Tag Archives: Camp NaNoWriMo

April Ishness + Hiatus Notice

Posted on by

12

Hey guys! It’s May and I’m here with an Ishness post to recap Camp NaNo and my reading/watching/listening of April . . . and also to announce a blogging/social media hiatus for the rest of May.

Firstly . . . Camp NaNo!

WRITING: Camp NaNo

I successfully completed my Camp NaNoWriMo goal with 10,336 words! *throws confetti*

This was a really interesting Camp NaNo. It wasn’t technically a very large goal, but I’d been really stuck all year before Camp, so I’m just really happy I was able to make it — and, more importantly, to write regularly a couple times per week.

I usually try to stay ahead, but I also tend to binge-write a bit and then miss a few days. It was very noticeable this time and I joked all month about the staircase I was building. XD

But the fact that I was able to regularly sit down just twice weekly and get 2K in every week, despite how busy I was . . . this was a huge boost to my writing confidence and just happiness in general. It’s given me hope that I might be able to keep that up sometimes in the future!

It also really helped that I had a list of the upcoming scenes, and between that and wordwars with amazing friends, I made serious progress on Operation Foxtail, which has now passed 60K words! I’m. so. excited.

I also had a short story attack my brain near the end of the month. This story made me frantically type up notes and snippets on my phone at 2 a.m. XD Here’s hoping I can get back to that and see what comes of it! And I’m hoping to continue on Operation Foxtail as well, but we shall see.

Shout-out to my amazing cabin-mates! I had so much fun hanging out with so many awesome writers on the NaNo site. And thanks, too, to all the people who cheered me on over on my social media. So encouraging!

Overall, Camp NaNo was wildly successful and I’m happy I got about three chapters written and started a short story.

READING

Not a lot of reading happened, but what there was, I found to be absolutely lovely! You can read my brief thoughts on these on my book blog’s post.

WATCHING

I re-watched a handful of fun things:

  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier — Always re-watch Bucky. 😀
  • The Dark Knight Rises — I’m fascinated to realize that I like this one better than The Dark Knight (even if Batman Begins is still my favorite). I always thought of this one as the dark one and kind of put off re-watching it, but the ending is actually fabulous and makes me happy. So it was just the memory of not knowing what was going to happen while watching it the first time, and how intense it was, that pegged this one as darker (to me). So I like it better than the Joker one, apparently. XD And Blake is awesome.
  • Despicable Me — This was fun to see again. XD (Not pictured.)
  • So . . . apparently superheroes, ish?

I also saw a DVD concert of Celtic Women, which was lovely! I’d picked it up at a library sale years ago and never watched it until now. It made me happy. 🙂

And a smidge of NCIS, also not pictured.

LISTENING

  • I did actually follow through with my plan to listen to Andrew Peterson music. Help, I’ve fallen into this amazingness and can’t get up. Actually, don’t help, because I’m happy here. I listened to a lot of his music across several albums, particularly for Easter, and I love it so much!
  • Brittany Jean’s new album All the Love was another delightful thing I listened to last month! More happiness. 🙂 Do check it out! ❤ (CD here. Links for online listening.) You can listen to the title song, All the Love, which is probably my favorite, on YouTube here! The songs are lovely and catchy and I often find them dancing through my head. 😀 (There’s even a gorgeous version of Never Enough from The Greatest Showman!) Brittany has a lovely voice and I’ve been enjoying her new songs muchly. ^_^
  • Also, Tide Lines had a new song, Innocent and Beautiful, and I listened to that several times. 🙂 Go give it a watch. I believe they have a new album releasing this month. :O
  • I meant to listen to audiobooks again but . . . entirely failed at that. Whoops. XD

APRIL BLOGGING

Book reviews:

LIFE

For me, April was one of the busiest months ever, actually. I was quite occupied with work and copyediting (yes, both from home), and throwing Camp NaNo on there meant that I felt terribly busy basically every day of April. I’m kind of exhausted. 😛

Since there’s not much to share in the life category, here, have a couple of photography attempts and some Easter cake!

A genuine yellow rose of Texas. 😉

Pretty!

