Personal Digest Saturday - September 26 – October 2

Life news this week:

This was a batshit week, just wanted to warn you. Details incoming.

• Saturday I got some relaxing in--slept late, bothered people on Bluesky and Tumblr, and made a new asexuality video. Got some exercise in too. Sent Polos to Meg and Ben. Scanned some more photos for my photo project. Worked on some short pitches for my book for a pitch party event coming up. And another author on Bluesky invited me to a Discord full of authors who are largely doing what I'm doing--submitting work and/or trying to find agents (or in some cases they have their self-released work). I got very excited to finally find another place to make writer friends.
  
  
• Sunday was a weird day. Got up early and messed around on the writer Discord and Bluesky some more. Finished processing my ace video. Sang a karaoke song. Read some more of the book I'm reading. Packaged up some eBay stuff. Did laundry and put out trash. Did some VO auditions. And I meant to spend some time on photo scanning, but instead, the wieners on Discord locked onto me complaining about my high word counts and bullied me into writing flash fiction. WHICH I DID. I wrote a new short story (in about 2 hours) called "Not My Sister" (under 1000 words) and I chucked it at a submissions call. I do not recommend doing this. I did it anyway.
  
  
• Monday I went to work and edited two letters for the team. I also got some photos scanned for my photo project, and I played DDR. I got paid for my short story "Aquarius" which will be published soon in an anthology (it sold last year and if you follow my updates you know I have been through two rounds of edits on it recently). It is the most I've ever been paid for a short story. I guess writing long stories when you get paid by the word can pay well. Ha. There were some submissions calls and ideas being thrown around in the Discord and as the end of the month approaches, a lot of people are preparing submissions for places that open October 1. I made some notes for things I want to send. Unfortunately my throat started bothering me again after a short hiatus of being pretty good.
  
  
• Tuesday my throat improved a little. And I had to scramble to get a proposal together under the deadline at work. We did it! Then I sent invitations to a team for another business development effort, walked to the post office to send an eBay package, wrote more of my pitches for the pitch event, and bounced them off my critique partner Ben. Then I wrote my comic So You Write, sketched it, inked it, colored it, scanned it, processed it, and posted it once midnight rolled around. And then, in the middle of the night, I STARTED WRITING ANOTHER SHORT STORY and finally decided to go to bed at like 5 in the morning when I was only a couple hundred words away from finishing. I was coaching one of my friends on a VO audition in between working on the story.
  
  
• Wednesday I finished the short story in the morning, sliding in at 1,900 words. (Very short for me, and well below the word count cap I was writing to). I decided to title it "Home to the Sky." I edited it a couple times through the day and submitted it the same day I wrote it, which is again something I do not recommend doing. The Discord people are a bad (good?) influence on my submission habits. At work I did stuff with meetings and responding to little requests. I played DDR, did my dishes, and sent carefully spaced-apart pitches to the pitch party online. (Sadly, so far I did not get any requests from agents, though that is also something that could change if agents read the backlog.) It was worth a shot though. Managed to get a nap in and then went out with Jeaux. We ate at IHOP and did our grocery shopping and silliness. After he left, the clock turned over to be officially October 1 and that meant some of the submissions calls opened. I sent some of my planned stories in.
  
  
• Thursday felt so long. I jumped out of bed to respond to another highly anticipated submissions call (which I didn't know about their tiny window of submissions until I joined that group on Discord), and enjoyed camping the submission window with other people waiting to submit. At work I wrangled templates for an upcoming proposal and got it done. I wrote the script for my webcomic. At home THE CREATURE THAT'S BEEN POOPING IN MY GARAGE WAS MAKING APPEARANCES and I got very determined and started stalking it. I literally caught it THREE DIFFERENT TIMES throughout the day and IT ESCAPED. But I finally caught it a fourth time by slamming a trash can on top of it to trap it. Guess what? It wasn't a mouse, a rat, a squirrel, or a possum. IT WAS A TOAD. I caught it!!!
  
  And then after all that excitement I got a notification that one of the publishers that had previously expressed interest in my novella Karma Is Dead is offering to publish it!
  
  I had to go back to the other publisher that had asked to hold the story and ask if they were still interested, so I couldn't accept right away. Right after I found out, I had to go to game night and play games with my friends. I told them the toad catching story. And after we played games I told them about my novella. They are excited for me!
  
