#ROW80 Check-in Jan. 10th

I can finally do my first post of Round 1! Been busy, and struggling with TN pain. I recently had to have dental work done (prep for a crown) and that was miserable. I am glad the hard part is done, though.

Here’s the rundown:

~2nd round edits on secret project (I am contemplating releasing it around my birthday in March. We will see how things go). ~I  haven’t received the last two betas yet.
~Revisions on Fireborn ~Haven’t received my edits back, either.
~Covenant words ~Don’t have wordcounts handy at the moment. Maybe 1,000 new words?
~Survivor Sundays (Survivor my book, not the TV show) Have not started yet.
~Poke at Fireborn cover? ~Waiting to finish Cover Workshop I am taking

Non-writing stuffs:

~Read 1 book a week Finished both Midnight Rain by Kate Aeon and Die for Me by Dan Rix (ARC).
~Water 5x a week
~Print out test roll pics in darkroom Nope.
~Poetry, maybe? Nope.
~Housewalking 3x a week Nope.
~And everyone’s favorite, chocolate consumption reports 1 whole bag of Hersey’s Kisses (not in one sitting, though!) and lots of hot chocolate. Chocolate minis, too!

#ROW80 Round 1 2018 Goals

Here are are with a goals post. Dang, this year went by so fast. And we’re almost to 2018 already. Wut. is. this. insanity.

Ahem. Alrighty, goals for Round 1:

~2nd round edits on secret project (I am contemplating releasing it around my birthday in March. We will see how things go).
~Revisions on Fireborn
~Covenant words
~Survivor Sundays (Survivor my book, not the TV show)
~Poke at Fireborn cover?

Non-writing stuffs:

~Read 1 book a week
~Water 5x a week
~Print out test roll pics in darkroom
~Poetry, maybe?
~Housewalking 3x a week
~And everyone’s favorite, chocolate consumption reports

A bit ambitious, but we’ll see how it goes.

I really would like to get back to photography and poetry. I miss them both. I am also toying with doing a 365 day photography thing, but I am not going to declare that as a goal just yet. We’ll see how January goes.

Annnd that’s it for now!

 

#ROW80 Check-in 3/8/15

I’ve been busy proofreading and haven’t had the time to do a proper ROW80 post, so please forgive me. I did finish the proofreading, but I was a few days late. I’m having some stress/eye pain issues that have made it tough to concentrate. My editor was okay with it (I’d worried about that). But now it’s done and I can breathe again.

My #1 goal is to RELAX. So I haven’t done anything writing-wise. It seems my brain and body need a break after intense writing/editing/deadlines and the last thing I want to do is stress myself out too much. So yesterday was a “free” day. I worked on Grave Touched’s cover because I need to give myself enough time to get it done properly (first time doing a cover! Wish me luck!) and I binge watched Game of Thrones. I also ran a backup, which I promised myself I’d do once the book was sent off to my editor. (I’m very OCD about my backups).

So…what is on the horizon?

~Today I will poke a bit at Survivor. I was rewriting the first chapter when I started the edits on Grave Touched, and I don’t want that to be left hanging.

~Some point soon, I will get back to Fireborn and write those 661 words I need to make my goal before the end of this round.

~Ever Touched plotting

~Poetry. I have several poem drafts to weed through, and some old ones I discovered by accident, so that should be fun. (And maybe some more #badpoetry. *winks.*)

As for when, just gonna say soon. I have a really hard time taking breaks (as much as I need them) because my brain is ALWAYS spinning with ideas and I feel a desperate need to get them down. And, I’m just used to writing every day. The last day I wrote anything was January 27th. Yikes! Two months ago. Granted, I was editing and proofreading, but that doesn’t count. My Inner Slave Driver has to relax. *rolls eyes*

So that’s what’s going on. I hope to make some progress, even a bit, before the end of the round.

Also, chocolate consumption: through the roof. Stress = stress eating. Enough said.