Delicious.

MAY PLANS: HIATUS

I will leave you with today’s Instagram photo! I’m so glad I was able to get these lovely flowers the day before Hobby Lobby closed. o.o

Anyway, I’m really tired and just need to take a step back after running non-stop since basically September? I often end up taking hiatuses in May. XD

So I’ll be taking a break from blogging for the rest of May, and also getting off of social media — Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads . . .

But! You can absolutely still get in touch by email, and I’ll still be checking Messenger/Instagram DMs, etc.

(And there are a few book releases I’m super excited about . . . so I mayyyy pop back on for a couple of those; we’ll see how I’m feeling. XD)

Thanks for reading, and let me know in the comments how your April went! I love you all and I hope you have an amazing May, and I will see you on the other side!

March Ishness 2020!

Posted on by

13

It’s somehow April so it’s time for a recap of March! (Don’t worry, it’s fun stuff. XD) The latest in my writing, reading, watching, listening, and blogging life!

WRITING

After being stuck and not writing anything for longer than I’d care to think about, I finally wrote a couple thousand words of Operation Foxtail in March — which felt really good, since I hadn’t touched it since NaNo! So that makes me happy, even if it wasn’t a lot. Hoping to continue that momentum with Camp NaNo this month!

READING

I read so much in March! :O I haven’t been reading this much in awhile so I’m kind of surprised. XD

Check out yesterday’s Book Ishness post on my book blog for quick thoughts on the books I read last month!

WATCHING

  • I finished my re-watch of the first season of Castle, and finished the episodes of Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye that I have, though unfortunately it’s not a full season. Those were fun!
  • I re-watched Howl’s Moving Castle for March Magics and had a blast!
  • And I got Mortal Engines for my birthday, so I watched that last month . . . twice . . . XD I saw it in theaters last year and loved it and I’m really happy that I own it now! It’s just . . . really fun and I’m not sure why I love it but for some reason I do! It’s just fun. 🙂
  • Not pictured, I also watched a smidge of NCIS.

LISTENING

  • I AT LAST finished listening to If Wishes Were Curses by Janeen Ippolito and had a really enjoyable time with that. ^_^ NA Urban Fantasy isn’t something I’ve really read but it’s interesting! And quite fun. 😀 I just started listening to the sequel so I’m looking forward to that.
  • I listened to Skillet’s latest album, Victorious, quite a lot this last month. I love their music and hadn’t really listened to this one yet so it’s been great.
  • I also re-listened to Brittany Jean’s fun album Wander with Me (I wrote a review for it once!), and her new single, On the Edge of Wave and World — which is actually a poem in Jenelle Leanne Schmidt’s amazing book Minstrel’s Song! So that makes me happy. 😀 Brittany Jean has a new album releasing this week! Check her out. ^_^

  • And I listened to the very tip of the iceberg that is Andrew Peterson’s music. I just never really listened to his stuff, but after reading Adorning the Dark I wanted to try, so I listened to a small handful and need to do more of that because so far I think I really like his music. (I don’t have internet in my room currently, so it’s just . . . more difficult for me to get around to remembering to listen to music when I’m online. So I’m going to have to make a conscious effort to listen to more. XD)
  • Random story: I sometimes hear “Is He Worthy?” on the radio (I think Chris Tomlin sings it?) and didn’t really think much about it, but my mind was blown when I realized that Andrew Peterson wrote it?? Like. How cool is that! I always liked it and didn’t realize it was written by the author of the Wingfeather books, and I love Andrew Peterson’s version of it. ❤

LIFE

Not much went on in March other than the obvious — and I’m kind of tired of hearing about . . . you know . . . so I’m not really talking about it. XD

Life hasn’t been too different for me, since I’m usually mostly home anyway, but I did miss getting to see some friends, and I don’t really have extra time like many people seem to right now, so that’s . . . interesting.

In fun news, I had a birthday (yay cake and books!), celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day at home by wearing lots of Celtic jewelry, and started a new Instagram theme that I’m excited about! (Blue flowerssss!)

Here, have some pics.

