Friends,

I hope this post finds you well and ready to tackle the week ahead! Let’s get into today’s content…

The Faces of the War Collection

The word count for Book Three is currently sitting just shy of 5,000, but I foresee that count going up this week. I am going to try something new over the next handful of days that will hopefully improve my writing output. I will set a timer for one hour and write during that time, really trying not to get distracted. When the timer goes off, I’ll take a quick break…maybe check my emails, social media, or whatever. Then I’ll set the timer again and write for another hour, repeating the process as much as possible to fill up my day.

I think it’s good to try new things in terms of improving yourself, even if it’s just something small like setting a timer. Over time, those small actions add up, and the hope is that it will produce something far greater and more efficient than what would have been produced through previous habits or practices.

I’m also starting to do a better job of tracking my word count as I go through the writing process on Book Three. During the first week of every month, I’ll record my current word count, then compare the different counts later as the months move along. This will hopefully give me a better idea as to how productive I am, and it might get me thinking on how to change to improve upon it. Again, it comes back to the little things adding up.

The Short Story Collection

Good news! I believe I have found an idea to develop for the third story in my upcoming Volume 2. It isn’t for certain yet, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. As for the other two stories, they are coming along. I think it is safe to say (at least at this point) that this ebook will be ready before May. I will keep the details coming as they develop.

I recently added a story sample to my website (which you can find here) from my short story “At the Gates of Sevastopol” in Volume 1. I figured this would be a good way to give you some idea of what my writing is like if you haven’t read my work yet, so enjoy!

YouTube

On Friday, I released my second video on writing process, specifically covering the step of planning the story. If you missed it, you can check it out here. The video to be released this week covers the step of writing the rough draft.

The main reason for uploading videos to YouTube is to expand my author platform and presence in the reading/writing community, but I can’t do that without YOUR help. So please, whether you watch the videos or not, spread the word by telling your friends, sharing the video links, or clicking the “Subscribe” and “Thumbs Up” buttons on the video’s page. It truly helps bring others in the know about what I do.

Whatever is done, I want everyone to know how appreciative I am of your support and encouragement, and for your desire to read my work and follow what I do outside of selling books.

GoFundMe Campaign

So far, no donations have been made to my campaign to support the National WWII Museum. I hope to see that change in the coming weeks.

That’s about it for today’s news. I encourage you to Follow me on social media and on this blog if you aren’t already, and again, I’d appreciate it if you checked out my YouTube vlogs and GoFundMe campaign.

Until next time,

-Eli