Starcat's Writing Desk

Wow, the time has flown and here we are at Wednesday again. So, here’s my ROW 80 update for this week, followed by a gratitude list.

I’m now at 112,180 words on my book draft, on the way to a target of 120K. Woo hoo! I hope to be able to make a concerted effort and finish the draft this weekend. I’ll be going with Quester to visit some friends. While he’s helping them work on their home addition, I’ll be writing. Then we can hang out together in the evenings. That’s the plan thus far.

I’ve been keeping on track with blogging, miraculously. The new round of my biz coaching program gets started next week with our big fall retreat. I’m so excited! I’m working on financial stuff, and learning new things as I release old blocks to my prosperity. We worked on some serious basement de-cluttering on Friday, with more to come soon. That feels really good.

Otherwise everything is going well, though busy. I haven’t exercised as much as I’d wish, because it seems like I’ve just been straight out with family stuff, the business, and writing. But it’s all fun stuff, so that’s cool.

Here’s this week’s gratitude list. I’m so thankful:

• for the gorgeous full moon, and the ocean (even when it’s foggy).
• for my kids and what awesome people they are.
• to my friend for reading my book draft and giving me useful feedback.
• to my immediate family for understanding when I deep-dive into my writing, and for being really supportive.
• for having plenty of delicious food to eat.

Thanks! Have a terrific week everyone.

I still have great momentum on the book draft. I’m now at 107,830 words on the way to 120K. I should be able to finish within the next couple of weeks. Yay!

Blogging is also on track. I started to procrastinate last night, then decided to go ahead and do a blog post, even though it was almost bedtime. It ended up coming out quite well, with some inspiration from a friend. Sometimes social media feeds the creative process, though it’s more well known for distracting us from it.

My biz coach is guiding us to get started on some planning for 2017. My Virgo self just loves this! I’m excited to brainstorm and dream and then create a road map from there.

I’m going to bring back something I did for a while here, which is posting a gratitude list along with Wednesday’s ROW 80 update. I’m so thankful:

• for the beautiful October leaves and sunshine and apples and pumpkins.
• that I’m still so excited about my book draft, here at the tail end of it.
• that I’m taking time to write each weekday.
• for friends who inspire me and laugh with me and are just super awesome in general.
• for money from unexpected sources.

Thanks, Universe!

Wow, it’s my first official update for Round 4 of ROW 80. And can I just ask: where the heck did 2016 go? It’s hard to believe we’re in the final quarter of the year. Well, here we are, anyway.

I’ve been working on my book draft every weekday, and I’m now at 104,510 words on my way to a goal of 120,000. Getting so close! I had a funny sensation this weekend – even though I’m used to taking the weekend days off most of the time, I found myself missing my book writing sessions. That said, it was a busy weekend with company staying over, so that didn’t mean I sat down to work on the book. But at least I was thinking about it.

I’m keeping up with regular blogging, which feels good. I had a private call with my biz coach this week, to start getting set up for the course, which begins later this month. It was really inspiring, and helped BlackLion and I narrow our focus on what’s important for our business right now.

This turned out to be a pretty brief update, but the important thing is that I’m making good progress on the book draft, and feeling great about how it’s coming along. May your week be productive and fun in equal measure!

Well, I spent the final week of the Round not doing any writing at all – but I had a good reason! We’ve been traveling. BlackLion, my daughter ElvenTiger, her boyfriend, and I all went to NYC for the Life Without Instructions unschooling conference. It was so much fun! This was the 2nd annual, and it was just as amazing and wonderful as last year. We stayed in a hotel on Staten Island. The conference wrapped up Thursday night, and on Friday we did some sight-seeing in the city. It was a blast. We’ll be posting some pictures soon on our Feline Dreamers blog.

Our free e-book collaboration, Goddess Awakening: The Rise of the Feminine Divine, was released this past Monday, and the response has been fantastic! All the contributors are sharing with their various communities, and we’ve had 244 folks download it just in this first week. I’m thrilled! You can check it out here if you’re interested!

So, things are going well, even though I didn’t make my word count goal yet on The Heart of the Goddess book. We’ve got a lot of exciting plans falling into place for our business, and I’m still on track to release the new book in November. I feel like it was a good solid Round, especially for summer, when I tend to get distracted by outdoor fun.

Without further ado, here’s my play-by-play (sorry, BlackLion has football on so I’m hearing it in the background) wrap-up of my goals for the Round.

