Where did January go? I swear we just started the month a week ago, and we’re already done? Wow. At least I managed to get some things done this month.

Projects

I’ve got physical proofs of Champion Bold, and I’m reading through them to find last-draft corrections. Most of these are formatting errors: missing punctuation, or lengths of text that need to be italicized. Maybe one in five corrections is style, something that makes less sense to me now that I’ve had several weeks stepped back from the project. (For all you writers out there, this is why I recommend putting in several week breaks in the process: when you come back to the project, these things stand out all the more.)

I’m almost done with the supplement books. I’ve got all the artwork assembled; some of it I need to finish processing to add to the book. There are a few articles I need to complete, and a few pages where I want to add additional images or world-expanding text boxes to fill blank spaces.

Recently, I pulled out Book 3 and I’ve been writing in that again. I processed some of the things that bugged me in my previous draft and I’m working those into this draft. My editor has a copy of what I’ve done so far, and I’m looking forward to her feedback.

I’ve picked at some other projects last month. I looked at my fantasy draft and worked out some fixes that I’m starting to incorporate. I’m doing world building for some other projects, lots of histories, organizational building, or crafting magic and philosophical systems. The type of things where you work on it for a bit, take a step back, then return and delete half your work and keep at it.

February Goals

• Finish review of Champion Bold
• Order Proofs of Supplement Books
• Continue work on Book 3
• Knock items off other project to-do list

Books

• Angel Fire East (eBook; Fiction)
• The Best School in the World: West Point 1833-1866 (Non-fiction)
• The Other Queen (Fiction)
• Sapiens: A brief History of Humankind (Non-fiction)
• Hannibal (Audibook; Non-fiction)
• A Burton House Christmas (Fiction)

January was a bit odd reading-wise, because I ended up starting a lot more books than I meant to. Mostly this was due to library returns forcing me to discontinue reading before I had finished some books and reminding me to start the other library books before they became due. So, I’m actively reading through four books simultaneously. Which feels like a bit much, now that I’m no longer reading on the bus every day.

I did finish A Burton House Christmas, a small side-book in the Burton House Saga. It was an interesting aside book from the main narrative: six of the characters each tell a Christmas story, either a real experience of theirs or a fictional tale they wrote themselves. Each story has a different flavor and feel, but each feels like a Christmas story. A nice experience I didn’t get to until after the holiday season.

February Goals

• Finish two fiction titles
• Finish one non-fiction title
• Finish one research title

Movies / Shows

• Skeleton Crew
• Tenet
• Star Wars Visions Season 1

I made an effort in January to watch more new things, even if it was just one episode when I got home from work before I got lost on the computer screens. It helped.

Star Wars Visions is a show where each episode is a different story, animated by a different studio, giving it a different style and flare. Some of the episodes I really liked, feeling like old Samurai movies or anime films. Others felt more like the sort of anime shows I never got into as a teenager: I’m glad I watched them, but I don’t feel the need to see them again.

I watched one movie last month: Tenet, the time-warping movie from Christopher Nolan. This movie was not as bad as I’d heard, but it wasn’t great. There were a lot of things I liked about it, but it seemed to get into it’s own science a lot without explaining it enough to the audience. There was enough that didn’t make sense to me to disrupt my enjoyment. I’m glad I watched it, and I’d probably watch it again, but it’s not amongst my favorite movies.

February Goals

• Finish two season of TV
• Finish two movies

Games

Not much to add on this front. I’m playing through the same games I was last month. I just haven’t sat down and concentrated on any one game to knock it out. I’m sure I could if I wanted to, but that’s a lot of time, and I’ve got a lot of other projects I’d rather be working on. That being said, I’ll make an effort in February to make progress on my games. Maybe I’ll get in a streak and knock one out.

What’s Next

I have two events in the next few months.

March 22nd I’ll be at Lift Bridge Brewery in Stillwater. It’s a short, six hour event with several other authors. I’m hoping to have my book ready be then.

Then, Easter weekend, I have a table at Minicon, Friday through Sunday. I’m looking forward to that event as well.

And I should have a book launch party for Champion Bold. I’ll let you know when that is,

Until next time, keep on writing!

Cheers!

-Michael