July was much the same as June for me.

I worked primarily on Gerod and the Lions, am still slowly mapping out Figments, and though I did some work on a short story (it’s almost 10K, so not really short, per se) it was revising, and the word count was negative.

Total for the month: 17,516 (not quite as high as last month, but still a w00t! in my book)

Total on GatL: 4,821 (again, a little less than last month, but I’m still on track to finish the first draft by year’s end)

Total on blog: 12,695

Thought it might be time for a review of the year to date:

Month	Total	Blog	Initiate of Stone	Apprentice of Wind	Figments	Gerod and the Lions	Short Stories
January	11,532	7,114	0	2,781	207	821	609
February	9,789	6,303	0	47	308	1,296	1,835
March	10,781	8,193	0	333	1,488	312	455
April	11,612	10,930	0	0	381	0	301
May	7,503	7,503	0	0	0	0	0
June	18,471	13,425	0	0	0	5,046	0
July	17,516	12,695	0	0	0	4,821	0
YTD Total	87,204	66,163	0	3,161	2,384	12,296	3,200

I must say, I’ve impressed myself. This ain’t bad for a writer with a day job.

It’s a comfort to know that I could convert some or all of those words spent on the blog into other writing projects, even while continuing in my day job. That could be two books a year, and that’s awesome.

Why don’t you do that now, you ask (and well you might). Right now, I’m happy to blog away for the benefit of my readers and writerly friends. Though a platform isn’t required for a publishing deal, it doesn’t hurt. Plus, sharing my struggles, progress, and process, curating and conference/convention reportage is gratifying to me. It seems that I’m sharing material that benefits my network.

It warms my wee heart when people like, comment, reblog, or otherwise share my posts.

The fact that I’m making progress also makes me happy. I don’t want to rush into querying or publication and regret it later.

I have to work the day job at least until Phil and I have our remaining debts paid off. There’s a lot of uncertainty in our lives right now (of which I’ll write tomorrow). Call me a chicken, but I can’t take the risk of quitting at the moment.

If I’m fortunate enough to get a deal of some description before we’re debtless, I’ll also have a choice. I could potentially devote all my time to writing, and produce three or four novels in a year. That could translate into a replacement income . . . eventually.

Due to the uncertainty in our lives and in the rapidly-shifting publishing industry at the moment, I’m not prepared to take that chance now, but I know I can do it if I have to.

I write because I enjoy it and I want to keep it that way.

What’s on for this month?

I’m going to continue to plug away at GatL and Figments, and that 10k story I mentioned, I’m going to submit it after revision. I don’t want to talk too much about it, because a story of this length is a huge risk. I’ve also submitted it to other anthologies and magazines in the past to a resounding “no.” Let’s see if I can’t do better this time.

This coming Friday, I’m off to When Words Collide in Calgary, and I’ll learn on Sunday morning whether my top ten story “On the Ferry” was considered a winner in the In Places Between contest. Though I’m really excited about the possibility, I’m just pleased as punch to be in the chapbook anthology.

So, of course, there will be more conference reportage coming your way 🙂

And that’s about it.

Tomorrow, I’ll be posting my CanWrite! Conference wrap and writing about the unsettled nature of things, not necessarily in that order.

Have a happy Civic Holiday long weekend, my Canadian friends 🙂