Good morning! Rain overnight and a lot cooler, which is very, very welcome still. The woods were quite damp after overnight rain, but smelled amazing. Loving being able to walk for an hour each morning without getting home sweaty. Lots of tiny little baby rabbits on the dunes this morning too. So small they don't really know how to hide properly. Very sweet indeed.
It's the last day of June too, which means this month's newsletter is out as well. Plenty in there to read if you've not tired of me this month. I'm tired of myself to be quite honest. But it's been a good if unsustainably busy month.
Yesterday I also bought a bunch of little boxes for my office, which I am labelling and filling with things that were previously scattered around shelves, desks and random flat surfaces. It is deeply satisfying.
ON DECK: Fading a little on the speed/motivation front, so only 633 words this morning. But that's 633 more than I had yesterday.
TOOLS AND PROCESS: I'm making good progress on DRIFT (as above) but also somewhat in waiting mode, as edits could drop at any moment. It used to be the case that incoming edits would basically stop me dead in my tracks for at least a week or two before they actually showed up, but I'm very consciously trying to write through that uncertainty until the edit letter actually lands in my inbox. I've realised that time spent fretting about the scope and scale and intensity of edits is fundamentally time wasted, because I have no idea what they'll be until they land. And I could be using that time to write or edit or outline other stuff. So, that's what I'm doing. If I can crack 50k on the DRIFT draft, I'll be very pleased.
LISTENING: I'm pleased to see Cailean Steed's excellent Balancing The Books podcast come back with three episodes in Season 2 out now. I really enjoyed this one with Scottish writer Kirstin Innes in particular.
WATCHING: Didn't watch anything last night because we had a spontaneous trip to IKEA (to procure the small boxes noted above). But I suspect we'll finish off WIDOW'S BAY over the next couple of days.
READING: A few chapters of THE FIFTEENTH MAN by William Cook (Bookshop, Waterstones, Amazon) last night. It continues to be extremely atmospheric, and the plot is beginning to kick into gear. Looking forward to seeing where it leads.
LINK: Feeling both extremely called out and inspired by this piece from a friend and critique partner of mine, Molly Templeton, over at Reactor - The way to read more is to read more.
UP NEXT: Going to just keep on trucking with DRIFT until my edits land. How far will I get? Will I crack 50k? Who can say?
Also still really looking forward to this Friday's event at Waterstones Kirkcaldy! Don't forget to book your FREE place if you're coming along.
Onward!