Summer has finally arrived where I live, and I always get a huge boost from the warm weather and sunshine. I spent an even warmer week with friends in Atlanta at the beginning of the month, which was fun and relaxing at the same time. Right now, I’m still riding the high from attending In Your Write Mind last weekend, where I got to see so many of my favorite people in my favorite place. This month, I also committed to attending one of my other favorite conventions (Salt Lake FanX), and this is the one where I get to drag the spouse along!
Of course, it hasn’t all been sunshine and rainbows here in the United States. This is where I publicly share my quiet rage at some of the directions this country appears to be headed. I do believe there are limits to how much shouting on social media can help rather than contribute to doom scrolling, so other than a single extra-spicy post, I haven’t said too much elsewhere.
Okay, moving on. The cats are well, the spouse is well, and later today I’ll probably sit on my front porch and read. Speaking of reading, I actually came up with a rotating schedule of how to choose my next book to read (Kindle Unlimited title, an ebook I already own, and a physical book I already own, plus whether I intend to review them or not). I give it a month until I tell you in my next newsletter that this aspirational plan has disintegrated, but so far, I’ve already caught up on a series that had fallen off my radar.
June Wrap-Up
- This month, I added approximately 6k words to the draft of Steel Legacy. That’s 1k more words than last month!
- I had a great week in Atlanta. I love being able to pick up and work from anywhere.
- I also had a fantastic time at In Your Write Mind 2022. My con report for that event has been posted.
- I’m still only about 2 weeks ahead on the book reviews that get posted on my blog. However, I think the proposed schedule I mentioned above will help. I’m also anticipating 3 to 6 advanced reader copies of novels within the next 2 months, and those will all receive the long-form reviews that are posted on the blog.
July Goals
- I may have promised one of my beta readers that I would send him the first draft of Steel Legacy by the end of August. Which means I have about 6 weeks to finish it so that I have at least 2 weeks to do a first editing pass and coherency check. (Also, I promised myself that I got to support 3 authors on Patreon once draft 1 is complete, and I’m itching to read the bonus content they have available through that site.)
- No travel lined up this month (so far), but we’ll see what adventures the spouse and I end up on anyway. I might hit Chicago later this summer.
- Reading, reading, reading. If you’re keeping track with me on social media, I’m up to 256 books and novellas read for the year, which is why it’s silly that I don’t have more reviews queued up.
In Case You Missed It
Around the Internet
- I participated in a virtual panel about the MCU film The Eternals for Con-Tinual: The Con That Never Ends.
On the Website
Book Reviews
- Unraveling the Threads of Fate by Alice Winters (4*)
- Rediscovered (Do-Over #2) by E.M. Denning (4.5*)
- The Shepherd (The Game #6) by Cara Dee (5*)
- Metahuman Files Series by Hailey Turner (4-5*) | RECOMMENDED
- To Love You (Not Ready for Love #2) by Kate Hawthorne (5*)
- Autumn of the Witch (Seasons of the Lukoi #4) by Iris Foxglove (5*)
- Protection (Mobsters + Billionaires #2) by Kelly Fox (5*) | RECOMMENDED
- Impact by Nikki Markham (5*)
- What Remains by Garrett Leigh (5*)
