I can’t really tell if May flew by or dragged its feet. On one hand, I can’t believe it’s already June, with summer weather in full swing in MD. On the other, it feels like a lot has happened in the last month, both personally and otherwise.

My short take on current protests around the US:

Black Live Matter.

Now then, onto events primarily taking place at the simple new desk pictured above.

First off, I want to officially welcome MErb back to the Evening Satellite blog! She was a frequent contributor in the early days of Red String PaperCuts (this site’s predecessor), and after losing touch for a few years, we’re pen pals and fellow writers from opposite coasts once again. Full credit to Marcy for rekindling our friendship, because I’m terrible at keeping in touch with people 🙂

So, how did my writerly goals pan out in May?

Last Month’s Goals

1. Write 12,000 words.
2. Outline part 2.
3. Continue reading.
4. Continue lifting random heavy objects?

Write 12,000 words?

Yes, and then some! I wrote 15,054 words in May, all for the second draft of “The Herb Witch” part 1. That brought me to 23,000 words for the story overall, out of a projected 32k.

I have reached and surpassed the point at which I stopped writing my first draft, so it’s all new content from here, which is why my word count has slowed the last week or so. Still, I’m excited to be in the final stretch for this story and thinking quite a bit more about the sequel.

Also, I finally settled on a title, both for my short story, and for the larger series:

“Uprooted”

The Herb Witch Tales #1

I decided to go with this format for a title for a couple reasons:

1. I didn’t want a super long main title.
2. I wanted to connect the two (or more) stories I’m planning to write while still making it clear that they are mostly independent stories.
3. A subtitle/series title allows me an easy way to publish multiple stories into one print volume, something I’d like to do after releasing them independently in ebook format.
4. The series title is open-ended, so I can always come back to it to write subsequent stories.

I still don’t know what #2 is called and probably won’t until I’m well into writing it.

Outline part 2?

Speaking of which, I took some notes on part 2, mostly to set the stage so I know where the characters are and how they got there from part 1. I know the overall gist of the story, but I’m focused on finishing part 1.

Continue reading?

Yes, although my print reading slowed in May, I finished another Audible Original that left me with no strong feelings whatsoever, and have started a sci-fi military short that I’m already pretty into.

I’m also reading a print novel, but haven’t really dived into it yet.

Continue lifting random heavy objects?

In a way, yes, if by “random heavy object” we mean myself. I started doing yoga again, and I’ve been pretty good about doing at least one session almost every day. Sometimes my wife joins, sometimes not.

And that’s cool, because I’ve found I really enjoy power yoga, which consists of more body resistance training. I can hold normal crow and side crow on both sides for 10-20 seconds each, and I’m working on strengthening my core.

I enjoy it, and I see it fitting into my fitness routine going forward, which is the key. Whenever gyms open back up in MD, I can focus on the strength training exercises I like a few times per week, and use daily yoga practice to fill in gaps, stay flexible, and complement my weight-lifting.

I highly recommend Sarah Beth Yoga on YouTube.

Goals for June

1. Finish the second draft of “Uprooted”. I’d like to finish this as early as possible in the month, but we’ll see how that goes. As long as I finish this draft.
2. Write 12,000 words. This will be harder to reach because I’m no longer rewriting, but still feasible. Finishing part 1 and making some decent headway into part 2 should get me there.
3. Continue reading. I’ll definitely finish (and probably review) the military sci-fi short I’m reading.
4. Continue doing yoga daily (or almost daily). I’ve found that even just practicing a few power poses for 10-15 seconds each day makes an incredible difference. Obviously, I prefer to have a solid 15-30 session though. I haven’t gotten into any 60-minute sessions yet. Maybe next month.

Steve D