#ROW80 Check-in July 24th

I am back from vacation! It was fun, and hot, and relaxing. 🙂 I return to work tomorrow and I am really not looking forward to it. The first day/week back is always the hardest.

So, how did I do? While on vacation I edited my short story. On Friday, I typed in the changes and did a few tweaks. It is due today. I will probably do another quick edit pass before I send it in.

I read Fury Rising by Yasmine Galenorn which is awesome so far. I’m not quite done, but I am excited to see how it ends.

Here is the rundown on the rest:

Ever Touched – 731 words, broke 90k in draft.

Covenant/8 mins a day – Nada.

Exercise – Quite a lot while camping. Lots of walking and picture taking.

Water – Two times while camping (it was SO HOT) and once yesterday. Need to pick up the pace.

Fireborn – Did the read through while on vacation. Made some decisions for the revision, which is the next project. The first half is solid. The second half needs major work.

(I also started another read through — a novella I wrote 10 years ago and never finished. I was originally under the delusion that I had finished it, but hadn’t. But it is very close to being done. This is the novella that my short story is based on, so if I want to do something with it, a lot would need to be changed. Still, very interesting. Things are simmering.)

Pictures – Lots taken while on vacation, regular ones and digital infrared.

Reviews – I am getting ready to start another one of the books in the hopper. Most likely the one with the deadline.

So, I’m beginning to get back into the swing of things. I imagine this week I’ll be closer to getting into a rhythm.

I also have a secret project I may be working on too in between all of this. 😉

Chocolate consumption: Loads! S’mores, chocolate chip/white chocolate chip cookies, WW chocolate caramel things, cookie dough ice cream cone (bought by the beloved!), chocolate pudding, chocolate/chocolate chip zucchini bread (my mom’s! Yummy), WW sundaes, WW ultimate chocolate ice cream sandwiches…is that it? I think so!

#ROW80 Check-in 8/3/14 – Rocking and Rolling

Wow things have been super crazy with Grave Touched, but a good crazy indeed.

I’ve implemented the changes I was talking about at the last check-in, and it’s going very smoothly. I also had another twist come to me as I was writing today, so that’s always good!

Tomorrow I start physical therapy on my lower back. Should be interesting.

Well, without further ado, here are my stats!

Words rewritten: 6,639 (total of 13,880 words so far!!)
Words remaining: ~0
Pages edited: around 10, maybe more!
What’s happening: Pain and suffering. 😦
What’s next: A burial. 😦
Eye report: Okay. Today it’s been twinge-y.
Back report: Surprisingly not too bad.
Chocolate consumption: Oh God. Homemade chocolate-chocolate chip zucchini bread, chocolate zucchini brownies, Twix bars, raspberry/dark chocolate ice cream bar, WW snacks (several), chocolate-chocolate chip cookie at lunch today. Lots of chocolate! Most of it WW friendly.

I’m going to do away with the editing goal for now. Most — if not all — of what I’m doing is straight rewriting. If/when I start editing again, I’d add it back in.

I’m also raising my rewrite goal to 20k new words. 😉

#ROW80 Check-in 6/11/14 – I can haz words

Finally, after days of nothing, I got words! 1,041 of them over the past two days. It’s been tough getting back into the story. Even though I was caught up, and even though I’m excited about it. It feels like I’ve been visiting some friends I haven’t seen in awhile. Familiar, but a bit different. So I’ve been slowly making my way through the current scene. I have broken 41k which is awesome.

As for my HTWAS project, which I’m calling the Gaia series (subject to change), I have some coursework that I need to do between now and Sunday. It’s actually an easy thing, but I want to be in the right mindset. Lately I’ve been go-go-go and I wanted to be calmer. So that’s happening.

I want to write a bit on Awaken Me, too, per my agreement with myself that I’d work on something on the side. A few hundred words, nothing big, but enough to stay in the story.