  After game night I finished the book I was reading and reviewed it online, and caught up on some story submissions and queries that are all newly opened at the beginning of the month. Sleep doesn't exist.
  
  
• Friday I woke up early and somehow still had energy. Went to work and worked on forms for an upcoming submittal. Also had two meetings. Walked to the post office to drop off an eBay package at lunch. In the afternoon the pest control man came to pick up my toad (and all the various traps that have been in my garage for an entire month). This elderly man reached into the trash can I'd trapped it in and pulled it out with his bare hand. He said he would release it more than a mile from my house. Ugh. I swept all its latest poop out the door but I still need to clean the hell out of the garage from all the mess this thing made.
  
  I got my new shelves in for my Steven Universe toys! So I set them up and put my toys on them and it looks a lot better. Also put up a poster I'd been meaning to put up. Finished drawing Negative One and went to be loud on the Discord. Did my exercise video, cleaned up, and did a few more submissions/queries.

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: Eating was rough this week because I was SO busy and distracted. I underate several days of the week but I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week and met my protein goals 5 out of 7 days. I am still taking my vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do DDR or aerobics every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. Based on my phone's app, my low day was Friday at 10,176 steps, and my high day was Tuesday at 13,673 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: The Awakening of Roku by Randy Ribay. Three-star review.
  
  
• Currently Reading: Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli. I'm just starting.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Barracuda" by Heart.

Stuff drawn:

My monthly writing webcomic, So You Write:


#184: rejection math.

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:


#1116: weaver #171: stressed out.

Videos Made: 

A new asexuality video is out: Ace Happiness. This video discusses the audacity of detractors who decide on our behalf that we can't possibly be happy as asexual people and why said beliefs describe the limits of their imagination, not ours.

New photos:

The toad that's been pooping in my garage

THE CULPRIT

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,469 for swankivy (4 new), 675 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 216 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change) 10 for Vinyl Impact Band (no change). Twitter followers: 735 for swankivy (no change), 3,313 for JulieSondra (lost 2). Facebook: 284 friends for swankivy (no change), 624 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 79 followers for Negative One (no change), 244 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,406 (no change). Instagram followers: 331 (1 new). Threads followers: 93 (2 new). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 510 (23 new--I made a lot of new friends during the pitch party).

September Goals Update

I'm shocked at the arrival of October, but there's nothing I can do about it! It also means I have to tell you what I accomplished in September! Here we go with a quick review of the goals I set at the beginning of the year:

1. Health Goals: Four glasses of water per day; three servings of fruits and veggies; taking vitamins; walking 10,000 steps a day plus an aerobic activity every other day; visiting health professionals on an appropriate schedule.

2. Personal Project Goals: Complete editing on In Bloom, share with test audience, collect and incorporate feedback, develop pitch materials, start querying it; start another book; write two more short stories; submit queries and short stories; finish the photo project and start the SU site, autobio site, and essays/rants site; practice music; post regular webcomics; post ace videos; submit voice-over auditions and complete assigned voice-over work.

3. Reading Goals: Read at least every other day.

4. Relationship and Communication Goals: Document more consistently; keep up with e-mail and online messages; keep social life active.

5. Other Goals: Get rid of garage items; clean the house; watch TV shows; plant herbs; wear pajamas/have a night routine; use a new coffee cup every day; do something cool with my hair.

Progress Update:

HEALTH GOALS:

Summary: Walking, water, fruits/veggies, and exercise: perfect this month. I scheduled and attended my eye doctor visit, so now I just have one more annual exam (dentist) that I need to do before the end of the year. I unfortunately have had to go to the doctor multiple times this month to deal with whatever's wrong with my throat, which I still don't know and am still not rid of. I had two doctors' appointments, an ultrasound, an X-ray, and an endoscopy, plus two rounds of antibiotics and one round of steroids. No progress. Whatever the issue is keeps kind of waxing and waning. Sighhhhhhh

Here is my Health calendar of progress:

(Click these calendars and they will expand so you can actually read them!)

