"L" - Luscious

One of the guys I work with, Peter, made a comment before my first math class walked in today. Someone commented on his beard, and they called it "luscious."

Wow, there's a great word. It has its own mouth-feel, like forbidden, decadent food that's high in fat, calories, and satisfaction.

I imagine Rubens though of his models this way - an abundance, a plethora of attractive, enticing flesh that he shared with the rest of the world.

Guys can be luscious too...as evidenced by the popularity of male models with oiled-up bodies.

"Luscious" appears in our lives in lots of different ways, and we get to indulge our senses in all of them.

Lucky us! (Oh, look, another "L" word!)

Sorry!!!

I don't have anything to report. I think I've written maybe a thousand words, but I've gotten really caught up in accounting work before the 15th.

I probably won't be able to check in until after that. In fact, I've got to dash out right now to do some more work tonight.

See you after tax season!

"J" - Jasmine

I've found the perfect stress-relief. Yes, and you can do it in public, too...

It's jasmine. Specifically, the scent of night-blooming jasmine. Down here in Florida, we've got it all over the place. It's a climbing vine that gets all over everything. It covers fences. It grows up in huge green walls that are only supported by a wire frame. Heck, people plant it around their mailboxes and the mailboxes end up disappearing inside a plethora of white blossoms.

As soon as twilight falls, jasmine's scent permeates the air. I don't know why, but when I take a deep breath of that, the weight of the world falls off my shoulders and all my stress goes away.

Now, if we could only bottle it...

(It someone already did, do me a favor and let me know, okay?)

"H" - Hospital (Food Hospital)

I discovered a BBC show several weeks ago. It's called "The Food Hospital" and it's all about treating diseases with food.

Now, Hippocrates said "Let food be your medicine and let medicine be your food." Good words to live by. Oops, sorry...no pun intended.

Until I started having seizures, I wanted to be a surgeon. In the process I found out that in most medical schools, nutrition classes aren't even offered. And if they are offered, they aren't mandatory. That, coupled with a mother who became severely diabetic, drove me to learning about food. And about our relationship with food and the corporate food machine. Lots of people are happy with the status quo.

But our perspectives have to change a little bit, I think. Everything we put in our body becomes part of us. It,  literally, outwardly defines who we are. What other people see. Perhaps how the judge us - both good and bad.

Health insurance expenses are such that the most cost effective thing we can do to maintain our health is to eat healthy and exercise.

Most people have no idea of the power of food in the body. The Food Hospital has episodes on YouTube.
Check it out. I'm sure you'll find it fascinating.

"G" - Gothic

Long before the Goths, there was Gothic. I got my first introduction to this peculiar word through Du Maurier's "Rebecca." I was really young when I read it, so much so that I can't even remember how it ended.

Even the first line is brooding and dark: "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again." How evocative is that?

But it didn't end there. Mom was a huge "Dark Shadows" fan, and I watched it with her as a little girl. (In retrospect, that could explain a LOT.)

I'm even a fan of gothic architecture. How cool are those gargoyle downspouts? What kind of imagination did someone have to have to visualize something like that? Wow.

Anyone else out there familiar those gothic guardians?

An Interesting Week...Oops!

It really has been an "oops!" week. Final exams are coming up quicker than I thought - I hadn't really looked at my calendar for anything, and the date just wacked me upside the head. I've only got two more weeks with my students before finals, so I've been scrambling to make sure everything is ready for them, and they are ready for finals!

My words have suffered. At least, in quantity. I think I've only written about 1,000 words this week. My goals might be a bit lofty; readjusting might be in order. Not sure. Yet.

I also (during a momentary lapse of brain function) decided to take up the A-Z blogging challenge for the month of April. So far, it's turned out to be rather fun. And I've even gotten a few more followers! Yay!

So, it's been kind of a chaotic week. Hopefully everything will calm down by Wednesday and I'll have more production to report.

See y'all then!

"F" - Ferocious

I love this word. Probably because I have out-sized fangs that tend to pop out at times. No, I'm not a werewolf. Or a were of any kind. (Actually, when my lips are dry, they catch on my fangs and it just looks like my canines suddenly become huge.) It still surprises me to hear that I scare people with them. I've been called ferocious before. The last time was during my divorce.

I started thinking about the word, and I've come to the determination that it's gotten a bad rap. We should embrace our ferocious selves. Rip into things that excite us and suck the marrow out of every last bone. Get everything we can out of everything that fuels our most secret dreams. Be bold. Be ferocious. Take a lesson from the alphas of the pack and never back down. Revel in your own personal palaces of joy. Ferociously joyful.

And don't forget to flash your fangs in a feral grin!

"E" - Ensanguine

I came across an intereseting word today - ensanguine. It means "to cover with blood." Wow. The images that conjures.

Immediately I thought of the Coutess Bathory, she who used to sacrifice virgins, drain their blood and bathe in it to keep herself looking young. At least, that's how the story goes. Hmm. And I guess if her maids didn't get all the blood off her after her bath, she'd be shedding flecks of red dandruff. Not too sexy there. Not to mention pretty. Might have been counterproductive.

In ancient times some cultures used to paint their deceased with red pigment to simulate blood, the blood of birth. Supposed to help the person be born into the afterlife or into the next incarnation of life on earth, depending on the belief system.

I just think it's weird that we have a word at all for it. How often are things covered with blood?

And if someone was going around covered in blood, or covering something or someone in blood, medication would probably be called for. In huge amounts, delivered intravenously. Preferably in a secure room.

And far from me.

"D" - "Dog"

Cats yesterday, dogs today. I couldn't go without talking about my favorite animal. Our four-legged friend, the canine.

I was very lucky. My first birthday present on my first birthday was a dog. A black-and-white Shetland Sheepdog named Lady. (I don't think the person who named her had much imagination.) She was adorable, and I loved her for a very long time.

I've rescued several dogs, and was involved with wolves for a while. When I got divorced in 2008, the only things I wanted were my books, clothes, personal stuff, the car and the dogs. The hubby got the house. The car got stolen. But I got the dogs.

Cody was a rescued Siberian Husky. He was a perfect dog, lovable, well-trained, gorgeous. His only problem was that he was going blind in one eye from cataracts. I think that's why he was in the pound. That's only my opinion, though. The official line was the family was moving. He died in 2009 before I could pick him up from the ex. Jon called me and asked me to come over and look at him. He thought he had an eye infection. Cody could barely walk. I sat on the floor near him, and he crawled over and put his head in my lap. I told Jon he didn't have an eye infection, and that he had to get Cody to the vet immediately. The next morning the vet said Cody's abdomen was full of cancer. We gave him mercy.

Jordan was a rescued Shetland Sheepdog/Border Collie cross. He was wonderful too, but kind of neurotic. Jordan had a huge passion for cheese, so it was easy to figure out what his training treats were going to be! I lost him on March 13, 2012 from kidney failure.

I love dogs. They love unconditionally, they comfort continually, and they are unflinchingly loyal. Truly a piece of heaven on earth.

"C" - "Cats" or... "Coffee" or... "Cooking". How About "Confused"?

When I started this challenge, I immediately thought of "cats" for the letter C. But as I sat down in my writing chair, with "Worst Cooks in America" on in the background, and realizing I didn't have coffee yet, it popped into my head that there are lots of things I LOVE that begin with "C".

Cats? Well, I like them. But I'm a dog person. We'll talk about that tomorrow. There is a cat that lives in my apartment. She's a Russian Blue (I think) but she has golden/green eyes instead of blue. She's a pure grey shadow, though. Her name is Mara Jade, and she belongs to my roommate, Todd. Thing is, I don't think she believes that anymore. I feed her. My lap is her favorite spot (which is why my laptop isn't there as often as it should be). She talks to me, and I talk back. Todd has turned into her second favorite person. My other roommate tells me, with inordinate glee, that I have acquired a cat. He says she's "voted with her feet." Crap.  Did I mention that I have a cat allergy and I can't take antihistimines?

Cooking? I adore cooking. Buying packaged food is anathema to me. Well, except things like pasta. I don't have a pasta attachment for my KitchenAid. Time has been short lately because I picked up a third job, so I've not been cooking as much as I'd like. Maybe I'll add that to my goals - do some freezer cooking.

Coffee? Who can say enough about coffee. I need it to write. My nurse sister heard that and she told me I have adult ADHD. Possibly. It would explain a few things. But it's more than that - heck, I need it to breathe. (No, it's true - I found out from some friends of mine that have asthma that caffeine helps you breathe. It opens up the alveoli in your lungs or something. And for someone who's allergic to the planet and can't take allergy drugs, coffee is my best friend.) Now, you might be wondering about Mountain Dew? That has lots of caffeine. True, it does. It also has lots of sugar, and since my late mother was badly diabetic, I try to avoid that.

There's lots of stuff for "C". I bet I could even come up with more. Like College. Or Curmudgeon. Or Confused...?

Glacial Start

My goals are lofty; my achievements are not.

I'm participating in CampNano this month. The goal that my friend Livvi and I have chosen is 50,000, so we're looking to achieve 1,667 words per day. So far that hasn't happened. But I Have Plans...

