April Accountability

So it's April! Following March, as it's wont to do. I got inspired by Leanne Fitzpatrick yesterday and decided to do myself a tarot reading for the month. I also figured it might be a good time to look back at my goals for 2017 and see how I'm getting on. So here we are!

My writerly resolution for this year was to not start any new projects, and just wrap up ones already underway. That gave me the following to-do list under the Naomi Clark projects:

Through Fire (Blood Canticles 3)
Lich Queen (Blood Canticles 3.5)
Mercy's Gate (Southern Gothic urban fantasy book of my heart)
Black Dog (Urban Wolf 6)
Crow Called (Standalone novella)
Flesh and Bone (The Deva Chronicles 2)

Well, LICH QUEEN is now done and dusted, and slated for release in June, and Through Fire is now called Imperial Demons and is sitting pretty at 43k, which feels like the halfway point at the moment. It's definitely going to be longer than the 60k I anticipated. I was hoping to finish it in March, but now sometime in April is looking more reasonable.

Writing as Amber Morgan, my list was:

Wild Blood MC #3 - technically I haven't actually started writing this yet, but I have enough of it planned that it counts.
The Last Sin - Russian mob romance
Keys to the Kingdom - London crime family romance/thriller
Impact - MMA/new adult romance
Blood of Angels - paranormal romance
Last Hope, Alaska - shapeshifter romance

I had planned to drop BLOOD OF ANGELS and Last Hope, Alaska from the list as being the least important to finish. What actually happened there was that I had a burst of passion for BLOOD OF ANGELS, finished it, submitted it, and that's slated for release in May.

So that's two projects off the list and one about halfway done, which is pretty good progress for 2017 so far. Once Imperial Demons is done (or at least the first draft), I intend to work on Wild Blood MC #3. I may finish a short story in between though, as that's always a nice palate cleanser after working on something big and heavy, which Imperial Demons most certainly is.

So! The tarot reading. I used the XIII deck by Nekro and did a one card draw, just to give me an overview ~feeling~ for the month.

I drew the Ten of Wands, which I consider a good sign as I associate Wands with creativity and work. It's also a suit related to passion, enthusiasm, and pushing the limits, all things I consider important in my writing and in generally getting shit done. To keep up with my to-do list, I need that kind of energy. The Ten of Wands speaks of problems getting resolved and striving to meet goals. Obviously I'm constantly striving to meet writing goals. April is a busy month for me, with a few family birthdays (including my own), a lot of social going-ons, and a week of dog-sitting while my mum's in Mexico. It's also busy at my day job for various reasons, and there are definitely some situations (let's not call them problems) that need wrapping up there pretty sharpish.

So this card affirms what I already knew - that the next few weeks are going to be manic and I need to stay focused and patient, while keeping my energy levels up. I can probably anticipate having edits for BLOOD OF ANGELS at some point, so I need to remember to pace myself with my personal projects. 

With all that in mind, I should probably go have a shower and get dressed now...