Progress Report: October 2017

This much-belated report gives a quick overview of writing and publishing activity in October 2017. October was the last month of university assessment, for me—ever, and a very busy month besides. I had four Indonesian exams (spoken, vocabulary, grammar, and translation from Indonesian to English), two essays-in-lieu of exams, and two sets of family visiting from interstate: one in October, and the other in late October or early November, when the exams would be held. And then there were the usual class attendances, which had to be made to fulfil course requirements.

That was October’s ‘real life’ component. In addition, I had two releases, only one of which was already on pre-order. The other was a young adult novel, which only had the cover completed; the rest of the editing and formatting was waiting. It was due mid-month. I also had to try to work out what next year’s release schedule looked like so I could start writing and publishing for it in November, when all the assessments were handed in. And, finally, I wanted to participate in NaNoWriMo, which started November 1st.

A lot of things slid in October, but I did not compromise the quality of my exam essay submissions, my exam preparation, or the publishing of Army Boots and Stilettos. All those got done to the very best of my ability. I even managed to keep up with Babes for that month. Unfortunately, Babes was one of the things that slid towards the end of the month, and I’m only just making my way towards restarting work on it.

I ended up with a mild dose of the flu, and my back going (although not badly enough to put me in bed for the week, fortunately), but made it through, with a very dented writing and release schedule for November. NaNo wasn’t looking good.

Overall Progress for October 2017

• New words produced: 5,609
• Outlines and Notes: Nil
• Works completed: 2 (Dreams of the Serpent, Memory’s Vampire)
• Works edited: 1 (Army Boots & Stilettos)
• Covers created: 0
• Works published: 1 (Army Boots & Stilettos)
• Works submitted: 0
• Competitions Entered: 0
• Bloggery: 4,530
• University Prep and Assignments: 7,676

Cord thought boarding school was a long way from home—until she was chosen for a traineeship with Bluebirds Mining. After that, who knew where home might be? Or how to get back to it? Or even if she could. With her mind playing tricks on her, and her best friend in the same boat, Cord is in it, but deep. Now, all she has to do is find a way out.

Army Boots & Stilettos is the first book in the Space Adventures series, which is a series of science fiction adventures set in space, or on the colonies of newly discovered worlds. Each book is a stand-alone story that can be read without needing to read other books in the series.