Long time no see, everyone! It’s been a bit chaotic around here for the past eight weeks or so while I was working on the new layout and format. There was no monthly update in April due to the site being down for rebranding, and I was surprised by how muddled my life became when I didn’t have you all to check-in with. It’s definitely time to reinstate the monthly updates!
April, as you know, was full of website building and logo designing. I honestly had planned to wait until July for the official re-launch, but I got really excited and carried away into web design, and before I knew it I was at the point where I needed to take the site down to do the actual redesign. Curio Street Reads has now been rolled into The Curio Street Blog, and they’ve been rebranded as Highlights and Hot Chocolate. I’ve been keeping up with the weekly book reviews, but I’ve also been debating a little with how best not to back myself into a corner. The focus of this site is writing and literature, but it’s not necessarily a ‘book blog’. I’d call it more of a lifestyle blog with an emphasis on writing, editing, and reading. This self-definition allows me to play around with other things, like film/TV reviews, recipes, and D.I.Y. bits if an idea strikes me. And that’s what makes blogging exciting: I’m the boss. I get to decide how, when, and what gets published.
May has been quite interesting so far. I signed up for NetGalley, an online book review site that connects beta readers with publishing companies. So far I’ve been approved for four ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies), and reviews for those will be coming soon! It’s all thanks to you guys that I’m able to get these advanced editions because availability is all based on audience size, so THANK YOU! Y’all are amazing.
In other life news, I spent last weekend in Maine celebrating my sister’s college graduation. It’s been an amazing four years watching her excel in classes and Timbersports competitions, and I’m almost sad it’s over. But I am so SO excited to see where life takes her next, and I am incredibly proud of everything she’s already accomplished. She’s definitely more prepared for the real world than I was at graduation. The idea of job hunting scared me to death, but she’s right up there in the fray, chipping away at the mountain of possibilities, looking for a piece big enough to suit her. I know it won’t be too long before she lands somewhere fantastic.
While I’m definitely tired from all the driving this past weekend, I’m not letting it get me down. I signed up for a free 10-day trial of oneOeight, a yoga and wellness site based in Aruba, and I’m diving into meditations and some basic yoga to boost my energy levels. I was on the fence about this program back in March, but I’ve been doing a lot of research on it, and I think it’s worth the $14/mo. Many of the yogis are among my favorites, and I am definitely someone who needs guided practices. Besides oneOeight, I’ve also been tuning into Yoga With Adriene, who’s based out of Austin, Texas and has some of THE BEST beginner yoga lessons. Both websites are amazing, and I’m not really sure what I would do without them.
Writing has been interesting. My cousin, whom I watch during the day, is just over one-year-old now, and he’s decided he only needs one nap a day. Great for him. Bad for my writing. With what time I’ve had, I’ve mostly been stewing on the next scene I need to write and realizing that I don’t know my secondary characters well enough to write it. My story tends to be very involved, especially for me, though I’m sure 90% of what I’m writing will get cut from the final copy. I’m the sort of person who needs to have an entire family history back to the beginning of time for everyone. Even the characters who have no names have names, you just don’t need to know what they are for the purposes of the specific story I’m telling. So I’ve been working on some of my more prominent secondary characters, those who make prolonged appearances and need to have coherent personalities. I’ve finished four of the six people I need in order to write this next scene so far, and I think that’s pretty good. Writing backstories also tends to color in bits and pieces of country history and helps cement my world together, which always makes me feel like my work is worthwhile, even if it often seems like I’m procrastinating on the actual scene writing.
I think that’s all for now, so let’s take a look at how I’m doing on the goals side of things.
TOTY 24 Goals: Write Every Day: I’m definitely not writing every single day, but I’m definitely brainstorming every day, and that’s a huge step in the right direction.
Apply to Full-Time Jobs: As my little one-year-old cousin prepares to head to daycare this summer, I am beginning my search for a full-time salary job that will allow me to get a place of my own and save copious amounts of money for graduate school.
Apply to Grad School: ACCEPTED INTO THE EMERSON COLLEGE M.A. PROGRAM FOR WRITING AND PUBLISHING, BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 2017.
2017 Goals:
Stick to My Budget: This is still going much better than expected. I’m saving but not feeling like I had to cut off my arm to do so.
