Life is what happens while you make other plans. I had a lot of plans, like finishing the first draft of my second novel and the second draft of my first before the end of 2018, but I'm still working on it. I got stuck on Chapter 4 of Mel’s Magic because it wasn't working, but I think I've fixed that now. When I can't make progress on that, I work on the first draft of Circle of Six. That was giving me trouble, too. Until I realized that I was far enough into the book that I didn't have to add more stumbling blocks, I could start wrapping things up as I had enough trouble planned anyway. Now, it's coming easier. And I've decided who needs to die. Well, more specifically, I've finally accepted who my subconscious has been telling me must die and I know how that will benefit the story as a whole. Yay for torturing characters!

     In the meantime, I wrote a short story called "Ghost Cave" that will be in the 2019 UHWA anthology, "Peaks of Madness." I also have two poems in the anthology.

     And the poem I submitted to the 2019 LUW Writing Conference was accepted for inclusion in this years' LUW Anthology.

     I wrote a story I rather like that was rejected for LTUE's "A Dragon and Her Girl" anthology. Not surprising as there were far too many good stories submitted. But, like Mel's Magic and Circle of Six, I think this one will turn into a novel. Not a bad problem. I had another short story rejected last month. But I submitted it for a critique to Michaelbrent Collings who gave me some excellent advice about how to make it stronger so I can sell it.

     And I wrote the first draft of three poems to submit to next year's UHWA anthology.

     It's great having several projects that I can work on so when I get stuck on one, I have something else to keep me going until I figure out where I went wrong.