PERSONAL PROJECT GOALS:

Summary:

EDITING: I have no active edits at this time. My YA novel In Bloom finished edits and is on submission, and I got back second edits on "Aquarius" (due to be published in Common Bonds 3 soon); the edits were accepted and I got paid for the story.

WRITING: Unnamed new novel is sitting pretty at 62,000 words, meaning I wrote 15,000 words on it this month. That's relatively slow for me with an active project, but that's because of the absolute explosion of other stuff I'm doing in submissions and new projects. I have also written TWO new short stories this month (both quite short, which is new for me)--one at about 975 words, one about 1,900 words. My first time writing a soft horror story as well. I am full of surprises these days.

SUBMISSIONS: In Bloom is still being queried. Very little action--agents are busier than ever. I participated in a pitch party on Bluesky but did not get any attention for my pitches yet--some agents are still going through the backlog, though. I still have THREE outstanding statements of interest from different publishers on my novella ("Karma is Dead"), and the newer novella I wrote a few months ago ("In Your Favor") has been accepted into consideration by a publisher as of this past month (with some other submissions unresolved). Three promising short stories have been submitted to submissions calls and I'm awaiting (good) news: "The Wagon," "Not My Sister," and "Home to the Sky." I sent short stories to 15 markets this month and only 1 has been rejected within the month. Two of my accepted short stories ("For the Record" and "Aquarius") are waiting to be published.

I joined a writing group and BOY has it been great for my motivation but also very distracting because the people are very fun. I became aware through them of some submission opportunities I didn't know about, and some of them are hitting the same markets I already was. So good to be with people who know what it's all about and can share and request advice.

Writing Progress:

PHOTO PROJECT: I COMPLETED going through the planners to help date photos. I have now rediscovered a drove of photo albums from my grandparents and I have begun to go through them album by album. The progress has been really good on the days I could find to work on them. I still hope to have this project completed before the end of the year.

VOICE ACTING: I still haven't been super active on my auditions, but I have sent in a good handful this month, including a really exciting musical cartoon (but given the probable competition, I'm not really expecting a callback). Two projects I'm involved with should have drops this coming month: a science fiction project where I'm a main character is coming out October 31, and a science fiction project where I'm a minor character, has its second episode premiering soon (which is my debut).

REGULAR CONTENT: I have posted my Negative One webcomic every Friday; my So You Write webcomic on the last day of the month; and a new asexuality video for the month.

MUSIC:

I have learned several new songs for the band this month but I have not attended any band practices--their practices right now are instrumentals only.

Here's the Projects Calendar:

READING GOALS:

Summary: I met my reading goals this month but still not reading much in a sitting. I should finish the current book very soon.

Progress:

RELATIONSHIP AND COMMUNICATION GOALS:

Summary: I've been doing Jeaux Day, Game Night, band practice, and hanging out with friends here and there. I have done no extra journaling. I'm caught up on e-mail.

Progress:

OTHER GOALS:

Summary: Last month I cleaned out my garage a little bit because there is evidence that a critter is living in there. The pest control company got involved and it is a SAGA. Something is clearly still living in my garage and they have sent three different levels of people to help me including their top expert. No one can catch this thing. It has been variously suspected of being a rat, a mouse, an opossum, a toad, and a squirrel. I am pretty sure it is a rat but the expert says no. I can't WAIT to clean the floor in there.

I have bought some cute new air plants. My night routine was better this month too--a little more intentional and consistent.

Personal Digest Saturday - September 19 – September 25

Life news this week:

• Saturday I had a rough day as far as energy and health goes--my throat was still bugging me and I couldn't get the motivation to do much. I sent a Polo to my friend, wrote a blog, wrote a little of my book, and did some reading. Otherwise I just distracted myself I guess. I did also post a silly poll about Steven Universe toys on my blog, asking people to vote on which toy was the worst. Haha.
  
  
• Sunday was better, health-wise. I got a late start but got a lot done--guess I needed that sleep. I did my DDR early, texted with a friend, started laundry and took out the trash, and completed my second round of edits on my short story "Aquarius," which will be published soon. Also caught a variety of critters in my house: a beetle, a lizard, and the hugest moth I've ever seen. I practiced some music, did some karaoke, and wrote a little more of my book.
  
