2022 September Wrap-Up

Hello and happy Wednesday!

Today’s post brings another summary of the past month of my life – with writing progress reports, reading accomplishments, and general updates!

So without further ado . . .

General Update

It’s finally fall (or autumn, if you prefer)! The weather has been so beautiful lately, and I’m both thankful for the time outside that I’ve gotten, and sad that I can’t be out there all the time. I’d love at least three or four months of this, but if it was half the year, I wouldn’t complain, haha. Sweaters, colorful leaves, tea, warm sunshine and cool air…definitely my favorite season! Have you been enjoying the weather where you are?

This month, I finished the Publish & Thrive course I was taking, have worked my way through the HB90 bootcamp (I recommend both courses – they’ve been very helpful!), wrote more, prioritized getting my schedule and writing materials more organized, continued working, celebrated my boyfriend’s birthday, jumped back into a local young adult Bible study, and enjoyed a parade and historic event in my area around Labor Day. It’s been full!

Health-wise, the migraines have yet to improve. I spent my boyfriend’s birthday lying down, instead of celebrating how we’d hoped. Thankfully, God provided enough strength that I was still able to play board games and watch a movie, and we did the more active celebrating last weekend. It’s frustrating to not be reliable for work or loved ones, and I’m still praying this is short-term. But through it all, God remains faithful and is teaching me hard but good lessons. I’m so thankful for supportive and understanding people in my life.

Fiction Writing

What’s this? I actually followed through on my fiction goals this month? Yes! I wasn’t able to finish the entire final edit for Cabin Girl, like I’d hoped, but I only have four chapters left, and have made a lot of progress. I added about 2,454 words to the manuscript, in addition to cutting, trimming, and re-writing. Doing this narrative voice tune-up has definitely been worth it, and I’m much happier with how it’s turning out.

With as much progress on Cabin Girl as I’ve been able to make, I’m really excited to start sharing more and more about it as the dates for publishing get closer (January of 2023)! If you’re a reader or blogger and have any interest in helping with some part of the release, please feel free to reach out! I’m always thrilled to work with fellow story-lovers.

On the Blog

Six posts for this month! That’s seemed to be about the perfect number for me lately, and I’m happy to have been able to keep up with them so far this summer/autumn. That said, as October approaches, I’ll have a few more special posts coming…

I’m excited to share this fun upcoming blog event with you all! Next week, me and many other bloggers will be posting a collection of our favorite books in different genres every day. Add in some fun extras and giveaways and it will be a great time! I’ll hope you’ll stop by and enjoy all the bookish fun! It’s hosted by the lovely Kate at Once Upon an Ordinary.

Here are the posts for September (just click the links to read each one):

~ The Best Books I’ve Read So Far in 2022
~ An Introduction to My Bookshelf
~ 2 Years of Blogging: My Reflections
~ 25 Quotes to Inspire You to Stay Strong
~ 2022 September Wrap-Up (no link required…it’s this one!)
~ Go Teen Writers: Write Your Novel (Book Review) (This will be out on Friday! I’ll add the link once it’s posted.)

Reading List

For once, I have a larger reading list to share with you!

Reading was more of a priority for September, and I enjoyed being able to finish six full books. That brings me up to about 26 of 55 books for the year. I still have a ways to go to reach my reading challenge goal, but I think I can make it – and I hope so, as there are so many books on my shelves that I want to get to!

~ Hunger by Jill Williamson
(A gripping, character-driven, and satisfying finale to a great duology! Both prequels were very enjoyable, and I look forward to reading the connected series soon. I’ve been a fan of Jill Williamson’s teaching and personality for some time, but now I can confidently say I’m a fan of her writing too!)
~ Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
(This book really impacted me when I was younger. Are there things I wish were different -more character development, longer ending, less language? Yes. But for a middle-grade book exploring such deep themes as loss, grief, and guilt, I appreciate how real it is.)
~ Wishtress by Nadine Brandes
(Well, yet another favorite book, once again by Nadine Brandes. I think this may be my favorite of hers yet, partly because she used some tropes and explored story ideas and questions that I absolutely love. The themes, the characters, the world…just everything was so well-done, and I highly recommend this one!)
~ Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk
(This is an absolutely beautiful, middle-grade story that – despite its simplistic plot and prose – explored some very powerful, hard truths about life. It being simple may have actually helped. It started off slow, but once it gripped me, didn’t let go until I finished.)
~ The River at Night by Erica Ferencik
(I took a gamble on this one, not knowing anything about it beyond the contemporary/survival genre and the well-done cover. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend it at all, due to frequent, severe language, some overly-suggestive content, and overall, lackluster characters and plot. Some of it was engaging, but not enough for me to reread.)
~ Go Teen Writers: Write Your Novel by Stephanie Morrill, Jill Williamson, & Shannon Dittemore
(I have so many good things to say about this one – and yes, I’m going to share a full review on Friday, so stay tuned for that! I’m not a new writer anymore, but I still found so many great refreshers, and really appreciated the simple, yet in-depth way they tackled a huge variety of author-ly topics. Definitely recommend this one for any writers!)

Looking Forward

I have so many hopes and goals for October, and I think a lot of what actually happens is going to depend on my migraines. No matter what, I plan on continuing to enjoy this beautiful weather, read more, and keep up with some light ‘homework’ for the Bible study that started this weekend. I know that I don’t study God’s Word as much as I should, so it’s been nice to get back into the Bible on a regular basis. So much wisdom and truth there.

There are a few big plans this month that I’m really praying I feel up to, including a Broadway performance of Anastasia (one of my favorite musicals) that I’ll be attending with my cousin and her good friend next week. The week after, my boyfriend and I also have a water park day planned. We went to it last year and, for some reason, greatly enjoyed falling six stories down a water funnel repeatedly, so – God willing – we’re going to do it again.

Planning too far in advance is a struggle right now, but I’m trying to take full advantage of my good weeks, and figure out some light yet still productive things that I can work on when I’m not feeling great. So my writing goals for October include participating in the Fall Favorites blog event, finishing my Cabin Girl edit and sending it to proofreaders, formatting the ebook, finalizing its synopsis, and rereading the prequel so I can rewrite it for NaNoWriMo. We’ll see what gets done, but I’m hopeful!

What was YOUR September like? What kinds of things did you get to do? If you have a progress report on something, or books you read and would like to share, go ahead and let me know in the comments! And while you’re at it, feel free to include what you’re looking forward to and/or hoping to accomplish in October! As always, I’m excited to hear from you!

E. G. Bella