So, the summer was a blur. Guess what? September was, too, even with the occasional break in my routine! I think the fact that it’s still very summery here helped it speed right along, just an extension of summer. (Seriously, the high here tomorrow will be 90F/32C. I live in Pennsylvania, where we allegedly have four seasons.) I’ve been intent on my writing goal in particular, which has paid off, I think. Barring complications, I’m in a good position to have the Book 3 draft complete and handed off at the end of the year. (!!!)

Writing Updates

To my shock, my last month’s estimate for how much I have left of Book 3 was pretty accurate. I said then that I had 1 or 2 chapters left to go. “Two” turns out to be the correct answer. I finished one this month, and have a few thousand words left on the second. I should finish drafting before the end of October, and then I will launch into the wrap-up work necessary to submit the draft to my editor. Again, I hope to do that by the end of the year. At this point, there are 91K words across 17 chapters. Book 3 still doesn’t have a title, by the way, because titles are the hardest thing for me to come up with. Also, I have no idea what may change between now and all the editing that has to be done to get this thing into readable shape. I’d hate to create a title now that is based upon something that gets axed later.

Current Goals

Well-rounded Latin practice. Duolingo now has a Latin course in beta, and it’s not bad! I honestly have no idea whether someone could start it with no prior experience and get much out of it—there’s so much going on with declensions, cases, conjugations, and other grammatical craziness—but I’m happy they’ve added the course, and I’ve been playing with it daily in addition to reading, flashcards, podcast-listening, et cētera. I still also enjoy having the occasional mind-blowing revelation like, “Hey! The word ‘transmitter’ comes from trāns (across) and mittere (to send)!”

Being a good Stoic. I don’t have much to note on this front, so I’ll leave you with a Seneca quote that I intend to employ the next time I feel homesick somewhere: “Though you may be driven to the uttermost ends of the earth, in whatever corner of a savage land you may find yourself, that place, however forbidding, will be to you a hospitable abode. The person you are matters more than the place to which you go. For that reason, we should not make the mind a slave to any one place. Live in this belief: ‘I am not born for any one corner of the universe. This whole world is my country.’”

Listening to German. Still watching videos, etc. usw. as time permits.

Civic Engagement. I helped out with registering new voters last month, and may be doing so this month if there’s a need. It really is nice to welcome brand-new citizens and get them voting, all in one fell swoop! Though of course, I would still prefer for voter registration to be automatic. If you’re in the US and your state has elections this November (in PA, we have elections every November!), make sure to visit vote411.org sometime in mid-October to see who’s on your ballot and what they stand for. It’s a great election resource!

Have a great October! See you next month! :)