Month-End Update: September 2016

Goodbye, book launch month! As you likely noticed, September was all about the release of The Courtesan’s Avenger (and, of course, this month’s booklet: 100 Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense Writing Prompts). Unfortunately, my fiction book launch dominated the month, and the booklet took up what little time remained. While I’m thrilled to have them both out in the world, I’m even more excited to get back into creation mode. Desertera #3 has been calling my name for weeks now, and it’s about time I answered. Fingers crossed that October can be a strong start leading into November (aka National Novel Writing Month).

One thing that I did manage to make a lot of time for was podcasts. When I first started on my indie publishing journey, I would listen to podcasts all day at work. They helped me get up to speed on the industry and gave me a sense of community in what is an often lonely journey. I’ve really missed listening to them, so making time to do so on my commute (and at the gym – gasp!) has been really refreshing.

On a personal note, my husband and I also took a very bookish anniversary trip to Salem, Massachusetts, in September. I share more about the trip, my inspiration, and a few travel tips in this post. For now, allow me to recap September and get sorted for October.

Writing & Editing

• Blog Posts Written – 12 and one reblog
• Fiction Words Written – 0
• # of Days I Wrote Fiction – 0
• Nonfiction Prompts Written – 95 prompts
• # of Days I Wrote Nonfiction – 15
• Drafts Revised – Final proofread of The Courtesan’s Avenger (Desertera #2)
• # of Days I Revised – 4
• Outlines Written –  1 (100 Horror Writing Prompts)
• Days Without Creation/Production – 7

Reading

• Books Finished
  • The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9, Volume 1 by Joss Whedon
  • The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Books Begun/In-Progress
  • From Hell by Alan Moore
  • Curiosity and the Hounds of Arawn by Zachary Paul Chopchinski

• Books Reviewed on Blog
  • None

*Remember, I review every book I read on my Goodreads page.

Author Business Activities

• Final proofread, cover design, format, and publication of The Courtesan’s Avenger
• Wrote and published 100 Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense Writing Prompts (Fiction Ideas Vol. 9)
• NetGalley listing for The Cogsmith’s Daughter (Desertera #1)
• Participated in the Summer Indie Book Awards

Goals for October

• Begin writing Desertera #3
• Write and publish 100 Horror Writing Prompts (Fiction Ideas Vol. 10)
• Reflect on one year as a published author and set goals for year two
• Catch up on my friends’ books and help a few out with special projects

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What did you accomplish in September? What goals are you working towards in October? Share below!