  
• Monday I went to work and updated proposal stuff. Made a doctor's appointment and they asked me to come get a chest x-ray. I went on a shopping adventure afterwards--dropped off a package at the post office, bought some new plants at Lowe's, and bought some new candy at the Fresh Market. Went home and went back to work, submitted a short story, worked on my novel, and read old planners and the book I'm reading. I also did three voice-over auditions.
  
  
• Tuesday I was expecting a hustle for a proposal but my boss pulled the plug. We turned in another proposal I wasn't involved with and then I put up the new season's decorations in my house. Starting to look like fall! I did some napping and some meetings and some timesheet stuff at work. The doctor's office called and said they want me to get an inhaler. They had called one in for me at the pharmacy. Then I spent a bunch of time preparing an audition for a voice-over thing where I had to learn a new song. (Yes, if I got the part I'd have to sing!) They had several suggested songs for the character from musicals but I didn't know any of them so I had to pick one and sing it. After, I submitted a couple queries, wrote more of my book, read some planners (and finally got to the end of them!), and got my first voice-over scam e-mail! Haha! Can't believe those awful people. I sent a Polo to Meg.
  
  
• Wednesday at work was less eventful--we had a group phone call about a project we were in the running for and other than that I just did some background research work. I sent a Polo to a friend, and submitted a couple short stories and a query (and I had to cut words from one of the short stories). Went out with Jeaux to 4 Rivers and did our grocery shopping and I picked up my inhaler and learned to use it, and again we just read each other silly stuff and did nothing.
  
  
• Thursday there were no meetings and some shortlist results. I spent the day catching up on research. I wrote my storyboard for my webcomic, read a couple short stories by a writer I'm talking to on Bluesky 'cause that's fun, submitted a short story, and reread a short story I wrote a while back. I played DDR, then went to game night with my friends and drew a lot, and afterwards I wrote more of the book I'm working on. Health-wise I seem to finally be feeling better.
  
  
• Friday I expected a meeting but it got moved. I just did my reports like usual. I met with my sister P on Discord to talk about photos for a project she's putting together and I am known of the keeper of all family photos so I was able to furnish most of what she wanted. I finished going through the planners earlier this week so I am out of things I have to do before I complete my photo project I've been doing for years, but talking to my sister about photos inspired me to go through a bunch of albums my grandparents left behind and it looks like I still have some work to do. (OMG two of the boxes in my garage--LARGE boxes--were full of photo albums! It is so exciting!) After all that I finished the comic, chatted with Jeaux, and practiced some music while getting my steps in.

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week and met my protein goals 4 out of 7 days (the back half of the week). It was more or less the same as last week--that I would have to eat something I don't feel like eating at the end of the day to balance it out, and I would rather not meet the goal than eat something extra that I don't want. I am still taking my vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do DDR every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. Based on my phone's app, my low day was Wednesday at 10,057 steps, and my high day was Tuesday at 11,199 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: The Awakening of Roku by Randy Ribay. I'm on page 220.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Tennessee Whiskey" by Chris Stapleton.

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:


#1115: ivy #370: security.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,465 for swankivy (1 new), 675 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 216 for Not-So-Giant Women (1 new), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change) 10 for Vinyl Impact Band (no change). Twitter followers: 735 for swankivy (no change), 3,315 for JulieSondra (lost 2). Facebook: 284 friends for swankivy (no change), 624 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 79 followers for Negative One (no change), 244 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,406 (no change). Instagram followers: 330 (no change). Threads followers: 91 (1 new). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 487 (4 new).

Personal Digest Saturday - September 12 – September 18

Life news this week:

• Saturday I played around with my character doodles and shared them some places, played games to relax, and worked on my blogging. Played DDR for exercise. Kari came over and hung out for several hours while we ate pizza and caught up about her house-buying adventures and new baby in the family and my writing adventures. I recorded some voice-over stuff for a project I got asked to join and read over the already-written stuff in the book I'm writing.
  
  
• Sunday I was able to sleep late. I had trouble focusing on the book I was writing but I did get some writing done--it just took way longer than usual for some reason. I had a headache all day that eventually pushed off when I took medicine, and my discomfort with my throat was kinda coming back, so I decided to go back to the doctor. I did manage to get my laundry and trash done and packed up two eBay packages. Got some reading done. Briefly talked to my dad on the phone and finally finished writing the chapter.
  
