We’re nearing the end of the second month of the year. If you haven’t looked at your New Year’s goal to check your progress, now might be a good time. I have been looking at mine periodically on my days off work. If you remember, I had set a timeline for accomplishing them. I’m falling behind on my timeline, but I’m still plugging away at my goals and making impressive progress. At least, I’m impressed.
I haven’t written as much of my book as I wanted to, but I finally finished most of the detailed outline and chapter eleven. I have started chapter twelve. With assistance from my good friend, Judi Lynn, I have designed two covers for upcoming books, a novella and a novel. Both at based on Abraham Lincoln and actual events. One of my big goals for this year was to finish my book and get it published. The novella was originally published online in the story collection, Murder They Wrote edited by Judi Lynn and available from Amazon.
I also had some personal goals and am making progress on them, too. I am organizing my library and sorting through the belongings of a dear friend who died. He had a massive book collection and many collectibles. As cool as these items are, I don’t have the space to store them. So, I’m adding a few to my own collection and will have to sell the rest. More about this project in the future. I am organizing my clothes and moving my dresses upstairs. I currently live alone and don’t go out much, so I don’t have many occasions to show off my dresses. I’m moving them out of the way to make room for the clothes I wear more often. I find I can accomplish a lot of these goals, by doing even little every day. A few trips up the stairs with an armload of items. Breaking down goals into smaller tasks really helps me to continue the progress.
I’m writing on the middle of the book now, which can be tricky, but I’m finding my voice and how I want to tell this part of the tale. The first half dealt largely with Lovejoy and his family and the second moves back into Lincoln’s world. Lincoln proceeds to uncover what happened in Alton and how it ended in tragedy. Joshua Speed is at his side. They share a room together above Speed’s store. Men in this era often slept three or four to a bed. Space and material goods were scarce. Not like they are now. They might only own one suit for Sunday sermons, weddings and funerals, and one or two sets of work clothes. They usually kept their clothing in trunks rather than closets. Many homes didn’t have closets. Imagine that. See you next week.
The View From The Imaginarium 