Round 2 at a Close

Round 2 is done! I finished on a high note and feeling really good. I will post a final thoughts tomorrow but today, a short check-in on progress.

This week:
     *Reading: Over half way through Wicked (Gregory Maguire). I found my reason for reading it. The story Murder of the Orient Express (Agatha Christie). It's not a long book, but I haven't given it proper time to soak in to my little grey cells.
is unique and brilliant in part, but at least a third of the time I find Maguire's writing either dry or over my head. Writing novels should not always be about writing so people can't understand, but writing so people can understand. I am determined to finish it, but not enjoying his writing style. Another chapter down in
     *Writing: wrote 1200+ words Monday on the Top Secret Project (using writing blitzes). Nothing Tuesday. ROW80 check-in today.
      *Social Media: 4+ blogs daily. I finished visiting all of Sundays posters. This won't always happen, so I am enjoying the fact I  manages to visit everyone this time around.

I feel that I slacked with the editing goals for Sunday and my submissions. Not that it is bad, but I feel I could have used some time more effectively. Last night was the first night in months that I had an improv practice. In a way my brain understood this and can expect that I missed a chance to get some editing done. That's the goal I feel bad about missing the most.

Onto next week...

This (upcoming) Week:
      *Reading: continue with Wicked and Murder on the Orient Express. Try to start The Subtle Knife (Phillip Pullman), maybe a chapter here and chapter there.
       *Writing: write daily. Finish Golden Compass Review and post it. Spend time on the Top Secret Project. Finish and post my #writestuff challenge.
         *Editing: Look at The Real Road Trip. Work on edits of  a 2 page minimum by Saturday. With the end of the Round I am not set specific goals throughout the break, but enough to keep me busy during that time.
         *Social Media: 4 blogs daily and keep up with blogs that I am following.

A Round of Words in 80 Days is a blog challenge that knows you have a life. Check out the Blog Hop and see what everyone else is up to.

I am thinking of trying some new challenge, so that I have picked up from here. More on this in my reflections tomorrow.  How are your goals coming along, Dear Readers? Have a splendid day!

Raining on the Porch and Writing

It's been a long week and a full weekend. The beginning of the graduation parties and holiday plans. Mi padre is coming up for July 4th!! Huzzah!  Goals are really starting to find purchase, Round 2 is almost at a close, and the Summer has only just started to summer. Lots in the works, so onto the check-in.....

This Week:
     *Reading: finished Golden Compass (Phillip Pullman), continuing with Wicked (Gregory Maguire), and Murder on the Orient Express (Agatha Christie). I think Poirot is my favourite, but I have been going through my Poirot mysteries first before hitting up the Miss Marple. Wicked is growing on me some. Still feels a bit preachy at times about politics, but I am going to finish it.
started the first chapter of
     *Social Media: managed to visit 4 blogs daily for my #ROW80 list and got to everyone who posted on Wednesday. Also visited my WIPpeteers, 2 a day when about. I still have at least 4 more to visit before Wednesday.
     *Writing: wrote Wednesday, Thursday, and a little on Friday. I wrote a poem and a short story for a fellow blogger's site, a writing challenge prompt. Been brainstorming for the secret project and planning to do a writing blitz later today (prolly before I actually post this) and working on my review of The Golden Compass from my Book to Movie reviews that I usually do in October. I miss last October because of my busy schedule and just now catching up.
     *Editing: finished the first round of edits on Love in Ferns. The short story version is going to be submitted to #writestuff's monthly challenge. I feel I need another pass before I post it wholly. Been thinking of writing an large story of it, thinking I need to do a bit of plotting on it before I attempt more. I can see more of the story on the horizon, just not sure where to go next.
      *Housetending: the usual on Sunday laundry, garbage, and dishes.
      *Submissions: I got two in this early afternoon. Also got another rejection letter. I finally figured out why for the current one. They are not looking for poetry that uses repetitious forms, like pantoums. Funny, because I am really good at pantoums. Also, the flowery language doesn't entice them. I guess I can understand. But and the other hand the poems were good, just not a right fit. Time to try elsewhere.

Side note: colouring is truly therapeutic...

From my friend James' new colouring book of his artwork from his series The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica. See his stuff books and artwork at Coppervale International or at James A. Owen. Done in marker, which was difficult until I found my fine tipped markers, these were quite fun to colour.