  
• Monday I had meetings at work and worked on a proposal. No longer felt gross from the headache so I guess it was just a crappy day. Worked a little bit late. Wrote some more of the book. Talked to people on Bluesky. Played DDR. Sent Meg a Polo. Existed tiredly.
  
  
• Tuesday I had meetings and proposal prep. Went to the doctor for my throat again and now I'm on antibiotics and steroids too. Wrote some more of the book. Did some reading. Sent a Polo to Meg. Dropped off eBay packages while I was out. Stayed up late finishing a chapter.
  
  
• Wednesday I was very tired in the morning because I made bad choices about staying up until 6 AM to write. Wasn't too busy at work but I sent reminders to people who owe us stuff and filled out some forms for a proposal. I submitted a query, washed dishes, played DDR, sent a Polo to Meg, and took a nap. Jeaux visited and we ate at Noble Crust and did our grocery shopping. We didn't do anything notable hanging out--just talked about stuff and showed each other silly stuff on the internet. After he went home I wrote a very tiny amount on the book. (Like, a paragraph.)
  
  
• Thursday I got up late 'cause I do what I want. At work I researched a project and bothered people who owe us materials again. I submitted some short stories and read old stuff, wrote my webcomic storyboard, sent a Polo to Meg, did some reading, and went to game night with my friends.
  
  
• Friday I stopped in at work for a check-in before going to the eye doctor for my annual. Nothing notable. Came home and did my reports and bothered people about timesheets. Did my webcomic drawings and played DDR after I posted my comic. Felt kind of run down but I still pushed through it I guess. Did a Polo for Meg and stayed up for a while just relaxing.

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week and met my protein goals 3 out of 7 days. Not a great week for the protein goals. Usually I was close, but I hit a few situations where I'd have to eat when I didn't want to to change the balance and I just didn't do it. I am still taking my vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do DDR every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. Based on my phone's app, my low day was Saturday at 10,116 steps, and my high day was Monday at 12,233 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: The Awakening of Roku by Randy Ribay. I'm on page 150.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Shadows of the Night" by Pat Benatar.

Stuff drawn:

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:


#1114: adele #271: another adult woman.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

Cool butterflies in my yard!

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,464 for swankivy (lost 1), 675 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 66 for Tides of Time Band (no change) 10 for Vinyl Impact Band (no change). Twitter followers: 735 for swankivy (no change), 3,317 for JulieSondra (5 new). Facebook: 284 friends for swankivy (no change), 624 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 79 followers for Negative One (no change), 244 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,406 (no change). Instagram followers: 330 (3 new). Threads followers: 90 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 483 (1 new).

Personal Digest Saturday - September 5 – September 11

Life news this week:

• Saturday I got started on my holiday weekend and made the most of it. Walked an eBay package to the post office and learned a new song for the band on the way back. Recorded a requested monologue for a promo piece I'm doing on an audio drama that comes out next month. Looked through the feed of my new voice-over Instagram account and saw some cool things to submit to. Got my blogging done. Got a backing track made for my band for the song I just learned. Also learned another song and recorded that one too. Answered some e-mail. Reread one of my recently revamped short stories for no reason. Wrote a tiny bit more of my unnamed current book in progress to finish out a chapter.
  
  
• Sunday was another productive day. Got up and started learning music early in the day. I learned four new songs and made backing tracks for them throughout the day and uploaded all of them to our practice space. In between, I was rereading stuff I'd written for the novel, and I had to package up some keychains I sold on the internet. Did laundry and took out the trash but didn't take it to the curb because there would be no pickup on the holiday. Did my exercise.
  
  
• Monday I got a karaoke song done and reread some more of my book. Got a voice-over audition done and cleaned up some junk in the living room and bedroom. Meggie came over to pick up garage sale stuff from me and chatted a while. After she left I worked on the novel but then had a weird power outage for just over an hour--there was a storm and lightning damage in my area. Thankfully it did not go on long enough that I was in danger of losing my food, but it was just as the sun was going down so I had to light candles all over the house. When it came back the internet was still out until the morning, but I just worked on my book which doesn't need internet anyway.
  
