Upstream Updates: May Edition!

All right! It’s time for another monthly update! April wasn’t as productive as I wanted it to be... But I did accomplish some of the goals I had!

New Anthology Release!

 

First things first: the anthology containing my short story, “The Starborn Legacy”, is now available on most online stores! You can find it on GooglePlay, Amazon, and Smashwords.

DROWNED IN MOONLIGHT is dedicated to the memory of Carrie Fisher, and all the proceeds go to benefit the International Bipolar Foundation, for their efforts in researching and improving our treatment and understanding of all kinds of mental health. I am very grateful to have participated with so many talented writers, and so proud at the way our efforts came together just in time for Star Wars weekend!

The Dragon’s Mark

So I created myself a plot that would work into what I already had for the framework of this story, and came up with a convincing plot line (pretty sure)—and now I am blowing through my allotted word count and only just coming up on halfway.

Bottom line? I’m probably not going to be done with it in time to get it prettied up for the anthology deadline in June. I wanted to have it finished by now, but I am giving myself only 2 weeks to get to the 10K mark, at which point I will need to check how far along I am, and whether I can get it finished in time to make it shorter for the anthology.

But even if I don’t submit it, that doesn’t mean I can’t share it with you guys! Some of it might sound familiar, as I borrowed heavily from the related sections of the Legend of The Ecrivaine, at least in the beginning. But after that, it’s entirely new territory, and a new twist on old material that I hadn’t explored before. So it might be worth it, for that, perhaps? I am really enjoying the story, and the way it’s working out is very cool! Just wish it didn’t take this long to get something on paper...

The Last Inkweaver

We have reached Aberon! I am most surprised that the first encounter with Morgianna did not at all go like I was expecting, and further unlike Draft 1. I think what happened was the first time I write it, I was so focused on what my characters were doing, and even my poor narrator was so focused on herself, that they managed most of the journey without seeing anybody they weren’t supposed to see. Which means they travel for vast stretches of miles without seeing anybody. Improbable, right? Yep, that’s changing. Aberon is a bustling metropolis! There’s a gate, armed guards are checking passports (just in case you’re trying to gain entrance for unsavory reasons) or badges of the people going in, and registering those who stay more than two days. I decided it would make more sense for Morgianna to want to show Callista around the town if she realized she was wearing a royal crest. Callista might have used it to get into the city, but Morgianna assumes that it means Callista is being bankrolled by the Royal Court... Fun times ahead! If I can buckle down and get focused, I will hopefully complete Chapter 13 this month, and still have enough momentum to move on to Chapter 14!

Wattpad

Wattpad still goes well! Garnering many followers there... though it seems to be my fanfiction garnering the most attention! I have 2 fanfics going on, one for Supernatural crossing over with Grimm, called "Keep Portland Grimm", and one because the show Once Upon A Time completely botched the supposed crossover with Once Upon A Time In Wonderland... so I wrote my own version of how they ought to have done it, and called it "Alice's Adventures In Storybrooke." The non-fanfiction project I have going is "The Suggestion Box, Volume 4: The A to Z Challenge" which, as you know, was my most recent endeavor... but that one is finishing up just this week, so now I'm wondering what I should start posting next? Would you all like to see "Priscilla Sum" on there? I suppose I could go back and finish up "The Amazon Triangle", seeing as I am pretty much out of pre-written stuff... or I could start posting my contemporary adaptation of Jane Austen's "Persuasion," known as "Merely Meredith." It's not finished, and I've attempted to write a beginning several times, and pretty much gave up as many times... but perhaps some input via a new platform would give me the jumpstart I need... Heh... Who am I kidding? With my luck, it will probably be something completely not any of these, and I'll just start posting out of the blue... Stay tuned!

Word Count Goals

Sadly, I was just under 500 words short of my monthly goal of 25,000 words in April—but I am going to try to make it in May! It helps that I have two fairly inspirational projects going, so any progress I can make on them is only going to carry me further to my goal! I think my problem in April was that there were just too many days where I was too busy or exhausted to sit down and write—but no more! I’m going to try and write on as many days as I can, particularly the weekends. Let the stories flow!

Reading

So at this point in the month, I only managed to finish the “featured read”, Fire’s Song, and about half of the Sue Grafton book, S is for Silence. It’s pretty good so far, interesting that it’s a cold case, not an active one, so I’m really honing in on the revelations of the events surrounding the case, to see if I can pick up any clues and figure it out before Kinsey does. Also, I renewed the library books, which gives me about two or three more weeks to read the two books... Man! I miss the days when I could read a book in a single day! When did I get to be such an old gnat, easily fatigued and overly distracted??

I recently started on the next book on my Reader’s Review list, The Secret King: Lethao by Dawn Chapman. Fascinating bit of sci-fi so far!

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That's all for May, so far! Wish me luck! In the meantime, what are some of your goals for this month? Let me know in the comments!

Catch You Further Upstream!