Twiddling Thumbs Does Not Become Me: A Goals/Progress Update

Photo from sxc/sconaway

Yup - it really IS June 1. I know. I can't believe it either! In nine short days I will be DONE with five days a week of escape from kids underfoot. Done with school volunteering. DONE with easy opportunities to spend time with my hubby alone.

But summer will have its own fun, and, of course, busyness. I guarantee I will not be bored (though I imagine my children will not make that same statement!).

ANYhow, May was a pretty productive month. Here are my goals, straight from last month's goals and progress post:

1. Finish adding/deleting/tightening Handmaiden to a Princess
2. Go through the Pike's Peak and Genesis scoring sheets for Handmaiden to a Princess, making fixes as needed
3. Write at least four Biblical fiction devos for the book
4. Four blog posts average a week
5. Do extensive research on agents for Ailing Body, Nourished Soul - either have it sent out by June 1, or be super close to ready to do so.

Well, #1 is pretty much a bust. I hardly touched Handmaiden to a Princess - I'd told myself I would hold off on working on it until I finished goal #2 (which happened just this past Saturday - more on this later). So that's for June - and I MEAN it this time! LOL

I did finish my four Biblical fiction devos this month, and had 17 blog posts - which is awful close to four a week, considering May is 4 1/2 weeks long. And I did some good agent research - have sent out Ailing Body, Nourished Soul queries to three different agents (as of the 9th of May - no word yet, but I'm still in that "window" that says I'm not rejected yet). Have a few more backups ready to query if none of these three bite.

Photo from sxc/shlomaster

Oh - and Handmaiden to a Princess. In going through all the score sheets from the contests, I've found that I have much, MUCH to work on. A lot of basics - characterization, description, thinning out of backstory, elimination of anachronisms - need ramping up. May also need to find me an antagonist. ;) Other stuff too. So I've got some MAJOR work to do. My new goals is to have it (most if not ALL the manuscript) basically "contest ready" by October 1. If I do, I'll be entering both The Phoenix Rattler and The Page Turner.

But wait - I guess that means it's time to stop talking about progress and get back to goals. And here they are!

1. Make serious progress on improving Handmaiden to a Princess
2. Write at least four Biblical fiction devos for the book with Jennifer Slattery
3. Get as much as possible out of Writing Body Language and Dialogue Cues Like a Psychologist class (by Margie Lawson!) and apply it to my book.
4. Four blog posts average a week
5. Send out more Ailing Body, Nourished Soul queries if needed

So - no time for thumb twiddling, is there? We'll see how it goes with the second half of the month including NO school days.

Thanks for reading along, and for your support as I work through this stuff! Blessings!

Paving Rough Roads With God's Presence