STATUS – 12.2.2024 –

The new year is coming soon.

I don’t dread the new year. I’m not always fond of it, but I’m not scared of it. There’s not a fear, or a panic, about what happens when things switch over on a clock or calendar. So long as I find the time to sit, to think, to reflect, to ask myself if I did enough, I can always go into a new year with confidence and conviction, regardless of how much I actually got done.

Years ago I committed to never making resolutions. I found, even at my young age, that they didn’t work for me and I would usually let myself down. This is becoming more commonplace, I think, and others are more about a growth mindset, as opposed to a goal mindset, which I think works for a majority of people.

But I always promise myself to do more.

That’s the motto. “Do more.”

I hope I can find time in these coming weeks to quietly ask myself if I did enough.

PROJECT UPDATE:

#AMQUERYING – GREY is about to be done. I think I can send it out to one or two more agents and then I’ll pull it. It just isn’t holding the weight in my mind like it once did and, honestly, could probably do with a total rewrite. The story and characters in it mean a lot to me, but I started writing this thing over 5 years ago. I’ve changed as a writer and they deserve more of it.

NESS – This gets it’s own special entry, even though it’s still in the AmQuerying phase. I received a partial request for it. That means I submitted the first couple pages to the literary agent, they liked what they saw, but still need to read more. They requested the first 50 pages to read. This is interesting because literally the day before I received this e-mail I was pondering if I should rewrite the entire first two chapters. This agent must not have found an issue with it.

What does this show me? I know nothing about nothing, that’s what…

CURRENTLY LISTENING:

We finished My Hero Academia (or what’s been published of it) a couple of weeks ago and I can’t stop listening to this, the song used in the most recent season’s intro. Sad, but inspiring. That’s MHA in a nutshell.

CURRENTLY READING:

Percy Jackson: Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan

While not as get-up-and-go as the first of the new trilogy, Chalice of the Gods, Riordan is always able to find Percy’s voice, one that’s carried his stories for decades now. I’m not done with it yet, but as another MG book to study and learn from I’m getting a solid sense of how to draw out small events.