Ummmmmm maybe I should have waited to update Week 3 because I FINISHED! My first draft is currently capped at 70,148 words. I wrote a little less than 30k during these few weeks I have been doing this challenge, but my goal was to take this challenge and finish my book and I did it!! 🎉🎉🎉 I'm going to follow Erin Stewart's advice and give myself a week to catch up on a few other things that I've been putting aside while I've focused on this. Especially since I have 25 days until I move to the other side of the planet! Then I'm going to do a spelling/grammar revision before I send this off to my alpha readers (Because I also followed Ayana Gray's advice from the video and just got it out--regardless of how good or bad it was). I would love some beta readers in a little bit to help. If this story sounds like something you would be interested in reading and workshopping with me, please let me know! So here's my pitch for my YA Coming-of-Age Romance, LOST AND FOUND: Kate is about to begin a pre-college tour of Mexico and Belize, but she's not here for the opportunities to get to know her future classmates or professors. She's found the journal of her late mother containing clues that lead to the father she's never met. There's only one problem: the journal is written entirely in Spanish. Desperate for help, Kate looks to the charming Sebastien to translate the entries. Together they go on a scavenger hunt through unfamiliar cities and ancient ruins searching for the only family she has left. But the closer she gets to her father, the more difficult it becomes to ignore what she's been finding with Sebastien along the way.

I had a very busy week with many different things going on and unfortunately did not write as much as I would have liked. Today is my 30 day mark and my final word count is 16,608. Honestly, I’m still happy with the progress! I really like what @Angela Griffin said about posting when she hits 30k, so I’ll do that too! A big win I just experienced this week was: since I had finally pushed through the writer’s block I had, I have now written perhaps one of my favorite scenes I’ve ever written! It felt so cathartic to write it out, especially after all the toiling. It made me excited to keep going!

Little bit late in this update because I've been busy getting things ready for the big move to Korea but I am very pleased with what I was able to do as of Tuesday this week. I wrote 10,935 words with a total of 67,067 words total in my manuscript (And as a middle school teacher, that number is making me cringe a little because I can just see the kids waving their hands back and forth saying "six-seven!"). But I am SO proud of myself this week. I finally got to the climax and the scenes I have been daydreaming about forever. Some of the writing I had to push through but a lot of it I was just excited to write! My main character has quite a few little flaws but I would say her biggest flaw is that she can't trust or really accept love if it's not in her narrow definition of it. It ties in with the false belief that she's developed in her life that love is only love if it's earned through blood (DNA), history, or permanence. The only people in her life she could say she really loved fit in those categories. So when she goes on a trip abroad and is surprised by how quickly she bonds with the people on the tour, she has a hard time believing that they genuinely care about her because it doesn't fit in her idea of love. She has to change her belief before the end of the book to finally get what she needs. Stay tuned because I only have 3,000 words until I reach my goal and 2-3 chapters left of the story to write! I will hopefully do my final update today or tomorrow! 🎉

Thursday July 30 at 7 p.m. MDT, StoryClub will be hosting an author Q&A with Ayana Gray, New York Times-bestselling author of speculative fiction. Her works have been translated in more than a dozen languages across five continents and have received critical acclaim at the state and national level. Her books include I, MEDUSA; BEASTS OF PREY; and most recently HAWK AND SPARROW. Learn more about Gray's writing on her website here. Ayana Gray also has a recorded class in StoryClub's 30k in 30 Days class, "Finish the Book." Tune in next Thursday to ask your questions and hear her publishing and writing advice! And remember, those who attend (along with those who have attended the previous two events this month) are entered into the book giveaway contest, whose winner will be announced during this Q&A session 🎁📖

At the end of week 3, I am at 10,891 words. Woof. I’m really falling behind the goal, despite my best efforts. I’ve had a serious block the last few days and it has really squashed my momentum. I’m trying to find ways to push through the block so I can increase my output again.