Sunday, January 27, 2013

Today I'm a Babbling Idiot

Yup. It's true. Babbling. Completely. Know why? It's because I haven't really slept in two days. It's because vampires are real.

I'm sure if you, dear reader, live in the world of acceptable reality, you're probably thinking, "Huh?" Read on, and I will enlighten you.

I may have mentioned in previous posts about my odd upstairs neighbors. They sleep all day, with the blinds tightly closed. They only surface after dark. And, just before dawn, there is always a crashing around upstairs and the sounds of dragging furniture around. Hmm. Coffins?

They tend to do their "living" at night. In fact, Friday night, after spending most of their "day" outside on the porch sharing the dark (very loudly) with friends, they decided to call it a day. At approximately 5:45 a.m. About 15 minutes before my alarm went off. This semester, I teach two math classes on Saturday. Beginning in the early morning. I went out on my patio and I let them know that I really enjoyed their conversation, but it was time for me to get up and go to work now. As an afterthought, I added that I also appreciated the fact that they kept me from having to use my alarm clock that day. It was very thoughtful on their part. Yeah. Right.

Repeat last night.

I love coffee. A lot. I've been mainlining it for the past couple of days. Hence, the babbling today.

Goals:

I'm changing my writing goals because I made a great discovery in Scrivener. Now, I'm sure it's evident to anyone who's even remotely competent in it. But I just figured out how, when in the corkboard view, to add things in between the cards to facilitate plotting. This is making my life SO much easier. Therefore...I'm changing my writing goal to simply finishing a very detailed plotting of "Immortal Blood." Any writing that comes from that will be a bonus.

I also have to add studying for my teaching certification exams. I've got to take three, and I've got to have them done by the end of June. So that's going to take time away from writing. Unfortunately. Teaching math is going to be my ticket out of Florida back to the land of cold and snow. Yeah!

See you all Wednesday!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Lost In the Fog

Morning...at least, I think it's morning. Looking out the window, all I can see is fog. That's okay, thought, because it's matching what's going on in my head. Not a lot, so far.

On the writing front, something great happened yesterday. I came across an old blog post of Gwen's (I think her last name is Hernandez - but I'm not sure) explaining how to create templates in Scrivener. She's the author of "Scrivener for Dummies." I've been wanting to do that, because as I plot out what's happening, I'd like to make sure I have some thorough scene analyses to go along. Hence, the additional templates. All I can say is, Gwen's a goddess. She's gotten me out of a heckuva jam.

My goal for the day is to get all my templates created and start another Scrivener file to make my planning more comprehensive. If I'm really lucky, I'll get some writing done, too.

Other goals:

I've not made it to the grocery store yet today, so I'm on track so far. I'm still looking to spend only on local or USA products.

The plan is to go to the gym later this afternoon. I think there's a class I want to take, but I have to check the schedule to make sure. Luckily, the schedule's online so that will only take a moment.

I've been failing miserably when it comes to taking time for myself. Writing in a personal journal has gone by the wayside. Meditation hasn't happened. I'm more focused on trying to study for my teacher certification so I can work in the K-12 school system, and finding a part-time job because my hours have been cut at work. I'm down to 24 right now. Not good. But the pendulum always swings, and there will be an upside. I know it's coming, and that stops me from fretting too much.

I keep using a mantra from Firefly, originally uttered by Kaylee: "Everything's shiny, not to fret."

So far, it works. Life is good.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

An Uneven Week So Far...

I made it to the gym yesterday! I actually took a yoga class! Wow. And guess what I discovered? I'm a heck of a lot more out of shape than I thought. And I hate floor-to-ceiling mirrors. A lot. But that's okay - at least I made it there. And I lasted the entire hour. Woo hoo!

I've already missed the yoga class for today. If I'm lucky I'll get to the gym this evening for some cardio. If not, I'll just have to take a walk around the apartment complex after I make dinner.

I haven't done any grocery shopping since my last post, so that goal is unchanged.

And now, for the writing portion of our evening...

I've done some plotting, but for "Blood, Breath and Fire", not "Immortal Blood." I'm thinking about taking a side trip back to Rassa for a little while. I woke up this morning discovering a couple of other things about the history of that world, so I think I need to  hang there for a bit.