I'll finally get some alone time this morning, and then Livvi and I are going to meet at Starbucks. Perhaps the words will flow today. Wait. That's really no excuse, though. I'm going to have coffee, and then castigate my muse until she relents and gives me what I need. B*tch.

Good luck everyone.

"B" - "Boobs"

The inevitable frustrating contemplation of bra shopping overtook me today. Now, I'm not what you'd call model-thin. Nope. Curvaceous would be more the correct term. And with the shopping comes the reflection on boobs.

Guys like them. But I don't think they understand them. I mean - well endowed women often have back trouble. That hurts. Not to mention how boobs can hurt during that special time of the month. I quit running cross country because of boobs. Gravity is not a woman's friend. And fighting that belongs in the gym.

Have you ever seen women trying to fight physics? Innumerable hours with machines or free weights, trying to build up those chest muscles so they can hold up masses of flesh. And then, when those pieces of curvy flesh grab the attention of every man within a 500 foot radius, many women get offended when those same men don't even know where their eyes are.

Despite all this women like them. We want them. We can't wait to get them when we're growing up. And as girls we agonize about whether we have enough.

Wow. Boobs sound schizophrenic. That explains a lot...

"A" - "Abandon"

I only heard about the A - Z Blog today. So, I jumped in with both feet, not even really thinking it through. And then it struck me. That's a perfect beginning for this blog entry.

Abandon.

Everyone needs it. Shaking up the patterns of your life and sucking in great gulps of whatever fills you with joy is the way to go. Reckless abandon. Joyous abandon. Permanent abandon...maybe not permanent. It might not have the same effect on a full-time basis.

Passionate abandon. Sensual abandon. Sexual abandon. Whatever it is that fills your heart with joy.

Jump in with both feet. Abandon the strictures of your day-to-day life and pursue your dreams.

Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

See you tomorrow!

Round 2 Goals

My goals are simple again - even though I'm also doing Camp Nano this month, with a goal of 50,000 words.

Once April is over, I'm going to attempt to keep up my momentum by continuing the 1,667 words per day. That, and continue planning far enough in advance that I'll always have something to write.

It sounds simple, but I have to do everything on my terrabyte drive and take it with me everywhere I go. Scrivener is on that drive, as well as my projects, so I can work anywhere there is a computer. My laptop is on its way out, so I made everything portable to use the computers at work instead.

Hmm. Maybe it doesn't sound so simple after all.

Looking forward to jumping back into ROW80!

First Round Final Bits

I'm here at Starbucks, coffee by my hand, ready to rip into planning. I still want to have this entire book planned and organized before I start writing again on April 1st. (Hmm...doesn't sound like an auspicious day, does it?)

The first thing I'm going to do today, though, is look at Kristen Lamb's post on POV. I've been wavering on whether I should choose first or deep third, and hopefully she'll give me some insight. She's always brilliant - she's one of the people I actually keep a folder on.

Here's to productivity!

I hope everyone enjoys the holiday - and takes a well-deserved break.

I Beat the Spider!

I've been away for a while, both from my writing and from my computer. This week my eye is finally back to normal, so I've been able to get back to the keyboard.

Unfortunately, I didn't finish my goal - I wanted to have this entire book plotted out so I could find the problems, fix them in outline form, and then continue to write.

Didn't happen.

But, I'm not deterred. I've transferred my Scrivener program and files onto a portable terrabyte drive. It comes with me everywhere, so I can write as often as possible. Beginning tomorrow, it's going to work with me. I often have time between students when I can do my own thing, so every spare minute will be dedicated to this project.

I will accomplish this!

Happy creating!

Spider Bite Over Left Eye

Just a quick note to mention that I might not be posting for the next week or so. I've got a spider bite - at least, I think it's a spider bite - just over my left eyebrow. The left side of my face is swollen, and a huge area above my eyebrow is a combination of painful and itchy. My eye is swollen almost shut. I had to get a ride in to work this morning. It looks like I've been attacked by an alien insect of some sort, or mutating into a creature that needs a third eye.

Either way, not a pretty picture. On the upside, I've not seen any necrotic (dead) tissue. So, there's hope.

But the computer is hurting my eyes right now, so I don't think I'll be looking at it much.

If it doesn't start to feel better by tomorrow, I'll be headed to the walk-in clinic.

Issuing an Invitation

So, my writing partner Olivia and I just got an invitation to Camp Nano. For those who don't know, it's another opportunity to make yourself crazy for a month trying to deliver on what most would consider impossible goals. (We know better, don't we?)

She and I both write paranormal/paranormal suspense/paranormal romances. We're going to get a "cabin" during April for this craziness. We need two more people to share the lunacy with, because the cabins hold four people.

Any takers? We'll have virtual everything, from favorite snacks to favorite alcohol. The conversation will be good, the writing will be sparkling, and goals will be met and then exceeded.

Speaking of goals...

Regarding my ROW goals, I'm off my back, breathing, and back at Starbucks working. Of course, I left my TB drive at home, so everything I'm doing today is in Word, and I'll transfer it when I get home, which will be about 11 hours from now. I'm thinking I should be making a checklist before I pack my stuff.

Have a wonderfully productive week. See y'all on Sunday!

Long Slog Back

It's amazing how hard a combination of the flu and allergies can whack you upside the head. I'm not immune. For the past 10 days or so, I've been pulling myself up through the quicksand-like morass of my lethargy and attempting to pull myself together. It's a process, and I think I'm still stuck in up to my left shin.

That's why I've not been around.

But, I'm on vacation this week, and my goal is to rest and write. That's it. Nothing else.

It sounds like a good plan to me.

Hopefully, I'll have something more impressive to tell you all about on Wednesday.

Up and Down

Writing started going really well, then I got slammed with the flu. 102 fever yesterday. I've pulled all my intercostal muscles coughing. My throat is raw. I'm sore and full of snot.

I'll see you all Wednesday.

I've Got the Blahs...

Everything has fallen off-track for me. I've given in on pizza and chicken. My only triumph on the chicken was that it happened to be rotisserie, not fried. A small gain, but a good one.

Writing? Hah! I think I've managed about 250 words since last Sunday, and plotted about three scenes. And I've only figured out where to put one of them. Then again, maybe not. Hmm. Have to take a look at that again. Thank God you can reorder things easily in Scrivener. I keep one scene per chapter while I'm working and planning, to make everything easier to shift if I need to.

The only upside to this week is that I gained another private student. That's a great thing, and very much appreciated at my bank.

Well, since my creativity button doesn't seem to want to work this morning, I think I'll put on my exercise clothes (t-shirt and sweats) and go to the gym. Something good has to come out of today, right?

See you Wednesday! (If I have anything to report...)

Gotta Remember My Mantra!

Hi everybody. It's been one wild week -- and not because I've been having a great writing week. In fact, I haven't done much of anything, writing wise.

I've been dealing with several financial crises, most minor, but added together became a bit more problematic. To deal with them, by the grace of God, I've been able to pick up a few more tutoring students. Paying the rent today, in full, was nothing short of a small miracle. My pantry is stocked well enough to get us through next week until I bring in some more cash. And, I've ended up in the black, even though it's by a very small amount.

Whew!

Kaylee was right - everything really is shiny, and I shouldn't fret.

I've been staying away from the grocery store, and all the processed food. Snacking has been on clementines, before they go out of season again. I love those! No chips!

Okay, now that I've taken care of urgent stuff, time to get back to the creative stuff. See y'all Wednesday!

Happy writing...

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!

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.

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!

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?

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!

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!

Gearing Up For 2013

Today's my birthday, and my roommates have given me the best gift possible - they're leaving me alone! I get to spend the entire day (except for the trip to the gym) planning for Round 1 of 2013!!

I haven't got a goal plan yet, but I know it's going to include some exercise, and trying to live in awareness of what I'm doing and what's going on. There are certain things I do on autopilot - like eat while I'm doing other things - so I often eat more than I want to or need to. Time to change that!

I hope everyone's had a wonderful, happy and safe holiday season.

See you soon!

Wandering in the Fog

I'm feeling a little vague right now, and my work is reflecting it. I think I've had something of a mental breakdown after Nano, probably to look for energy.

I haven't gotten a lot accomplished on Immortal Blood. The only progress I've made, in fact, is finding out the approximate age of Akhenaten when he died. A little known piece of information that would have a negative impact on my manuscript if I didn't know it. So, I guess that's good.

On the upside, I actually walked through the doors of the gym on Saturday. Wow, I'm more out of shape than I thought! Motivation or despair - I'm not sure yet. I'm hoping for the former. I also, on the way home from a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert yesterday, got an idea for a book of short stories/novellas that all link together, with a vaguely Christmas theme. Right now, in Scrivener, I'm calling it "Three Wishes."

My food goals are so-so. I didn't have fried chicken this past week, although I was craving it and it would have been REALLY convenient. The guys begged for pizza one night, so I ordered it. I got a veggie pizza for me with light cheese, and they got their sausage pizza. Papa John's has a special going on with a 5-sausage pizza. Blech. I tasted it, but it was way too...meaty...for me. I need my veg.

