TL;DR: No action items for you. I've given you another chapter to read. (It is on time scheduling and project management, which feels very relevant to me right now!) Your next update will be the week of May 12-16.
I need to keep my update today very short because I'm surrounded by urgent deadlines. One of those deadlines is trying to get SLSC off to print in time so that I can have physical books to sell at Gen Con in August. I'm pushing to get it done as fast as I can.
I'm a little more than a month out from the Writing Excuses Retreat in Minnesota. (You can still get tickets here.) I'm really looking forward to attending this again, particularly since I get to be an instructor this year. I'll be teaching Learning to Believe in the Value of Your Own Work and Maintaining Creative Momentum. Those classes join several Worldbuilding sessions, a short story practicum, and Finding the Path from Idea to Story. Class time also includes small group break out sessions where you can get critiques, but also lots of free time for people to wander the trails and do their own writing. I loved the location last year. I even got to design some self-led activities for writers that help people not just get word count, but also rest and store up creative energy to take home with them. Retreats are a wonderful way to reset, but my class on Momentum is placed last because at home is where the real creative work has to happen. If this retreat sounds good to you, we could use a few more ticket sales to reach the optimum group size to build community. Get more details and buy tickets here.
By the time I get to June I'm really going to need a breather. In the next few weeks I've got some urgent home repairs, helping launch the Locus Magazine annual fundraiser, shipping packages for one Kickstarter, placing merchandise orders for another, and a smattering of other tasks. Life does not stop and I've still got to finish editing SLSC, so I'm trying to make sure I spend at least 30 minutes on the book in the morning before I get tangled up in all of the other things. Hopefully I also get a work session it later in the day, but at least I'm getting something. Life feels a lot like this gif. (Hopefully Backerkit lets you see it move.)
There is so much more I want to tell you, about the book, the process, the joys of making this book, the stresses. Instead I think I need to get back to spinning plates. The one on the end is about to fall. I'll send you another update in two weeks when I'll be past some of these urgent deadlines.
Thank you so much for being part of this project! Sandra
