We’re a third of a way through the year, so time for an update on the 2018 To Do list.

Edit and publish The Theatre of Shadows: The Vasini Chronicles II.

I’ve finished editing the first draft. The second draft is currently sitting on my laptop waiting for me to go back to it after enough time has elapsed that I can see it with fresher eyes.

Although I had hoped to publish it by the end of the year, it’s increasingly likely that it will be the early part of next year before it’s ready.

Edit and try to work out how to publish a long novel.

Frustratingly, I’ve yet to do anything with this. This novel has been floating around my head since I was 17, it took years to get to a point where I was willing to put pen to paper and then to get to a point where I had a complete first draft. It looks like it will be some more time before it’s finally finished.

Write and edit the next Tales From Vasini.

I’d written one of the novellas that will make up Tales From Vasini II last year. I’m currently working on the second. The writing is slow going at the moment, but fingers crossed it will pick up speed as I go and will build up some momentum.

Finish writing and then edit a novella.

The non-Vasini novella I was working on at the beginning of the year has been finished. I’ll probably start editing it after I’ve worked on the next draft of The Theatre of Shadows.

Write The Vasini Chronicles III.

I know the basics of the story and how it relates to The Vasini Chronicles as a whole. I’ve been doing some bits of research. I may plow straight into after the novella I’m currently working on, but there may be an associated story it may be better to write first. We’ll see.

Read at least 36 books and cut down my backlog of unread books (now at over 340 books).

According to Goodreads, I’ve read 25 books so far this year. If I were to keep up my current pace that would mean I’ll have read 75 books by 31 December. Somehow, I doubt I’ll read that many. The main reason I’ve read 25 books is that several of them have been novellas or even shorter.

The good news with regards to my backlog is that eight of the 25 have been on my bookshelf waiting to be read for over two years, and in the case of at least one – War of the Daleks – since the late ‘90s.