Holiday shopping? Not finished. But a good deal of it is in my Amazon cart, waiting to be shipped when I get paid on Thursday at midnight. How's that for cutting it close??

I hope you and your families have a wonderful, safe, and happy holiday!

Why Negative Coffee Times Negative Coffee Equals Positive Evil

The end of the semester is winding down here at the college. I didn't have a lot of students Monday, and when afternoon rolled around, I was fading fast. I'd only slept a few hours on Sunday night, and not well. My  coffee addiction tried to send me to the coffee stand downstairs, but my logical mind prevailed, reminding me that if I had coffee in the middle of the afternoon, I'd face another sleepless night. Oh, bother.

So, Kris, who was in the lab with me and studying for a Calculus final, began sketching my babbling on the board, in the form of a graph with a cracked coffee mug. The mug was slowly dripping coffee into the negative quadrant of the graph (any value here will be negative). We all know that, in algebra, a negative multiplied with another negative will give you a positive; in physics, we'd need to determine how fast we'd have to drink the coffee. (A linear function -- f(x) = x -- was drawn through the graph, bisecting the coffee mug and giving us an arbitrary line from which to determine how much coffee we had available to drink. Once it dripped below the line, we'd be * outta luck.)

So, by extrapolation, here are the parameters of the graph:

coffee = good
-coffee = bad
(-coffee)(-coffee) = +evil.

Makes sense, right? (Yes, and I agree, we should have had more work to do that afternoon!)

Goals? Oh, right, let's talk about that.

Pages: Met, thanks to Nano.

Exercise: Nope. I've been tutoring or dealing with pre-Christmas stuff whenever I've not been working.

Planning: Yes. So much so that around 4:30 this morning I woke up, realizing that I needed to find out the age of the "death" of Akhenaten so I could reasonably determine whether he had grey hair or not. Nothing like obsessing, right?

Food: Managed to stay away from the fried chicken still. Pizza, though, I ordered some because the guys asked me to. And since there was a new pizza on the menu, I tried it. I didn't like it. Yay! I did order a vegetarian pizza with light cheese, just so I could feel a bit better about my bad behavior.

How's everyone else doing?

Welcome to December!

Before anything, I'd like to take a moment to say "Congratulations!" to all the winners of Nano 2012 - and that includes everyone who participated. Even if you didn't get to 50,000, it was an incredible effort. Nano provided the impetus to get more words out than may otherwise have been achieved. That's always a win!

I won Nano, but I sure didn't win on any other fronts over the past week.

Exercise was negligible at best. I worked late on Monday, so fried chicken ended up on the menu. Much to my shame, I indulged. The good news is that I didn't like it as much as I normally do. Maybe I'm getting over my addiction? I'm hopeful.

My very small writing group elected to keep going throughout December, too. So, I'm plowing ahead with the rough draft of Immortal Blood, hoping to make significant progress during the holidays. That should be kind of easy, because my college will be shut down for three weeks between semesters, so I have hope.

Is everyone else as wrung out at I am?

See everyone on Wednesday.

My Head is Spinning!

Hi everyone!

Hope all of us are recovered from Overeating Thursday and Black Friday. Here's my goal rundown:

80 Pages for this Quarter: Completed, but mostly due to Nano.

Planning: Still going. I've gotten over 60,000 words for Nano right now, so I think I'm going to use my Scrivener software and do some major rearranging of scenes and things. I think I may need to make better sense of it all before I continue any more planning of big things.

Fried Chicken: I haven't had any in the past week.

Pizza: I've managed to stay away from that, too.

Exercise: There's one that I'm failing miserably on. I have to find a way to organize my life better. It will come in time.

I hope everyone else is doing well. It's going to be short and sweet today, as I'm getting the flu that's been slamming my roommates to the ground. So, it's off to the kitchen to make a big batch of homemade soup to get me through this crap.

See you Wednesday!

Wow, What a Week!!

Happy pre-Thanksgiving, everyone! I've been running around like a crazy person buying things for Thanksgiving, and writing like a crazier one. I cracked the Nano 50,000 word goal the day before yesterday, reaching 50,088. Not that I'm quitting for the month - oh, no! In fact, I've got a meeting with writing friends tonight. But I've got to get my Thanksgiving prep done first.

Goals:

I've made my 80 pages for this round, having done over 200 just for Nano.

Planning has suffered somewhat this month, as I've been focused on output alone. I've had a weird few scenes centered around a therapist office. My heroine had a breakthrough - and a meltdown. It made me tear up and leak a bit while I was writing it. (Since I was at work at the time, that might have been not so great. Luckily, my students know what I'm like and it doesn't faze them.) I got a couple of interesting motivations, from the werewolf guardian/secret assassin, so that's going to be fun to play with. Especially since one of her phone calls is overheard by the heroine's lover. Talk about it hitting the fan!

Exercise and junk food aversion fell by the wayside for the past week or so. My words were more important than anything, and my lack of kitchen participation showed it. Oh, well.

I've got to put a plug in here. Now, before I do, I have to say I'm in no way involved in this company and have not financial or personal interest in it whatsoever. My Nano output has been phenomenal this year. I've never done anything close to this in only 19 days. And I have to say that I don't think I could have done it without using Scrivener. I downloaded their Nano trial version, and it blew me away. It's now my go-to piece of writing software. I can't say enough about it. (Getting down from soapbox now.)

Off to go make some applesauce and some cranberry/orange compote.

Have a wonderful, safe Thanksgiving. (Isn't it wonderful - the leftovers mean we won't have to cook, and we will have time to write more! One more thing to put on the list of things to be thankful for.)

Calculus and Cookies...

For all of us mathematically-inclined (or crazy) people out there, I was thinking about a new exercise today for my students. It was an exercise in junk food. Specifically -- cookies.

Now, everyone has a favorite cookie. It could be chocolate chip, Oreos, oatmeal, or those delightfully addictive mint cookies that the Girl Scouts tempt us with every year. (Mint cookies and I are very familiarly acquainted.)

What if each student, choosing their favorite cookie from a predetermined list, took the dimensions and tried to find out how many cookies could fit into a specific area. How much area was taken up by the cookies? How many cookies were used? And how much of the original area was left? Here's where the calculus bit comes in. Integrals are used to find the area under a curve. (We knew calculus had to show up eventually.)

Get the answer right for your type of cookie, and you get to eat said cookies.

How's that for incentive?

Personally, I can't try the cookie thing, because I'm still trying to lose weight. And it's going slowly, I'm afraid. So is the exercise. But some of my other goals are going well.

For instance, my planning is still going forward, as is my writing. My Nano word count is just over 20,000. I have no idea what my page count is, but I'm sure it's inching toward my 80 pages for this quarter.

Not so good on the fried chicken front. I bought some last night on my way home from work. Once I got there, I went to bed. I was utterly exhausted, and I let the guys figure out whatever they wanted for dinner.

I haven't ordered any pizza though, so that's still good.

Fighting the junk food craving is a day to day adventure. But I sure wish the cravings would go away.

See you on Sunday!

Too Much Caffeine Equals Stomachache

Owww. You can tell Nano's here. Between the caffeine and leftover Halloween candy, I feel like crap. I've had three cups of coffee already this morning, and I've written almost 3,000 words. The manic hamster in my head is working well; but I can't say the same for the rest of my (in)sane self.

Goals? That's been a bit of a hit or miss. Let's take a look.

Planning is going well. And since we entered the madness of Nano four days ago, I've written 39 pages. Since I only planned on 80 pages this round, I'm feeling pretty good about that. So I'm on track for a win in that category.

Giving up pizza and fried chicken? I haven't had any pizza. I can't say the same about fried chicken, but I can say that I've cut down. In fact, there's still chicken in the fridge. And if my roommate doesn't eat it by dinner, it's going in the garbage. (Oops...hang on a moment. I've got to take out hamburger to make chili with tonight. Brb.) Okay, I'm back.

Exercise? We don't even want to discuss that. But I have plans to get there as soon as my coffee stomachache goes away. Since I've written over 2,000 words today so far, I figure I can allow myself that break.

Prepared food? I've gotten LOTS better with that. I'm still resisting going into certain aisles in the grocery store, even though Near East has some outstanding grain mixes. One of these days I'll get around to figuring them out so I can do them at home.

On a different front, last Saturday my roommate took his blood pressure at our local grocery store. It was 238/137. To say that's not good is an extreme understatement. Immediately the Mountain Dew was gone, and he cut back on cigarettes from 20 per day to 8 per day. He's steadily decreasing until he's quitting. I got the idea from how George Carlin finally quit cocaine. He just weaned himself off it gradually. I figured that would work for cigarettes too. The good news is that he's sleeping better and his constant headache is gone. Yeah, I cut out the salt for the most part, too.

We'll see how that one goes.

Have a great day everyone!

You Can Tell the Age of a Zombie By...

