Getting back to work

September. The leaves are starting to change, the kids have gone back to school, and I’m getting back to writing. If you follow me on social media, you know I had an eventful summer. My brother got married! We went to Ireland and England! A tree fell on our house during the NDG micro-burst! A great summer with an unfortunate ending.

So, what have I been up to, writing-wise?

At the end of July, to very little fanfare, I finished the draft of my novel. Yes, I really did. I printed it out, all 320 pages, and sent off copies to a small handful of beta readers, then I turned my attention to other things. I wrote my first professional book review for the Montreal Review of Books. I also learned that another of my stories has been accepted for publication, over at the online journal Hamilton Arts & Letters.

Now that summer is over, I’ve been trying to reestablish a writing routine. I’ve been working on some short stories, revising a piece to submit to a literary contest as well as drafting something brand new. I’m making progress with both, although I miss the structure of my 1000-words-per-day novel writing.

Which brings me to the next item on my to-do list: rereading the draft. I still haven’t actually read the book since I finished writing it! I definitely don’t want to start revisions until I’ve received feedback from my beta readers, but I think it’s time I sat down and looked over what I’ve accomplished so far. I know there’s still lots of work to be done, but I’m ready to get started with this next phase.