September Progress Report

September 14, 2014 / Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

September’s Goals
1. Work toward finishing current WIP (trans* story).
2. Do an editing pass on SaP (shifters).
3. Work on baby blanket (for my second niece). This isn’t writing related, which I’m trying to focus on more, but this is going to suck some time and it needs to be done for the solstice, latest, so I need to give it some serious attention (and it’s going to take forever).

September feels like its been going well, so here’s how it looks:

1. Making progress. Probably have 2K left, but it’s all wrapping-up/ending stuff. Which I haven’t really thought through, so it may be like pulling teeth. I’m also looking for beta readers for this one, which I’m hoping will motivate me to finish this. Or maybe they can tell me how to end it 😛

2. I’ve started this. Slowly. I got a little distracted by HtPD this week. I’m actually happy with some of the additions I made to HtPD, so my beta gave good feedback. Now I’m waiting for my other beta. And I’m going to try to figure out who will take a 9K story (because I don’t see another 1 K coming out of it.

3. Working on it 😛 This takes forever.

Overall pretty happy with things. I’m super excited/nervous about my WIP and if it’s any good. It was one of those that just came out so easily in the middle bits, which either means really good things or…not.

Wake me up when… Shit.

August 31, 2014 / Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

August’s goals

1. Apply what I learned from Code Academy into a website project.
2. 1,000 more words written
3. Review HtPD and see if it can become something. Currently it’s super short so it either needs to get more written for it to stand alone, or I need to hunt down an anthology for it to fit into.

August was different than I was expecting.
1. NOPE. I did absolutely nothing for this. I think because I lost my momentum after June, this goal just fizzled and died.

2. YES. This is actually where all my efforts went. I probably wrote roughly 7,000 words this month (guestimate). I made good progress on a current WIP, and I’m feeling positive about it. I felt since this was going well, I’d go along with it rather than derail potential progress here for Goal 1 work.

3. I sent it to a beta, and it’s currently with another beta, who has offered up some ideas that need development. I don’t know if I have 1,500 words of development, but if I do, that’s going to be awesome. I’m waiting for the final report from the Beta 2, but I’m busy with the other WIP, so I’m not too worried about this.

I looked around at a few places for this one, but the length is going to need to go up first for pretty much any publisher I send it to, so I’m focusing more on the revision than anything right now.

And now…September.

September’s Goals
1. Work toward finishing current WIP (trans* story).

2. Do an editing pass on SaP (shifters).

3. Work on baby blanket (for my second niece). This isn’t writing related, which I’m trying to focus on more, but this is going to suck some time and it needs to be done for the solstice, latest, so I need to give it some serious attention (and it’s going to take forever).

August, Not Too Bad

August 17, 2014December 4, 2018 / Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

August’s goals1. Apply what I learned from Code Academy into a website project.
2. 1,000 more words written
3. Review HtPD and see if it can become something. Currently it’s super short so it either needs to get more written for it to stand alone, or I need to hunt down an anthology for it to fit into.

August is flying by just as fast as the other months. It’s my birthday month, so you’d think it’d give me some leniency. Nope. I’ve been house-sitting for my parents and my brother, plus I went to Otakon (an anime convention). It’s been a bit crazy 🙂 But I haven’t fallen completely down on the job.

1. Okay, this hasn’t gotten any work done. See above craziness. I have a feeling this is going to fall by the wayside, because writing and editing are more important right now.

2. Yep. I didn’t keep exact track, but I’m pretty sure I’ve hit this mark already. Woo! The story I’m working on is slow going and kind of mellow, but I’m hoping once the drama starts, then the pace will fly by.

3. I sent HtPD to a beta reader and got some positive feedback, so I want to move forward with it. I’m not sure I can get the longer word count I need to make it into something, and it’s too short even for most anthologies, although I think they might let it slide for that. I just sent it to another reader and will await her verdict to see if I can squeeze a few thousand or more words out of this sucker.

So that’s that. While I didn’t set many goals for this month, I’ve been doing plenty off-screen (generally editing, writing, and scrounging up submissions for HtPD…and taking care of various households).

And because I just finished cooking it, here’s some homemade applesauce (I leave the peels on for…health reasons. Yeah, not because I’m super lazy).

Goals for the birthday month

July 27, 2014 / Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

July’s goals1. Finish one level of Code Academy – That’s 6 hours of stuff, so it’s a mouthful, but hopefully I won’t choke.
2. Read a new, nonwork-related book. Just one. I mostly have been rereading old favorites and stuff for work. And I’ll even count rereading books that I read a long time ago (pre-accident) and no longer remember.
3. Work on side project of mystery goal.
4. Write a thousand words OR prep a story for submission. Oh yeah, I do that sometimes, don’t I?