I’m rather fond of this photo I snagged on a backroad after some rain which made Texas look like Ireland around Saint Patrick’s Day. ^_^

Let them eat cake! Birthday cake!

Posting about this delightful book and celebrating with a cupcake at my favorite cupcake shop which happened to have lifesaving Wi-Fi when mine was out and I needed to post a review. XD

Saint Patrick’s Day!

New theme (love my new blue “flers”!) and finishing Diana Wynne Jones month!

BLOGGING

Here are my March posts on my two blogs!

General posts:

March Magics posts:

Reviews posted in March:

 

APRIL PLANS

Other than miscellaneous work-from-home projects (which, let’s be honest, I already do, so it’s not like much has changed for me) like editing, the main thing that’s up right now is CAMP NANO!

We’re already nearly half done this Camp month, and I’ve had some ups and downs on it, but I’m happy that I’m writing at all, because I’ve had a bit of a writer’s block problem and it’s also hard for me to write when I’m distracted, busy, or stressed. So any writing is progress!

My goal is 10K words and I’m working on Operation Foxtail! ^_^

So that was my March. Thanks for reading! I hope you’re all hanging in there and reading good books. ❤ And good luck to anyone who’s doing Camp (buddy me!) — you can do it!

Camp NaNo Ishness/Hiatus

Posted on by

22

Hello, reader peeps!

If you’ve been wondering what I’ve been up to during the last few weeks of relative silence around here, you’re in luck!

It’s time for an Ishness post — hurrah!

In which I recap my Camp NaNo and other Ishnesses of April. It’s been a busy and exciting month! And also to say that I’m taking a bit of a blogging break for May.

There may also be snippets. And photography.

So let’s get to it!

Camp NaNo Writing Adventures

I participated in and completed Camp NaNo!

And it was amazing, guys. So, so amazing. I’ve missed writing.

Thanks to some awesome wordsprints courtesy of Jenelle and Sarah and some other writing friends, I discovered that I can write 1K in 40 minutes’ worth of wordsprints, which led to a whirlwind of Camp writing for me. I’m. so. excited. I had written hardly anything this year and it was so delightful to finally get back into it!

I made my goal of 10 hours of writing/writing-related-stuff-like-plotting-and-editing, hitting 11 hours for the month.

My April writing accomplishments included:

  • 11,439 words of writing.
  • Naming an important character (the hero of book 3 of my Sky Voyages retelling trilogy) — he’s a pirate and his name is Keller. 😀
  • Outlining the next several parts of The Siren and the Skyship.
  • Realizing I need to redo basically all that I’d written of the book during last November, but OH WELL, at least I know. XD I think I’ll try to power through to the end before rewrites… hopefully…
  • I wrote 10K words of The Siren and the Skyship, a mix of rough first draft and draft-zero, some in order, some later on. But it’s the first writing on this I’ve done since last year’s NaNo, so I’m excited to be back to it!
  • My characters seemed to spend a lot of their time meeting at night on rooftops. Okay, then! Also, I’m having the best time writing about my character Rook.
  • I also wrote 1300 words of The Other Half of Everything, finishing and editing the first chapter, which has been in a half-written-out-of-order state for years.
  • GUYS. I’M DONE A WHOLE CHAPTER OF THE OTHER HALF OF EVERYTHING.
  • I have several thousand words of OHE written, but it’s all in snippets out of order. So having a completed first chapter all finished is SO EXCITING to me!
  • Anyway, between plotting, writing 10K of S&S, and finishing OHE’s first chapter, I’m very pleased with what I got done this month for Camp NaNo. 🙂 I’m hoping to keep up the writing momentum, but we’ll see what happens.

Snippets!

… exchanging the usual niceties one exchanged over tea.

“What did you want to see me about?” Rook asked finally, politely but warily.

He was not used to being called on by dignitaries, and was more than usually aware that his new little brother, sitting right at the table with them, was a street thief. Although Xasper had been silent and as well-mannered as could be, he could well be a ticking steam-bomb counting down to something disastrous.

It was all rather alarming, really, and the sooner it was all over with, the better Rook would like it.

