Last year, I decided that I would post my accomplishments for the month and what goals I hope to achieve in the following month.
October was infinitely less chaotic than September, and now, that I’ve gotten into the groove of teaching, I look forward to what the spring semester holds.
What I accomplished in October:
- Worked out a system to stay on top of grading student papers/homework
- Read 4 books:
- The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater (5 stars)
- The Ancient Magus’ Bride Vol. 2 by Kore Yamazaki (4 stars)
- The Ancient Magus’ Bride Vol. 3 by Kore Yamazaki (5 stars)
- The Ancient Magus’ Bride Vol. 4 by Kore Yamazaki (4 stars)
- Formatted the ebook and paperback of Dead Magic
- Prepared for Dead Magic‘s release by setting up promos
- Ended up scrapping a short story I had planned to write
- Bought a word processor to help me focus
- Started plotting Selkie Cove, which will be book 5 of the Ingenious Mechanical Devices
What I hope to achieve in November:
- Read 4 books
- Keep up with grading/feedback for my students
- Tweak the syllabus for my creative writing class
- Write 10,000 words of Selkie Cove
- Launch Dead Magic on November 10th
October has been a recover month for me. With all of the prep for Dead Magic coming out and the amount of grading I’ve been doing, I have been more than burnt out. Teaching is something I love doing, but I’m still not accustomed to it. Because I’m an introvert by nature, I often leave campus feeling high and fried at the same time. What I’m hoping is that by time I teach in the spring, I’ll be more acclimated to this sort of energy expulsion. As of right now, I’m also scheduled to teach less days next semester, which may help.
What else have I been up to? Well, I started writing a short story that I thought I would publish by Halloween, but it just wasn’t working out. Most of the time, I believe in pushing through and finishing what I start. This time, I knew it wasn’t working out. It took me days to type out a few thousand words that weren’t very good. I scrapped it for now. In the future, I’ll work on it again or incorporate the idea into a future book. It’s a doable storyline but now isn’t the right moment for it.
Most importantly, DEAD MAGIC IS COMING OUT IN A FEW DAYS!!! *screams internally* I’m so excited to share this book with everyone. I think it’s my favorite thus far, and I desperately want others to read it because I can’t really talk about it with anyone considering all of two people have read it. On top of launching Dead Magic, I’ve also begun working on the fifth book in the series, Selkie Cove, which I hope to finish by next spring. It feels great to be writing again and not editing. As much as I love editing, it’s much more draining than actually writing.
Remember to keep an eye out for Dead Magic, which is coming out this Thursday, November 10th in ebook and paperback.
Kara Jorgensen 