2016 ROW 80 Round 3 Goals

Draft Heart of the Goddess book. Work on it daily (on weekdays). Finish the first draft (target of 120,000 words) by the end of August. I’m starting the Round at 44K words already written. While I didn’t yet make my word count goal, or finish my first draft, I’m still pleased with the progress I’ve made. I worked on it mostly faithfully, and I’m now at 94,578 words, so I’ve written about 50K this Round. That’s pretty good! I’ll continue the goal and wrap up by mid-October.

Re-read draft of Patterns in the Void and make revision notes. Make a plan for writing the revisions during Round 4. I didn’t get to this at all. What’s with me and fiction, lately? I’m procrastinating. Though, to be fair, it’s not that I’m not busy.

Continue my craft & business learning. Participate in summer events offered by In Arms Coaching. Read at least 3 books about writing craft and/or making a living as a writer. I participated in a wonderful in-person workshop with my coach, but other than that it’s been a quiet summer in this regard. I’m jumping back into a coaching program soon, so I know this will ramp up.

Build community for Feline Dreamers. Create and promote monthly online workshops. Do interviews for JV project and compile into an e-book. Complete 2 more videos for Lauren’s new website, by August 1. Sign up and prepare for presenting and vending at psychic fairs and conferences this fall. Write 4 new guided meditations. Terrific success here! Our JV project, as mentioned above, is already a big success, and we’re just starting to share it. We have the monthly workshops up and running. We did one new video, with one still to go. I haven’t written any new guided meditations yet, but we will be as we roll out the workshops. People at the conference told us how much they really love our guided meditations!

Focus on blogging. Post to my Starcat’s Corner blog at least once per week, Feline Dreamers each month, and on this blog twice per week. Write, edit, and submit monthly guest blog posts for Kind Over Matter. Submit a guest blog proposal to Mike Dooley’s site. Start and keep a running list of blog post ideas, drafts, and picture ideas. I’ve slacked off a bit on blogging this summer, which isn’t unusual. I’ll be getting back to it more now that fall is here, I’m sure.

Enhance my physical health. Devote time to daily exercise, including but not limited to walking, yoga, dancing, hula-hooping, and swimming. Stop eating sugar. Eat less in general. Exercise is going really well. I need to re-focus on my healthy eating, though.

Live AUTHENTICally and spiritually in my daily life. Do things I love: write in my journal, read, do yoga, dance, spend time with loved ones, and express my gratitude. Pay attention to my dreams and keep records of them. Set intentions before sleep and upon waking. Meditate and do my chakra clearing daily. This is going super well. I’m feeling really connected, authentic, and joyful. My gratitude practice is especially powerful, and meditation is an ongoing joy. I feel very blessed!

Our book cover photo shoot yesterday morning was a huge success! We got to the beach just before sunrise, and got a lot of really excellent pictures over the next hour or so. I can’t reveal the covers just yet – in one case, because Goddess Awakening: The Rise of the Feminine Divine doesn’t come out for another week, and in another case, because we haven’t finished it yet (since The Heart of the Goddess isn’t being published until November). I can, however, share this image from my phone, just to give you a little taste of what’s to come. What a gorgeous sky, huh? The purple orbs or refractions captured on my camera won’t show up on the book covers, but I think they’re kind of cool.

As for the book content, Goddess Awakening is nearly ready. Editing is almost complete. I finished the introduction and acknowledgement sections yesterday. I’m making good progress on The Heart of the Goddess draft, too. I’m now at 91,320 words on the way to 120K or so. I probably won’t finish before the end of the Round, but I’ve built in some extra time, so it’ll all work out fine.

Here are my mini-goals for this week:

• send all marketing copy, links, and promo photos to Goddess Awakening contributors
• finish preparing for the conference we’re attending in a week
• make final preparations for the online workshop we’re offering on Wednesday
• get ahead on blogging (because we’ll be gone at the conference for a week)

I’ll also be celebrating my 47th birthday with family and friends (and chocolate cake, yum!) this week. I hope you have a really fun and productive week!

Today I’m celebrating the Feast Day of Yemaya, Goddess of the Oceans. Some friends and I are going to our favorite beach to leave offerings. Our oceans need some love. They’ve been polluted with plastic, other trash, and chemicals. There’s a lot of attention being paid to the importance of protecting fresh water right now, and I feel that’s very valid. I also encourage the protection and clean-up of our seas. Besides watching over her beloved oceans, Yemaya is also a Goddess of healing, something else which is much needed in our world. So, blessings of healing and water to you!