Have you ever wondered how to tell the age of the average zombie you pass in the street? There is one big clue - check out the technology the zombie is carrying. If it is shuffling along, head down, trying to make it's fingers work on a tiny, once-familiar keyboard, it's probably a pretty fresh animated corpse.

On the other hand, if you've got a pasty-faced, oozing, grey-haired grandma in Victorian clothes trying to smash open said cell phone with her parasol, she's probably considerably older.

What's the difference? Safety, my friend, safety. Modern zombies may retain a last vestige of humanity. Even needing brains the way they do, they can probably be distracted by technology. After all, it happened while they were alive, right? Otherwise, some kind but misguided relative probably wouldn't have put their cell phone in their coffin in the first place. This distraction gives the potential victim vital seconds to get away. Quickly. Without looking back.

Little Victorian grandma is much more dangerous. She hasn't had the (dis)advantages of technology; her ability to focus and concentrate may be greater. The only thing you can do right now is run like hell.

This has been a public service announcement.

Doing It Uncaffeinated...!

Morning, all. It is morning, right? I'm not sure - it's still kinda dark outside here.

Yes, you read the name right. I haven't had coffee. Or Mountain Dew. Or tea. Or even dark chocolate. My eyes are still blurry. I apologize in advance if this comes out like stream-of-conscious drivel. That's how my brain's working (or not) this morning. Or I could just be gearing up for Nano.

Speaking of Nano...if anyone's doing it and they want to friend me, I'm over there as laramcgill.

Goals, you ask? Well...

1. Planning is going well. I dreamed I was part of a police team of some sort (in Wales, no less!) and got shot in the back. It grazed my lung, and I found out very quickly what it was like to bleed and try to breathe at the same time. Interesting from an academic standpoint. Not so good from a personal one.

2. Exercise. Not so good. I had plans to drag my roommate swimming yesterday, but that didn't happen because of other things that turned up unexpectedly. We'll see about today. Taking it one day at a time.

3. I haven't had any pizza or fried chicken since I last checked in. No, wait. There was a piece of leftover cold fried chicken in the fridge that I scarfed one morning for breakfast before work. In retrospect, that might have been the best thing I could have done - I didn't like it. And now I'm much more likely to pass it by in the grocery store. (I did yesterday - I wasn't even attracted by the usually-irresistible scent!)

4. Processed food. Doing great on that - things like boxed rice mixes and Hamburger Helper and soups and stuff just don't make it into my cart. I'm still buying things like stock though. I use too much of it to be able to make it on my own and still have enough. Not to mention that my freezer isn't big enough!

Have a great, productive day everyone! Now I just have to find a way to wake up so I can get crackin' too!

Potatoes??? And Death

I'm sitting here at work, on my lunch break, and I asked my associate what I should write about today. She looked at me, smiled, and said "potatoes". Okay...I can do that.

Potatoes. I love them. I could even be considered addicted to them. They are the bane of my existence, especially since I'm trying to lose weight. And they're really convenient for breakfast, baked in the microwave with a couple eggs, over easy, on top. Ah, well, I must find other things for breakfast...

But Death - I had a wonderful/terrible breakthrough for the climax of Immortal Blood. In order for the heroine/love interest to fulfull the heroic destiny of such characters, she's got to die. It's the only way she can get to the Hall of Two Truths to speak to the gods. Bummer, that. But, as the hero, she's got to step up to the plate.

Doing a lot of prep work still, and it's coming along well. I got the final scene of "Broken" the other day. It came out excellent, with room for a sequel if the possibility is acted upon.

This will be a short post, as I've got to get back to my students. Lunch is over, so I'll see everyone later!

Goals and Scrivener

Morning, everyone! Here's the midweek rundown:

1. Exercise - I discovered that I procrastinate more than I should. (Actually, should anyone ever really procrastinate? I'm going to answer yes, because if I'd made it to work on time today, I might have been caught in the elevator fire we had in my building. Whew!) Ok, back to exercise. I'm finding that only walking during the commercials doesn't work for me. There's always something "more important" to do, like unload the dishwasher or throw another load of laundry in. So, it looks like it's going to have to be done all at once.

I also discovered that vanity was a better motivator for me than health. Huh. Who woulda thunk it?

2. I haven't done any "writing" yet - still doing a lot of planning. But I had this outrageous nightmare last night, which I'll probably try to get on the page today between rounds with students.

3. No fried chicken or pizza. Go me! And the fried chicken is on sale this week, too. I came home from work late on Monday, so we had Chinese instead. Veggies were better for me, and I had leftovers for lunch. I worked out great.

4. I'm doing well on the no processed food goal. It seems that less processed equals better flavor. Things are really looking up.

Could I get some feedback on something? I'm currently using WriteWay as my writing software, but I'm considering switching to Scrivener because it also does screenplays. How do all you Scrivener users like it? Why do you like it? Have you had any experience with WriteWay?

Thanks for all your feedback - I really appreciate it!

I've Made a Decision

Greetings, everyone. Here's a rundown on how I've been getting on...

1. Exercise. Not the best. I've just done some gentle walking because of my back. It's been feeling much better over the past couple of days, though, so I reactivated my gym membership yesterday and I'm hoping to go back and start swimming in the next couple of days.

2. Writing. To my disgust, it also hasn't been that great. That's because I had to make a choice to take on a couple of private tutoring assignments that turned into more than just a few hours of work. It was lucrative (over $300) but took a lot of time that I would otherwise spend on writing. That finished yesterday, so I'm back on track. I think.

3. Planning. My planning is coming along slightly, but just in my head. I decided that my heroine has to die at the climax of my book. She has to be the one to take the ultimate risk, and in order to be successful, she has to die. The plot won't be satisfied otherwise. That was a really hard decision to make, but I feel better about the direction of the story, so I guess it's worth it.

4. I've made a decision about NaNo. I find I work better if I can flip between two projects, so I'm going to be working on a contemporary suspense (nope, no paranormal elements here!) called "Broken." I'm having a great time with it so far. Lots of death, pain, and viciousness - but none undeserved. Except that foisted onto the victims. It's okay, I promise. They'll get their revenge. Le Comte du Monte Cristo would be proud.

How's everyone else doing?

Pressing On...

It's only the third day, so I don't have a lot going on.

My exercising isn't turning out so good. I hurt my back so I'm on hiatus with only gentle walking. Time isn't an issue right now, just being functional is okay for me.

My pages are going, but I'm not satisfied with the material. So dissatisfied that I can't even complete it. That means I'm walking away from that scene for a while. I'm working on a new one this morning as soon as I complete my check-in. I do have a question for all of you out there, though - I know you can have co-protagonists, but can you introduce both of them in the beginning of your story? For those who are familiar with the Story Engineering paradigm, before the First Plot Point? For the Hero's Journey, it would be before Crossing the Threshold. Thanks for all the input on that.

Woo hoo! I haven't had any fried chicken. Or pizza. According to my stomach, life is good so far. I did make some Capellini Alfredo with chicken breasts though. It was probably as bad as the fried chicken. My taste buds loved it, and I don't do it very often.

I'm sure I forgot something, but since I'm at work and my students are looking at me, I've got to run.

See you Sunday!

Sharpening My Pencils...

Actually, I don't have to sharpen my pencils, because I use mechanical ones. And a lot of lead. But that's because I use a fine point and I break it a lot.

Goals...I've done some thinking about that over the past week. They're still a bit basic. And there's not many of them.

1.  Write at least 80 pages this round. That equates to one page per day (obviously) but I want to make sure I build in some fluff time. Today I know I'm going to be going over the one page, because my protagonist is about to get into an argument. More on that down the road.

2. Continue using Story Engineering for my planning. I'll work on that every day.

3.  I have it in my Outlook schedule to walk for 30 minutes every day. Problem with that - I have lots of allergies, live in Florida, and ragweed will be the death of me. My treadmill is looking good. I plan to achieve this goal by walking only during the commercials if I'm watching TV. If I'm not, then I'll use the treadmill as something to unstick writer's block. If I haven't finished my page for the day, I have to remain on the treadmill until my fingers want to type. (That should work, either way!)

4. Here's a weird one. I'm giving up fried chicken for the duration of this challenge. Anyone who lives in Florida probably is familiar with the supermarket chain Publix - and their outstanding fried chicken - chicken they so-lovingly cook for your and have ready whenever you need a quick meal because you've worked late. It's better than the Colonel's, and much cheaper. Still bad for you, though.

5. I'm not sure about this one - I don't know if it's viable. I'd like to kick the processed food habit, but I don't know if I can put it as an actual goal, only because I'm not sure if it's realistically achievable, especially during the holiday season.

Anyway, there's my plan. I'm crossing my fingers and picking up my pencil. See everyone on Wednesday!

Round 4 Goals

Ok, here goes. I've been thinking about this for the last couple of days. I'm always so impressed by those members who have 7 or 8 goals covering so many different facets of their lives.

I'm going to try to do at least a few this time.

1.  Write at least one manuscript page per day. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but I'm taking small steps on purpose.

