Jeremy C Kester

Both a good and bad month, August was the month of lessons. It was of learning to better juggle my hobby of writing with the increasing demands of work and home while also battling against my own digital addictions. It was of learning to deal with others through my own mental barriers. It was of learning about how to build back up my love of reading. It was of learning to use tools that I have. It was of learning to keep promises (mainly to myself) and of not promising more than I can deliver. It was of learning to become a better writer.

Like any good lessons, this all came about from failures. Much like I had done in the past, I planned far more work for myself than I was capable of handling. It meant a later-than-I-wanted release to The Colonist. Also delays in my releases that I had believed capable of producing in the coming months.

But it doesn’t mean that I have given up or that I am throwing in the towel on anything. Delays don’t mean that things won’t happen, they only mean I have to dust off and push forward.

Now, before I move into the meat of this post, I have decided to change this post a little. Instead of being strictly a writing review, I am going to make it a month in review including things like: what I am reading/what I have read. I am including music that’s inspiring me. Most popular posts, and maybe some extras. Besides writing, reading, and music, I am going to keep it fairly open. So, here it goes:

Writing

I wrote 38,725 words this month. Of that, 33,989 was fiction while the remainder was blog and non-fiction. It averaged to 1249 words a day total and 1096 words a day fiction. I wrote all 31 days of August, however I missed my 1,000 words of fiction goal on 3 of those days.

My primary writing project has been The Plagued Life of Agnes Pyle, the follow-up to The Dangerous Life of Agnes Pyle. I’ve also been working (very slowly) on September’s Patreon story, which will be released in the coming days.

Speaking of Patreon, for $1 a month, you can get access to at least one short story a month (1000 to 3000 words) as well as other fun things I’ll be working out. Admittedly, I have not put near the effort into Patreon it deserves. Like the lessons up there imply, my habits weren’t helping my cause. But I am not giving up!

Apart from that, I have been working on reviewing Gravity 4 while also helping beta-read a fellow writer’s work (check that out here – London 2.0 by Laura Freestone).

Reading

This month I finally finished “Adjustment Day” by Chuck Palahniuk. I struggled through it a little. (OK, I’ve struggle a LOT. I’ve been trying to read it since getting my advanced coping in April.) It was alright. I rated it 3 out of 5 despite my struggling to keep up interest in it. I think it was more me than the story.

Once done, I picked up “Frost” by M.P. Kozlowsky. I am 2/3^rds through the story which has been very fun so far.

Also, I am working slowly through “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius. This is a philosophy (stoicism) book from Roman times and is a thick read (not in word count but rather in ideas – meaning I have to read it in small bites to then contemplate on what is written).

Finally, I read “The Bad Guys in Do-You-Think-He-Saurus?!” In 10 minutes. It’s a kids graphic novel written by Aaron Blabey. My son has been reading them and got this one this past week. They are hilarious and a perfect slap-stick fest full of fart jokes and craziness.

Music

I am working through an obsession with Katy Perry’s “Chained to the Rhythm.” I know, I am late to the game given that the song has been out for well over a year.

Other than that, Chvrches has been on heavy rotation for their album “Love is Dead.” They are an independent Scottish electro-pop trio. Right now, as I write this, Heaven/Hell is playing, a song that punches me in the gut.

If you aren’t familiar with Chvrches, “The Mother We Share” is a good starting point. Also, “Deliverance” from their latest album. I’ll put the videos below. They are up there in my top 3 favorite bands.

That’ll be it for now. I am going to switch over to writing more of The Plagued Life of Agnes Pyle and reviewing Gravity 4 so that I can help kick off September to be a fantastic month (save the week I am going to be on vacation where I am not expecting much, if any, writing to get done… since I’ll be in Disney).

Here’s to hoping September is a great month for everyone!