I actually wasn’t expecting to do as well here as I did. I threw a lot of stuff down hoping I’d do some of it and feel victorious.Instead:

1. Finished the HTML/CSS level of Code Academy. I’m not sure how much I remembered, and I’m planning on making a cheat sheet for the codes, and I want to apply what I’ve learned to a “website” but I feel good about what I learned.

2. This was a slight cheat, because I re-read Whistling in the Dark. That counts as a non-work book, but it’s also one I’ve read before. I also read it because I had just finished working on two historical novels, and I had an itch to read it again. For my house-sitting adventure, I’ve packed a novel to read, but not sure that’s gonna happen. Time works differently here.

3. I did what I set out to do so far with this. The project still has groundwork I need to do, but I feel like I took the big step that I needed to here.

4. I wrote 1,000+ words for BAW, plus some other stuff, so this was a win. However, it also brought to my attention how much more work BAW needs. GROAN.

August’s goals
1. Apply what I learned from Code Academy into a website project.

2. 1,000 more words written

3. Review HtPD and see if it can become something. Currently it’s super short so it either needs to get more written for it to stand alone, or I need to hunt down an anthology for it to fit into.

I think that’s it for now. I’m feeling all panicky today, so I’m not sure if I’m underachieving or if I’m overachieving right now.

Nearly Ides of July

July 13, 2014 / Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

July’s goals1. Finish one level of Code Academy – That’s 6 hours of stuff, so it’s a mouthful, but hopefully I won’t choke.
2. Read a new, nonwork-related book. Just one. I mostly have been rereading old favorites and stuff for work. And I’ll even count rereading books that I read a long time ago (pre-accident) and no longer remember.
3. Work on side project of mystery goal.
4. Write a thousand words OR prep a story for submission. Oh yeah, I do that sometimes, don’t I?

Well, I haven’t bombed yet.

1. I haven’t actually worked on this at all. I may have overaimed here, not realizing how busy summer is, especially when I’m trying to do stuff.

2. Technically I did this. It wasn’t quite what I’d had in mind, but I re-read Whistling in the Dark by Tamara Allen, which I haven’t read in years, so it counts (and I’d forgotten much of what happened). So yes, this one is done.

3. I finished step one of mystery side project. I’ve started on step 2. For better or worse.

4. I was very lucky and last weekend I think I blasted out my thousand words for the ending of BAW. I still have plenty of work to go on it, but it’s progress and lets me check this one off.

Still the rest of the month to go, so hopefully I’ll pick up slack where it’s happening. But I’d like to do a little more with number four. …and I may have just gotten an idea of what to do with it.

July? You’re kidding me…

July 2, 2014December 4, 2018 / Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

June’s goals
1. Finish BAW (edits and at least start fleshing out the ending).

One goal. One not-that-big goal.

Okay, so it’s not completely true.
I didn’t FAIL. I did finish reading through and doing rough edits. However, once I completed that, I just flat-lined.

And I swear there was a DNR lying around or something. Because there was no life in my pen this month. And it just flew by.

So I got the edits done, wrote the first line of the rest of the damn thing, but haven’t done the major reworking that needs done. So it’ll probably be on this coming month’s list.

I’ve also begun a new venture, which will probably take some of my time up, and I want to start learning computer coding, because it’s useful and could be good for some future plans. AKA, I’m piling more things on my plate than I can possibly handle. And I still haven’t gotten in touch with the local writers’ group.

July’s goals
1. Finish one level of Code Academy – That’s 6 hours of stuff, so it’s a mouthful, but hopefully I won’t choke.

2. Read a new, nonwork-related book. Just one. I mostly have been rereading old favorites and stuff for work. And I’ll even count rereading books that I read a long time ago (pre-accident) and no longer remember.

3. Work on side project of mystery goal.

4. Write a thousand words OR prep a story for submission. Oh yeah, I do that sometimes, don’t I?

I’m hoping lots of smaller goals will help me complete them, now that I’m getting in the rhythm of my new life.

May, we hardly knew you.

May 29, 2014 / Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

May’s goals
1. Finish 1st reads on BAW. Maybe start developing things.
2. Finish current 2 knitting projects.

Okay. Yeah. So May was…something else.

