This week, I got a few things done that I’ve been working on for the past couple of years. Although I miss working on the fitness and gaming content, a lot of what I wanted to do for writing and books is coming together quite nicely. And I have a great feeling for the last half of the year.

It also looks like I’ll have the best year in terms of time management. While I’ve had a few ups and downs for the first half of 2025, it’s all coming together.

Needless to say, July is going to be a pretty big month.

Officially Launched WriterSanctuary’s Podcast

On Sunday, I spent several hours setting up the podcast for WriterSanctuary’s Monday night show, After Hours. It’s been on my to-do list since Chris and I started it a couple of years ago. Well, it’s finally happened, and the show is on Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon, and Pandora.

Unfortunately, I had an extremely hard time setting it up on Apple, and still can’t create my account because the site keeps crashing when I submit my payment methods.

So…to hell with Apple. Never liked them anyway.

The fun part is figuring out how to market the show better. Currently, it gets most of its views, traffic, and income on YouTube. However, the plan is to set aside a chunk of time to explore affordable marketing methods for the show as well as my books.

Now that the show is going for a wider audience, it’s also time to sit down and come up with actual topics instead of just winging it every week. I’m working on that today, but I won’t need a solid topic for a week and a half. This Monday, I have Shawn McCarthy on the show for a live interview.

Battling a Migraine for a Few Days

Everything was working quite nicely until I got the squiggly worm distortion thing in my vision. That’s an indicator that I’m about to have a really rough few days. In fact, I’m still not 100%, and today is day four of the fun.

I don’t get migraines very often. But when I do, it feels like a truck ran over my head repeatedly. Then, the muscles in my neck feel like they were pounded on with a jackhammer. If I sneeze, it feels like someone is quickly shoving an icepick into the back of my left eye.

This also meant that I didn’t get to a lot of projects I wanted this week. It’s a minor setback, as I am still working on using what time I do have efficiently. It’s just a bummer to lose momentum because of a migraine.

On the upside, it was nice to take a few hours off for myself throughout the week.

I’m relatively certain it’s allergy-related. Even this morning, my eyes started bugging something fierce and my nose was slightly clogged. I get this way roughly the same time every year, but it’s the first time in a couple of years that I’ve had a migraine from it.

Getting Ready to Dive Into Fury Again

Now that my next book, Shadows of Atlantic City, is just about published, it’s time to start working on Fury, the sequel to Kingmaker. Did you know that it has been nearly two years since Kingmaker was published?

Anyway, as I wrap up the final touches to Shadows, I’ll be moving over to finishing Fury. The first draft is nearly done, but I wonder if it jumps around too much for the average reader. There is a lot going on in Fury, and a bunch of characters were added – but for good reason.

Fury greatly expands on the Witcham region, including the nearby kingdoms. It’s a bit longer than I anticipated, but I don’t think there is anything that would make logical sense to cut. In fact, I could easily add more to flesh it out some.

Once I’m done writing, I’ll hand it over to the beta readers to get their opinion. If it’s too chaotic, I’ll rewrite it and shave a few things off. There are some scenes that might work well in the third book, so I wouldn’t have to cut them completely from the series.

I’m quite excited to jump back into Fury, though. And to top it off, I should get back into recording episodes of the audiobook, Despair. It’s kind of important that I finish it before Fury is released. If you’re curious, I suggest reading what I have thus far and comparing it to the Witcham series.

I would love to publish more than one book every two years. Part of that has to do with how many other things I’ve had my fingers in since 2018. But since dialing back on the other stuff, a lot of what I wanted to do is finally coming together.

There is still quite a bit of time left in 2025. Perhaps I can still publish the three books I wanted before the end of the year. Considering all of them are damn near completed anyway, it should just take a bit of time management to make them happen.

What Realistic Goals Do I Have for July?

Well, it’s not technically July yet, but this will be the last post until next month. So, I figured I would share some of the realistic, set-in-stone goals I have for July.

Of course, I’m still working on my usual word count numbers and time management percentages each day. The following are things that are outside of what I normally try to accomplish throughout the month.

• Get the YouTube Channel on a Routine
  I’m still struggling with getting three videos published consistently every week. I’d love to work out the kinks in my daily flow to make them happen.
• Schedule at Least One More Author Event
  I’m already attending BrewDog on the 19th of July and at Read Between the Stars on October 3rd, but I would love to schedule at least one more outing before the end of the year.
• Wrap Up VII on Wattpad
  I’m scheduling two, two-hour blocks each week to finish the horror novel I have on Wattpad, VII. I’m in the process of rewriting some of the chapters as well as working on the finale.
• Starting a Marketing Series
  I’ve decided to start a series of blog posts and videos regarding marketing for books. It’ll include what I’ve tried, what has and hasn’t worked, and every step I am taking to sell more copies. Hopefully, it helps other self-published authors find their groove.
• Researching Writing Challenges
  As my audience increases on YouTube, I’d like to engage them further by setting up community writing challenges. Perhaps I can make it into a contest or something fun to help new writers gain momentum.

Perhaps the most difficult on this list is getting the YouTube channel on a regular routine. The idea is to have three uploaded videos, three live writing sprints, the Monday night After Hours show, and the Friday night Members Only stream during the week.

I know that sounds like a lot, but it really isn’t. Most of the live streams are merely me doing what I need to do while hitting the “Go Live” button. It’s the uploaded videos that take the longest to record, edit, and publish.

Let’s Crush it Next Month!

I came relatively close to breaking my record for time management during the month of June. And based on the momentum I’ve been building, I’m sure I’ll get a lot more done in July. All it takes is for me to put in the effort to make some things happen.

That’s really the gist of success…action. It doesn’t matter what kind of plans you have or what goals you create if you don’t take the initial steps to see them through. This doesn’t mean that action alone will ensure the success of any task. However, it’s the primary component.

Life isn’t going to drop great things in your lap, especially if you sit at home on the couch all day watching Hulu. And sometimes, you gotta get out of your comfort zone if you want grand things to happen.

It’s a linear existence. Each decision affects the one after, and you never know what’s going to happen until you put in the effort.