My cooking is going well, sort of. I did buy Boar's Head beef hot dogs for dinner last night, but I have managed to stay away from Publix's Fried Chicken and Papa John's pizza. It's a process. I'm going to try to get more recipes from a blog called "Poor Girl Eats Well". There's some great stuff there. Right now I'm eager to try a quinoa recipe that has butternut squash, dried cranberries, kale, apple, and a couple of other things in it. Sounds like it might be a good thing to take for lunch tomorrow. I'm working all day this semester on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, so lunch planning is something of a priority.

See you all on Sunday!

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Shoulda Taken A Left Turn At Albuquerque

I got lost this week. But, you know how sometimes getting lost can lead you to a good place? That might've happened. Let me explain.

I have a series - four books plotted, the first being written. It's called "Fireheart." I put that aside to finish the first book of the Witches and Weres series, called "Immortal Blood." That's what my earlier-than-beta readers decided they wanted to see finished first. Fine. I went with that.

I mentioned in my last post that I got an idea for a short story, now called "Blood, Breath and Flame." I discovered this week that this short story takes place on the same planet, Rassa, that the Fireheart series takes place on. In fact, the protagonist, Jaelyn of Darislay, is the progenitrix of the family who turns out to be the rulers of Rassa, many generations down the line.

I also found out about a war that takes place sometime between Jaelyn and Alizaane (the heir of Rassa in Fireheart). It's fought against those with psychic ability and the temples that support them. Some survive, fleeing the centers of population where the temples are. They and their descendants become known as "the Scattered." In Fireheart, one of these turns out to be the hero. He's a trained assassin who comes to Alizaane's aid as her bodyguard.

Whew!

So, there was writing done. But not on the project I expected. I can't even say there was a lot of actual writing done, but there was a good deal of history and notes.

Other goals:

I'm getting to the gym later today. I plan on yoga and a desultory bout of basketball.

Grocery shopping today was good. I couldn't purchase as locally as I wanted to, but I managed to keep it in the United States. I kept to my goal and didn't buy the fresh peaches -- but I sure wanted to!

How's everyone else doing?


Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Starting Off Slowly

This challenge has started off like a deflated balloon. Yup, limp. Yesterday was Tuesday, and I was supposed to make it to the gym. Didn't happen. I had to wait for pest management to come for maintenance on my apartment. (Our complex was purchased recently, so some things have changed.) They didn't make it to my building. In the evening, I was supposed to tutor. My student rescheduled for today.

I've got gym plans for today, but it's iffy at best. I'm here waiting for the pest people, then I have to get ready for tutoring. Again. We'll see if it works today.

On the upside, I got an idea to try a short story. It's working title is "Breath and Fire" and it's about an artist pair, one an apprentice teenage girl and the other her dragon partner. I might end up adding that to my goals, but I'm not sure yet. I need to do a little planning first.

Does it sound interesting to anyone?

I haven't been shopping for anything except bread. I got sub rolls from Publix, which were made in the store. The bread that I purchased was made in the United States, but I'm not sure if it's anything close to being local. It was Arnold 100% Whole Wheat bread. I got that because it doesn't have any high fructose corn syrup in it.

I plan on spending time in the kitchen today, cooking grain salads and other things to take to work for lunch over the next couple of days.

See everyone on Sunday!

Monday, January 07, 2013

First Round of 2013

Welcome to Round 1! I'm so excited to be back. I'm at work, so I have to get my goals out really fast and get back to what I should be doing. Here we go...

Writing

  • Continue planning and organizing "Immortal Blood" in Scrivener.
  • Plot out scenes in detail, including transitions and/or final sentences.
  • Finish 80 pages of new material.

Community/Economic

  • Buy American, if at all possible. Congress doesn't seem to be able to get our country back to work, so I will do my best to help.
  • Buy from local farmers, as much as I can, to keep the money in our local community.

Exercise

  • I will go to the gym on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays, because those are the days I have off, and so I'll have no excuse not to go.

Personal

  • I will try to take some alone time for myself, to recharge my batteries.
  • I'll try to write in my journal as a method of private meditation.
  • Continue to eat healthier, as much from scratch as possible.
See you next time!