Pay Lots of Student Loans: Also going well! I might be able to pay off $5,000 worth by the end of the year.
Build Savings Account: My little savings account is growing! I’m pretty proud of myself, even if it’s still a relatively small amount.
Spend Less Than $500 on Books This Year: This is still a struggle, but I think I might just succeed.
Only Buy New Clothes Seasonally: CHECK!
Get 8+ hours of sleep/Go to bed by 10 pm: HA.
Only Watch Three Movies/Five Episodes Per Week: I’ve been doing so much reading that I have completely neglected my TV watching. I only watched one more episode of Stranger Things, and while I’m not really excited about it yet (maybe because I’m pretty sure I know where it’s going?), it’s still relatively interesting without being too creepy. I was also watching Chesapeake Shores, but it was only on Netflix for a month and I didn’t get to finish it. At the end of March, I speed-watched six seasons of Bones because they were being taken off of Netflix the week after the series finale aired on Fox, but I was only able to do that because I’ve watched 85% of the episodes already and just needed a refresher on the larger story arcs. Lat but not least, I discovered a show that was originally on SciFi/SyFy called Wynonna Earp and it is WICKED GOOD. I mean that. There are wicked demons from Hell. Seriously. Wyatt Earp’s family is cursed to have to kill the same people over and over again and only the heir that kills them all can break the curse. It’s a modern western/police drama and the cast and storyline are beyond diverse and it’s just amazing. Once I finish Stranger Things and Wynonna Earp, I’ll finally move on to The Last Kingdom, which there are now two seasons of. If I don’t watch Girlboss first.
Finish Craft Projects: I haven’t made any progress at all over the last eight weeks. I’m disappointed in myself.
Post Regularly: Getting a little better at this!
Keep Up With Book Reviews: So far, so good!
Plan Monthly Post Schedules: Also going pretty well!
Read 50+ Books: I’m currently sitting at 24 books, but I’m looking to hit 30 before the next update goes live!
Get In Shape: Now that it’s finally warming up outside, I might stand a chance at completing this one!
Walk 40+ Miles Per Month: April = 50.7 Miles. So far this month I’m right around 30 miles, and we’re only halfway through! I’m doing a lot of driving over the next couple weekends though, so it’s all going to come down to weekday walks instead of weekend exploring.
Finish Everest Draft: Not even close.
Write 20,000 Words Per Month: My ‘much smaller’ goal for this month is 4,000 words of manuscript, but that’s only going to happen if I finish these character backstories. Someday I’m probably going to release all the histories in some sort of character dictionary. I can’t wait to see people’s heads roll with the amount of information I have on every living thing in this universe. It makes me happy to know that someday I’ll get to see the awe on their faces. There’s definitely more history than manuscript at the moment, and no matter how much of the manuscript I write, I think it’s going to stay that way.
Run a 5K in under 30 Minutes: Someday.
April/May Goals:
Walk 40+ Miles Each Month: YES and ALMOST YES!
Run: Nope.
Yoga: I’m supplementing this with Meditation, and so far, so good!
Read Lots of Books: (* indicates finished) April: *Disenchanted: The Trials of Cinderella by Megan Morrison *Double Down by Gwenda Bond *Searching For Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede *The Alchemists of Loom by Elise Kova *Cotillion by Georgette Heyer
May: *Triple Threat by Gwenda Bond *The Singer of All Songs by Kate Constable *The Magnificent Flying Baron Estate by Eric Bower The Waterless Sea by Kate Constable The Tenth Power by Kate Constable Pretty Happy by Kate Hudson Molly Bell and the Wishing Well by Bridget Geraghty A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
Write 5+ Book Reviews in May: *Double Down *Cotillion *The Singer of All Songs Triple Threat The Magnificent Flying Baron Estate Pretty Happy A Conjuring of Light
Write 8,000 Words of Everest: My brain just keeps up a refrain of ‘Backgrounds first. Backgrounds first. Backgrounds first.’ It’s exhausting.
So, those are my goals. What are some of your goals right now? Are you working for a promotion? Getting ready to graduate college or high school? Working towards a summer beach body? Join the discussion in the comments!
Until next time,
Amanda