I’m writing this May Review at the start of June. In the UK, we’re sending in the tiny kids first, and their staff, to see if it’s safe for the rest of us. Yes, I’m a teacher, and so are others in my family. The Government has regularly played upon the myth of the Blitz spirit, when I think the myths of trench warfare may be more appropriate. We’ve still got very high infection rates and death rates, alongside one of the highest death rates in the world (which now exceed the number of deaths caused in the Blitz). I’m very much hoping to be proved wrong, but I’ve studied the history of medicine in too much detail to be comfortable with ending the lockdown in the UK because other countries (with lower infection and death rates) are reopening. Nor do I find any reassurance in global perceptions of British political competence at the moment.
Even while I’m still teaching from home, not commuting and other efficiencies, mean I’ve been able to get on with more writing (and gardening) than is usually the case. I’ve even lost a bit of weight with all the extra exercise opportunities.
May Review – Word Counts
May was much better than April for word counts. I’ve got back into the full swing of writing and punched out 11,459 words in May. This total gives an average of 370 words per day, just below my intended monthly target when I planned the year out. Having missed several monthly writing targets this year, I’m now aiming to write just short of 15,000 words in June.
Editing has been continuing. I’m finding my improved computer-aided checks time consuming, so it’s not going as quickly as I wanted. I had wished to have ‘Dead Handler’ ready for proof-reading, but I’ve still got the last chapter to edit. The process is more effective at spotting mistakes, so the extra delay should be worth it.
May Review – writing projects underway
· ‘Dead Handler’, Book 6 of the Royal Zombie Corps series, is now 80% edited. I had hoped to have this finished by now.
· ‘Butcher’s Fire’, Book 2 of the Butcher’s Funeral is 2nd in the editing queue.
· The third story in the Butcher’s Funeral series is now 10,500 words into the first draft, and I’m working on the fourth chapter at the moment. I suspect this book will come in at just over 50,000 words.
· The future historical project has made slow progress, although I’m watching the new series of ‘A House Through Time’ on the BBC, as this show led to the original inspiration for this story project.
June Review – other projects
Marketing is continuing at more sustainable levels. Sales have also picked up. They have not yet returned to pre-Coronavirus levels, but they are much higher than at the first weeks of the global lockdown. I have also spent more time studying techniques for advertising on Amazon.
Publishing schedule
· Summer 2020 – ‘Dead Handler’, book 6 of the Royal Zombie Corps series.
· Summer 2020 – Butcher’s Funeral new cover and 2nd edition.
· Summer 2020 – ‘The Sands of War’, book 7 of the Royal Zombie Corps series. This is the last book in the WWI sequence.
· Autumn 2020 – Butcher’s Funeral book two titled ‘Butcher’s Fire’.
June plans
· Finish editing and proof-reading ‘Dead Handler’.
· Release ‘Dead Handler’ to the ARC readers for final checking.
· Continue writing the first draft of Butcher’s third book.
· Continue to research the new historical series I’m working on.
· Continue to learn about publishing and writing.
· Upload a brief story to the blog.