  
• Tuesday I went to work and sat in meetings. I did some stuff with timesheets and a bunch of work on our in-progress proposal. Drew some pictures of my adventurer characters--got four of the six portraits done. They're just cute little figures to illustrate a character analysis project I'm doing! Took a nap after work. But a bunch of purchasers off my post about keychains and found new homes for a bunch of them! Did some brainstorming on the character project. Talked to Tony outside when he came to do my lawn. Paid some bills. Did my exercise. Wrote some more of my book.
  
  
• Wednesday was more meetings for most of the day, with some teaming coordination and proposal crafting. I got two more drawings done for my character sheets so that completed the set of six pencil sketches. I got a new order on eBay that was messy because they wanted to combine shipping after they paid for something so I had to figure that out. Jeaux came early and I packed up my keychain packages for people who bought them online so I could send them out while we were out and about. We had Thai food at Benjarong and did our shopping and then I took a billion years at the post office because the kiosk thing asks so many questions now. Jeaux and I just showed each other silly things on the internet and then he left early. I edited a bunch of proposal stuff for work after he left so we wouldn't have as much to worry about the next day.
  
  
• Thursday I got up early for proposal stuff and knocked it out in the morning. We went back and forth a few times with the team making sure we had everything finalized and then I submitted it a couple hours before deadline. Got a package ready for another keychain purchaser. Played DDR. Wrote my comic. Listened to some Polos. Went to game night but Meghan was too tired to come and I think a couple of our other players assumed that meant game night wouldn't be happening, so it was just three of us hanging out and not doing anything. I finished some drawings for the adventurer characters (inking and coloring) and worked on the characterization exercise thing I came up with until bedtime.
  
  
• Friday I was in more work meetings for upcoming marketing efforts. Then I walked to the post office to drop off a keychain. I did the rest of my reports and timesheet stuff at work, talked to the pest control guy about what is pooping in the garage again (he is saying it's a squirrel) and then I got my comic done. Randomly got asked by a stranger if I would join their project as a voice actor because they heard another audition of mine that they liked. Huh! Oh and the trailer monologue thing came out for my character. It is listenable from the profile here.

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week and met my protein goals 5 out of 7 days. (Restaurant day, predictably, was one of them, and I just didn't make the right choices on Monday.) I am still taking my vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do DDR or aerobics every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. Based on my phone's app, my low day was Tuesday at 10,110 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 13,828 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: The Awakening of Roku by Randy Ribay. I'm on page 78.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Stone in Love" by Journey.

Stuff drawn:

The Venn diagrams of my characters from In Your Favor (this exercise was so fun!--click on them to read and see in detail):

Minnie vs. Bauer	Rochelle vs. Rocky	Ari vs. Amber

And the little pencil sketches of the pairs:



My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:


#1113: dax #159: nothing is lost.

Videos Made: 

None.

New photos:

Am I secretly Gwenpool?

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,465 for swankivy (1 new), 675 for JulieSondra (1 new), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 215 for Not-So-Giant Women (1 new), 66 for Tides of Time Band (lost 1) 10 for Vinyl Impact Band (no change). Twitter followers: 735 for swankivy (no change), 3,312 for JulieSondra (lost 7). Facebook: 284 friends for swankivy (no change), 624 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 79 followers for Negative One (no change), 244 followers for So You Write (no change), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,406 (no change). Instagram followers: 327 (no change). Threads followers: 90 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 482 (lost 1).

Personal Digest Saturday - August 29 – September 4

Life news this week:

• Saturday I still had a pretty bad day with my throat but it got a little better later in the day. Walked to the post office to mail packages to people who bought my nerdy merchandise. Then I got to have breakfast and relax. I worked on my blog and did some Polos. Got a vague e-mail that suggested some interest in one of my stories from one of the publishers I sent it to, but it wasn't a typical acceptance with a letter or contract so I figured I'd just wait for further instructions. Made a video for my asexuality channel. Did a couple voice-over auditions and did a little weight-lifting workout video. Read over my in-progress book to get back into the headspace.
  
  
• Sunday my throat was better for some of the day and then got bad again. I set up a camera in my garage to see what kind of pest is in my garage and finally got video of it but still couldn't tell. But most people think it's a rat that's sneaking in through a hole in the side door. Boo. I did some laundry out there with the rats and got my trash done. Processed my video and posted it, drew my writing comic, and listened to an episode of an audio drama that I'm a character in (but I'm not in the first episode). Felt weird and tired most of the day. Read more of my in-progress book.
  