— The Siren and the Skyship

***

Percival chose this extremely inopportune time to wake up and hear what they were discussing. “Don’t even think about it, Mania,” he said blearily from his half-asleep and bandaged state. “You’re the princess, and as a princess, you can’t go there without causing an international incident.”

Tasmania shooed a hand at her brother. “I know, I know. As a princess, I won’t.”

“Not as a Royal Skynavy captain either,” he warned.

Blast. He shouldn’t even be alert enough to notice. “As you command, my king,” Tasmania said, saluting. But Auren and Noya were giving her Looks which meant they knew exactly what she was thinking.

Fortunately, Percival’s eyes had drifted shut again and he didn’t see.

Well then. Not a princess, and not a captain, either. She would go as herself—even if she had to smuggle herself in a pirate ship to do so.

Which, incidentally, was exactly what she planned to do.

— The Siren and the Skyship

***

“Do try not to jump; it disturbs the books,” the young man remarked.

— The Other Half of Everything

***

He held out his hand and gave a rather absentminded smile. “The name’s Teague. Teague Aurelius. A pleasure to meet you.”

“Same,” I said, shaking his hand. What? A girl can’t lie occasionally in the interests of being polite? Somebody certainly needed to be that around here.

— The Other Half of Everything

Reading

I… did not read very much this month. Between Camp NaNo and editing and life, not to mention starting about half a dozen books and then not finishing them (I’m in 5 right now; it’s embarrassing) I don’t have much to show in the reading department.

I managed to hit my 50-book goal for my Goodreads Reading Challenge, though! (I’ve been including short stories this year, okay. Don’t be too amazed. :P)

But I did read a handful of things. A picture book, ONE novel (The Lost Castle, which I reviewed), two short stories, and two non-fiction short ebooks about writing. Aaand that’s it. They were all pretty good, and I highly recommend Jamie Foley and Angela Castillo’s Busy Moms’ Guide to Writing even for those who are not busy moms but are still writers. XD

Not pictured but hopefully releasing in the next month or two is Horseman by Kyle Robert Shultz, which I edited and therefore read a couple times this month. It’s hilarious, and is a fantastic magical wild west tale, so watch for that!

Watching

  • I re-watched the first couple episodes of the original season of Sherlock… which was neat to re-visit. XD (They’re so YOUNG, though! :O)
  • I saw a bit more White Collar, which I’m still enjoying aside from the usual bits I don’t care for that all TV has. But it’s still fun. XD Love these characters!
  • I started watching Trollhunters, just a few episodes, which is a lot of fun so far.
  • And a little NCIS and original Star Trek. To keep me on my toes.
  • I also re-watched The Last Jedi and… eh. I’m still mixed on it, but that seems to happen to me with ALL movies these days, so. 😛 (I need a crystal fox.)

Listening

  • I’m still listening to Wander with Me, Smoke and Mirrors, and Rise and Fall periodically from Brittany Jean’s latest album. ❤

  • Jen Ledger, the drummer girl for the band Skillet, started her own band: Ledger! I’m kind of excited because she’s so sweet and I love her voice, so this is great. I’ve been listening to the tracks she just released and having fun with those. 🙂

  • Speaking of Skillet, you know how sometimes you get a song stuck in your head and listen to it all the time because it’s so catchy and the latest thing you love? Well I have that with Stay ‘Til the Daylight (by Skillet), which my character Rook informed me is his theme song for the sequel to The Siren and the Skyship.
  • It’s also been Camp NaNo so I’ve been listening to fast word-warring music and the Ren: The Girl with the Mark soundtrack because it’s perfect for the “feel” of The Siren and the Skyship — gorgeous and epic.
  • And Cara Dillon, because her voice is amazing. ❤

  • (Yes, I’m aware this is a strange mix of music. I have unique taste. *cough*)

Life

  • It’s been quite the busy month, juggling life and various projects/work and Camp NaNo.

  • I won my first writing contest with my otter flash fiction (my goodness, was that this month?)!
  • Camp NaNo kept me on my toes. XD But it was glorious focusing on writing again.

