September 2015

Word Count

Goal: 10,000 words

Word count for September: 7,671

Eh, not too shabby.  I’m going to blame the strike.  That week was a doozy for me, work-wise and writing-wise.  And parenting-wise and adulting-wise and generally being a nice person-wise.  Ah well, you win some, you lose some.

Books

I almost finished Tattoos on the Heart but I put it down a couple weeks ago to start another book and I never picked it up again.  I took it back to the library yesterday and didn’t feel any great loss.  While I’m a huge fan of Father Boyle (he spoke at a chapel service at our college back in the late 90s, which prompted me to take the Spring Break trip where I met Jason and started exploring issues of race, among other things), his writing didn’t wow me.  It wasn’t bad.  Just not spectacular and at times felt too… pointed?

I mentioned yesterday that I started reading The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd and I’m now about halfway through it.  It’s picking up speed and I’m enjoying the story.  I’m also enjoying Kidd’s writing.  I read somewhere that the books you read while you are writing a book are important and will influence your own writing more than you know.  I’m finding that to be true and I have been really studying the writing that I’m reading these past few weeks.

I also just started We Make the Road by Walking by Brian McLaren.  We’re going to work our way through this with our community group this year and I’m only a couple pages in but it’s already looking good.

I need to get started on Just Mercy if I’m going to make it to my book club discussion next week!  Not sure I’ll finish it in time but I’m going to give it a shot!

On my nightstand

I’ve got way too many books queued up.  I seem to go in cycles of drought and flood with library books.  I’ve either got nothing on hand or I’ve 12 books that were hold for months from the library all come in the same week!   My friend, Shane, claims he’s got an algorithm all figured out so that your on-hold books will come in staggered, but I’ve yet to see proof.

Invention of Wings
We Make the Road by Walking
Just Mercy
God Laughs & Plays
On Beauty
Half of a Yellow Sun

Goals for October

12,000 words (book & blog combined – upping the ante!)