2. Continue to organize and plan according to Story Engineering.

3. Walk for 30 minutes per day. I'm using YouTube videos of a British television show for inspiration. It's called Supersize v. Superskinny. If anyone needs motivation, that's the way to go. One contributor called ErmmTV has season playlists already set up. It makes it convenient. I don't seem to have much energy, and I've heard that if you exercise, your energy levels increase. Here's hoping. Oh, yeah, and the weight loss. That's part of the motivation as well.

Anyone else out here planning yet?

And So Ends Another Round...

Where in the world did the time go? And when are we going to start up again - I'm already planning my goals for the next round. (Oops! I just saw the start date in Kait's post. My bad.)

I started out slowly, but once I latched onto Story Engineering, I felt things begin to fall into place. Now that I have a procedure, it's going to be much easier for me to make visible progress. There are times when being a Capricorn and a Type-A personality is not a good thing...I'm such a perfectionist sometimes it's hard to get where I need to be.

I'm so glad I discovered Row80. I know people have said this before, but it's true - no one knows the ups, downs, frustrations, and joys of writing like other writers. Let's face it - if we tried to talk about some of this to Muggles, we'd probably be locked up (for our own protection, of course) and forcibly medicated.

I used the word "Muggles" above because in a very real sense what we do is magic. We create. We produce things of out thin air. Houdini himself couldn't do this.

Doesn't it make you want to dash to the keyboard right now? It does me.

See you there!

Finding the Writing Magic

Something struck me this morning. Sipping on coffee and thinking about gearing up to write, I suddenly asked myself why it was so easy to write backstory and have everything fall into place. I mean, the first draft can be an agonizing process, slow, torturous, feeling like you're walking through quicksand that's halfway up your thighs. And that's on a halfway decent day. Why doesn't it work that way with backstory?

Why is freeing yourself from self-imposed shackles so hard? And how do you cut them off?

Nora Roberts said once (in some interview I read somewhere) that you just have to vomit out the first draft, and then fix it up later. When I think about that, I find it much easier to work. When I lose sight of that direction, everything becomes murky and confused. Nora's advice gets me through Nano every year. But I sure have problems remembering it from day to day.

What do you use to motivate yourself on days when the vision eludes you?

BTW, I still plan on blogging during our down time between sessions, so feel free to pop on by.

Happy creating!

Lara

Creativity is Bipolar

It's true - creativity really is bipolar. At least, it sure seems to be. No sooner had I written my last blog post about how difficult it was to write, blah, blah, blah, then wham! I get hit with a case of diarhhea of the fingers. I haven't been able to stop. It just gets aggravating when I have to do something else. Like work.

On with the Story Engineering quest. I've left the "what if" questions, and I've moved on to the characterization of my protagonist, Dr. Hayleigh Cameron, Egyptologist, epileptic, caffeine-addict and witch. I'm finding out lots of interesting things about her and her background. It makes me never want to put down the pencil.

Literally, I can't type any more on this. I have to get back to the story.

I hope everyone is doing well, and I'll see you on Sunday. Maybe I'll be on to my antagonist by then. Let me tell you - he's a beaut!

Talk to you soon...

Lara

It's Late and I've Got the Blahs

Let me clarify the heading: It's late for posting, but it's morning. Monday morning. I'm about 24 hours behind where I should be. It's my own fault - I took a day yesterday to mentally drift. Sort of like a jellyfish.

But I don't have much to report, unfortunately. Not much writing's been done.

Our new semester started, and I've got 8 classes - more than I've ever had, and I'm still settling into my rhythm. Hopefully, I'll make it up this week.

My plans are to really get into some in-depth characterization using Story Engineering as my guide still. I also have a plan for a specific scene that I might actually have a chance to write this afternoon. I'm going to give it a shot. I'll have the opportunity, because I don't have to actually teach today; I'm watching over a lab of students who are independent learners.

I've got the opportunity for fingers on the keyboard practically all day! Go me!

See everyone Wednesday, when I'll try to be on time with some good news for progress.

Conundrum

I've been working on building my story skeleton a la Story Engineering. Anyone who read my previous post knows I've been having a great deal of fun with the "what if" questions.

That led me to something of an epiphany today. The more I think about my story, and the more intricate it needs to get to reach the end, the more storylines I actually have.

How do I fix that? Things look all muddled, like a plate of spaghetti, when I reach the middle. For instance, I realized yesterday that a scene I liked, which I included because it illustrated the burgeoning relationship between protagonist and lover, may or may not be necessary. How can you tell? Or...how can you tell if it has enough "oomph"?

Now, I could be asking these questions because I only managed to get a couple of hours of sleep last night. My roommate (who goes out gaming on Saturday afternoons) and I decided to go to Walmart in the middle of the night to get hurricane stuff. (Thanks, Isaac!) Then I had to get up because a friend needed to see me.

Or it could just be that I'm tired enough to let the questions loose.

I go back to work tomorrow. I've been assigned 8 classes this semester, but I won't have any students until Tuesday. So maybe I'll get some more work done then.

See you all on Wednesday! (Yawning and waving goodnight)

The Fog is Lifting...Slowly

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Roommate is still stuck in bed, alternately snarling at the necessity of being in bed and moaning in pain. He's beginning to see the light, because the pain's finally gone down some. Good for him! (Note to self: never fall over backwards due to backing up and not seeing the rolling chair behind you. It's not good for your balance and your long-term health.)

My friend Olivia and I have spent a lot of time at Starbucks and Hooters since my last check-in. She's cranking out words like nobody's business - she's got over 30,000 just this month. But she's a pantser. Livvi is adamant about not trying to fashion a skeleton or musculature to hang her story on. She's just going for it. I admire that. But whenever I try it, I always get muddled, somewhere around the middle. And I usually have more storylines than I know what to do with.

Livvi's probably some sort of writing goddess in disguise who won't have to do a lot of rewrites. Me, I would. That's why I'm still plodding along with my Story Engineering. And I've made some progress.

For anyone who's using that method (and I know there's a few of us) I'm having a lot of fun with the "what if" questions. I've explored a couple of different things that didn't occur to me before, and I found a couple of things I needed to fix that way. It tightened up the overall plot a bit (for now), and since I've had to cut something I thought had real potential I might get another book out of it. Maybe.

On a different note, Livvi and I are at Hooters right now. We've had lunch, and are fueled with food and caffeine such that we can easily last several hours here. Woo hoo!  But something...off...is going on. We're in a booth, under a fan. Two men sat in the booth behind us. I'm sharing the side that their booth is on.

Now, I know we're mammals, and mammals are methane-producing creatures. And that's not the only odoriferous thing we produce. Sulfur is another. And I bet if this man's lunch break goes on much longer I'll discover more. Phew! This is a day I wish I had a wicked cold!

Oh, well. Maybe I can use it somewhere...in something...

In the meantime, happy writing all. See you Sunday!

Lara

Not a Good Week

Hi all,

I've not had a good week this week. I didn't make the check-in on Wednesday because I was at the emergency room with my roommate. He hurt his back really bad. They sent him home with drugs, but I've been pretty much at his beck and call since then.

My only goal this go-round was to get this book organized. I'm using Story Engineering for that purpose, but it's taking me a bit of time to work through it all. I don't feel like I'm getting anything accomplished, even though technically I know I am. I'm just not seeing it.

Basically, it's been a week of the blahs. Anyone who checks out my emotional eating blog will get a glimpse of how I dealt (or didn't!) with that.

Here's looking forward to a better week next week.

Lara

Productive - Finally!

Morning, all. It's been a rather productive week - I've plotted all the way through Act I and begun Act II. My word count is abysmal - it's only around 2,000, but I hope to crank out some more today.

I laid some background down in the first act, showing how much my heroine enjoyed her job. (She's an Egyptologist on a dig, living in self-imposed exile.) She and her team make a profound, but intriguing, discovery. It's scientific importance could rival that of King Tut's tomb. Hayleigh's trying to keep her glee in check and approach things in a logical, professional manner.

Then she gets "the call." She refuses. The next scene is being written this morning, right after breakfast. (I'm writing this in a restaurant while waiting for my cohort, Susan. We always have breakfast together on Sundays.)

I did have some writer's block issues this week. Coincidentally, I also tried to quit drinking coffee. Again. Apparently that's not a good idea. Once I sat down with hot coffee (yes, it has to be hot), played one game of Free Cell to let my brain detach from the "real" world, the words started flowing again.

Who says coffee isn't a miracle drug? Woo hoo!!

On a more serious note:

I also started a new blog. It's called "Eating My Nightmare." It's about fighting my way through emotional eating in order to drop some weight and find a healthier place to live my life.

I've discovered that lots of people have food relationships that include an emotional component. Most of them, in one way or another, seem detrimental.

Throwing all of this out into the faceless void of the internet may help me, and maybe some other people, too. Feel free to come over, if you'd like.

See you on Wednesday!

Woo Hoo!

Hi everyone! Hope everything's going well.

YES! I did it. I got the A in Calculus!!! Never thought I'd see the day. I decided I'm not taking Calculus II until the spring semester - I've got to brush up on my Trigonometry first.