#ROW80 Check-in 2/18/15 – Back for the attack

…It would help to know what, precisely, I’m attacking. 😉

Okay, okay. I’ve been revising like a crazy revising writer. I am now up to page 146. Would have been further by now, except I needed to backtrack and smooth over a bunch of scenes featuring two of my three main characters. Yay? So, it goes.

Naturally, my muse is DYING to have a go at something else, anything else. Today she was whispering poetry in my head: #badpoetry warning!

You ask me what’s happening?
What’s happening is I want to regurgitate
all the love I ever had for you
yank my intestines up  through my throat
I love you but I shouldn’t, that’s true

..and that’s it. *grimaces* Maybe it’s the extreme horror anthology I’m reading at the moment?

Moving on to stats!

Pages revised: 146 of them
Pages remaining: 115 of them
Scenes finished: 70
Scenes remaining: 59
Feeling: Slightly stressed. (Deadline: March 1st.)
What’s happening: Possessions! Mayhem! Fierce battle!
What’s next: I have no idea — wait. One of the MCs might get injured, possibly. Still noodling.
Eye report: Not too bad? But nights have been a bit yucky.
Back report: Twinge-y. I need a physical therapy bouncy ball, stat!
Chocolate consumption since last check-in: Oh my. 1# bag of M&Ms (in roughly 3 days — I tried to eat them slowly…), 3 WW mini-sundaes, WW caramel-chocolate thingies, Twix bars, Chocolate-filled pactzi (that’s the 2nd time I’ve had to look up the proper spelling)…I think that may be it. 😉

Here’s a blog post I wrote yesterday about the Truth about Revision. Will give you a laugh, methinks.

2014 Year-End Review and 2015 Goals

 

2014 was a busy, productive year for me.  It was also my (first) Year of No Fear, which went pretty well.  I know I’m slightly late with this, but hey — better late than never, right?

So, first up: Year of No Fear.  I did a review on the Turtleduck Press blog recently and rather than repeat myself, I will point you to that post here. In summary, I did pretty well.  A lot got crossed of the list, and other things weren’t done.  But overall, I’m happy with my progress and will be carrying it forward this year (*points to 2015 Manifesto above*).  As always, you’re welcome to join me. *grin*

Okay, next up: 2014 goals.  How did I do on them?

~Rewrite and revise Grave Touched by deadline (Sept/Oct – we’re not sure yet) ~It turned out to be January 1st and I’m happy to report that I’ve turned it in to my editor and am (*twitches*) waiting to hear what she thinks.
~Continue working on another draft of something (Flamebound is the top contender) if it doesn’t interfere with GT ~This did not happen as such.  I ended up starting an erotica novella as part of my Year of No Fear, which is on the backburner for now, and also wrote a novella for a TDP anthology.  So, yes, new drafts, but nothing from the revision pile yet.
~Continue the Flamebound revision (ties into the draft above) ~Not done for the above reasons.  But I have been doing a massive amount of thinking about it and that is progress. *fierce look*
~Make some type of ruling on Survivor – when to work on it and COMMIT to it ~Yes!  I’ve decided to poke at it on Sundays, which is what I did back in 2004 when I started the draft.  I can probably handle another book on one day, and this gives it a separation so I don’t mess myself up.  It’ll be slow, for now, but I hope to increase the pace sometime soon.
~Plan/plot/figure out Ever Touched ~ Eh, been working on this.  I’m sure of a few things, but not of others.  The main players have changed, however.
~Write more flash stories/poetry ~Done.  Wrote 10 poems and edited 2 drafts.  On flash – wrote and posted to TDP this year: Changeling, part 1: The Faerie Lights, Warped, The Contract, and The Penitent. More to come!

And now, finally, 2015 goals.  I have so much I want to accomplish this year, but don’t want to put myself under too much pressure.  So, here goes:

~Publish Grave Touched, pending approval, in May (tentative)
~Write Fireborn, Reaper Girl novella
~Figure out a plot for Ever Touched
~Start writing Ever Touched
~Poke at Survivor (my book, not the TV show) on Sundays
~Start rewrite of Flamebound
~Write 1 poem per week minimum
~Do something with darkroom

Annnd I’m stopping there, as that’s enough to wrap my head around.  I’m hoping to do some of that writing stuff simultaneously so it doesn’t look so daunting…yeah, I will be busy!