1. I haven’t touched BAW edits since the end of April. Part of it is adjusting to the new job and trying to step away from work-ish things in my free time, part of it is the writing I’ve been doing, part of it is being at the barn. But most of it is just keeping away from work-ish things. Also, I’m a little intimidated to finish edits, because then the hard work begins…

2. I finished both knitting projects (both scarves), and have begun (because reading Amy Lane’s Blackbird Knitting in a Bunny’s Lair inspired me) to put together a mitered square blanket. So I’m taking all my scrap yarn and all the cheap acrylic stuff I gathered over the last few years, and I’m mitering it up into a blanket. Some of the colors are very bright (like rainbow yarn and orange creamcicle) so I have to do each one separate so I can lay them all out and organize it not to look hideous. I also have no idea how many each partial ball/skein will make, so I’m just going along with it.

And now…

June’s goals

1. Finish BAW (edits and at least start fleshing out the ending).

Just one goal this month. First off, summers are busy, I’m dealing with the new job, and this is one task that I’d really like to get done so I can move on.

My friend uses this reward system where she has things she wants to buy and things she wants/needs to get done and can only buy things when she completes the task. I’ve done it before and it worked out pretty well.

I made up a list of BIG things I want to buy. Unfortunately, the task list is currently empty. Most, if not all, the items on the list are too pricey to be equal to completing my monthly goals, so maybe that’s the problem. But we’ll see. Maybe I need to put “Write 50,000 words in _____ novel.”

Coming Out

May 19, 2014 / Alex Whitehall / 2 Comments

So despite the fact that I work for an LGBT publisher, most of my friends are on the LGBT spectrum, and I’ve taught my mom things about the LGBT community and identity, I’ve never been out to my parents.

Part of this is because I feel that coming out shouldn’t be a thing I have to do. No one should. We shouldn’t assume anything about anybody. Not really. Part of my not coming out was worry about how my father would take it. And part of it is just the flexibility that my identity encompasses. Coming out seems like trying to put my identity in a picture frame, when it reality it’s more like a lava lamp.

But on Mothers’ Day, my mom and I were chatting and she asked, “Are you gay?”

And I answered, “Yes. Sorta. It’s complicated. But yes, I’m on the LGBT spectrum.”

Because explaining that currently I’m probably identifying as gray-asexual, panromantic, genderqueer is complicated.

We talked a little about why she suspected and she asked if I was okay with it. (She’s a guidance counselor and knows depression can be a problem among LGBT youths. I explained that since I had my own financial support and great friends, I was okay. Plus, my brother would totally side with me if my parents had disowned me.) I didn’t stress that my depression had nothing to do with being LGBT.

And then she asked why I didn’t tell her. And I asked if my brother had come out to her as straight. No, of course not. And I asked why it was any different. Just because it’s not the ‘norm’ doesn’t mean I should have to announce it. Do I have to come out about liking that Finnish band I dig? That’s not common either. Or hating scrapple and growing up Pennsylvania Dutch. That’s outside the norm.

If we stop making assumptions about people, then we can find out when the time is right. Because otherwise in college I would have told them I’m bisexual. And then tweaked that description. And then again. Because I’m still finding myself.

Also, until it is involved in their lives, I’m not sure why it really matters. I don’t tell them about kink stuff, do I?

Yeah, pretty sure they don’t want to hear that. 😀

So my mom (and I assume she told my dad) know I’m on the LGBT spectrum.

And ten minutes later she asked why I don’t shave my legs. I replied, “Why doesn’t Dad shave his legs?”

I’m not sure she’s quite caught on. But it’s a step.

May already?

May 1, 2014 / Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

April’s goals
1. Do light edits/clean up 2 shorter stories and find beta readers to see if they are worth seeing the light of day.
2. Work on BAW, which I just printed out. That’s kind of a monster of a task, since I need to write the end and reevaluate the whole thing. Cue weeping.
3. Get out to the barn more and actually get on a horse. For the first time in nearly 2 years.

Okay.

1. I only got to one, but it needed a lot more text added, so I think that counts. And it can’t go to a beta because I want to do another read since I added so much. I think that was pretty solidly done.

2. I’m a little over halfway done my read on this. It definitely needs a lot of work, so this will be ongoing, but I made fairly good progress. Not as much as I would have liked, but progress.

3. Did it. Yay! Unfortunately there is going to be a hiccup in my insurance coverage soon, so that may interfere with more riding for a bit.

May’s goals

1. Finish 1st reads on BAW. Maybe start developing things.

2. Finish current 2 knitting projects.

I have a lot going on in my personal life right now (job change, mainly), so that’s all I’m aiming for in May. Knitting has been a good relaxant for me, although I wasn’t really using it much. I feel like I want to do more, but things are so out of sorts right now that pushing more seems like I’d be pushing myself for failure. I’m feeling rather tenuous as is, so let’s leave it at that.