Here we go:

• The finished novel is still being edited. Very slowly. I am trying to forget the story before I reread it, and it seems to be working. As I read it, I discover things I totally forgot about. Not just since finishing the whole book, but since writing it (scenes). Things I was supposed to come back to, make reference to, resolve, etc. So yeah… I’m glad I’m doing this read through. There is still a lot of work to be done.
• Book Two is totally necessary. Did I mention this already? I’ve started planning it, but not very heavily. Now that Camp NaNoWriMo is over, I should be able to give it more attention and properly plan it so I can write it during July Camp.
• A cover for The Whispering Willow! My graphic artist has pulled something out! I love it. I wish I could share it with you, but it’s too soon. And I can’t reveal it here. When the time comes, the big reveal will be over at my real website.
• My graphic artist has starting sending me options for the cover of the book I’m currently writing. None of them has really hit the nail on the head, but it still feels like we’re getting somewhere. She’s learning more about my style, my vision, and my concept for the book. We’re well on our way. Progress feels so darn good!
• I got a staff reader position for a new online literary magazine! I’m really excited about it. I’ve been wanting a position like this for a long time. I want to get involve in publishing and get as much experience as I can. It’s all going to add up and make me more knowledgeable about the process, what readers and editors are looking for, and give my writer resume (because, of course, I have a separate resume for my writing) a nice, solid boost. It is not a paid position, but I count the experience. No one else in my life really does, so I haven’t told anyone. I don’t feel like being ridiculed for yet-another-responsibility I’ve taken on that doesn’t-pay-any-bills that actually has me quite excited. It was nice to get the email last week letting me know that I’ve been selected. I’ll let you know when I get started.
• I got my pen! My great-grandmother gave me some money to buy myself something for my birthday. I wanted to get something that would last forever. After much thought, I decided on a pen. It is VERY cool. I ordered it from an Etsy shop where they make handturned acrylic pens. Picture coming soon!
• I’ve been jobless for four weeks. Luckily, I got a random few days of work this week. This will be a big help with the bills that are piling up. I’ve been job hunting for a while, but the land is dry, y’all.  If you know anyone who needs help with writing or editing anything please send them to Word Wielder! Low prices!
• Things happen in waves. Some not-so-great things are going on. Not really with me, but people around me. Remember that you only have one body. Treat it well! Got mobility? Use it! LIVE, people, LIVE! Seriously.
• ZINES! I’m making them now.  I’ll be producing 4 monthly titles. The May issues are available NOW in my Etsy shop Appetizine. Please check out the listings and let me know what you think. Make a purchase, for you or a friend, and let your friends know about ‘em.

Okay, I think that’s it for now. Have a great weekend!

Reblogged from Catherine, Caffeinated:

• 

Yes, things have been a little quiet around here lately, but that's only because, first of all, I was so busy there for a few weeks that I couldn't even think straight and then, second of all, once the busyness was over, I awarded myself a whole day off—I didn't even check my e-mails—and instead curled up with Lionel Shriver's…

Read more… 758 more words

Last week Monday was my niece’s birthday and my sister made fried chicken wings and macaroni. It was pretty awesome, and Terneille kinda raved about it. When I told my sister her birthday was coming up, she immediately went into planning mode. “I’ll make her a pan of macaroni and fry some chicken wings! What time you want it?” YAY, for awesome sisters! That made it a lot easier for me.

Babe requested a carrot cake. Last year was cheesecake. This set my wheels turning, and I wondered if I could pull something kind of experimental off. I measured, poured, and mixed with confidence. It was only after I put the bundt pan in the oven that I started wondering if I was crazy, and imagining the horrible ways it could all go wrong. But it worked! WAAAHOOOOOO! Carrot cake and cheesecake in one, y’all! I know, I know. I’m a little out there. Whatevs. It worked and it was pretty tasty. Babe really loved it and my sister even called to tell me that she “NEEEEDS” me to make one for her. Hahaha.

Since I’m currently unemployed and don’t even have pennies to count, I made it rain on Babe in a different way. COUPONNNNNS! Let’s just hope she remembers to cash ‘em all in. They’re pretty valuable, lemme tell ya!

