UPDATE: The winner is…ELF!
*~*~*

Before I get into July’s accomplishments/August’s future plans, I want to take a moment to say thank you to my readers! I woke up to see this today:

It’s the ranking for my latest anthology, Secret Identities: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology! I could not be more thrilled for the authors inside this collection! I wish I was one of them, but I had to reject the two stories I worked on because they just didn’t make the cut. Not sure why, or maybe I do, but I’ll explain more below.

Anyway, congrats to TEAM SECRET IDENTITIES! And if you haven’t gotten your copy, hit the link above. It’s only $0.99, and there’s something for everyone’s taste in this volume. Did I mention it starts with a big bang thanks to my sister Elle James’s terrific Brotherhood Protectors-related story!?

July

1. I published the first book in my Delta Fire series: Burning Up Memphis.
2. I revised and published the second Delta Fire book, Hotter with a Pole.
3. I revised and uploaded the third Delta Fire book, Rapid Entry, which will release on August 6th! (Have you pre-ordered your copy?!)
4. I finished work on Cyrus and published it on July 23rd!
5. I finished editing all the stories inside Secret Identities: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, and it was published on July 30th!
6. I completed 2 editing projects for other authors in July!

Health-related:

1. After all my annual scans, bloodwork, etc., that happened in June and July, I thought I was good to go. Full steam ahead. Enjoy the summer, write like mad. However, around mid-month, problems I had been thinking were minor (gas, indigestion, whatever), I started having some real abdominal pain. I thought gallbladder, then maybe appendix. So, I was sent in for a CT scan from my lungs down to my pubic bone. They found something, and statistically, the thing they found derives from metastatic cancer—but it could be inflammation due to infection, so I’m holding out for that, because hey, all that bloodwork and all those scans didn’t find tumors anywhere. Make it make sense. Not panicking, trying to keep busy so I don’t think about it too much. I’d appreciate any thoughts/wishes/prayers.
2. I paid attention to what I put in my mouth and lost 8.5 pounds this month!

Happiness-related: 

1. July was filled again with family activities. We’ve had movie nights at home and special meals where everyone participated in the food prep.
2. The pool is finally clear and beautiful. Whether I feel like it or not, I swim at least once a day.
3. Art kind of fell by the wayside this month. I have nothing wonderful to share with you. I’ll try better in August!

August

1. To publish Book #3 in the Delta Fire series, Rapid Entry on August 6th!
2. To delay the publication of Built Like Mack. I’m not writing much now, and I have a lot to write on this story. I will push off the publication date as far as I can into September. Sorry, I know some of you were looking forward to reading the next We Are Dead Horse story soon.
3. To complete Ignition, the fourth book in the Delta Fire series. I only have two or three chapters left.  If I can, I’ll have a September release.
4. To complete 3 or 4 editing projects in August!

For health related, I plan:

1. To get an answer regarding my stomach issues and then move forward.
2. To schedule the last of the health-related appointments I need to wrap up: Eye exam and dental exam.

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To fiddle in my art room!
2. To spend time with the family—movies, flea market adventures, and pool—before school starts and everything gets complicated!

Contest

Comment on anything you’ve read in this post. Tell me what you’re doing to make yourself happier and healthier, or tell me what you plan to read in August…

Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!