  • I randomly realized “OH, I HAVE A WATTPAD ACCOUNT; I SHOULD USE IT,” and posted Wintertale over there. I may put up another couple of short stories when I have time.
  • Arielle Bailey more or less convinced me that my personality type is probably ISFP even though I’ve tested as a couple other types (INFP/INFJ). I’m going to look into it more but from what she said, it seems legit. XD (Arielle, do that MBTI blog series!)
  • I got to attend a lovely writer retreat; it was fun getting to hang out with a bunch of fellow writer gals for a weekend! ❤ Not to mention appropriate, because it was like a real-live Camp NaNo! 😉 It was amazing. ^_^

sunset

cozy cottage

sunrise from the balcony

May Plans / Hiatus

I’m taking a bit of a blogging/internet break during May.

Before anybody panics (no panicking, okay?), this is not to say that I won’t be around at all. There are, after all, a few exciting things going on this month (like the ones I mentioned in my In Bookish News post on my book blog) which I may (haha, pun!) drop in on. Plus, my hiatuses (hiatusi?) don’t always turn out as hiatus-y (shh, it’s a word) as I plan; but it should help anyway. XD

(Goodness, that was a lot of parentheses. Please excuse.)

I just need to give myself permission to step away a little and breathe. Sometimes everything gets to be a little much, you know?

I’m a little worn out with all the busyness that’s been non-stop for the past four months, and I also need to catch up on things and do some more prep for Realm Makers (which is creeping up on us at an alarming rate!).

So for my own sanity (what’s that? O_O), I’m reining back a little, and if you need to get a hold of me I’m sure I’ll still be checking email. 😉

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you have a Merry Month of May, friends! ❤ And let me know what’s up with you, in the comments! ^_^

Behold the Ishness! {Feb-March 2018}

Posted on by

19

Oh, look, the last time I did an Ishness was for January; it’s high time to let y’all know about the ishnesses going on in my life these last two months!

Let’s see what I was up to in the blur that was February and March . . .

WRITING

(via pixabay.com)

I wrote a grand total of 1.5K words in these past two months.

I know. So amazing.

Ahem. XD

Basically, I’ve been in a little bit of a writing slump this year. 😛 I’m hoping Camp NaNo will help with that.

BUT! I am very pleased with those 1500 words, so that’s a good thing, yes?

I finished a particularly tricky chapter of The Secret of Kedran’s Wood. This work-in-progress is now 75K words long, so far. (Yikes!)

(via fellowshipoffantasy.com)

I wrote We Otter Do It, which, although it was small, I really enjoyed writing. Having such a tight wordcount limit was a fascinating puzzle, and I kind of loved it. 😀

I’ve also been doing some plotting for The Other Half of Everything and some other stories.

READING

In reverse-chronological order (recentest reads at the top), here’s a screen-shot of my March and February reads taken from my Goodreads challenge.

(via goodreads.com)

(If you are curious what I thought of any of the books/stories pictured, just ask!)

So much reading! Actually, a lot of those are short stories and novellas and random things, so it’s not as many as it looks like. XD I’ve been including everything on my reading challenge, not just novels, so . . . yeah.

I’ve enjoyed most of these, but highlights were DEFINITELY:

 

  • Lady Moon by Rachel Starr Thomson — With a subtitle like A Tale of Love & Magic & Other Improbable, Unpredictable Things of COURSE I love this book! I have no words for this other than it’s one of my new top favorite books and I loved it SO MUCH that I read it twice in February. You know: that short month? TWICE, I say. I read it in a single day and then the next week I turned around and read the whole thing aloud to my younger siblings because I just could NOT resist re-reading it at once. Everyone should read this if you like whimsical fantasy. It’s DELIGHTFUL and Tomas is my favorite. ❤ (Thanks to Mary Horton for the recommendation!)
  • Masque by W. R. Gingell — I adored this book and I can’t wait to try more by this author. It was brilliant and hilarious, a Beauty and the Beast magical murder mystery which felt rather like a magical Georgette Heyer novel. I LOVED IT. There were a couple very gruesome scenes (because magical murder mystery) which I could have done without, but otherwise it was PERFECT. Everyone go read it, right now. (Thanks to Suzannah Rowntree for bringing this delightful novel to my attention.)
  • Minstrel’s Call by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt — Reviewed this one; I absolutely loved it! Brilliant conclusion to one of my favorite fantasy series! ^_^ Gaah. Brant! KIERNAN KANE! (Thanks to Jenelle for my review ARC. <3)
  • Sage by Jamie Foley — Let’s just say the same thing about this as about Minstrel’s Call. XD Because it was an awesome conclusion to another favorite fantasy series! (Look at me, actually finishing series I’ve been reading. #SoProud) Read my review here. ALSO JET IS STILL MY FAVE. ❤ (Thanks to Jamie for my gorgeous copy. <3)