So aside from birthday stuff, here’s what’s up:

• I’m venturing into the world of zines. I’ll be making some of my own. Four, to be exact. I’m excited about it! I plan to complete the first issues of each one this weekend. Then I’ll start selling them on Etsy next week. Look out for linksies!
• I finished The Whispering Willow! Did I mention this already? Even if I did, once is not enough. I FINISHED IT. The writing, that is. There is lots of editing to be done. But the first draft? FINITO!
• I started writing a new novel. It’s not as fun to write as I thought it would be, and that’s probably because I didn’t plan it ALL out before I started writing. I work much better with a plan. A pretty precise plan. NOTED.
• I need to workout. My body is all achy and sedentary and I’m super lazy right now. I hope to start this weekend. A little bounce on the trampoline. A 20 minute run. 15 minutes of yoga. I’ve gotta get this body in MOTION. STAT.
• Currently reading The Distant Hours by Kate Morton. It’s a bit slower than her other two novels which I completely devoured. It’s taking me a bit longer to get through it due to pacing plus my zillion plus one projects I have going on. But it’s good. I’m enjoying it. Morton knows how to spin a tale. That’s for sure.
• New 100 word story is up. Read it, comment on it, share it!

What about you? What’s up? Working on any projects?

Easter Weekend

Laaaaazyyyyy. On Saturday, a very good friend of ours invited us over for dinner. Honey dijon chicken, ricotta pasta bake (with spinach and mushrooms!), and asparagus. Oh, and WINE! YUM! The birthday cake didn’t go quite as planned. Hahaha. You’ll have to read my 100 word story from last week to find out (kinda) what happened there. At the weekly Sunday dinner, the fam had cake. I was confused because we usually have cake on the Sunday AFTER birthdays, but whatever. I had cake early. On Monday we slept in. Like allllll the way in. When I finally got out of bed, it was an embarrassing hour. I won’t even tell you what it was. What is important is that I got up. Haha.

Tuesday: Birthdaaayyy!

I did not, by any means, have any expectations of having a good day. I just figured it would be an average day of nothing special. No plans were made and no money was in my pocket. We went downtown to do our regular errands, I mailed a bunch of things I had piled up, picked up a package (which was awesome! Must remember to post photo on Wednesday), went for a nice sushi lunch, got some cool little prezzies… It was a nice day.

Wednesday – Friday

Work, work, work. I would not have normally worked all those days, but my little cousin was in town. I had to be in office to keep him occupied and take him on occasional errands. He is a ball of energy, funny, and lots of fun. Here’s a little snippet for you. I had to take him to have a passport photo taken. I explained to him that he could not smile for the photo. We went back and forth about this, and he showed me a few smiles he could use. Nope. No smiling, dude. He got sort of sad and looked up and me and said, “Every picture needs a smiiiiile!” Gotta love 5 year olds!

Saturday

Is it terrible that I don’t really remember Saturday? I guess I didn’t do anything? *shrugs*

Random

CAMP NANOWRIMO, y’all! I mentioned this in my last post, but just to remind you, I’M WRITING 50,000 WORDS IN 30 DAYS! Yes, ma’am! At the end of this month, The Whispering Willow will be DONE! Writing, that is. Lots of editing in the months that follow. But the WRITING WILL BE DONE! WOO.

I’ve told you about NaNoWriMo and how awesome it is before. The program/events exist to encourage and inspire people to write. It provide a ton of resources, including very inclusive message boards for constant communication among writers of various ages, genres, backgrounds, etc. I LOVE it. And they do all this FOR FREE. So, of course, fundraising is huge. So I’m asking you to please sponsor my Camp NaNoWriMo novel. All funds go directly to the Office of Letters & Light which is the non-profit that runs these writing events/programs. If you believe in my book, if you like my writing, if you are my friend, if you really don’t care but have a dollar to spare anyway… Please sponsor my novel. Okay, enough begging. Hahaha.

In other news, I just wrote another 100 word story. Please hop on over, read it, comment on it, and share it. I am really trying to get as much feedback on my work as possible. I am also, of course, trying to expand my blog readership. What else? Hmmm… Oh, I got my 5th assignment back from the writing for children course I’m taking. I did really well on it. Hilarious that I thought I bombed it. I let the way I feel about the assignments (like I thought that one was really stupid) affect my assessment of my work. Weirdo. I know.

Okay, this got long really fast. I’m done.

