Happy Wednesday!
July is officially almost over! I feel like this month went by super slowly, which has actually been kind of nice. I feel like this month went way better than June did, or any of the other months of this year so far, maybe because we got to start the month off with my brother's birthday and the Fourth of July. But I also just think... I finally got to this place with God where I've just handed it all over to Him and He's given me a lot of peace in everything that's going on. He's been doing a lot of work in me and speaking to me a lot this month and I feel like that's made July a whole lot better than any of the other months of 2020.
July Writing: This month I got into the habit of writing 1,000 words and editing two chapters of Emerald Phantom every day. I don't think I've ever been so rigid with goals like this before or so committed to them, but I think that's what I needed this month. Nothing else was going to get me to write or edit this month. I needed strict daily goals for myself to get myself to accomplish anything in the writing department mostly because St. Croix Falls 3 has been such a challenge. It's become more like a chore at the moment than something fun to do... Honestly, at this point I'm just trying to get through this first draft so I have something to edit. I started out July planning to completely rewrite St. Croix Falls 3 for Camp Nanowrimo. Half way through the month, the rewritten story wasn't sitting with me so I decided to scrap that and go back to an unfinished version that I realized was better for the characters and story and had more potential, so now I'm currently working on finishing that draft. It's been a little exhausting to go from one version to the other. The swapping versions situation has made it feel a little like I'm not really getting anywhere in the story.
On a better note though, I did finish my first read through of Emerald Phantom. There's still a lot of fixing to be done, but I did love getting to read through it just like I did with Golden Touch. I did two chapters a day, slowly working at it until I finally got to the last chapter. Once I finish writing this draft of St. Croix Falls 3, I think I'll finally feel like I have the mental and emotional energy to start working on the third book in the Golden Touch series. Right now though, I'm taking a break from Emerald Phantom and all things Golden Touch and just focusing on finishing St. Croix Falls 3 before the Fall semester starts. I really want to get this draft out of the way. Then I'll start working on Scarlet Phoenix (the third book in the Golden Touch series).
July Reading:
I can't believe how much I read this month! I started the month off with Rook Di Goo by Jenni Sauer, which was such a fun and amazing book! She put so much of her heart and soul into that book and those characters and you could feel it in every word on the page. I was also in the mood for some scifi, so it came at the perfect time.
I discovered Flannery O'Connor's prayer journal from Hannah Brencher's blog and got that from the library. It's small, but so beautiful and meaningful to read. It quickly became one of my favorite Bible/devotional/Christian books. I read it at just the right time where I was feeling a lot of what O'Connor was feeling as she wrote out those prayers to God so that was really cool.
I also read (seriously, I can't believe how much I read this month!) The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne. That was such a good book! It was also a scifi book (I guess I've been in a scifi mood all month). The romance was so good and I just loved everything about that book. Her first book was really good, but by the end of that one it kind of started lag. With this one though, I stayed interested and invested the whole way through.
And now I'm finishing off the month with The Damned by Renee Ahdieh, the sequel to The Beautiful. It's so good! It's taken me forever to finish, but that's just cus I've had a lot on my mind and a lot going on. I'm almost done with it though and it did not disappoint. Those first few chapters in Sebastian's POV were spot on and so good!
July Life Stuff: I feel like a lot happened this month... Just like every other part of the year, things seemed to move too quickly. My brother had his birthday at the start of the month and then we got to have a really fun celebration of the Fourth of July with friends. I'll never forget this year's Fourth of July. It was stunning. My brother and I walked through the neighborhood at night and all around us there were fireworks going off. Every single person in the neighborhood was setting off fireworks left and right. It was refreshing and a blessing to get to spend hours on end with friends laughing and eating yummy food and celebrating and enjoying each other's company after a few months of feeling so alone and isolated. I'm thankful to have friends who didn't let the virus get in the way of celebrating our amazing country.
We officially got our new house this month! There's a lot of work that's been done to it already and still some work to be done to it before and after we move in, but it's just exciting that we finally have the new house. We've been slowly moving stuff into it throughout the month but in the next two weeks we're going to be hardcore packing and moving stuff in. Next Saturday, we'll officially be moved in. I'm a little sad and anxious... it feels like it came up too quickly and all of a sudden even though I've known we would be moving in sooner rather than later. But I'm also excited and ready for this new house and this new season of life and all that God has in store for us as we enter a new home and a new neighborhood.
