I make ends meet by working as an online copywriter and ad writer. This past month that has been barely enough to pay the business bills, but it at least paid for my business expenses and the work has been starting to pick up a little after such a drastic crash with the rest of the economy.
Stock Market Investing
I have opened an account with a investment company. We’ll see how that goes. So far I have only put $20 into the account to play with, which is the most I can justify risking on the stock market. If I don’t loose it, I’ll learn a few things and hopefully be able to start investing for my future.
