Thursday, June 30, 2016

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!! :)

31 comments:

  1. Gosh, your computer's name is awesome. I honestly don't think I've named mine...despite the fact that I've owned it for two or three years. #oops

    Ahhhh, your dog is ADORABLE! I've wanted a dog for the longest time, but my dad isn't really crazy about the idea. Oh well. My cat Patches is rather cute so she makes up for it. ;D

    Mwahaha, we shall be delusional together! Hurray for insane word-count goals! :P ALSO, REMIND ME WHY WE'RE WRITING 30K???

    It looks like you had a fun month. :) I unfortunately haven't even STARTED writing my Frabjous Finalities post. *sighs* I guess I know what I'll be doing tonight...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you :) It's okay, I don't usually name things.

      Heheh. Yep, he's pretty cute. Our cats are still adjusting ;)

      I still have no idea why we chose 30k, but I think it's looking more hopeful now, yes?

      Delete
  2. YOOOUUURRRRR DOG AAHHHH. so cute im crying.

    also I totally forgot about NaNo until now but thank goodness I have a plan already, thank you.

    Have a wonderful, not too hot July, Abigayle!

    ~Noor

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aww, yay! And the photos do NOT do him justice ^.^

      Phew, glad you have a plan. Have fun!

      Thanks! It could have been worse so far. Same to you!

      Delete
  3. Your June sounded fun! Mine was busy other writing and such
    Can't wait for this month of nano!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It sounds like you've had a super fun June!! :) I hope that you have an awesome July!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For sure! Thank you! It's been pretty great (but tiring) so far :P

      Delete
  5. Sounds like a busy month! :D Like do you want to self publish just to have your own copy--or be able to sell online?? You can do both, or either option on lulu.com. I haven't tried it yet, but I know many friends who have! I'm totally doing it once I finish my book. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Let's be honest, what month isn't crazy? I want to self-publish to print, distribute in person, and sell online :) I had not heard of that website, but it looks like a GREAT option. Thanks so much for introducing me to it!!

      Delete
  6. Glad you had a good June! Your new dog looks cute!
    Good luck with Camp NaNoWriMo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thankfully, his looks match his personality. Thanks! I'm almost back on track :P

      Delete
  7. Sounds like an amazing June, Abi! :D The whole blowout-scenario totally sounds like something that would happen with my family. :P That's great that you got a dog -- they're the best. :)

    Congratulations to Rebekah! XD

    Still drooling over this gorgeous blog, btw. :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, we don't have great luck with cars in general. Like they're good cars, but we get lots of random issues . . .?

      Yes, the dog has proved awesome :D

      Aww, that totally made my day. Thank you!! ^.^

      Delete
  8. Let me start out by saying this: JUNE WAS HOT. SO HOT. It almost got up to 120 degrees at one point. o.o

    Yay for Camp NaNo! At first, I hated every word that I was churning out, but now I think I have a better grip on the story, so... yeah. :)

    Sounds like you had a lot of fun June goings-on! :D

    My July will consist of NaNo and moving adventures. So I'm excited. xD I hope you have an awesome July!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WHAT?! That is insane. Thank goodness we had some rain in June (very rare), so it didn't get bad until the very beginning of July. It was 100 for our day out at the lake D:

      Phew, that's good to hear. I tend to not write a word until I'm certain I want to develop an idea, but you just never know how it's gonna go D:

      Wow! Where are you moving from/to?

      Delete
  9. Wow, what a busy and cool month!

    Ah, good for you and all your accomplishments! Those books' quotes are awesome. :D

    Good luck with your writing and your editing! You can do this! We can do this! It'll be crazy, but amazing. ;)

    *finally got around to following your blog*

    -Amanda @ Scattered Journal Pages

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! It was nice to reach some goals again :) I think we're doing GREAT so far. So fun to be a part of the same cabin :)

      Heheh, no worries. ^.^

      Delete
  10. Oh mah goodness your dog is so cute.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tell me about it! He's seriously the best behaved little guy there is. And he's pretty docile unless the boys start running laps in the house xD My parents wouldn't have agreed to take him from my aunt otherwise :P It's so nice not to have to train a dog! We're just having to train the littlest not to share all his food :)

      Delete
  11. Congratulations on the dog! He looks pretty cute. Good luck with that editing, it sounds intense. And so does your word count for camp. It sounds like your June was pretty fun!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, he's been really great.

      Ugh, editing. Editing is always intense xD Thankfully 30K hasn't been much of an issue yet. *crosses fingers*

      Delete
  12. Replies
    1. Isn't it? I had no idea what it was, either, which is shameful since I love that era so much ^.^

      Delete
  13. That manna quote was rather intriguing...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pretty different, huh? Not at all what I had been picturing. I always thought of it as tufts of French bread xD B

      Delete
  14. You read I Kissed Dating Goodbye too? I love that book!! 🙈

    ReplyDelete

Comments are how I know you've been here! I try hard to reply to all the comments in a timely fashion, but regardless, know that if you leave a comment, I will read it and it will make me smile. :) Please no profanity or soliciting.