I also had an MRI today which was….torture. I won’t bore you with the details, but I will say this — severe back pain + severe claustrophobia = one freaked out woman. And my anti-anxiety pill barely worked. Luckily, they gave me music to listen to (actually GOOD music) so I just tried to focus on that. It helped tremendously. Now we wait for the results.

The return of the stats! Yay!

Words written: 1,041 words/8,392 written so far
Words remaining: 26,608 words (it’s obvious that I won’t make it, but next round is looking good!)
What’s happening: The MC and her extended family are throwing her twin sister a surprise homecoming party.
What’s next: Some very, very odd occurrences (oh let’s see…the room turning icy cold; voices; MC getting another migraine; what appears to be a hallucination but isn’t….to name a few).
Feeling: Okay. Better now that I have words to report.
Eye report: Yesterday it sucked like a sucking thing, today it’s much better
Back report: Twinge-y. Better than this morning.
Chocolate consumption: WW snack, chocolate ice cream last night, M&Ms, a WW snack yesterday…..lots of chocolate. And we all know that it stimulates brain cells. *wink, wink*

#ROW80 Check-in 5/18/14

Doing fairly good over here. I’m writing again, hoping the wrist holds up. I’m considering going back to voice recognition, at least part of the time. I need a new headset though — the one you get is heavy and gives me migraines. I found a smaller, less bulky Bluetooth headset on Amazon. Just need the money to buy it (it’s not cheap).

Awaken Me is going well. I’m pretty much winging it, and the plot is moving a bit faster than I planned. I think that’s okay, actually, as I want it to be no longer than, say, 50k. Possibly less.

I also wrote some poetry — 2 poems and 1 haiku. It feels nice to be writing poetry again. I’ve been jotting down every single possible phrase that comes to my mind that remotely sounds poetic. Just need to get deeper into the mindset. I used to write a ton of poems a day — well, actually, they were freewrites that I turned into poems. This is before I started writing novels. I’d like to — ideally — write 1000 poems. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s something to aim for, and there’s no deadline, really. (I got the idea from another poet’s website. He actually gave himself a deadline, though.)

And lastly…my muse wants me to write the first scene of Soulfire today. After weeks of procrastinating, she’s saying today’s the day. Muses are crazy sometimes.

Stats!

Words written: 1,101 words / 5,701 words total
Words remaining: 29,299 words
What’s happening: Beth is discovering some stunning secrets about herself
What’s next: Her initiation into the group
Feeling: Okay, I suppose. Wrist is already getting twinge-y, dang it.
Eye report: Twinge-y but tolerable
Chocolate consumption: At least a few pieces a day since the last check-in. It helps stimulate brain cells. *nod, nod*
Mood music: The Fray and the Goo Goo Dolls

#ROW80 Check-in 5/7/14

I finally made a ruling on my project for this month! It’s Awaken Me, the erotica novella. It’s going pretty well so far. Only thing is, my wrist is starting to get twinge-y, which means I need to back off for a bit. So I’m not sure how much I’ll get done by the next Check-in, but I’ll try to do something.

I also decided on #poetrywednesday. I’m going to work on some poetry, per my Year of No Fear Manifesto, and because there’s been a bunch of lines that are gnawing on me. Been jotting them all down. And I want to start on it now. And, naturally, I’ll be tweeting it. Don’t know if anyone will follow it, but it amuses me so I’ll give it a shot.

Annnd that’s about it for now. 😀

Stats!

Words written so far: 2,011 on Awaken Me
Words remaining: 32,989 words
What’s happening: Allison, the MC’s bestie, is trying to convince her to join a secret, special club. 😉
What’s next: Beth, the MC, agrees. And her life changes dramatically.
Feeling: Okay. Not fond of this rainy weather, though. But…we’re getting 80 degree weather tomorrow (!).
Eye report: Not bad
Chocolate consumption: A WW Twix bar. And lemon cookies, but they don’t count.
Mood music: Adam Lambert ~ Trespassing album