This Week (upcoming):
     *Reading: continue with Wicked and start The Subtle Knife (Phillip Pullman). I love His Dark Materials!!
     *Writing: write daily. Works to work on Golden Compass Review and Secret Project.
     *Editing: look at where I am in The Real Road Trip revision, attempt to revise 2 page (starting small).
     *Submissions: 1 new.
     *Social Media: 4 blogs daily for ROW80 and 2 WIPpeteers blogs.
     *Blogging: 1 new post and review a review for 1 of the books I recently finished.

A Round of Words in 80 Days is a blog challenge that knows you have a life. It's a Blog Hop. So stop in for some biscuits and tea.

I bought my day pass for Saturday at Connecticon which means I have to go now. I have directions, only a scant 4 hours and 50 minutes. I get to see my friend and mentor James and see what a larger Con looks like. Thinking of cos playing as someone, not sure if I am that brave, but how often do I do this, right?

There are plans for a Renaissance Faire trip, another trip to Eldridge Park, putt putt marathon, and flea marketing. Oh and the Weird Al concert ion August! It's shaping up to be a full and fun summer.

How are your goals coming, Dear Readers? What are you planning for the summer?

Today has been nice, sunshiny and warm, with just a touch of rain. Birds are singing and neighbourhood chitlins were playing. They have since disappeared. A jogging is passing by now. It's the staple around here. Life is good!

Walking in Fire...Tale of a Writer

My brain has been focused on the evil day job and so I have had to really focus on the writing projects this week. After work has become my writing and editing time. And with the evil day job having had it's own problem, this time is most important. Well except coffee dates, those are important in their own right. Now t's time for the check-in. Hey Ho, and Away we Go....

This Week:
   *Reading: On the last part of The Golden Compass (Phillip Pullman). In the home stretch and I am sneaking time to read in every available moment. I finally got past the first part of Wicked (Gregory Maguire). The Munchkinlander part is REALLY EFFIN" SLOW. It has picked up in part 2 and I feel more vested in it. Have not started Murder on the Orient Express (Agatha Christie) yet.
    *Writing: wrote on Sunday (ROW80), write a little on Monday (just a paragraph, but I started developing some character for a new story. It's slightly Top Secret. Might post some on WIPpet Wednesday later this month. Wrote poem yesterday.
    *Editing: finally a pen to the currently WIP and a backstory to the WIP, called Love in Ferns. Also edited a short flash fiction piece that I am not sure what to do with, yet.
    *Social Media: finished reading all of Sunday's ROW80 entries, that is 4 a day  and 5 or 6 Monday and Tuesday. Keeping up with Twitter most day, except Tuesday. Had a coffee date with a friend I hadn't seen for any length of time and got to schedule a photo shoot later this month. Get to show off the new red hair with NICE pictures.
     *Housetending: keeping up with the basics at this point. Nothing new on the carpets, yet.

This Week (Upcoming):
     *Reading: finish Golden Compass this week. Start Subtle Knife and the next Julie Anne Lindsey cozy mystery and Murder on the Orient Express.
     *Writing: write daily on Love in Ferns and Top Secret Story.
     *Submissions: THIS IS THE GOAL TO WORK ON THIS WEEK!!!
     *Editing: pull out the Real Road Trip and attempt to pick up where I left off.
     *Social Media: visit 4 blogs daily. Start to follow some of the regular ones. Learn to up keep my email and social media sites. This might take some planning. Any ideas would be welcome.

A Round of Words in 80 Days is a blog challenge that knows you have a life. It is a Blog Hop. Come on over and visit!!

Today is Wednesday. It's WIPpet Wednesday. The brain child of K.L. Schwengel, is a Blog Hop for WIPpeteers. You take the date and do some funky math and share a piece of the WIP you are working on. Date is 6/16/2015, so taking 6/17 you get 1 + 7 = 8. 8 lines from Love in Ferns. This is the beginning of the story, before the previous two snippets (if you are keeping track).

From MorgueFile

There was a thud. It was a decidedly Callie-like thud. “Come on! You can’t keep me in suspense,” she called. 

I couldn’t turn towards her.

The air was heavy with humidity and clung to everything. I was sweating, but I couldn’t stop. After all I had gotten this far, right? I thought to myself. Stamping down the foliage, “It’s not much farther,” I called back, feeling nervous that if I turned to look at her I would lose my nerve.

Sunny Days and Lovely Ferns

A Round of Words in 80 Days is a blog challenge that knows you have a life. It's a Blog Hop. Stop on in, meet some new friends and learn a thing or two. Oh and there's cheesecake and lemonade!