Your turn!  What are your goals for 2015?

 

 

Year of No Fear – 2014 Manifesto – May Progress Report

May was the month where I finally made some awesome headway on conquering my fears. Here’s what I did:

~Poetry: Wrote 10 (!!) drafts, edited 2 old drafts, and 3 of the 10 poems written were about a subject I haven’t been able to write about for 5 years. I’d say that’s progress!

~Photography: First shoot done on 5/10. Low light/Church. Beautiful pictures. 😀

~Erotica: I started Awaken Me on 5/4, a novella about cat shifters. Still in progress.

~Self-portraits: Been taking them hit and miss. Still nothing artsy, but I have been keeping my eye out for something cool to wear that won’t break the bank.

~Revision: Restarting Grave Touched today or tomorrow.

~New project: Although it’s not technically part of my Year of No Fear, I did start a new novel called Soulfire. It has a cool concept. Usually, I’d wait till I finished something, but I feared (!!) the enthusiasm and ideas would just vanish. Or it would take over and I’d mess up my deadlines. Well, no. I decided to start on it anyway and work on it when I could. I am trusting that I can do this without screwing things up.

So I’m pretty happy with what I’ve done so far. Here’s to much more!

#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 5/11/14

First of all, Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there! Especially my own Mother and my Mother-in-Law. Two amazing, wonderful women that I’m so lucky to have in my life.

I’ve got some more words on Awaken Me but I’ve had to slow down to due to my wrist. I also am finding myself stuck on where to go next. That’s one of the issues with pantsing. Sometimes, the road ahead isn’t always clear.

I also wrote a few poems this week to get myself into the rhythm again. And I did my first photo shoot in forever! I even got a few potential HDR pictures (High Dynamic Range — a really neat effect that makes the pictures look otherworldly) – I’m dying to play with them digitally but today is too jam-packed to do anything. Soon. Very soon.

And that’s it for today.

Stats!

Words written: 2,510 on Awaken Me
Words remaining: 32,490 words
What’s happening: The MC has agreed to join the club.
What’s next: Something. I don’t know yet.
Feeling: Would like to write but can’t because wrists. 😦
Eye report: Twinge-y.
Chocolate consumption: Too much. Way to much. And donut holes, but those don’t count.
Mood music: Mostly Adam Lambert these days. Oh, and Def Leppard.

#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

Year of No Fear 2014 Manifesto: April Progress Report

So, here we are at the end of April. So what have I accomplished? Well, it’s been tough going because of my back. Still having issues. It’s majorly bumming me out, but at the moment, there’s not much I can do.

~Self-portraits: I’ve taken a selfie almost every day this month on my Kindle Fire HDX. Getting a bit more used to it now. And it’s kind of fun to sift through the pictures and see what I looked like, what I wore, etc. A lot of them were taken at work in the Conference Room where I take my lunch (half) hour. Getting there! (I still haven’t gotten up the courage to do an artsy shoot…baby steps!)

~Erotica: I have a bit of an idea of what I want to do, and I’d like to write a novella in a month or so. This month’s experience writing Reaper Girl taught me that I can make decent progress on another project. I not only hit my preferred wordcount, but I wrote 12k more than I was supposed to. Oops? Still, it was very freeing and thrilling and I wanna do it again. ASAP. I have a premise, I have my two main characters, I have a sort of plot, and I even have a working title. Just need to start.

~Poetry: I wrote my first poem of the year on 4/27/14. It’s not perfect, or even pretty, but it’s a start!

~Photography: I’m hoping (*crossing fingers*) that I can do some shooting this weekend. I hope!

~Ice skating: Still in the plan.

~Cultivating other creative things: I’ve got a possibility, just need to find the time to work on it and learn the technique.

Moving along!