Subplots and Storylines - June 2015

I have accidently discovered time travel. How else could I have ended up on June 30, 2015 so quickly? Because, excuse me, last time I checked, June was just starting. So my theory is that, in my sleep, somebody threw me into a time machine and I ended up here.


Right?


Okay, no, June was just so full and intense and amazing that it zoomed right by. But the time machine sounds way cooler.


Work has jumped from moderately busy to almost-fulltime-how-DO-adults-do-it, and back to moderately busy again. I had a little stretch in which I worked six out of seven days. Great for the paycheck; a stretch for my hobbit (read: I love home) self. But I can already see personal growth, so that's fantastic!


And I have been writing, but not nearly as much as I wanted/expected to. My writing progress notebook tells me I only wrote eight days this month. The result: a whoppin' 5800 words collectively. Let's hope July cooperates better, yes? I worked a little bit on book two early this month, but then, of course, that Rooglewood contest was announced and of course I had to start brainstorming for it! (I just realized that I have enough to say about that process to fill another blog post. Maybe in a week or two?)


Anyway, it's going to have a very classic fairy tale sort of feel, but I've got a few twists stewing in the ol' inspiration bog. As of now, I only have the first two chapters written. But my goal is to have the first draft finished before the end of July! When I set that goal, that broke down to an average of 500 words a day. So it's quite doable. I'm just . . . heheh, a little behind at the moment.

Speaking of writerly things, I read some good books too!

The Chance by Karen Kingsbury: a heartrending story of forgiveness and restoring relationships. Allegiant by Veronica Roth: as I have stated before, I have no words for how this series ended. There were aspects of the series I disliked, but all in all, it was a great ride! And excuse me while I scrape my heart off the floor. The Anatomy of a Miracle by Dr. James B. Richards: I've been going through this one slowly, and happened to finish this month. Really eye-opening! So many things just finally clicked for me.

Eyes Wide Open by Ted Dekker: Wow. How does this guy manage to write such mindblowing stories? On one level, it's a creepy, suspenseful tale of how 17-year-old Christy Snow and her friend Austin are mistaken for psych patients and get trapped in the ward--and on another level, it's a sucker punch right to the heart, with raw messages on identity and perception. Go read it. Right now.


Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry: A quick dystopian read, and pretty neat too. I liked the worldbuilding, and how you could tell a person's age by how many syllables were in their name. This is a sequel to The Giver, but I haven't quite figured out the connection yet. Maybe the next two books will tie them together . . . ?

Life things. Those happened too. The first half of the month, I was "catching a healing" (as I like to call it) from a cold. So were the rest of my siblings. And then mid-month, my grandma developed an infection that resulted in multiple trips to the hospital and many hours waiting for doctors. So thankful that it didn't end up being too serious. She's well on the way to full recovery now!

A couple weeks ago, I went to the city with two close friends of mine for a girl's day out. We went mini-golfing, which I haven't done in years . . . went shopping and tried on pretty dresses . . . had a fancy dessert worth wearing heels for . . . had a BBQ supper at one girl's place and then watched Pride and Prejudice together. Such a wonderful day! We had an amazing time. I always feel uplifted after hanging out with them.

(Now I see what the big deal is about Mr. Darcy.)

Just last week, one of those two girls and I went out for supper at a great new restaurant in town. She's moving to Mexico in a matter of days, so having that one last (for now) outing together was perfect.


And I was going to get some more writing done yesterday and the day before, but . . . I succumbed to the pull of a story I'm beta reading, written by Mirriam Neal--an insanely talented girl with a penchant for heartbreaking backstories and vibrant characters. Needless to say, I was glued to her Alice in Wonderland retelling, This Curious Madness, and could. Not. Leave. But I caught up on roughly twenty chapters. Yippee!


Random other thing about this month: we painted our front door. No longer is it white--it now gleams burnt orange. Our home exterior renos that we've been slowly working on are looking more and more complete. Maybe I'll post a picture of that eye-popping door once the second coat is done.


So that was June. A conglomeration of books, coughing, social outings, paint, general busyness, and a dash of writing. How was your month? Any plans for July? Have you set any goals for yourself, writing or otherwise?


I will leave you with a collage of the gorgeous flowers blooming at my place. May your eyes be open to see the beauties God is displaying right in front of you, even through the veils of sorrow or weariness.

And to all my fellow Canadians, in anticipation of tomorrow:

Happy Canada Day!