I was bad this week with the writing. I haven't done as much organizing and planning as I should. I've been a little depressed because of my financial situation, and it's been overtaking my brain. I hope to fight my way through it and find my equilibrium. I have to keep remembering - God wouldn't give me anything that I'm not able to handle. Or, for the more metaphysically inclined, I wouldn't create this for myself without a reason.

Ok, so squaring my shoulders and preparing to move on.

I did come up with a new idea this morning. Working title called "The Comely Wench" and it's in praise of well-fleshed women and the men who love them. I wrote down all the data that I dreamed, and then put it in my future works file.

I've got to get this current piece done!

See you all on Wednesday. Happy writing!

Lara

Taking A Deep Breath...

Hi everyone! Hope everything's going well. Here's the local news from Orlando.

I've finished Calculus. I think I got a decent grade - I'll find out tomorrow. I do know I got a 90 on the final, so that gives me hope.

I have nothing to concentrate on for the next three weeks except writing - because I'm off until the 24th of August. Wow! I'm not sure how it's going to feel without doing any math. This should be interesting.

I need a good kick in the butt. Anyone want to help me with that? I've got to get my head out of the math and into the writing. Changing my mindset is proving to be a bit harder than I anticipated.

I'll accept gratefully any ideas that may be out there.

See you all on Wednesday!

Lara

Shaking Off the Heat Wave

Wow, it's been a small slice of hell for a good part of the country! Down here in Florida it's not been quite so bad - except for when the air conditioning starts to leak through the ceiling.

 Houston...we have a problem...

This is why apartment living is so great. All you have to do is call the nice men in the maintenance uniforms and things are fixed. Wicked cool. And now it is.

Started my rewrites yesterday. My prologue has changed quite a bit since some accidental research showed up some major mythological errors. Things are going a bit slower than I'd like because of my Calculus class - the whole class failed a major test yesterday. My professor's NOT happy. Oops...!

But as soon as I finish this, I'm back off to Egypt to play with dead people, werejackals, and a lovesick but possibly psychopathic immortal.

Who said work wasn't fun?

Happy writing!

Lara

Post 4th Check-In

Hi, everyone. Did you have a good holiday? I had company, so blogging and posting wasn't something I was able to do yesterday.

I'm all geared up and ready to go on some scenes I blogged about Tuesday (see below). My page count is low, but I've been getting planning accomplished.

Today is going to be about production, production, production. I'll let you know on Sunday how much I was able to achieve.

Does anyone want to race - see how many pages we can write by Sunday? Sort of like a mini-challenge?

Let me know.

Lara

Productive? I'm Not Sure...

It's been an interesting couple of days. Yesterday I did some tightening up and plotting, but I didn't produce any actual pages.

Today, though...it's been glorious. In Calculus, for example, I got 5 new scenes. That's a direct result of realizing (before class) that I need to change the motivation and personality of the female lead somewhat to make her more sympathetic and less selfish - even if her selfishness and slight martyrdom complex stem from good motives but inaccurate information.

She'll start off with more of a spine, which will solve something that's been niggling at me for a good long while. Woo hoo!

I'll let my fingers skitter across the keyboard once I get off work. I've got a lot of rewriting to do.  Hopefully, it will get me out of the problems in the middle, and it won't seem out of character for her to kill her abductor with the Traveling Shovel of Death!

Everyone familiar with NanoWriMo knows that particular implement...(insert evil laugh here...)

Have fun, and a lovely, safe 4th of July!

Lara

Goals This Round

Hi everyone! Back, refreshed, and ready to rock?

Me too. And I'm going to take the challenge to be an action verb. That's a great idea - not only for production, but to form and ingrain a new habit. And let's face it, if we want to be professionals, the first and foremost thing we have to do is...WRITE!

So, that's going to be my goal and my daily mantra. I'm putting it up as my screensaver. I've set up Penzu Post to send me reminder emails just in case I haven't put anything down that day. I'm setting it up in my Outlook as a repeating appointment - just me and my computer. What a cozy relationship we'll develop!

Now, if I can just keep the werewolves from gnawing on the chair legs when they're bored, it'll be a great challenge!

Lara

Trying For Round 3

Hi everyone! I'm going to give this another go. I think I just got a bit overwhelmed and depressed for the last month or so...I couldn't write anything and just threw everything aside. I guess my Calculus class plus teaching during the week and on Saturdays didn't help much either.

Goals? I think maybe just to do something on a regular basis. (But I sure would like to get something finished during these events!)

"I promise to try to do better this time," she vowed, putting up her hair and pulling her laptop close.

Here we go...

Lara

Masochistic Tendencies...

Is anyone out there crazy enough to get sucked in to the June clambake that is Camp NanoWrimo?

One of my "friends" pointed it out to me the other day. Now, she knows that I have enormous difficulty turning down anything that has to do with writing. It doesn't matter that I'm involved with our 80 days event. Nope. Not a bit. She's luring me into the woods with the promise of more words. I can feel her emanating her peculiar brand of treacherous glee from here.

But is it really treacherous? Is it a quicksand-ridden meadow that hides the death of plot, or something that will help me achieve my final goal - a published novel? There's only one way to find out. Be as brave as Sam Gamgee and put one foot out there, beyond anything I've ever attemped before.

So, sure, what the heck...I'll give it a shot. Two challenges at once. More words, more craziness; not a problem. I think.

The only thing I can be sure of at this point is that I'm most definitely insane. And I don't think there's anyone here who would disagree with me.

But, just in case you want to hang out in a cabin in the woods with me for the month of June, look me up. I promise - we'll have fun. And I promise - no mosquitos..

(Now if I could only make sure to get my Calculus done...)

Lara

A Whirlwind of Craziness...

Ok, here's the update on my chaotic world:

1. Got the car. It's great. I haven't been able to name it, though. I kept Serenity. She deserved more than an ignominious end in some junk yard. She's become a long-term fixer-upper project.

2. Calculus is kicking my butt. I've already had one quiz. I have another on Monday, and a major test on Wednesday. Sigh. This is NOT fun.

3. The only bright spot is my writing. I've about gotten to the point where everything needs to be printed, organized in its final form, and a first draft finished. Woo hoo! That's really the point I was aiming for, because once I know where I'm going, I can whip things out in no time. I usually see it like a movie that's scrolling about a foot in front of my face. Makes it much easier for me.

How are you all doing?

See you Wednesday!

Lara

Epiphany!

Hi everyone,

It's been something of a slow writing week. My attention has been focused on my car. Instead of doing a second transmission rebuild (along with several other things that need to be fixed) I somehow ended up seriously looking at a new Subaru Outback. Huh. Who woulda thunk it?

I made up for it today, though. While I was waiting for a student, I had a whole cascade of information that took care of my problems with the protagonist. In the beginning, she's shown as weak, but after she gets back home she automatically becomes stronger. It didn't ring true, and THAT was what was leading to my problems with my middle.

So, she's going to be strong from the beginning, and resist, resist, resist going back home until someone's life is at stake.

Even though my next calculus class starts tomorrow, my fingers really want to dance on the keyboard.

See you on Wednesday!

(And this time I'll try to make it!!)

Lara

I'm Baaaaaaccccckkkk.......

Hi everyone!

Final exams are over, and just about all of my students made it through - at least, the ones who put forth the actual effort. So, barring one staff meeting on Wednesday, I'm free for fiction! Woo hoo!!

So, in the midst of finals madness, a weak spot in my WIP struck me. I really didn't have a good reason for Hayleigh's research assistant, Nasir, to travel with her back to the US. Then I realized that her countdown for success (or failure and death) wouldn't begin until AFTER the artifact was translated. And, since Nasir is also part of the Bani Anubis werejackal clan, he MIGHT have knowledge she would need at a critical juncture. So...now he has a reason for being in Rhode Island.

I'm off to my on-campus office in about half an hour to get some work done. It's so much easier to write away from home - that way, other tasks don't take my attention from the page. Yay!

See you all on Wednesday!

Lara

What Planet Am I On...?

It's been a bit crazy this week. I pulled a couple of muscles on the sides of each legs. You know, the ones that curve from your butt to the top of your legs? Wow, talk about pain!! I walked like someone who was about 120 and lame to boot. Yeah, the dreadmill stuff didn't work so much this week. Today was the first day I was able to walk without too much pain. (And I still don't know how it happened...)

Writing? Planning? With final exams upon us, my students are grabbing all my time. I haven't done a thing. Except one. I did have a new story idea slam into my head. So I wrote that down and put it away in my file.

Exam last two weeks - they start tomorrow - and for my students they end on the 24th. I'm not foreseeing a lot of work accomplished until then.

This week I plan on pushing through the mud and getting through the exams to the freedom of the page!

Baby Steps...

I haven't gotten as much done this week as I wanted to. And I have to confess, I'd have gotten a lot LESS done if I hadn't responded to a blog entry on "high concept."

A couple of very nice people told me they thought I had a good concept, so it kick-started me into where I needed to be.

My other goal, the one involving the dreadmill, isn't going so well. I've only made it on there once.

