Look at All Those Words

Let just jump into it, eh?

This week:

      *Reading: I got to part 2 of Windhaven by George R. R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle. It's a good story, but there are times when I think the story is bogged down by itself, if that makes any sense. I have not read any of the Game of Thrones series. I am on my second go of Windhaven and hoping that this time I can at least finish it. Also been working my way through Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman. It's an anthology of short stories and a bit of poetry. His stories are so different and not what I expect, but I still like them and find them intriguing. Hoping to finish Trigger Warning by week's end. READ TOTAL: about 60+ pages.

     *Blogging: posted a short blog about some of my favourite poets, the ones that inspire me. Read it here. WORD TOTAL: 369 words.

     *Novel: I revised 10 pages of the manuscript (The Real Road Trip). I ended up doing more than the small fixes. Some spot just needed drastic help. The plan is to revise 10 pages each day that I set to editing. Going to try to refrain from major edits, but sometimes the plot needs major surgery. I end up fixing it then and there. Probably not the best thing to do. EDIT TOTAL: 10 pages.

      *Social Media/Visiting: I have not missed a day this week (since Sunday). Holding steady at 4 visits/comments per day.

      *Theatre Stuffs: have more sound/music for The Mousetrap. Rehearsals are going well, now if the weather will co-operate on Sunday nights/Monday mornings. Have a TV interview lined up to promote the show, and a couple of places to submit press releases to. Poster is done and beginning to make appearances around town. Isn't it sexy?

This Week (to do):

      *Writing: have a flash fiction challenge to write for, due by 2/27 for the Google page #writestuff (see here). And there the Doctor Who fan-fiction I started and see what can be done with it. I forgot to print it up and thus it became buried.

      *Novel: edit 10 pages a day, at least twice before Sunday (if possible). Valentine's Day is Saturday and the Hubs asked what I wanted to do. I told him if we see a movie, it should be Paddington. Because!

      *Bogging: 1 a week. Technically I am done for the week, but that was a small post so I am working on new blog ideas.

      *Submitting: at least 1 before Sunday.

      *Reading: finish Trigger Warning (Gaiman)

I've just had an idea! Lightening! Brilliance!

To help my goals be SMART goals (see below), I am going to link to the journals I submit to, tally word counts, pages read. It might be lofty, but I think that will help my goal become SMART.

Specific–- target a specific area for improvement.

Measurable - quantify or at least suggest an indicator of progress.

Achievable - specify goals that are reachable.

Realistic - state what results can realistically be achieved, given available resources.

Time-related - specify when the result(s) can be achieved.

A Round of Words in 80 Days, a blog challenge that know you have a life. Stop into the Blog Hop, "I wrote this, here's some cheesecake!" (~Tamara)

Also, WIPpet Wednesday is today and since I fully started my revision process I am sharing a bit of The Real Road Trip. Today's date is 2/11 so let's do 13 lines (2 + 11 = 13). Go and visit the other WIPeteers here. They have muffins! :-)

“I don’t want to,” Selynee said in a hushed and garbled voice.

“Excuse me? What did you say?” Seylnee's mother crouched down and grabbed her daughter by the shoulder. “That is your Father’s Boss’s Daughter out there, young lady! She has no friends in town, just moved here and needs a friend. Your father is looking to get a promotion! You be a gracious host, right now, to His Boss’s daughter.” She pulled Selynee off the couch, looking disgusted. “You will not ruin this, young lady.”

“I don’t wanna, Mom.”

“Don’t start with me,” threatened her mother. Selynee looked at her mother standing by the couch.

Okay, that it for now, Dear Readers. What have you been up to? How are your goals? Are you surviving the winter? Been fighting the Winter Blues bad this week. It's sunny today and above 30 degrees, yet it will not last. Due to be 6 degrees on Friday. Sheesh!! Have an awesome rest of the week, Dear Readers!

Something for any of us in the midst of Winter! I started listening to my Hawaiian CD today. :-)

Sunday AROW80 check in: Warm Sunshine and Writing to make my Fingers Bleed

It's been a stellar day and even more stellar weekend. The weather has been cooperating with 70 to 80 degrees and theatre stuffs and writing, oh my!!

I have spent much of my Sunday writing on my WIP "Beyond the Mountains" my project for CampNaNoWriMo, the novel writing challenge that falls in April. Which upon reflection has to be the busiest month. With all of the projects and theatre stuffs that I am involved in and Dear Readers, so of you have been following my passage through this month. So you know how busy I have been. I signed up for CampNaNo with the purpose of writing. I need to make myself write. Once I am in the habit of writing daily, it that much easier to write when NaNo is NOT going on. just as my journaling time was once a forced habit, it has now become easier to do, so must my desire to write everyday, whether it be poetry, stories, or a blog.

That is what this weekend is about. I had time to myself and a novel in progress. So, on went some of my Protagonist music: Hannah-Rei, Meghan Andrews, and Lindsay Katt and with my coffee I have written 3,543 words today. I am sooooo far behind my CampNaNoWriMo word count. Today total should be 21,666 words and yet I am at only at 15,245 words at 6:50pm. But I am determined. I started this journey and I will finish. I may not make the 50,000 word mark by Apriln 30th, but I am going to try my darnedest.

Is it possible to catch up, being that far behind?

I think...NO, I know so! Why? Because I will, that's why!

I have been getting in touch with my protagonists, a 16 year old woman, Walelea Jones and some guy name Markus goofy guys that hangs with a dragon. It's a little adventure story, with a dash of fantasy, and some self discovery. A genre that I am writing consistently in. Maybe I'll call it 'Self Fanti-Aventure'.

Also, I have been keeping up with NaPoWriMo and the Blogging A to Z challenges. Nothing new on my WIP short stories, but I am making my way through "The Hunger Games" series. Today was such a beautiful day and I feel good. I just wanted to thanks all of you, Dear Readers and Bloggers. Thank you for the words of encouragement and comments. It means a lot to this little ol' writer!

As always, check out my fellow writers and bloggers at the Blog Hop!

Now, I present my NaPoWriMo poem featuring a few

kennings; (derived from Old Norse) a type of metaphorical compound word or phrase used as an allusion to a simpler idea which (at the time) would be readily recognized by the audience. For example, "whale-road" would imply "ocean".

To Find the Paths

Walking along the Hard Path

With the Heaven’s Ball to light my way--

I am warmed,

Yet I was lost

Following the hard path along the Steel Jungle.

Here the steel trees

That house the world's denizens.

All whom seem lost,

But I am not lost.

I know where the Dirt Paths flow

The ones that lead to the old places

One the trees and Earth Peoples places.

In feel less alone when I am with the Earth People,

Hearing the Singing Breaths

And feeling the Fingers of Heaven

Brush my face.

Here is my home,

Even though I live within

The Steel Trees.

One does not have to feel lost

With the Steel Jungle

To find their way back to

The Dirt Paths of the Earth People

To know where they have come from.

Once born to the Earth,

Forever of the Earth.

Just follow any of the Hard Paths,

They lead to the Dirt Paths

Once there you will always find the way.

7:17 pm