Rough patches come and go, my one seems to stuck with me for all of September. It’s been a great month in most regards except for writing.

I even managed a week in Hawaii averaging four hours of sleep a night and spending my waking hours eating, drinking, hiking, walking, swimming and exploring the nightlife and doing absolutely no writing. Hawaii is awesome guys, if you haven’t been there, pack your hiking boots and swimmers and enjoy.

There’s a simple little taco joint across from the International Street Market (don’t let the name fool you, they have Saks, Michael Kors and lots of high priced stores) and a few doors down there’s a Asian place that takes no reservations and you’re likely to be waiting for thirty minutes in line to get freshly made noodles in curries and soups. It’s like a diner set up but oh so delicious and great value for money. You can even watch through the front window as they make the noodles.

50 Shades of Blue

Guaranteed freshness. Definitely worth the wait.

Where was I? I tend to get carried away when talking about food and holidays. I love food. A lot. Fortunately I like exercise too otherwise my love affair with food and drink would be short-lived.

There I go talking off tangent. Let’s get back to the topic at hand, writing.

My writing in September sucked. I planned on finishing book 4 of the Lethal series. Hmm, nope. Didn’t happen. That’s three months behind now and it’s driving me insane.

I planned to finish a quick ebook that I wanted to give away for free for subscribers too. Yep, no that wasn’t meant to be either.

Then there’s Writerly Pursuits. I had great plans before the holiday to schedule posts and increase my traffic. But what do you know, I stalled and procrastinated and now we’re back to the end of the month once again.

Yay. Not.

Ok, we all get these months right? It’s not just me going through a rough patch. We all do from time to time.

I’ve been beating myself up about it for a few days now and that’s not conducive to my progress. It’s making things worse. So I’m just taking a chill pill (theoretically speaking), and just going with the flow for the next few days.

Hopefully, easing the pressure will get the muse going again.

Oh and I signed for National Novel Writing Month.

Did you know there’s like over a million writers participating? How awesome is that?

I did National Novel Writing Month a few years ago and wrote the first draft of a novel which I hope to tweak and publish in the next twelve months. It’s been on the agenda for some time with the story percolating in the back of my mind.

It’s 50,000 words in 30 days. About 1667 words per day. Completely doable, right?

Can you do it? I dare you. Challenge yourself. You’ll be pleasantly surprised. And if you’ve been procrastinating like me then it might the kick in the backside you need to get your novel written.

I’m looking forward to it. Now just to decide which story idea to work on first?

Income

Income was nothing to write home about. I wrote two articles. Got paid for one. The payment for the other will probably arrive in October and get counted towards that months’ income.

September Writing Income: $188

Pitches: 0

Poor effort on the pitching front. I didn’t send any pitches and that’s frustrating. My income is not going to increase if I don’t approach publications and submit pitches.

Would you like to earn money freelance writing? Check out So You Want To Be A Freelance Writer?

Books

I currently have 3 books out. Two novellas and a novel in the Lethal series:

Lethal Instincts (Book 1 in the Lexi Ryder Crime Thriller) – A Novella

Lethal Disposal (Book 2 in the Lexi Ryder Crime Thriller) – A Novel

Lethal Aftershock (Book 3 in the Lexi Ryder Crime Thriller) – A Novella

Free Books: 223
Smashwords: 175
Amazon: 43
Kobo: 0 (You can download Lethal Instincts free from Kobo)

Books Sold: 0

I made Lethal Instincts permanently free on Kobo and Smashwords. The purpose of giving away my book for free is to attract more readers. I hope that if they enjoy book one they are more likely to purchase books two and three and so forth.

I’ve a few more projects in the works. I’m hoping to publish two more books in 2016.

Site Statistics

Blog posts: 4

Page Views: 204 (hmm, not looking good)

Goals For October

Write more
Pitch more
Earn more
Take time to relax