Feel free to kick me in the butt...I can use all the asskicking I can get. Losing weight is such a hard thing for me.

See everyone on Wednesday!

Goal Revision Already!

As it stands, I have a middle that's as confused as a huge bowlful of pasta. I can't begin to write scenes until I see even a somewhat clear direction in which to go.

So...

This is going to be a planning period for me for the next little while. I'll still be using Story Engineering and The Writer's Journey to find my way. I'll do my reporting on what I've been able to figure out and where I am in the process. When (or if) I can start writing scenes during Round 2, I'll revise my goals again to add it.

I'm adding a health goal too. Everyone feel free to nag me about them - I need it! Here it is:

In deference to Johnny Depp's new role as the wonderfully gothic Barnabas Collins in "Dark Shadows," I've decided to stay on the dreadmill (yes, you read that right) for the length of two episodes of the original series per day. Netflix has four seasons on their live streaming section.

And now, I'm off to teach math. Have a wonderful, productive day everyone!

Goals and Gibberish!

Welcome back for Round 2, everyone!

My goals are going to be substantially different this time. Here goes:

One scene per reporting period (or at least 2 scenes per week).
Pre-plotting 4 scenes per week, not necessarily in story order.

And now, the gibberish portion of our morning. I've come to realize I'm more of a plotter than a pantser - by a whole lot! There are two books that I've come across - Story Engineering and The Writer's Journey. I'm going to be using these brilliant guys to keep my story straight, because as of right now, I think I've blossomed into 3 stories in one novel. Not good. And all of them can be made into a stand-alone. Really not good.

So, I'm into major planning mode.

See everyone the day after tomorrow!

And they're off...

Slowly Crawling Back from the Abyss...

I've picked up my pencil again, but the writing's not going all that well.

I think I might have a ghost dog. Maybe. I can still hear Jordan's dog tags on occasion, and sometimes I can feel him rub against my writing chair. It would be nice to still have him around in some capacity.

But a bright spot appeared on my horizon yesterday. I discovered a basic, but major, flaw in my main character and I found a way to fix it. So, that mental frequency is coming in clearer. Hopefully that will increase my productivity.

See everyone on Sunday!

Death, Again

It's been a terrible week. I've only done a couple of pages - not even one scene.

I've been taking care of my dog, Jordan, who finally had to be put to sleep yesterday. He was in third stage kidney failure, and the vet only gave him a couple of months at best. And that didn't include the other things that had begun to happen to him.

I had to give him mercy.

It's done a lot to me, though. Maybe by tomorrow I'll feel like writing. Today and yesterday, I just feel blah.

Here's hoping.

Revised Goals and Serial Killers

Reality has finally hit me on the head. And it hurt. I'm not certain when this first round ends (I am sure it will be much too soon for me), but I have to face the fact that I probably won't be able to catch up. Hence, the revised goals.

Okay. Here goes. I'm going to forget about trying to catch up. I'm just going to go on from here, but I'll still stick to my two pages per day.

I'm considering another project, one that might help my productivity in a sideways sort of way. I'll be on spring break next week, so I'm considered converting my dining room into an exercise room for my treadmill, free weights, and yoga stuff. That way, if I don't have my butt in the chair working on my WIP, I will have to be on the treadmill working in another way.

I wonder how much my complete dislike for the treadmill will motivate my writing?

I'm having a lot of fun with my serial killer werewolf. I made some changes today, and I'm really excited to get home to get more on the page.

See you all Sunday for another update!

Where Did the Time Go??

The past few days have just blown by, and I'm ashamed to say that I haven't written anything. I've been swamped with students who are trying to get things done before spring break. Time just got away from me. That, and my math class.

I was supposed to take a math test on Friday. I've been unable to figure out a particular problem, so I didn't take the test. Luckily, it's an independent learning class, so I can take the test anytime I want. As of this posting, I still haven't figured it out, but I think I have a handle on it. I'm taking the test tomorrow afternoon, sometime between 1:00 and 4:00.

After that, I can concentrate on writing until after spring break. That will be refreshing.

I think I can take some time during the break and learn to organize things better.

Anyone have any ideas? I'm open to any and all suggestions at this point.

Oh, and somehow I need to fit some exercise time in. I just saw myself for the first time on Skype. Let's just say that on a sliding scale from unhappy to horrified, I'm sliding quickly toward horrified.

See you Wednesday!

New Scenes

I had a really good day today at work. The moments between students (and there weren't many) I came up with a couple of new scenes that take place right before the climax.

In the first one, the heroine sits down and makes out her will - letting everyone know the legacies she wants to leave them. She has no hope left; she expects to die that evening. She knows there is no way to go up against an immortal who possesses the protection of a god and still survive.

In the next scene, she shakes everyone off and prepares herself before the ritual. It's only then that she actually faces her inner self and sees herself clearly for the first time. She's not happy with the revelations, but she does recognize the good things about herself as well.

Now, what can I do with THAT??

See you Sunday!

(P.S.) I'm still not caught up, but I'm still trying!

Free Therapy

Y'know, writing is therapy you don't have to pay for. And, if you spill your guts, it may even pay you.

Sounds like a good deal, right? (No pun intended.)

All we have to do is bleed copiously for the amusement of the reading public. That takes bravery, honesty, and luck. But not the kind of luck you think.

We're really lucky to be living in the midst of all these crises going on right now. Readers want to get involved with characters they can identify with, and who they can see fighting against tough odds. And winning. That helps them feel like winners, too.

Ultimately, we're charged with a sacred trust - tell a good story that people can believe in. It's awe-inspiring and exciting, all at the same time.

On a personal note, I've been going through a lot of crap lately. And I can't resent it. I can only be thankful because it provides such rich fodder for fiction. That's a true gift.

I spent several hours with a writing friend of mine yesterday, and I was able to make my pages from Wednesday to today. Whew! I'm still working on the catch-up, though.

I slipped into editor mode and cut some things that I didn't feel comfortable with. I thought some scenes/chapters slowed things down. I prefer to jump into the middle of things, so that's what I went back to doing. I feel better about the pacing, but it's gonna take a helluva rethink for some other pieces.

So, back to the salt mines!

See everyone on Wednesday...

A Quick Note

It's been a productive few days - but not for writing.

It turns out Todd and I can stay, but my other roommate has to move out. He's leaving Friday. Unfortunately. He's one of the few people I know with whom I can have a lively debate. I'm going to miss that. And his extraordinarily dry British sense of humor.

If any of you out there have seen Jeremy Clarkson on the BBC's "Top Gear" you have an idea what my roommate is like.

I'm going to have to find another way to get my sarcasm fix.

On the upside, I'm back at my keyboard and my fingers have begun to fly.

Happy writing, everyone, and I'll see you all on Sunday!

Lara

Personal Implosions

Yup, my life has just blown up. And it wasn't even my fault. But my core has been rocked to such an extent that for most of the week, I haven't been able to write.

Let me sketch out the scenario for everyone.

My roommate Andy is completely disabled - a virus attacked his heart. Now it only functions around 25%. He takes lots of meds, and he sleeps a lot. Understandable, right?

Well, last Monday, there was a notification from our apartment's management company saying they were going to do apartment inspections on Tuesday. Okay, fine. They usually do that twice a year to make sure that fire alarms work and fire extinguishers are all good. However, they didn't come on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, while I was at work, and my roommate was fast asleep, they came in. He woke up to hear banging in the kitchen (I still don't know what THAT was about). He thought we had been victims of a home invasion, so he got his gun and chased them out. Only as they were running were they yelling "Maintenance." They also weren't management people he recognized.

So, the upshot of the matter is that even though the cops said they would have done the same thing and they left without doing anything to Andy, we got an eviction notice on Friday afternoon. We've got a week to get out.

As of yet, I have no destination.

Life has gotten very interesting, in a Chinese sort of way. Crap.

From Werewolves to Aliens...

The oddest thing happened to me yesterday. I saw my first alien. And I don't mean someone with questionable immigrant status. And I don't mean to be derogatory - just describing what I saw. I was walking into Publix to do my usual Saturday morning shopping, and this very odd woman walked by me on the sidewalk. At least, I'm pretty sure the individual was female.

She(?) was very short, shorter than your average human. That's even taking into consideration her slightly hunched posture. She looked at me and smiled, but it wasn't like any human smile I'd ever seen before. It was more of a grimace than anything. And every single one of her teeth were pointed. Yup. Sharp. Hair? Didn't see any, but she had a bandana on her head. It wasn't smooth, though.

Now, I know what you're thinking...maybe she had curlers under there, like our grandmothers used to. The shapes weren't predictable or symmetrical, or anything recognizable. It was just...weird. And bumpy.

I guess this is why people-watching is good. You never know what you'll see. And maybe it will be something that can be used later. (And I have to wonder - if she was an alien, what would she be getting at the grocery store? She didn't have anything in her hands. Maybe because nothing there satisfied her requirements? Hmm...taking a detour into Storyland again...)

