End of February/March Update

March 12, 2021

I started this blog entry about two weeks ago to give a February update but then completely lost track of time. How is it almost mid-March? Where has the time gone??? Anyway, I need to free up this tab in Chrome. Mark this blog entry off my To Do.

The Writing Update:

I’ve been busy with Garden Book and am pleased to report the trash draft is done! *cue confetti falling from above* Here is what my spreadsheet looked like for February:

The final word count for Garden Book’s trash draft was a little over 100k — which is way more than I’d planned for, but it’s done! I’m so happy that this book I’ve been planning for seven years finally has a rough shape to it.

I started the edit in the final days of February. I mentioned on Twitter that midway through writing the trash draft, I realized both a central plot point and a main character weren’t working. So I had to cut the protagonist and plot point, which meant rewriting the book’s entire beginning from scratch.

I’m almost past this initial setback of ~20k words. It’s been like being stuck in the mud for weeks. Please send me your good thoughts.

Anyway, here is my updated project tracker:

I should be getting edits for Seven Devils 2 soon, so I’ll have to adjust my writing schedule around that. But right now, I’m aiming to finish Garden Book’s revision by May 1.

It’s always good to set deadlines, even if they don’t work out.

Other Thoughts, Observations, and Farm Things:

We had a fantastic snowfall in early February that cut us off from the village for a few days. But it was so beautiful while it lasted. I posted a few images below of all the animal tracks in our yard. So much critter activity!

The first early winter flowers are in bloom! It’s always a delight to see the snowdrops every year. As I write this, the bluebells have finally started to bloom in our yard, adding lovely little dashes of colour to our garden.

And speaking of the garden, I’ve been working in the yard preparing the plots for vegetables and new bee attracting flowers. Our resident honeybees were all over the snowdrops a few weeks back, and I want to make sure they have more flowers to pollinate. I missed the hive activity during the winter months and am glad they’re out and about again!

While the weather is a bit warmer and the trees/shrubs are still bare, things get revealed around the farm (last year, Mr. May found an old milking stool!). I started digging around at the bottom of the garden, uncovered a stone staircase that wound down to the river, and found an old stone mill! While we were at it, Mr. May and I decided to visit the ruined castle near our house. It’s little more than a massive stone wall in our neighbour’s garden now, but it’s a beautiful addition to our farm explorations. It’s near a path that goes down to the river, where I found a curtain of ivy hanging from one of the tall cliffsides. The route will be inaccessible in the summertime, so I’m glad we had this chance for an adventure so close to home.

As always, I hope you enjoy the photos!

Until next time,