God's been doing a lot of work within me this month. I started out this month feeling worried and unsure and overthinking pretty much everything. I was so full of anger and frustration and hurt surrounding so much that's going on in the world. Thankfully I'm ending the month in a much better place. I feel peace in everything that's going on in the knowledge that God is over all of it and I feel empowerment at the fact that my prayers mean something and they can be used to help fight all the evil that is going in this world. Where I'm at right now is all thanks to God one hundred percent. He's given me so much hope and comfort and clarity in this month. It's been a really amazing experience. I feel that He's pressing into me to use my blog and everything I have whether it be social media or my small sphere of friends to share His hope and His light. I'm going to continue to use my writing as a way to share Him whether I'm writing fiction or writing on this blog. He's taught me a lot about how to pray bold prayers and how our prayers hold authority and power through Jesus. I'm going to continue to pray bold prayers in Jesus' authority. He's just come alongside me so much this month and for that I'm so, so thankful.
Looking Forward to August: Man... August is going to be a month. I have one of my best friend's wedding this month which will be so fun! I'm really looking forward to that and I think it's just so great that we can still celebrate two people who love each other and loves God even amidst all the craziness of this year.
We're moving in two weeks... so lots of packing and getting ready and saying goodbye to this house I've lived in for almost ten years. Like I said, I'm sad to leave but also excited to move forward into this new house.
My Fall semester starts! I'm so, so excited for this semester! There was a time this month where I just lost all joy and excitement for anything that had to do with the future. The future just felt so bleak and dead... Like what was even the point? I thought about giving up on writing St. Croix Falls 3 because I thought what was the point in even publishing? I lost all excitement for this one class that I was so beyond excited that I got... It all just felt so gray and lifeless. I told my mom more than once this month that I felt like I wasn't really living my life. Like life had just stopped and I was just going through the motions. Not to sound like a pessimist, but knowing who I am, that feeling may come back in the next few months... We're only half way through the year after all. But thankfully I feel like my excitement and joy has been renewed and like life is worth living again and that's all thanks to God. I really think he replenished me the last week or so. I realized that everything I do has a point, life is worth living and everything I do in life has a purpose because of who I belong to. Everything I do in life from writing to doing classwork to moving into a new house is all for the glory of God and I ask Him all the time right now to use everything I do for Him and for His glory and purpose. So, I am very much, once again, excited for this Fall semester to start.
So, yeah, I think that's pretty much it for August. One of my younger brothers turns ten this month, so that'll be fun to celebrate. We'll have to see what God has in store for August and the coming months of this year.
July is officially almost over! I feel like this month went by super slowly, which has actually been kind of nice. I feel like this month went way better than June did, or any of the other months of this year so far, maybe because we got to start the month off with my brother's birthday and the Fourth of July. But I also just think... I finally got to this place with God where I've just handed it all over to Him and He's given me a lot of peace in everything that's going on. He's been doing a lot of work in me and speaking to me a lot this month and I feel like that's made July a whole lot better than any of the other months of 2020.
July Writing: This month I got into the habit of writing 1,000 words and editing two chapters of Emerald Phantom every day. I don't think I've ever been so rigid with goals like this before or so committed to them, but I think that's what I needed this month. Nothing else was going to get me to write or edit this month. I needed strict daily goals for myself to get myself to accomplish anything in the writing department mostly because St. Croix Falls 3 has been such a challenge. It's become more like a chore at the moment than something fun to do... Honestly, at this point I'm just trying to get through this first draft so I have something to edit. I started out July planning to completely rewrite St. Croix Falls 3 for Camp Nanowrimo. Half way through the month, the rewritten story wasn't sitting with me so I decided to scrap that and go back to an unfinished version that I realized was better for the characters and story and had more potential, so now I'm currently working on finishing that draft. It's been a little exhausting to go from one version to the other. The swapping versions situation has made it feel a little like I'm not really getting anywhere in the story.
On a better note though, I did finish my first read through of Emerald Phantom. There's still a lot of fixing to be done, but I did love getting to read through it just like I did with Golden Touch. I did two chapters a day, slowly working at it until I finally got to the last chapter. Once I finish writing this draft of St. Croix Falls 3, I think I'll finally feel like I have the mental and emotional energy to start working on the third book in the Golden Touch series. Right now though, I'm taking a break from Emerald Phantom and all things Golden Touch and just focusing on finishing St. Croix Falls 3 before the Fall semester starts. I really want to get this draft out of the way. Then I'll start working on Scarlet Phoenix (the third book in the Golden Touch series).
July Reading:
I can't believe how much I read this month! I started the month off with Rook Di Goo by Jenni Sauer, which was such a fun and amazing book! She put so much of her heart and soul into that book and those characters and you could feel it in every word on the page. I was also in the mood for some scifi, so it came at the perfect time.
I discovered Flannery O'Connor's prayer journal from Hannah Brencher's blog and got that from the library. It's small, but so beautiful and meaningful to read. It quickly became one of my favorite Bible/devotional/Christian books. I read it at just the right time where I was feeling a lot of what O'Connor was feeling as she wrote out those prayers to God so that was really cool.