(Look at how pretty the series is together! ❤ )

WATCHING

Er… not much? A little more Once Upon a Time (I think I still enjoyed Season One more? But still enjoying it somewhat and we’ll see how it goes), some old Batman movies which were weird, Alex Rider which was kinda fun.

Oh! And I started watching White Collar, a show about a con man who works with an FBI agent to solve crimes. I’ve only seen the first half of Season 1, so I don’t know how it goes on from there, but I LOVE it so far! XD It’s like Leverage meets Castle, and the characters are great. 😀

(via giphy.com)

BLOGGING

I’m also working on my “official” website, which reminds me I need to finish that . . .

(And I passed 1000 followers here, which — JUST. GUYS. ❤ *flails* I know some of those are my social media numbers, BUT STILL. THANK YOU SO MUCH, EVERYONE.)

LIFE

I had a birthday and got the One Ring for it. Which means it was my birthday present, Preciousss . . . Yes, I made all the jokes. XD

I also had my bjournal anniversary. I’ve kept a bullet journal for over a year now! *gasp* I’m on my fourth one, and I’m not as organized with it as I should be, but it’s still helpful.

A few writer workshops happened, which I attended, and they were interesting. I always learn SOMETHING new, even if it’s just a couple little tricks or a new perspective, but it’s also getting to the point where I seem to already know 80% of the information presented. That makes me feel weird, because I’m not a published author, but I’ve been learning so much about all of this for so many years that I’ve accumulated quite a bit of knowledge. People I meet seem to assume I don’t know much because I’m younger than they are. It’s kind of funny. XD

I’ve also been kicking off my editing freelancing, which I’m really excited about! Shoutout to fabulous author Kyle Robert Shultz, whose book I’m currently editing. 🙂

(via realmmakers.com)

And, most exciting of all, I signed up for Realm Makers! I’m going to the 2018 Realm Makers conference in July! Which means I’m trying to prepare for that, which means work, and trying to get my website and other things done, and starting my costume, etc. But I’m SO excited about going and getting to hopefully meet so many good online friends, and see a few I’ve met before, and just — I’M EXCITED.

APRIL PLANS

(via campnanowrimo.org)

I’m doing Camp NaNo! Which . . . well . . . as usual, I have no business doing, because BUSY, but at the same time it’s my excuse to make myself write again. So that makes me happy. 🙂 I’m working on plotting/outlining/draft-zero/writing The Siren and the Skyship, with slight forays into trying to wrangle the plots of the two sequels in this Sky Voyages series. I’m doing a 10 hour goal, so we’ll see how that goes!

(via Bethany Jennings @simmeringmind on Twitter.com)

I’m allegedly doing #WIPjoy with The Siren and the Skyship over on my Twitter and Facebook, although . . . I haven’t been keeping up very well. XD

I’m also participating in a couple of bookclub readalongs, which are fun so far! The three short stories I’ve read so far in the Mythical Doorways anthology have been delightful, and Trial by Song (a modern-day Jack-and-the-Beanstalk novel with scary Fae) has been quite creepy but otherwise fascinating. I can’t wait to see how both books finish up! (The FB book club group links for both are here and here.)

Mostly, I’m trying to keep up with whatever busyness life throws at me, and wondering how on earth it’s April already . . . (Because SERIOUSLY, THOUGH??)

