24 Jul Where Did July Go? A Look Inside My Planner Gives a Hint
This month flew by and I feel like I got nothing done. But in the first three weeks of July, I wrote the second half of a whole book. And that ain’t nothing.
I’m currently in the copy-editing phase before it flies on little internet wing into my agent’s inbox. I can’t wait until I’m allowed to really talk about this book. I can say it is contemporary YA. It is very queer and neurodivergent. And as both my American partner and mother-in-law have said, is already banned in multiple States.
It is relief to have it out of my head.
In July 4, 2020, I wrote a note that read:
I wish I could remember the first time we met. Memories are weird creatures. Some of my memories with him are buried deep inside a fog of general disassociation. But most of them, I can feel.
The periods of my life where I was most abused were also the safest because I had him. I didn’t just have him but he also had me. When we were together, nothing else existed. And everything existed at once.
I wish I could remember the first time we met and not simply the fog of an outline of a school bus on a rural road transporting me away from a bad situation.
It wasn’t even the beginnings of a story but a vibe and a story of friendship that crept into my head when I wasn’t paying attention that wanted to be a story. But I had no idea what that story would be.
And so it sat, running in the background of my head until July 2022 when I suddenly realised, I had an entire novel written in my head. That’s just how my brain works. I was lucky that Crip Up the Kitchen was in design, so I had a break to begin the process of downloading the book that sat finished in my head.
I was able to download half of it before a flare come on and I had to put a pin in it until Crip Up the Kitchen went to the printer in November. The original plan was to finish it in December 2022, then query agents. But that changed when I got an agent in November. The pin was put back until they had a chance to read my first five chapters and synopsis to decide if I had something that could be shopped to publishers or would be best to self-published.
Lots of life happened and it wasn’t until June of 2023 that I got the green light to finish. So that is what I did in July 2023.
I love that that this book happened in three different July’s. I just hope it doesn’t take until July of next year before it is sold. I am, however, realistic, and know it could take longer. I just need it out of my control, so I don’t take it back.
Anyway, all of this happened while the platform formally known as Twitter slowly went in the crapper. Part of me is thankful that it happened this way as I’ve been too busy to pay attention to anything outside of this story, including my declaration that I’ll be blogging again.
After the internet delivers it to my agent next Monday, I’ll have the energy to spend here.
The featured image, by the way, is the inside of my Jibun Techo Days. It is part of the system I use to manage my life. I may write a post about that one day, but I do have a planning YouTube channel, if you are interested in that type of thing.
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