Okay, slight exaggeration, more like 47, but who’s counting? I feel like every day I should wake up to the Big Brother voice over or, at the very least, be making daily updates into the star log.
I hope April was kind to you. Despite good intentions, I think the reality of being home 24/7 is so alien to most that, particularly if you are with your whole family, it messes with your motivation. Too busy working, cooking food, trying to locate said food like the hunter gatherer you’ve now become, along with homeschooling, daily exercise (ha!) and making sure everyone else under your roof is happy, you don’t want to socialise on the local forum that Barbara invited you to. You don’t want to join yet another Facebook group, do that course to better your skills, or get outside and make your garden look pretty. Even getting settled into a book, despite how good it is, is just not happening, so it’s no wonder you end up sitting in front of the TV at 2am drinking another glass of wine, and then feeling slightly confused as to why it’s taking you until 10am to crawl out of bed every day.
Just me? Oh well, I’d best get on with my monthly update then.
The highlight of April, for me, was Camp NaNoWriMo, and I’m pleassed to say……(drum roll)…………..
That’s right, I’m a winner! Somewhere within the chaos I was able to delve into my brain that is slowly turning to mush and pull out 21,317 of my 15,000 word target. I also did the 5 hours of research that I had planned for my ‘Otsana’ project. It’s likely to be what I work on during the main event in November.
I had hoped that adding so many words to Sorceress of Flame would bring it close to the end of my first draft. Not a chance. It currently sits at 78,479 words and is nowhere near finished. I don’t want to drag the story into a third book, as I don’t think it warrants one, but it will mean that the second installment will be longer than the first.
So, onto May, and what does that have in store?
For me, it’s much the same as April. I’m aiming for 15,000 words towards Sorceress of Flame and, hopefully, the completion of the first draft. I’m also going to try and fit in a read through of the first half so I can get that over to my editor, to make sure I’m going in the right direction.
As predicted, my husband, and possibly daughter, are feeling a little neglected after Camp NaNo, so I need to try and fit in more family time too.
I’d love to know what you’ve been getting up to so, feel free to comment below or follow me on Instagram. Right, back to it! These housemates of mine won’t feed themselves, unfortunately.
Stay healthy. Stay home. Stay safe.
Speak soon, Jodie xxx