Well, April flew, anyway. It was not a great month here. First, the numbers.

Month:	43,932
Year:	269,758
WIP:	72,154
Streak:	508,988
Days:	200
Average:	2,542

I tried to write three thousand words a day. I cratered when I finished the draft for Troy Harbor. After six months of writing every day, I’ve had a few – ahem – minimal days. Technically, my streak is intact at 200 days because my average is over 2k a day. This is the first month since last October that I failed to reach my goal.

Status Updates:

After all that work, I’m feeling burned out. I’ve been having a bit of a stay-cation and avoiding the word processor to try to recharge. Sadly, that also means my planner with all the careful notes has gone MIA.

Shaman’s Tales Audio I’ve signed a deal with Podium to produce the Shaman’s Tales for Audible. Jeffrey Kafer will read them. I still have no dates on the releases.

Cape Grace Ebook and paper are both out. Audio will be coming from Podium.

The Wizard’s Butler Released on March 22. I sent out a notice to the list. As usual, the paperback is lagging but there’s no contagion problem with ebooks.

Barbarians: Book 1: Hostage – I finished my edits and passed the manuscript over to my co-writer. She’s still working through it.

Troy Harbor Yes, the last in the line of Shaman’s Tales. First draft done. Cover in the works.

Dark Knight Station: Origins First draft done. Will need a cover artist for this one.

What’s Next:

I’m struggling with this. I’ve started the next Ishmael book. I have a rough plot outline for the next Ishmael trilogy. I’m not happy with it. It feels too much like work.

I want to follow up on the Butler book and Tanyth is calling me.

Reminder: I’ve got plans for Ishmael and Pip, Zoya and Natalya. I’ll be getting back to them. Probably in 2020. I’m not sure what – exactly – they’re going to do, but I didn’t spend five years putting them together only to let them sail off into the Deep Dark.

I’ve been reading a lot of stuff. More Glynn Stewart. More of the Paranormal Women’s Fiction. More Krista D. Ball. I go through them really quickly these days—when I can pull myself out of Fallout 4.

Last Words

I’ve had a bit of a respite for the last couple of weeks. A flood of green on my progress calendar has a line of red x’s on it where I’ve just kind of drawn in on myself and let the world go for a few days.

I’m planning on getting back on the horse today and seeing how far I can ride before it bucks me off again.

In the meantime, stay safe, keep reading, and hug any of your loved ones within reach.

Well, March was fun. Not really. It did yield decent results and I’m not sick so let’s work on the positive.

First, the numbers

March:	84,346
Year:	225,826
WIP (Troy Harbor)	44,931
Streak Words:	463,497
Days in a Row:	170
Average words per day:	2,726

STATUS

Audio:

• Home Run is currently available on Audible. It dropped March 3.
• South Coast is in production at Podium. Jeff Kafer will narrate. No word yet on schedule. I’ve contracted with Podium to produce all three Shaman’s Tales.

Paper:

• The Wizard’s Butler should be available in paper this month.

Ebook:

• The Wizard’s Butler dropped a couple of weeks ago. I haven’t even started thinking about audio for this yet.

WIP:

• Hostage (Book 1 of the Barbarians series) is in second draft. This book will be a while in production because I’m co-writing it and we both need to agree on the draft before we give it to the editor.
• Dark Knight Station: Origins is in second draft stage. It’s a mess and will take some time to get hammered into shape.
• Troy Harbor – the last of the Shaman’s Tales – is the current “new words” project I’m hoping to wrap that up in the next week. I’d like to wrap that series up before I forget too much about the story line.
• Next project will probably be the first of a new Ishmael series.

What am I reading?

I haven’t started it yet, but it’s next on my hit parade.

Glynn Stewart is one of the few writers I buy without sampling first. If you’ve been following his Starship’s Mage series, the next book dropped last month. I’ve got a copy already and should crack it open tomorrow.

Last Words

March brought a lot of changes for a lot of people. My situation here didn’t change that much. The four of us in the household weren’t known for rampaging around town to begin with so the only real changes involve how many trips I make to the grocery store a week.

Maintaining focus. That’s been the real challenge.

Not to say the month didn’t have its high points, starting with the release of The Wizard’s Butler. A few friends and I also got together to run the spring NovelRama event where a bunch of crazy people tried to write 25,000 words in 4 days.

The event proved to be as much fun and exciting as it’s always been. So many people who never thought they could do it proved themselves wrong. Just goes to show what happens if you can put your butt in the chair and stay focused on the task for a few days.

Thanks for all your support. I’m hoping April will be less stressful and that all of you stay sane and healthy.

Safe Voyage.

February came through for me. I kept to my basic plan of 2,000 new words every day and using the rest of the day to work on second drafts, production, etc. I didn’t get as much walking in as I needed to, but there’s next month. Early on, I was still recovering from the January surgery. I got more walks in–and more talks in–near the end of the month.

Statistics:

February:	63,534
For the Year:	141,480
Current WIP:	117,500
Streak Words:	375,614
Days in a Row:	139
Average words per day:	2,702

Status:

Audio:

• Home Run is currently available for pre-order on Audible. It drops March 3.
• South Coast is in production at Podium. No word yet on narrator or schedule. I’ve contracted with Podium to produce all three Shaman’s Tales.

Paper:

• Cape Grace is currently available in a non-refeshable cellulose display edition.

Ebook:

• No new books dropped in February.

WIP:

• The Wizard’s Butler is with the editor and I’m still waiting for the cover art.
• Hostage (Book 1 of the Barbarians series) is in second draft. This book will be a while in production because I’m co-writing it and we both need to agree on the draft before we give it to the editor.
• Dark Knight Station: Origins remains the current first draft, new words project. I should find an end here in the next couple of days. When I do, it’ll slide into the “afternoon” queue.
• Next project might be Troy Harbor – the last of the Shaman’s Tales. I’d like to wrap that series up before I forget too much about the story line.

What Am I Reading?

I neglected to recommend a book in February so let me recommend Carol Van Natta’s Central Galactic Concordance series. I inhaled the first two and forced myself to put down the series and address some of the samples waiting in my TBR pile. Great world building. Interesting characters, but (fair warning) there’s kissing. Which – for the record – I support.

Book 1: Overload Flux

Last Words

Two months into the “2k for 2020” campaign, I’m keeping up with the words. Shifting gears to work on a different book in the afternoon is more hampered by my ability to actually get the 2k in before lunch than my ability to shift my brain to a different story line.

Mid-month I felt the rise of incipient burn-out. I pushed too hard and neglected some of the self-care that I need. I’ve made some adjustments on calendar and expectation. The burn-out seems to be averted for the moment.

I feel good. I’m happy with the work. I’m looking forward to publishing at least one of these WIPs before April and I’m ready to roar into March.