This Week:
     *Reading: almost a hundred pages into The Golden Compass (Phillip Pullman) and started Wicked.
(Gregory Maguire), only 1 chapter in actually. Been really good about getting up and reading before work, sometimes even on my porch.
     *Writing: wrote 1285 words yesterday, another branch to my Love in Ferns story. Might actually be a longer story or just a separate one. Not sure if I want to connect the two or not. Monday was my ROW80 check-in. so that is two days of writing, plus today's ROW80 check-in makes three in a row!!
     *Social Media: reading 8 blogs on Monday for both Sunday and Monday. 4 read yesterday. On track. Participated in Tuesday Night's #writestuff Tweet Chat.
     *Blogging: Posted yesterday (Tuesday) for #IndieRoar 10 day challenge presented by TheNotebookBlogairy.
     *Housework: dishes and laundry are caught up and staying caught up. Well...Okay, I have a few dishes in the sink and a small pile to put away still. But that is caught up for me. Trust me! :-)

This Week (upcoming):
     *Reading: continue with The Golden Compass and Wicked.
     *Writing: write daily
     *Editing: This is a BIG one! Work on Love in Ferns, currently WIP, and post it to #writestuff's monthly challenge.
     *Submissions: not done this week. 1 new submission this week.
     *Housework: vacuuming and maybe steam cleaning the carpets this weekend.

I am in week two of my vacation from theatre this summer. Still feels a little odd, like I should be doing something else. But then I see my progress on ROW80 goals. And things that I have written and I feel good. Like today, I am on my porch writing this listening to Paul McCartney's Off the Ground album and listening to the birds sing.

It's also WIPpet Wednesday! The creation of K.L. Schwengel and also a Blog Hop. Come and visit with us WIPpeteers. The math is weird, but so am I. Today's date is 6/10, so 6 + 10 + 3 = 19 lines from Love in Ferns.

Here Callie and the narrator take a walk. Sorry. That's all the lead up I can give today. This is the middle of this part of the story.

“You excited?” Callie called back. I looked up to see to the slight frame, willow-like dancing in the afternoon breeze. “This is gorgeous you know,” she said and spun around ducking below the waving branches and ferns, disappearing for a moment. My head looked around to see on the horizon dark clouds pressing closer, thunderheads. My hand pulled up over my eyes and I watched their slow march as I turned to see Callie reappeared and giggle. She was wearing a crown of buttercups, foxgloves, and daisies. Her hazel eyes looked back at me and she smiled. “You gonna tell me now?” she asking coyly.

Feeling much less nervous without a single person nearby, I put my arm around her shoulders, “not yet. Need to get to where we are going first,” as I pulled her closer.

“Don’t those look like thunder clouds?” she pointed, yet didn’t sound worried. 

I tried to be protective and pulled her closer, trying to sound like I knew everything, “I think they are.”

“What type of clouds are they then?” she said sounding callous and cocky. "Go on, tell me" she said in a mocking jest and I realized I had no response for her.

Callie pulled away, turning her hazel eyes from mine, “Can you just tell me here?” she sounded a little desperate as she motioning to the field of fern fronds, wildflowers, and trees that made the whole area look like some sort of abandoned cathedral.

I guess I was determined to have my way, “But this place is not THE place,” and I motioned past the Elms Gate up ahead. The wind slowed down and I felt the temperature rise. Or maybe it was me, but Callie looked like she had beads of sweat on her brow. I turned to look at the elm trees, the thunder clouds were closer, "Cumulonimbus Clouds," I said.

Week 1 of THE Summer Vacation from Theatre

This is day late. I know, I know. I don't really have a good excuse for writing this today versus yesterday. So, I will just present my check-in...

This Week:
    *Reading: finished reading Murder in Three Acts (Agatha Christie) yesterday. Now that I have read a number of her books in succession I like to style. Yet, she has a tendency to re-use character tropes. Not a bad thing, but you can see where stories and characters blur together. Began The Golden Compass (Philip Pullman), one chapter in as of this post, and probably start Wicked (Gregory Maguire). I am kinda itching to begin a Book to Movie review for The Golden Compass.
    *Writing: wrote daily between blog posts and poems. I did not write Saturday or Sunday.
    *Editing: I edited the two paragraphs that I posted for WIPpet Wednesday.
    *Social Media: visited 4 blogs daily. Visited all of the WIPpeteers sites. Kept up with twitter throughout the week, not so much on the weekend. Saturday tends to be my unplugged day.
     *Submission: submitted 2 poems to the last issue of the Lincoln Underground.

