The first of August has arrived, which means it’s time for a month in review. I was going this weekly, but until I feel that that is necessary, we’re scaling back to once a month.
July went fairly well. Both Standish and Love in a time of War were either both handed off to beta-testers, which is a step in the right direction of getting those two projects published.
Work has started on Project 8, which is Book VI in the Earth Saga series. This book promises to be lots of fun, and will deliver an action packed crescendo. There is a very good chance that after this project is completed that I will work on another stand-alone project. I believe it is necessary to have more stand-alone material to attract new readers to the series.
I finally finished Children of Time, which I thought was good, but the ending left a little to be desired. I thought that the writer might have played it safe in an attempt to please too many readers. But what do I know? That guy has won awards.
I read my first Bond novel, which happens to be a bit of a prequel to Casino Royale. I enjoyed it. It was fun, not too serious. Not sure I’ll read another, maybe try one of the early Fleming novels.
I recently started a book on the Napoleonic Wars, which is more my speed. I’ve been reading too much sci-fi lately, and need to get back to my history-degree roots. While I’ve watched plenty of TV and film on this era, this is the first work of non-fiction I’m reading on the subject, and so far I think it’s amazing.
I watched a few films in July, and three come to mind. First was the disaster film How it Ends, which was horrible. Then there was Wind River, which I thought was great, and finally there was Fall-Out, the most recent Mission Impossible film, which was very entertaining. I’d recommend it to anyone, regardless of their opinions on Tom Cruise. I thought the action was great, and while the story could have room for improvement, the set-pieces are excellent.
Music wise, I’ve been adding to my working synth-wave collection weekly. It’s the only music I can really work to at the moment. Helps keep the brain ticking along.
I went to Masterpiece at Royal Hospital Chelsea for the third year in a row. It was once again packed with beautiful pieces of art, furniture, jewelry and other exotic features from around the world, all well north of my budget. I visited the British Museum, the National Gallery and the V&A also in July, and I have to say that I believe the cultural exposure is great for the mind. Gets it thinking about bigger things and ideas.
August is going to be a heads-down month. I’ve already knocked out over 16k on Project 8, but the objective is to release it, and Standish and Love in a time of War all before the end of the year, so the keys must be punched.
Of course I’m going to need to up the attack to find an agent. I’ve got no chance in finding a publisher without an agent, so that will be a major priority for the remainder of the year.
With that in mind, time to get back to Project 8. It’s not going to write itself.