  
• Monday I went back to work with four meetings, including one at 8 AM. I worked on proposals and entered timesheet data. Did my exercise, worked on my writing, and spent too much time on Bluesky whining. Got a couple of trolls on my video because some people just HAVE to be jerks about anything supportive of trans rights.
  
  
• Tuesday I got up early for work and did more meetings and proposals. Also fixed some data for my data-entry project. Got more clarity and communication from the publisher interested in my story--looks like it's being evaluated by an editor. Cool. Did a Polo for Meg, did more laundry, and started a new Instagram account for just my voice-over stuff. Read some of the book I'm reading. Posted my new goals update on my blogs. Did some writing briefly.
  
  
• Wednesday involved knocking out a proposal and sending it in. Also went to a utility meeting. Read over the new chapter I'd written. Did some more laundry and dishes. Played DDR and sent out a query and wrote some e-mail. Jeaux came over and we ate at GrillSmith. We went shopping and acted like boring old people at my house. Wrote a tiny bit more on the book.
  
  
• Thursday I checked in at work before heading out to go to the doctor for my throat. I was seeing an ENT. She stuck a camera up my nose! My first upper endoscopy. And it was a nothingburger--had no problems with it. The doctor saw evidence of a nasty infection and prescribed antibiotics. I picked the prescription up and went home and took my first dose, and was already feeling better later in the day. When I got home I had to do a bunch of work on proposals and I really went all out on doing all this prep work to make the engineers' jobs easier. Then I did some reading, wrote my webcomic storyboard, and tried to learn some songs for the band. I went to game night and talked to my friend late at night.
  
  
• Friday I had a huge checklist of stuff to do. Work was packed with proposals stuff, meetings, team invitations, reports, timesheets, and data entry. After I finished it all I did my exercise, finished my comic, posted my comic, got my walking finished, submitted a short story, recorded a karaoke song, and recorded a backing track for my band. I fell asleep early after that and didn't have time for writing. Too bad!

Health Plan Update:

• Nutrition stuff: I got my three servings of fruits and veggies every day this week and met my protein goals 5 out of 7 days. (I dunno what happened on Thursday and Friday really. I even met the goal on restaurant day somehow! Maybe it's the influx of hummus.) I am still taking my vitamins.
  
  
• Activity stuff: I'm continuing to do DDR or aerobics every other day. I made my 10,000-step walking goal every day this week. Based on my phone's app, my low day was Friday at 10,137 steps, and my high day was Saturday at 11,692 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently Reading: The Awakening of Roku by Randy Ribay. I'm on page 63.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding.

Stuff drawn:

My monthly writing webcomic, So You Write:


#183: our turn?.

My weekly fantasy webcomic, Negative One:


#1112: ivy #369: life with her.

Videos Made: 

SwankiVY on LGB Separatists: This video discusses the troubling push from some people insisting that the LGB (lesbian, gay, bisexual) should be cut off from the T (transgender) and the rest of the community that might fall under Q (queer) and the + (everything else, including aces and aros). Some in this movement believe their orientation is legitimate while other people's isn't, and treat us like we actually are sick or perverted in an attempt to legitimize themselves. I talk about why this is wrongheaded, some of the legitimate roots of their arguments that still blossom into awful conclusions, and what we have in common that should unite us under one umbrella.

New photos:

None.

Social media counts:

YouTube subscribers: 5,464 for swankivy (6 new), 675 for JulieSondra (1 new), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 214 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change), 67 for Tides of Time Band (no change) 10 for Vinyl Impact Band (no change). Twitter followers: 735 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,319 for JulieSondra (lost 3). Facebook: 284 friends for swankivy (no change), 624 likes for JulieSondra (2 new), 79 followers for Negative One (no change), 244 followers for So You Write (1 new), 100 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,406 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 327 (2 new). Threads followers: 90 (no change). Bluesky Social. Bluesky followers: 483 (lost 1).