Yemaya is one of the Goddesses included in my current nonfiction WIP, The Heart of the Goddess. I’m continuing to make steady progress on the draft, and I’m now at 86,300 words, on the way to a target of 120K or so. I should be able to finish the draft by the end of September or so. That will keep me on track for November publication. We’re doing the book cover photo shoot this weekend – at the ocean, of course!

My other projects are well underway, too. I’m up to date with blogging. We’re promoting our upcoming free online workshop, and working on the ebook that comes out on 9/19. I have a long list of things to do, and yet I’m staying focused and not letting myself get overwhelmed.

Wednesday gratitude: I’m thankful for the oceans, my favorite beach, Yemaya, good friends to celebrate with, rain, my beloved cats, my trusty mini-van, the progress I’m making on the book, my Mom, Quester doing the dishes, and my daughter being willing to be our book cover model. Thanks, Universe!

I’m delighted to report that I’m still making progress on my main goal, which is the writing of my WIP, a non-fiction book called The Heart of the Goddess. Since I last wrote, on Wednesday, I’ve added another 4,325 words. Pretty much on pace with how it’s been going so far.

We’re also making progress with the e-book collaboration, Goddess Awakening. We finished the transcribing process today, and we’ve set up our book cover photo shoot for next Saturday. We had to push back our launch date just a bit, but that’s fine.

Blogging is back on track, woo hoo! I made a new schedule and have been, thus far, sticking to it. That feels good.

I’ve been swimming and walking, and enjoying the remaining days of summer. I’m not ready for it to end – not because I don’t love autumn, I truly do, but mostly because I’ll miss swimming when the air and the water get too cold. That’s okay, though. There are other things I enjoy that I can do for exercise, like dancing and yoga.

Getting back to the habit I’d had for a while of setting weekly mini-goals, mine for this upcoming week are:

• Finish compiling the Goddess Awakening e-book.
• Send draft sections, timeline, and marketing copy to all e-book contributors.
• Work on my WIP at least 5 days.
• Go swimming, walk, dance, and do yoga a combined total of 5 times.

Good luck with your own writing week!

Just a short ROW 80 check-in today. I’m happy to report that despite distractions galore, I’ve been keeping my focus on my writing and other important goals. So far this week I’ve written 2327 new words on my WIP, The Heart of the Goddess. I’ve made a new plan to get back on track with blogging, which has slipped a bit this summer. I outlined my September post for the Kind Over Matter website, which is due Friday.

Today, besides the book, I’m working on writing website and marketing copy for our free e-book collaboration, Goddess Awakening: The Rise of the Feminine Divine, which gets published on September 12th (eek! so excited!).

Okay, self, enough reporting, back to work! *cracks the whip*

This was the week of the triple birthdays – my Mom, my Aunt (who lives right next door), and my son were all celebrating. We had a fantastic triple birthday bash, with 16 people all eating outside on my Aunt’s deck. It was so much fun! We also had some friends visiting for part of the weekend, and then an annual family reunion with my Dad’s side of the family tree. So, it’s been quite a busy patch, which is normal for us for late August.

Still, I’ve made some writing progress since last Sunday. I’m now at 77,244 words on my WIP, which means I wrote 2948 words this week. Not too bad. I also had a polarity session with my favorite healer, and as a result had a bunch of personal journaling to do. I feel like I’m in a really good space right now, making progress on creative projects and upgrading my mindset in general.

Amazingly, I also got some swimming in. BlackLion and I are making plans with our fantastic photographer (aka his Mom), to do a book cover shoot soon. We’ll be doing a “two-fer,” since we need a cover for the e-book collaboration we’re working on as well as my WIP. My daughter is going to be the cover model again. This time our setting will be the seashore. Seems to go well with two works that are focused on the Feminine Divine! We now have all the material for the e-book collaboration, and we’re just working on transcribing and editing.

My focus for this week will be on writing, transcribing, and editing, and I’m rather looking forward to it. Oh, and I need to get caught up on a bit of blogging, as well. I hope you have a wonderful week, whether you’re heading on into fall mode or, like me, still savoring the last few weeks of summer.