I haven't caught up yet, but I'm still working on it. I have a plan for a quicker catch-up. I won't jinx it by talking about it, but I'll let you know next time if it works.

Happy and productive writing, everyone!

Losing Werewolf Bits

I'm continuing to get better. So much so that I'm feeling guilty about not hitting the gym quite yet. My day will come.

Something really crappy happened on Wednesday (which is probably why I forgot my semi-weekly post!). I wrote a relatively long bit of material on werewolf genetics. I went through about 5 or 6 pages, deciding recessives, dominants, reproductive cycles, hormones, pheremones - the whole thing. I loved it. Then I lost it.

I checked my computer. I checked my house. I even checked with my writer friend Olivia, because we'd gotten together earlier in the week. Nothing. It vanished. Poof. Into thin air. I came to the painful but necessary decision to rewrite it. And, boy, am I glad I did!

In the process of pulling it all back together, I discovered an incongruity. If werewolves and shifters reproductive systems only kick into gear when they meet their perfect genetic match, they would only reproduce with other weres or shifters. Anything else would be less than ideal, and would not be in keeping with species survival. So...it turns out there's a combination of genes that need to be inherited for the shifting or the were ability to be actually expressed. And that's better, because...

Our twin werewolves each "recognize" a person who is not a shifter, or not pack. However, both of these mundanes are of Italian descent. It turns out they each carry a few genes from that original Etruscan werewolf pack. Potential problem solved. Whew!

Now, how to solve the problem of writing what appears right now to be pure dreck...? Today it all seems like it's blowing chunks. I mean, do my readers really need to know what Dawar's compound looks like? I'm bored writing it, so I can only imagine people would be bored reading it.

But, I will take La Nora's advice. In a nutshell, it's this, paraphrased: vomit it out and get it on paper. You can always fix it later. But you can't edit a blank page. I'm going to try and make that my mantra. And, while I'm sitting here in the bookstore waiting for one of my students, I'm going to yank out a blank page and keep going.

(No, I'm still not caught up....)

I Can See Daylight!

It's been established that I'm not dying. Yet. Yay, me!

I had a major breakthrough yesterday - in fact, more than one. I was able to tighten up the plot of my WIP called "Primal Hungers," the second book in my Witches and Weres series. That probably contributed to my other breakthrough - the physical one. I'm really feeling much better.

If any of you out there are foodie's, I urge you to go to YouTube and search for something called "The Big Waste." It was a Food Network special on food waste in the United States. It was really eye-opening, and it gave me bits to write about. Life is good.

I didn't catch up on my pages yet, but I'm working on it. According to my posted goals, I should have 44 pages by the end of the day today. I'm not close to that, but I'm not ready to revamp my goals just yet.

I'm just gonna keep on plugging...

Scrabbling Up From the Abyss...

I'm pretty sure I won this latest argument with Death. I'm breathing a little bit better, and I'm not using quite as much Kleenex. Actually, it's Puff Plus with Lotion and Vicks. A product sent down from the gods, for sure. All in all, things could be on the upswing.

Pages, you ask? Well, I'm making a start. I should have written six pages since my last check-in. I've managed three. It's an improvement, and right now, I'll take anything I can get. I have written other pages, but they have to do with background of the werewolf clans and things relating to them. For instance, I discovered the burning of the Alexandrian Library was  deliberate act intended to destroy proof of the werewolves existence. The Egyptian clan was going to "come out," trusting to the protection of Anubis. The Etruscan/Roman clan wanted their secrets kept, even at the cost of important knowledge that would be lost forever. The Romans, as usual, won.

I figure that if I count background pages, it will be like vomiting exposition for the sake of page count. Cheating doesn't help, and besides, it's not cool. I just have to push on. Catching up is still my goal, so I'm still going to try to go above and beyond. My all-time best effort so far has given me 17 pages in three hours. However, that was typing, and a LOT of that was dialogue. I don't think that's standard production for me.

Maybe by the time this challenge is over, I'll have a better idea what my standard production is.

In the meantime, here's to killing, maiming, seduction, vengeance, twisted love, and inopportune furriness.

Have fun till Sunday, everyone!

Let's Try This Again, Shall We?

Just when I thought I was beginning to get better - SLAM - here comes the second round of the bionic crud my body seems to be having a masochistic affair with. Figuring I could Google something about it, I did just that. Now, the CDC, in its infinite wisdom, publishes weekly numbers on disease outbreaks in the United States. According to a local news article, Central Florida is in the throes of a major flu outbreak. Yay. Lucky us. According to a local doctor, before this started, his walk-in care center saw about 20 flu patients per week. Now it's up to about 340. Helluva jump, that.

The upside to my own personal misery is that my brain's been running like a hamster on steroids and speed. Heck, my hamster can probably power an entire mid-sized city. Like Orlando.

And that's a good thing, because story stuff is what he's been chasing. Surprisingly, he's hunted down some interesting stuff. Like how the burning of the Alexandrian Library was collateral damage in a fight between werewolf clans. Of course, if I try to write it down, or pound it out on my keyboard, it comes out like a stream-of-consciousness fever dream.

So, I've contented myself with snippets of notes on different scenes. Hopefully, once I become coherent (even this blog entry sounds a bit ramblish - yeah, I know it's not a word, but I like it so I'm not going to edit it out) I'll be able to catch up on my pages.

On the downside, my computer's been doing a very odd heat thing. So I think I'm going to refine my goal. Currently, it stands at two pages per day. Now I'm going to specify that they are handwritten pages. I don't want to overtax my laptop.

Right now my hand doesn't seem to want to put down my pencil. (Yes, I write with pencil, mechanical, 0.5 lead, and all in caps. That's how I distinguish writing pages from other pages. Besides, I can write like the wind that way.) I'm going to take advantage of my inner hamster and see if I can produce anything.

I've got no new pages this time around. I've been so out of it, I even forgot to report on the 11th! Hopefully, everything will change today.

See you for the next round!

(By the way, what do you do with a gay, diva-ish werewolf from a different story who insists he's part of this one, too? Simon sure as heck seems to get around....)

I'll surface on Wednesday the 18th, I promise!

UPDATE: I've got my two pages done for today, and I show no sign of slacking. Yippee!!!

Early, Early, Early Sunday Morning...

It's right around midnight as the dog and I sit here channel surfing. Trying to breathe is taking up a lot of my energy. I haven't been able to do any writing the past few days. This cold's about wiped me out. I'm on my fourth box of Kleenex since Wednesday. Blech. I had no idea the human body could snuffle in so many different ways. I feel like a Heffalump.

On the upside, I've been able to make a few notes for a couple of different scenes. I should be able to work on them in a day or so. Apparently werewolves are horrified by dogs being kept as pets. Especially when they've been neutered. We'll see what they do about it.

Off to find more Kleenex. (sneeze)

Check-In January 4th

I'm sick. I had a Starbuck's meeting with a friend who also writes. I'm supposed to be there in seven minutes. Guess what's not happening. I'm going back to bed with some hot tea and my laptop. Yeah, I know they don't sound like a good mix, but I've got a lovely insulated steel Starbuck's mug. It keeps things hot if you want and cold if you want - and doesn't spill. Mandatory for me in situations like this.

Ok, here goes. Got my page count on opening day. Yesterday? Bubkis. Today, I'm hoping to make it up.

On the bright side, because I'm feeling so crappy, I can probably write that scene where my werewolf is going through a good deal of angst before she becomes a serial killer.

See? There's a bright spot to everything.

Grrrr.....

Yesterday's writing adventure blew chunks. Big ones. I couldn't think of a bloody thing, and so I ended up in a scene which probably won't be needed later. I feel like I wasted my time. For all I know, I made as much sense as a chimpanzee trying to do calculus.

I'm heading to Starbuck's shortly to work on today's round of words. I'll report back later.

It's now later. In fact, it's really later. It's the next day. Here's what happened: Not much.

You see, I'm also a math instructor at a local college. Since I can't get full-time hours, I supplement my income with math tutoring. Well, guess whose student was waiting for her at Starbucks. Yup. Mine. Sigh.

The only words I worked on were word problems.

Oh, well, tomorrow is another day...

Lara

ROW80 Goals

Let's face it. I'm torn. And I can't even blame my dithering on being hung over (last night being New Year's Eve and my birthday). I'm talking about my writing goals.

Do I go for word count? Pages? If I go with two pages per day, I should have well over 600 pages by this time next year, assuming everything stays on schedule. If I go for word count, it seems a little less concrete to me. After all, you can always make up word count tomorrow, right?

Then, there's the option of scenes. Do I go with two scenes per week? That would give me a bit over 100 scenes by this time next year. I have a confession here - I developed a habit that I picked up from Mary Janice Davidson. I tend to do one scene per chapter. Will that make my weekly job easier or harder? Will it have any effect at all? At the end, though, I think it will make it easier to shift things around when I need to finalize my story progression.

Okay. Decision time...(insert drum roll here)...I'm choosing to do two pages per day for the duration of the challenge. If I can squeeze more out of my rather twisted brain, that'll be all to the good.

Get ready, get set...

Lara