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2024 Q2 Quarter 2 Update

I had planned to sit down and write this post at the end of June. I swear I only let a little bit of time pass, and yet somehow it's just about the end of July and I still haven't looked at my goals. The last quarter has been very hectic with work and with a few trips back and forth to visit with family. Compared to prior years, there's been far less travel this summer! That will all change in the fall, but for now I am really enjoying being in my house and tending to my garden. 

  • April: Wrote just under 3,000 words of shorts and writing exercises. Mostly, I read non-fiction and took a break from writing this month. 
  • May: Re-outlined Predacide and revised the first third of the book. By revising 18 scenes, I managed to cut 101 words. Not impressive on the word count front, but I am really happy with the direction this book took with this latest revision. 
  • June: Added 9,000 words to Predacide over 26 scenes. 
  • July: We're still in July, but it seems silly not to report this out now: in the first 14 days of July, I revised the last 18 scenes of Predacide and added another 4,500 words to it. In the week since I've drafted the query and started seeking out beta readers. 

The obligatory check-in on annual goals: 

  1. Revamp and continue querying Garden Party. Check-mark. Querying is going, though I have really slowed down on sending this book out as I finished up Predacide. 
  2. Finish Predacide and send to betas. Check-mark! I am working on identifying beta readers now, but I have a handful with the book in their possession. More, I am really happy with where this draft has landed, and I can't wait to see what readers think about the ending. 
  3. Beta read 6 books. Still have only finished one. I'm in the middle of 2, which is still behind schedule. I am hoping that I'll have more attention to spend on beta reading now that I'm out of deep drafting mode. 
  4. Develop my voice. I think this is going okay. In a recent critique group, someone mentioned spotting a "classic Audely--gross but I like it" line. I'm okay with that. With everything I write, I'm trying to focus on getting the details right for the character, and really considering how the character would see the world. 
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