August Goals Update

We have hit September, and that means you get an August update from me. Here we go with a quick review of the goals I set at the beginning of the year:

1. Health Goals: Four glasses of water per day; three servings of fruits and veggies; taking vitamins; walking 10,000 steps a day plus an aerobic activity every other day; visiting health professionals on an appropriate schedule.

2. Personal Project Goals: Complete editing on In Bloom, share with test audience, collect and incorporate feedback, develop pitch materials, start querying it; start another book; write two more short stories; submit queries and short stories; finish the photo project and start the SU site, autobio site, and essays/rants site; practice music; post regular webcomics; post ace videos; submit voice-over auditions and complete assigned voice-over work.

3. Reading Goals: Read at least every other day.

4. Relationship and Communication Goals: Document more consistently; keep up with e-mail and online messages; keep social life active.

5. Other Goals: Get rid of garage items; clean the house; watch TV shows; plant herbs; wear pajamas/have a night routine; use a new coffee cup every day; do something cool with my hair.

Progress Update:

HEALTH GOALS:

Summary: Walking and exercise were 100% this month. I didn't miss any water goals either. There was one day I didn't get in three servings of fruits/vegetables and I don't have a good excuse, and toward the end of the month I did better with the vague goals I have to get enough protein. I do still have the vision appointment and dentist appointment that I need to do this year, and unfortunately had an unforeseen doctor's visit that will involve a follow-up in early September because my throat is being weird. I'm going to schedule my vision exam very soon.

Here is my Health calendar of progress:

(Click these calendars and they will expand so you can actually read them!)

PERSONAL PROJECT GOALS:

Summary:

EDITING: My YA novel In Bloom finished edits and is on submission, and my edits for "Aquarius" have been turned in (I'm awaiting further feedback).

WRITING: Unnamed new novel has 47,000 words. I wrote about 35,000 of them last month and slowed down on it this month because I took a break to write another new short story (first draft 13,000 words; edited it down to 10,000 for a submissions call). This is one of the more active writing streaks I've had in some time.

SUBMISSIONS: In Bloom is still being queried and there's been almost no movement on it--yeses OR nos. Wait times are so long now! I still have THREE outstanding statements of interest from different publishers on my novella ("Karma is Dead"), and the newer novella I wrote a few months ago ("In Your Favor") has been accepted into consideration by a publisher as of this past month (with some other submissions unresolved), and the new short story ("The Wagon") has been submitted to the place that issued the submissions call. Two of my accepted short stories ("For the Record" and "Aquarius") are waiting to be published.

Writing Progress:

PHOTO PROJECT: I've made it through the majority of the planners I'm reading through but there are still a few to go. This is not my priority right now because it's really taken a back seat to writing.

VOICE ACTING: I've continued to cut way down on auditions, and that's probably also why I have no new roles to announce. I completed line reads on a portfolio project this month and my submissions have been approved, but I haven't seen the final piece yet. One project I did voices for has just released its first episode, but I'm not in the first episode so I won't link it. And we're gearing up for an October release for a project I have a big role in; that one's releasing little mini-trailers and breadcrumbs, some of which feature me. You can check out some of them on YouTube or Instagram.

REGULAR CONTENT: I have posted my Negative One webcomic every Friday; my So You Write webcomic on the last day of the month; and a new asexuality video for the month.

MUSIC:
We're getting back into our band practices but we haven't had one yet that I went to since our performance--just instrumental practices. I'm learning some new music and have returned to making karaoke recordings.

Here's the Projects Calendar:

READING GOALS:

Summary: I again missed just one "assigned" reading day this month. I'm still not reading a whole lot per day most times but I don't consider myself in any rush to finish books. I finished one book this month and got started on another.

Progress:

RELATIONSHIP AND COMMUNICATION GOALS:

Summary: I've been doing Jeaux Day, Game Night, band practice, and hanging out with Kari here and there. I have done no extra journaling. I'm caught up on e-mail.

Progress:

OTHER GOALS:

Summary: I cleaned out my garage a little bit because there is evidence that a critter is living in there and I wanted the pest control people to be able to have a clear view. They are still working on getting the critter(s) out. After that I will clean the floor in there real good. I have taken some of the stuff I've been meaning to organize out of the garage, but there are still a few things to sell and I haven't made an effort. I have bought one new plant. My night routine was better this month than last month but I keep just kind of boycotting pajamas. Onward!