Writing stuff accomplished: Worked on the last page of ALL ROCS (C2). Again. Finally went back and re-read the first chapter for the 793rd time in hopes of finding something to echo. I’m reasonably happy with it now apart from the last sentence.

Real-life stuff accomplished: Ran almost 7 miles. My pace was really slow, but it was the first run in a couple weeks and only the second one in a month, so I’m fine with it. I’d only planned on a 4 mile run, so I didn’t bring water. I need to start getting up at 4am on the weekends. Right…

Photos! The big dog was trying to avoid the camera and the little dog is rocking her static-electricity hairstyle.

Writing progress: Finished rough edits for the final two chapters of ALL ROCS (C2). Namiers killed: 1, Marriages destroyed: 1, Babies saved: 1. But there is light at the end of the tunnel!

Non-writing stuff: Dug out more Bermuda grass from the plants. I suspect this will be a never-ending process unless I’m willing to spray chemicals everywhere, but it gives me an excuse to listen to a book (Carousel Tides by Sharon Lee) while doing something useful.

Writing-adjacent accomplishments: hit the button to make this page public. Yep it’s ugly, but surely I can overcome a lifetime of terrible style choices later and fix this all.

Writing: Read through the last two chapters of ALL ROCS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL (C2) to make notes for editing. For some reason I thought the changes were going to be minimal. My brain is so cute sometimes. Still, the path forward is visible.

Real world things accomplished: Dealt with weather-related pet chaos. Today was very windy, so I spent the day dealing with a mildly anxious Little Dog who wanted to lick the floor right next to my feet as well as extra-screamy birds, all while working at home. The wind slammed the office door on Ripley’s tail  — he wasn’t hurt but he was stuck and starting to panic by the time I could get across the room to open the door again.

Now that we’re already heading toward the halfway mark, it’s time to come up with some goals for May.

• Go live with the website. (This is the “make a list” item of this list.)
• Get the final two chapters of ALL ROCS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL (working title of Curtains 2) out to Yolo Writer’s Cramp for critique.
• Fix the ending of ALL GREMLINS GREAT AND SMALL (Curtains 1). I think I know what to do now — I just need to sit my butt in the chair and do it.
• Make another pass through the query for ALL GREMLINS GREAT AND SMALL.

As much as I want to add more onto that I think I should stop. I can always add a stretch goal later if it looks like I’ve become an overachiever.

Anyone else have goals for this month?