April had many good, even great, things about it. One convention (Minicon) and one book fair (Rewind Bookfair). More progress on all my projects with the suggestion schedule. Drawings and educational videos. Lots of research.

But at the same time, while the suggestion schedule keeps me doing work on projects each day, I feel I need to make an effort to ensure that my major projects get major effort in a day. Every day, I need to spend time on the big projects and get big work done on them, and spend little time on the smaller projects. Especially on the days when I don’t have a lot of time to spare.

Projects

I’m at the point with The Colonel Lieutenant where I need to stop outlining and picking at it and get to writing. I’ve worked out the big and medium details, but I can’t fix the minor stuff until I start writing and the details get brought to the surface. So, I need to just buckle down and write, write, trip, fall over, stand up, and write some more.

The new draft of Orcfyre has a much fresher feel to it. The outline is tighter, and I’ve got some better world building behind it. What I’ve written so far is better focused and feels more like an adventure novel.

My first run at the 1st Minnesota project showed a number of issues I have to deal with. This is a much different monster than anything I’ve ever dealt with before; historical fiction needs so much more research behind it. And trying to get into the first scenes I had so many questions pop up I had to stop to research. So, I’m writing and researching and progressing. That, and I need to work on the character some; his first draft iteration was far too passive.

Other projects are going well; the suggestion schedule has me working on everything at least once a week. This means I’m actually working on each project, which leads to some unexpected progress in both directions. Several projects have raised in my estimation: I’ve worked out world details or plot points that mean I’m more likely to focus on them as viable projects for publication. Others, I’ve come to the conclusion they’re more difficult or less likely to bring out, at least right now, without a significant amount of work.

April Goals

The Colonel Lieutenant	Orcfyre	1st Minnesota
Break 120K words	Break 20K words	Break 20K words
Project Bible Ch 1-20	Act 1 Project Bible	Plot Out Book 1
Start Book Maps	Start Maps and Images	Good draft 1st Chapter
Dress Reds	Minor – Write/Add Words	Minor – World Build/PBRG Process
Break 25K words	Resurrection	Commonwealth
Plot Out Book 1	Contrition	SAF
Book 1 Project Bible	Retirement	Conarth Story
	Light Star Short Stories	Sasha 4
	Tales of the Templars	Champion Impact

Books

• War and Peace (Fiction, Audiobook)
• Seven Basic Plots (Research)
• Mr. Lincoln’s Army (Non-Fiction)
• The Measure of Magic (Fiction)
• The First Volunteers (Research)
• Second to None (Research)

I did some reading in April, but not enough to finish any of my books. It happens, especially when I’ve got so many research books at one time, and my audiobook is 6.3 million words.

I’ve had some success with reading before turning off my lights to sleep, and with the weather turning warm, I’ll have a chance to read on the deck. And, with some library books and ‘please read this we need to talk about it’, I’m going to have to read more anyway.

April Goals

• Finish one research book
• Finish one non-fiction book
• Finish two fiction books

Movies and Shows

• Stargate SG1 Season 1
• Starfleet Academy Season 1

I didn’t watch a whole lot this month (or at least a whole lot of new stuff). This is frustrating for two reasons. First, (and my common complaint) I have a long list of things to watch, and if I want to knock things off my list, I have to watch stuff. And two, Stargate is my gym show, so the fact I haven’t finished the first season means I haven’t been going to the gym.

April Goals

• Finish three seasons of TV shows
• Watch three movies

Games

• Humankind
• Mechwarrior 5
• Horizon Forbidden West

I tried a few new games this month. One was Humankind, a Civilization-style game that I found very enjoyable. I’m already on my second playthrough, trying a conquest run this time. It has the feel and base rules of a Civ game, adding its own unique twists on how civilizations are chosen and advance, and how cities and territories work. I believe I will enjoy playing this game for a while.

I also started playing Mechwarrior 5, but I haven’t gotten far enough into it to really have a response other than it looks cool so far.

April Goals

• Finish one game

What’s Next

I will be at QuantumCon in May, but I’m not sure in what capacity. I haven’t confirmed if I’ll have a table there, or if I’ll be visiting and enjoying the con as a guest.