How have I got on with my writing, reading and blogging targets now that we are a third 
of the way into 2017?
• Rewrite Miranda’s Tempest
Complete my rewrite of Miranda’s Tempest in response to some very detailed advice on how to improve it by an agent during the submission process. I had intended to have it completed by now, but got seriously stalled halfway through December…
My schedule regarding Miranda’s Tempest got completely chewed up due to my illness after Easter. I wasn’t able to attend my Writing Group, so didn’t get to touch base with my two main beta-readers.
• Write at least 100 reviews for my blog during 2017
I hope to continue to read and review at least 100 books, with at least 24 being by women authors previously unknown to me as part of the Discovery Challenge, thanks to Joanne Hall’s post. I also would very much like to get more of my To Be Read pile read and reviewed, so will have another go at the Tackling my TBR Pile this year with the aim of reading at least 30 books during the year from this teetering stack.
During April, I read and reviewed 22 books, writing just under 22,500 words. The reason for this high number was my sojourn in bed for nearly a week doing little other than reading and sleeping. It was another month of wonderful books – the bar just keeps getting higher in terms of overall quality, it seems to me. As for book of the month – I can’t decide between Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys, A Tyranny of Queens by Roz Meadows and Scavenger Alliance by Janet Edwards.
• Creative Writing courses
The new term is under way.
We had a bit of a glitch at the start of the Tuesday group when I had to cancel the first session because I was feeling so ill, which is only the second time in 8 years that I’ve gone sick. Fortunately, I am able to add the missing session to the end of the course so the students are not short-changed.
• Continue teaching TW
Continue delivering the customised syllabus we have managed to find and devise in order to meet Tim’s specific learning requirements.
Tim continues to progress and develop – this term he is flying, which is wonderful to watch. I’m hoping he can continue to sustain his progress throughout the summer as he has a series of major challenges in the coming few months.
• Continue to improve my fitness
To continue to attend Fitstep and Pilates classes to improve my fitness and regain the strength and stamina I lost after a decade of chronic lower back pain.
Nope. I missed a chunk of my classes and so far, while I’ve felt well enough to resume Fitstep, my lack of energy has meant that by the time I get to Wednesday, I cannot face my Pilates class. I am taking some vitamin supplements which hopefully will boost my stamina and general well-being so that I can resume my normal level of activity.
Frankly, April was a frustrating month. I simply haven’t had sufficient energy to sustain any area of my life to the standard I like to generally achieve. I’m not keeping up with comments on my blog and for three days during the month didn’t post anything at all. Neither am I fully up to date with my teaching admin and as for writing anything worth the name – that is a distant memory. The only thing I seem to be fit for is reading and writing reviews, which would be great if I was hankering after a life as a book reviewer, but that is my hobby activity… Let’s hope the second half of May is a vast improvement.
I wrote just under 28,000 words during April, mostly on my blog, which brings my yearly total to just over 142,000 words so far.
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