Goodbye June

So June was the opposite of May. Less busy, less productive (or at least a different kind of productive). Let's take a look, shall we?

Life

Some pretty cool stuff happened in June, but nothing too exotic. I attended another friend's graduation which was literary themed and awesome. I almost cried, but not quite. There were cool mushrooms at her super awesome venue and then we played fun games and ate a cake that looked like a stack of her favorite books. Cool? Very :)

I named laptop Sir Percy (it's official :D). The vote was overwhelming. He'll get to go on his first trip with me tomorrow :)

I had my choir performance of the semester. It was our best performance yet, despite the fact that the facility had not turned on the air conditioning for us or told us how to find it. My grandfather also had choir performances with the last of the choirs that he directs. It was their last performance ever, as he is retiring from being a director after 19 years.

We got a dog! My parents gave in only because it was my aunt's dog that she's had for 8 years. He's a fantastic toy Aussie, but he wasn't working in her second story apartment, so all my little bros have someone to boss around now. His name is Atticus :)

Then there was Father's Day, which I hope you all celebrated! It was fun to get to celebrate with my dad and my grandad. We mainly ate a super big lunch (with no leftovers) and had dessert immediately after :D

I am a part of a book club this summer! It's my first, so that's exciting. I'm semi-in charge of it, but all that means is I've made the cookies and had it at my house. I finished the first book, Listening from Lions a few days ago and I loved it! We're focusing on strong, female characters :) I also gave book journaling a shot and it went really well. But I'll have a whole post on that at some point ;)

The only other super-epic event of June was a birthday party for a friend that consisted of dodgeball, capture the flag, a water balloon fight, a bonfire, hotdogs, cake, and smores. It was ridiculously fun, just like it sounds. And it only got more interesting when my mom had a blowout in our 15-passenger van on her way to pick us up at 10:30 pm. Friends had to take us to meet her on the side of the road and help us change the tire. We made it back home by midnight, but everything actually went as smoothly as it could have. We even got a neighbor to stay at the house with all the bros that were asleep so Dad could come help. All-in-all, a pretty adventurous and groundbreaking June. :)

Words

~Vocabulary~

faience: noun glazed ceramic ware, in particular decorated tin-glazed earthenware of the type that includes delftware and maiolica
amphora: noun a tall ancient Greek or Roman jar with two handles and a narrow neck
galena: noun a bluish, gray, or black mineral of metallic appearance, consisting of lead sulfide. It is the chief ore of lead
sisal: noun a Mexican agave with large fleshy leaves, cultivated for fiber production.
the fiber made from the sisal plant, used especially for ropes or matting
wastrel: noun a wasteful or good-for-nothing person. a waif; a neglected child

What can I say, things happen when I read. The word I am currently obsessed with is defenestrate which means: throw (someone) out of a window; remove or dismiss (someone) from a position of power or authority. Pretty cool, huh?

~Quotes~

"Sweet. Delicious. It was like the best of honey and spices all mixed together. it melted on my tongue with a smooth, velvety texture. Craving more, I bent down to scoop it up, for it was thick on the ground . . . It was warm as sunshine and smooth as butter going down my throat." ~ Counted with the Stars's definition of manna.

"Later I heard the growls of a lion, faint and coming from a distance. It was a familiar sound and almost comforting, for I thought of lions as soldiers of the night, patrolling all the dark places." ~ Listening for Lions

"Scared is what you're feeling, but brave is what you're doing." ~ Room

"This was more alarming to me than the illness itself. It was Sunday and there must be church." ~ Listening for Lions

Books

~Cover to Cover: 3~

Counted with the Stars by Connilyn Cossette
Room by Emma Donoghue
Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan

~Middle to End: 1~

1776 by David McCullough. Now that I've put it in here, I'll have to finish it tonight :P

~Front to Middle: 3~

I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Josh Harris
Just Write by James Scott Bell

Writings

~Words: 8,263~

So since my phase is editing and not writing anymore, this is "words edited." Or the sum word counts of the chapters I edited :)

~Chapters: 3~ 

Yay! I edited three chapters (or will have by tonight). I was really lazy on this aspect, obviously. So it's just as well that Camp NaNoWriMo is going to give me a break :)

~Progress Update: 9%~ 

In other words, 3/34 increments. I would still like to get the second draft to all of my betas sometime in September.

~Biggest Problem: Multitasking~

Editing requires lots of multitasking. Lots of it. I have to remember to check punctuation, word choice, structure, number, tense, person, point of view, dialogue tags, character parallelism, passive voice, adverbs, foreshadowing, condensing . . . you get the idea. It's a lot to keep in my head at the same time. Thus, I am refining a multi-step process to keep me sane. The plus side is I should know my chapters really well after this.

Blogs

~Followers: 47~

That's +8. I was aiming for 50 as a grand total, but I figured out this thing about followers and I have 11 separate e-mail subscribers. So that makes 58. *victory dance*

~Views: 10,058~

I have followers from Germany and Ireland now, which is mindblowingly awesome. Also, have I mentioned my skill of turning anything into an adverb? That was a good example back there. I am also a master of redirection. Do you remember what we were talking about? Mwahaha.

Goals

My June goals were:

1~ Edit my WIP
Success. I thank myself for not being any more specific here xD
2~ Read 3 books from start to finish

YES! This was the best feeling ever. Starting a Goodreads account really helped me waste time with reading accoutability
3~ Finish Emily's The Sorceress and the Squid
Ah, I finished. I didn't even realize I was on the last chapter and then everything was so beautiful. I had a panic moment when I realized it was the end. But it was lovely, so we're all good ^.^
4~ Research self-publishing

I still feel like I'm in the dark, but I read an data-packed PowerPoint (read it here) that confirmed my decision. I also started a list for price comparisons for every resource I come across. I'm looking into promotion, cover, and editing at the moment. Share any recommendations!!
5~ Host a giveaway
Oooh, yeah ;) I suppose that's my cue to announce the winner. *enter dramatic music* And the winner of my first ever giveaway is

~~~ Rebekah Eddy! ~~~

Congratulations to Rebekah! For everyone else, I hope you enjoy the e-books :)

My July goals are:

1~ Edit for myself and others
This is a safeguard to make sure I don't disappear on everyone :)
2~ Read 3 books
I have at least that many that I'm in the middle of :P

3~ Win Camp NaNoWriMo
I will not lower my word count, I will not lower my word count, I will not lower my word count. I found that I am tied for the highest word count goal in the cabin. That should tell you just how delusional I am . . .
4~ Go to a writer's conference
Hehe. This is happening July 9, so unless I get struck by lightening or a plague, I should be able to check this one off my list ;)

5~ Remember to post at least once a week
Again, I don't want to vanish just because I have 30,000 words to write. Wish me luck!

~~~~~

Did June feel like summer for you? It did for me in many ways--it finally hit 100 degrees D: I hope you all have a fantastic July!! :)