So that’s what’s new with me! 🙂 How about you? What are you up to? I hope you enjoyed this glimpse at the goings-on around here. ^_^ Thanks for reading, and have a lovely April! ❤

In Which I Do the Spring Cleaning Writer Tag Challenge

Posted on by

31

springcleaningwritertagchallenge

Last week I shared my very first original tag, the Spring Cleaning Writer Tag Challenge — and today I’m here to answer the questions myself, as promised!

So this is a chance to catch up on ALL my writerly news of late! 🙂

1. Dust-bunnies and Plot-bunnies: Reorganize Your Writing Goals (Or Make New Ones)

I didn’t so much have “goals” as “dreams” (like I mentioned in my New Year post), but a glance at those can show that I’m not very far on most of them. I did, however, start working on a few! So I’ll share those at least. Because #positivethinking.

  • Finish the short stories I’d started. I haven’t, actually, BUT I did write a new one, a flashfiction. Which I actually entered in a contest for the Fellowship of Fantasy — I think fan voting starts March 27 (tomorrow) so you can check it out if you like, and I’m so excited to see everyone’s entries! (And I had an idea for another short story. So many ideas. Halp.)
  • I haven’t set up my Facebook page yet (waiting on finishing my website first) BUT I did take the first step and set up a FB account. *cough* (What is this life.) So you can find me there if you’re so inclined. 🙂
  • I’ve been WORKING on my official website. It’s not done yet but I have clear ideas about where I want it to go and I’ve been working on it a bit… I will be sure to share it with y’all when it’s ready! (Going hand-in-hand with this is my newsletter, which, again, is not ready yet, but will be available to sign up for when my site is up, even if I might not start said newsletter for a little while.)

  • Spend more time with the stories and characters I love most. I’ve been doing a little of this, namely finishing a chapter with Tare & co. that I had been stuck on FOREVER, and which is full of so much tension but also fun and feels. ❤ And I plotted the first dozen chapters of The Other Half of Everything and have been thinking a lot about Teague and Meridian and the rest. I’m so excited to have wrestled part of this into an outline! 😀 Now that I actually know where the bits I’ve written out of order go, it’s rather exhilarating. (Writing a book out of order is exhausting and I don’t recommend it, but this book is something special, and it will be written how it pleases, thank-you-very-much, regardless of how I feel about it.)

  • I have NOT finished developing The Siren and the Skyship sequels, but I’ve been doing brainstorming on and off, making a little progress, and I might work on this project more for Camp? We’ll see?

  • I am actually working on my freelance proofreading/copyediting business, which I’m very excited about! I’ve done a couple projects now, and I love it. If anyone needs their typos caught, I’m available. 😉

  • And obviously Realm Makers hasn’t happened yet, but I have officially signed up for it. Guys. I’m going to Realm Makers in July! I’M SO EXCITED. I can’t wait to meet everyone there! 🙂

So my goals/dreams are still similar, and that’s just an update on the ones I’ve made progress on. 🙂 Those are mostly partial successes, and if I’m being honest, I really haven’t been able to focus much on writing this year yet — which makes me sad. But it’s heartening to see I’m making a little bit of progress in a few areas! ^_^

Tentative new goal might be to do Camp NaNoWriMo and focus on an hourly goal, working on plotting my Sky Voyages trilogy and hopefully finishing The Siren and the Skyship…

But I have no idea if I can pull that off, or even if it’s a good idea, because of how BUSY life is for me right now.

But I wanted to be more open about my goals, even the ones I’m scared won’t pull through, so. That’s a hope. I don’t know if I’ll do it or not.

(And yes, I know Camp is in less than a week and I haven’t decided. Shush. Let me live on the edge for a minute. XD)

2. Which Stage Are You At?

  • a. Remodeling layouts (planning the story)
  • b. Painting the walls in colorful hues (writing)
  • c. Polishing the windows and scrubbing the floors and putting flowers in vases (editing)
  • d. Blueprints (not to the cleaning or remodeling yet… just drawing up plans for the very beginning inklings of a story)
  • e. Some combination of those things (cleaning out a closet)

On which book? O_O I think I’m doing most of these for one story or another. XD (Trust me to make a tag I can’t answer very well. :P)

How about a run-down on my WIPs (works-in-progress)?

