Lieutenant Junior Grade’s Log, Entry 4: September Month Map and August Wrap-up!

This is a bit late this month, but for good reason! I’ve been hard at work on the JL’s upcoming horror anthology, and also preparing for the next anthology in planning.

Let’s take a brief look at how things rolled up in August…

Upgrade

I managed to get through the crits for two more chapters. That was about 20 crits, which was almost one a day. Not bad, though not as far as I’d hoped to get.

In Her Reflection — COMPLETE!

My short story for JLA #3 is complete and has been formatted with the other nine stories into ebook and paperback. The release date will be announced soon, along with a cover reveal!

JLA #4

Due to the pressing deadline of JLA #3, I actually moved the due date for JLA #4 back to September 7th. So I didn’t complete JLA #4 in August as I had hoped, but I did make a good amount of progress on it.

Within the Ironwood

I made plotting progress for this–it’s now in the storyboarding phase. However, because I didn’t finish the storyboarding, I didn’t have a chance to return to writing. So this goal is a bust, but for a good reason–the story will be stronger with a complete storyboard behind it when I start writing again.

Goodreads Challenge — COMPLETE!

I actually blew this goal out of the park! Over the course of the month, I read a total of 19 books. Granted, a good chunk of those were manga, but they’re still stories (and enjoyable ones, at that). My favorite read in August was Spellsmith and Carver: Magicians’ Trial by H. L. Burke. I’ll be reviewing this for Magic Monday later this month!

Overall, August was a very successful month, even if the month map doesn’t reflect that.

Now, onward to my September goals!

Upgrade

This is more of a bonus goal this month (okay, I was a little lazy and decided not to update the map to have it as a bonus goal). I only have six chapters left, though, so I’m hoping to at least get two chapters done this month.

Cooperative Writing Project

My writers’ group, the Just-Us League, has started a new, three-month project that involved pairing people up with random partners to write a story together. My partner and I have really clicked and we’re already deep into the plotting process. I’m hoping we’ll wrap up that part later this month and then dive into the writing part! I don’t want to share too many details yet, but I will say that dragons may be involved.

JLA #4 — COMPLETE!

I finished the first draft yesterday, the 8th… A day late, but the nice thing about my writers’ group is that there’s a little flexibility when it comes to anthology deadlines. Especially when you’re the person heading the anthology. (Not that I would ever abuse such power… I’m not the only one who needed a slight extension.)

The “short” story wound up being a whopping 9,200 words–a bit over the 7-8k limit. It’ll be trimmed down with revisions, though, I’m sure.

Within the Ironwood

My goal for this month is to finish the storyboard. Once that is done, I can dive into the writing process and hopefully complete a first draft within a few weeks.

Goodreads Challenge

I’m setting a modest goal of six books for this month, as that’s all I need to read to stay on top of my challenge.

What about you? How did August turn out? What are your plans for September?