I Never Intended to Be a Writer #IWSG | September Goals | Bookworm News #SpecFic

The Insecure Writer's Support Group was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh. September's co-hosts are Tyrean Martinson, Tara Tyler, Raimey Gallant, and Beverly Stowe McClure. Find the other IWSG participants here.

September's Question: Have you ever surprised yourself with your writing?YES! All the time.
While growing up, I never intended to be a writer. Though I've always had a great imagination, I was rather dreadful when it came to writing papers in English classes. The main reason was because I missed learning how to write a paper in high school, and I didn't learn how to write one until a college English class. In high school, I went from regular English 9 to Advanced English 10. Advanced English 9 and College-Bound and regular English 10 learned to write papers. I missed that all so important step. *sighs*
So, as you can probably imagine, I hated writing. In fact, I even told my AP English 12 teacher that I was going to move to a foreign country so I'd never have to write in English again. *laughs* Because I thought I was inept when it came to writing, every time I read something I've written since I've become a writer, I'm surprised and amazed.
Has your writing surprised you? What are your insecurities this month? August was a surprisingly good month for completing my goals.

I finished editing Forged (The Fate Challenges #2), and it's now with my critique partners. I completed my outline edit of Destined (The Fate Challenges #3), formatted the manuscript, and have started editing it. I'm hoping to finish this edit by November 15, and I'm planning to work on Destined during weekdays.

I've been using weekends to work on Soul Reaper series, and I'm making progress on editing the outlines so I'll be ready to start edits and write books 3-5 eventually. I was hoping to start writing A Soul to Take (Soul Reaper #3) in October, but now I'm thinking I should finish the outlines and edit the books I've already written before writing A Soul to Take, especially if I want to have 1-2 Soul Reaper books published before the end of next year. We'll see how it goes.

A big shout out to Christine Rains for finishing her urban fantasy series Totem . All nine novellas are fantastic reads!

Untethered Realms is gearing up to publish the fourth Elements of Untethered Realms anthology. Spirits in the Water will be released in early October, and my story "The Folding Point" is in it. In August, I was busy reformatting the previous anthologies and getting some images ready for #4. Besides being one of the editors and having a story in the anthology, I am also the final proofreader and formatter. It's so much fun to see all of it come together.

Here are my September goals:
- Continue editing Destined. Ideally, I'd like to be at the midway point by the end of this month.
- Format, proofread, and publish (likely as a preorder for an October 2nd or 3rd release date) Spirits in the Water.
- Continue working on the outlines for Soul Reaper series.

What are your goals for September?

2017 Stats: 99,493 words written and 766,670 words edited BOOKS READ AND REVIEWEDTrue Shifter by Christine RainsThe Hook Up by Tawna Fenske
SPECULATIVE FICTION BOOKSRELEASING IN SEPTEMBERSleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen KingThe Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding: A Fiendish Arrangement by Alexandra BrackenNyxia by Scott ReintgenWarcross by Marie LuJane, Unlimited by Kristin CashoreThere’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie PerkinsThe Han Agent by Amy RogersFireblood by Elly BlakeInvictus by Ryan GraudinBlack Bird of the Gallows by Meg KasselSummoner by S.D. GrimmZero Point by Adam Quinn
One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Werebiker by Paige Cuccaro