  • The Siren and the Skyship = Limbo, in preparation for getting back to planning the rest of the story/writing
  • Sky Voyages sequels (Siren and the Skyship, books 2 and 3) = Blueprints
  • The Other Half of Everything = Cleaning out a closet (because writing out of order/plotting is a confusing state of being and I don’t know what category it fits in)
  • The Secret of Kedran’s Wood (KW2) = Writing
  • Various short stories = Also writing (or rather, waiting to get back to writing)
  • We Otter Do It (flashfiction for the contest) = Re-reading it over and over because I for some reason think it’s hilarious/adorable and can’t stop. *hides*

3. Treasure From the Back of the Closet (Share one to three snippets you love!)

He had a little half smile that melted her heart, and music that made it whole again. Or perhaps it was the music that broke her heart, and his smile that healed it. More likely, it was both.

(untitled short story snippet)

***

“Come on, what’s your price?”

“My what?”

“Price.”

Tare gave him a stony look.

Harold glanced up at the darkening winter sky as if looking for patience. “Come on, don’t pretend. Everyone has one. Name your price, I’ll meet it, and we can be done here.”

Tare shook his head. “What you seem to be having a lack of understanding about,” Tare said, very evenly and coldly, “is that I’m not everyone.”

(The Secret of Kedran’s Wood)

***

The door creaked open. A tall, wobbling stack of parchment pattered into the room on little furry paws. At least, that’s what it looks like when your otter secretary comes into your office carrying the mail.

I’m a respectable young man and a magician, and nobody would believe me if I told them my life is tyrannized by an adorable otter.

(opening of my flashfiction for said contest)

3.5. Bonus: Do Some Actual Spring Cleaning of Your Writer Self! (And share a picture of your writing space/notebooks/computer!)

I did do a little Spring Cleaning to go with this, and took the opportunity to take a picture of my two usual writing nooks.

Here’s my comfy chair I sit in a lot (to read or write), and my bullet-journal open to my blog planner page, with my writing journal open to the next blank page (which I should go fill once I finish this; ‘scuse me), and of course my laptop, with 5 years of NaNo stickers.

And here’s my desk. (Yes, that’s my inner Tare showing in the form of the leather jacket on the back of my chair… *cough*) Note this post open on my laptop in a gloriously amusing way. Also note my Middle-earth map (yesterday was Middle-earth Day or Tolkien Reading Day, also known as the day the Ring was destroyed and the Gondorian New Year, so happy belated all-of-that to you!). And some of my writing books/reference books, my favorites being If You Want to Write, Pain Free at Your PC, Eats, Shoots & Leaves, and a large dictionary (because #helpful).

So there you are!

In case you’d like to do the tag, consider yourself tagged! Copy-pastable rules and list below…

Rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you
2. Share the picture
3. Answer the questions (naturally…) or even pick and choose which ones you answer
3.5. Tag 3 other writers and inform them that you tagged them (via comment/message/email or hey, even carrier-pigeon or smoke signal; I’m not picky)

Questions:

1. Dust-bunnies and Plot-bunnies: Reorganize Your Writing Goals (Or Make New Ones)

2. Which Stage Are You At? Expound!

a. Remodeling layouts (planning the story)
b. Painting the walls in colorful hues (writing)
c. Polishing the windows and scrubbing the floors and putting flowers in vases (editing)
d. Blueprints (not to the cleaning or remodeling yet… just drawing up plans for the very beginning inklings of a story)
e. Some combination of those things (cleaning out a closet)

3. Treasure From the Back of the Closet (Share one to three snippets you love!)

3.5. Bonus: Do Some Actual Spring Cleaning of Your Writer Self! (And share a picture!)

I hope you enjoyed this! 🙂 Which is your favorite snippet? Are you going to Realm Makers this year? Is Camp NaNo a yes or an absolutely-no for you right now? And would you like to do this tag? Because I’m tagging you if you would! Thanks for reading. ^_^