For the Love of Words Q3 Wrap-Up and Q4 Preview

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The final quarter of the year is finally here and I’m surprised by how fast this last quarter went. I often find that I either read or write in high amounts, but I can never find the balance where I’m reading on a regular basis and writing on a regular basis.

For the Love of Words: Quarter 3 Wrap-Up and Quarter Four Preview

During my day job, I’ve had plenty of time to read as we’re coming to the end of a busy season. In fact, one book I read this quarter – I started and finished it all before I left work.

The point is, either way, my reading has gone way up and I hope to make use of it while I can. Now, if I can make use of my writing time, too, I’d be awfully productive. So let’s breakdown what I wanted to do in the third quarter.

QUARTER THREE GOALS

Finish Justice & Lies – Technically, I did finish it, but I made some pretty big adjustments at the beginning which means I’ll be doing at least one more round of working through the draft before I even think about sending it to the editor.

Start Hit List edits – I’m actually in the middle of this. During my rewrites and edits of Justice & Lies, I found myself with a pretty big opportunity to tie the two together and I took it. So I’m working through the draft, doing some rewrites and really making sure I give this story (being all four books) a solid ending.

Possibly start planning my NaNoWriMo novel – if I’m being honest, I’m not entirely sure I’ll even do a NaNoWriMo book this year.

Books I Read in Quarter 3

At the beginning of quarter 3, I was finishing up The Girl on the Train, which might be one of my top five favorite books that I’ve read this year. It was smart, dark and twisted, and I absolutely loved it. I’d love to eventually write a novel that holds that kind of suspense.

After I finished that, I started The Chemist, which is the newest novel by Stephenie Meyer (yes, she was the one who wrote Twilight). This one took a little bit longer for a few reasons. The book was almost 600 pages, but it really didn’t need to be. I also found myself annoyed with Meyer about halfway through the book.

Marketed as a high-suspense novel with a spy-thriller aspect, halfway through the novel decided it wanted to have romance! Which is fine, I love a good romantic-suspenseful thriller, but it felt haphazard in its attempt.

Because the book was a bit of a struggle, I went for something I knew I’d love after – a reread of a series. The Fox and O’Hare Series by Janet Evanvoich and Lee Goldberg is a fun, cozy mystery series that my mom and I have both read.

I found all five books (The Heist, The Chase, The Job, The Scam, and The Pursuit) at Half-Priced Book for a great deal and grabbed them all. And then it took me less than two weeks to read them all and I finished about two weeks ago.

After finishing the series, I didn’t pick up a book for a few days, but now I’m reading All the Missing Girls. I’m only about twenty pages in, but I’m enjoying it so far.

I know that I made a list of books I wanted to read and didn’t get to, but I’m hoping to tackle them this quarter.

A LOOK AT QUARTER 4

WRITING

Finish this draft of Hit List – I’ll probably finish this soon and I’m hoping to give it time to breathe after.

A short story- While my original intent was to write Super Ordinary between editing, I’m not quite ready to take on another full novel. I’m thinking a mystery short-story will be a great month-long project before I go and visit The Cassie Morgan Series again.

Plan out my schedule for 2018. – Since I didn’t release anything this year, I really want to be smart about my planning for the upcoming year. I still want to release both books back to back, but I don’t know what will happen after that. I’m excited to see what I come up with after.

READING

Settle for More by Megyn Kelly

Poison and Prejudice by Chelsea Fields

Who Killed These Girls? by Beverly Lowery

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

The One with all the Writing Advice by Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant

Hardcore Twenty-Four by Janet Evanovich

The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule

Leave a comment down below and tell me what some of your reading and writing goals are for the end of the year!

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