This week (upcoming):
    *Reading: Continue with The Golden Compass and Wicked.
    *Writing: write daily.
    *Editing: edit my flash fiction piece, Love in Ferns (working title).
    *Submissions: 1 new submission.
    *Social Media: 4 blogs daily.
    *Housework: finish this weeks laundry and dishes. Find a carpet shampoo-er I can borrow, and then finish vacuuming the house.

Last week was a very productive week. Being able to come home and work on writing and housework. Been catching up on my sleep and feeling good all the way around. Hoping for another good week of productivity. Saturday was my day to goof off. Took my friend Sara and her daughters to Eldridge Park to ride the carousel and the dragon boats (thanks you Sara, I borrowed the pictures).

 A Round of Words in 80 Days is a blog challenge that knows you have a life. Come and visit the Blog Hop. We have cookies!!

 What do you do to reward yourself for being productive or completing a goal, Dear Readers?

Me? I will go ride carousels and dragon boats...

Pit of Doom and climbing out again...

I am a bad writer. I didn't post a regular blog on Monday or Tuesday! I am sorry, Dear Readers. I said I was going to, and then I didn't. I feel horrible.

But..........

I have some better news. I wrote a story on Sunday, a full and complete story. It's called "Road Trip" (a tentative title right now). This story is a bit over 3200 words and still need review and revision. But, I always feel so good when I finish a piece of work, either story or blog. Here's a little snippet that I am pleased with.

Oblivious to the lack of enthusiasm on Marcie’s part, the blonde turns back the road, “This is going to be great.” She goes to turn the radio on; there is a burst of static and then nothing. “Damn, I wish Daddy would just get me a brand new car.” The blond balls her fist and give the dash a thud, causing the radio to burst alive with music, but to kill the dash control, as her speed now registered 120 mph and the gas gauge on empty. “Really? This is a thorough pain in the ass. I mean, Bonnie has a brand new Mercedes, and Marcus has his new Hummer, but I get Daddy’s old relic that is a piece of SHIT,” she shouts at the car. She balls her left fist and thunks the dash console. The dash comes alive. “There, see? No problem, right, Marcie.” She looks over at Marcie, who is mostly hanging out of the window, silently mouthing something.

Also, this week, I have finished "Lirael" and started "Abhorsen". Also looking at what series I am going to pick up post "Abhorsen Trilogy". Maybe finally read "Wicked" or Hugh Laurie's "The Gunseller", or maybe start Margaret Atwood's "MaddAddam Series". So, many books! ALL TEH BOOKS!!! Or, Dear Readers, what are your suggestions for summer reading (or in general)?

I have not visited fellow bloggers, but am going to start tonight to visit at least 3. Better late than never, right, Dear Readers? And from this point I will visit fellow bloggers. I am coming off of a weird week, weird last night. It might have to do with the rough news in the world the past few days, or I was just moody. I do get that way sometimes. I have to pull myself up and out of my Pit of DOOM (my own words), usually with music, improv/theatre, or writing. I am feeling better, so I think I am on the mend.

I had improv rehearsal tonight, and it was totally what I needed. Something about watching the little known facts about the War of 1812 using a bra as sling shots with thumb tacks and bowie knives; or catching Loose Lips Lenny in the Police Showers; or asking questions at the armory about the new bop-it mace. Oh, the things that come out of improv! If you know what "Whose Line is it Anyway?" is, that is what we do.

I have been fighting with the Muse lately, she has left me for someone else. I have been trying to coax her back with everything from cookies to promises of devotion. Susan Werner says it best about Mistress Muse. She only loves you when you are struggling and love her alone. Once you find success, she will leave you for someone who appreciates her more than you did.

Remember to go and visit the Blog Hop, see the hard work of my fellow AROW80-ers, Dear Readers. I am looking into an interview with VCRfromHeck and some small reviews of "Ben and Me" and "Willie the Operatic Whale", part of the Disney 's Mini Classic collections, also a forthcoming review of "The Hunger Games" book versus movie.

There is also a bit of summer left that I plan to enjoy and share with you all. Have an amazing rest of the week, Dear Readers. I have a request, I want to write some but I need some topic. I am not sure what I want to write, but I need your help, Dear Readers. I need topics. Everything and anything. Leave me topic and some love, and I'll see you around the interwebs.