I also read (seriously, I can't believe how much I read this month!) The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne. That was such a good book! It was also a scifi book (I guess I've been in a scifi mood all month). The romance was so good and I just loved everything about that book. Her first book was really good, but by the end of that one it kind of started lag. With this one though, I stayed interested and invested the whole way through.
And now I'm finishing off the month with The Damned by Renee Ahdieh, the sequel to The Beautiful. It's so good! It's taken me forever to finish, but that's just cus I've had a lot on my mind and a lot going on. I'm almost done with it though and it did not disappoint. Those first few chapters in Sebastian's POV were spot on and so good!
July Life Stuff: I feel like a lot happened this month... Just like every other part of the year, things seemed to move too quickly. My brother had his birthday at the start of the month and then we got to have a really fun celebration of the Fourth of July with friends. I'll never forget this year's Fourth of July. It was stunning. My brother and I walked through the neighborhood at night and all around us there were fireworks going off. Every single person in the neighborhood was setting off fireworks left and right. It was refreshing and a blessing to get to spend hours on end with friends laughing and eating yummy food and celebrating and enjoying each other's company after a few months of feeling so alone and isolated. I'm thankful to have friends who didn't let the virus get in the way of celebrating our amazing country.
We officially got our new house this month! There's a lot of work that's been done to it already and still some work to be done to it before and after we move in, but it's just exciting that we finally have the new house. We've been slowly moving stuff into it throughout the month but in the next two weeks we're going to be hardcore packing and moving stuff in. Next Saturday, we'll officially be moved in. I'm a little sad and anxious... it feels like it came up too quickly and all of a sudden even though I've known we would be moving in sooner rather than later. But I'm also excited and ready for this new house and this new season of life and all that God has in store for us as we enter a new home and a new neighborhood.
God's been doing a lot of work within me this month. I started out this month feeling worried and unsure and overthinking pretty much everything. I was so full of anger and frustration and hurt surrounding so much that's going on in the world. Thankfully I'm ending the month in a much better place. I feel peace in everything that's going on in the knowledge that God is over all of it and I feel empowerment at the fact that my prayers mean something and they can be used to help fight all the evil that is going in this world. Where I'm at right now is all thanks to God one hundred percent. He's given me so much hope and comfort and clarity in this month. It's been a really amazing experience. I feel that He's pressing into me to use my blog and everything I have whether it be social media or my small sphere of friends to share His hope and His light. I'm going to continue to use my writing as a way to share Him whether I'm writing fiction or writing on this blog. He's taught me a lot about how to pray bold prayers and how our prayers hold authority and power through Jesus. I'm going to continue to pray bold prayers in Jesus' authority. He's just come alongside me so much this month and for that I'm so, so thankful.
Looking Forward to August: Man... August is going to be a month. I have one of my best friend's wedding this month which will be so fun! I'm really looking forward to that and I think it's just so great that we can still celebrate two people who love each other and loves God even amidst all the craziness of this year.
We're moving in two weeks... so lots of packing and getting ready and saying goodbye to this house I've lived in for almost ten years. Like I said, I'm sad to leave but also excited to move forward into this new house.
My Fall semester starts! I'm so, so excited for this semester! There was a time this month where I just lost all joy and excitement for anything that had to do with the future. The future just felt so bleak and dead... Like what was even the point? I thought about giving up on writing St. Croix Falls 3 because I thought what was the point in even publishing? I lost all excitement for this one class that I was so beyond excited that I got... It all just felt so gray and lifeless. I told my mom more than once this month that I felt like I wasn't really living my life. Like life had just stopped and I was just going through the motions. Not to sound like a pessimist, but knowing who I am, that feeling may come back in the next few months... We're only half way through the year after all. But thankfully I feel like my excitement and joy has been renewed and like life is worth living again and that's all thanks to God. I really think he replenished me the last week or so. I realized that everything I do has a point, life is worth living and everything I do in life has a purpose because of who I belong to. Everything I do in life from writing to doing classwork to moving into a new house is all for the glory of God and I ask Him all the time right now to use everything I do for Him and for His glory and purpose. So, I am very much, once again, excited for this Fall semester to start.
So, yeah, I think that's pretty much it for August. One of my younger brothers turns ten this month, so that'll be fun to celebrate. We'll have to see what God has in store for August and the coming months of this year.
How has your July been? What's something you did this month that was fun or enjoyable?
God has also been teaching me a lot this month! I pray your move goes well, I know how stressful that can be. <3
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! Thank you! <3
DeleteYou did read a lot! The Stars We Steal looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteIt was so good! If you like romance and scifi plus a little mystery, you'll like The Stars We Steal. :)
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