Have a great week!

Camp NaNoWriMo is coming up. WOOHOO! Those of you who’ve been around for a while know about NaNoWriMo. It’s National Novel Writing Month. Every November, people all over the world attempt to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Camp is pretty much the same thing, but a bit cool. There are two Camp sessions – one in April and one in July. For each session, participants can choose their own word count goals (anywhere from 10,000 to 999,999). There is also a Cabin Mate system where people can sign up for 5 cabin mates. The computer system picks based on preferences like age, genre, amount of activity, and requested buddies. The “Cabin” is a private message board for the 6 people in it to chat and interact. Cool, right?

So, yeah. I’m doing Camp. I STILL have not finished The Whispering Willow, so I’m dragging that WIP into the tent with me. The plan is to FINISH that, and start a new novel which will be the first in a series. LGBT series. Yezzir! I’m all risk-takey and stuff. Hehehe.

I spent some time working on my characters for the series last night. I did the basic work on it last year, but it needs beefing up. I like having complete, 3d characters before I start writing. I like to know their birthdays, physical appearances, hobbies, family life, backgrounds, favourite music, etc. I go deep. I’m going to try to finish that off tonight while watching tv shows. Yes, I also like a little distraction sometimes.

So what have you been up? I’m going to check out my Blogs I Follow list and catch up as much as I can, and comment, comment, comment. But if something crazy happened like a week ago, catch me up in the comments!

Also, check out this week’s 100 word story on my blog. Please comment and share. I’m really trying to increase my readership (and mailing list) right now. It’ll really count when it’s time for publication. Did I mention that you get a FREE MP3 of a song by a really amazing artists I know just for signing up? Well, ya do! Get on it!

I post a new 100 word story on my Alicia Audrey blog every week. They are based on prompts posted at Julia’s Place. If you haven’t already, please hop on over and read this week’s story. Read, comment, and share!

Been a while, I know! There are lots of reasons for that. One of them is the weird changes WP keeps forcing me to adapt to. It’s also driving me crazy that I can’t figure out how to post the old way. Just this “New Post” button with the pencil that gives me a little typing space… It’s not the same. I hate it. Especially since every time I use it, my post emails to subscribers, but does not post online. It vanishes. GAAAAAH! I hope that doesn’t happen this time.

Are you following my new, shiny blog? That’s where I am, twice per week, posting 100 word stories, music I like, little notes of inspiration, etc. If you haven’t already, go have a peak! Read a story or two, and comment, comment, comment!

I have been back to work on my NaNoWriMo novel recently. I have 40,000 words to bang out by March 20. Yep. That equals a lot of cups of a tea and a few litres of icy cold Coca-Cola. Yes, indeed! I feel like I am getting close to the finish line. There will be lots of editing to do when I’m done writing it, but at least the writing will be done!

April will be another crazy month. Camp NaNo! YES! That’s write. Another writing challenge. I have another novel to work on in April, and the goal, once again, is 50,000 words. If you’re interested in writing and need a challenge, consider Camp NaNo. What is really awesome about it is that you can choose your word count goal. Anywhere from 10,000 to 999,000. Or something like that. You can tailor it to suit you.

Okay, what else? Hmmm… The job hunt is still on. It is taking reeeally long. The job market sucks, guys. My eyes are still open though.  The hunter must never take her eyes off the prey. NEVER!

Oh, I went on a day trip by boat on Saturday. More on that later, when I upload the pictures.

So what’s up with you? Anything cool going on?

February 14 is the day to make a different. Take a stand.

Blog. Tweet. Post. Share.

Find out when and where the One Billion Rising event will be held nearest to you.

Be there. Support. Protest. Lobby. Demand change.

I know where I’ll be…

Where will YOU rise?

Hope all is well, you had a rockin’ weekend, and you’re ready to kick this week off with a Make It Happen Monday.

I make no secret of the fact that Monday is my absolute favourite day of the (work) week. I know, I know. Most people hate Mondays. No one wants to get out of bed on Mondays. No one wants to be at work. No one wants the weekend to… well… end. Except for me.

I’m big on beginnings. Chances. Opportunities. Time.

Mondays mark the start of a new week. It’s a whole stretch of time, way out in front of us. Maybe that’s what terrifies people, but it’s what excites me. YES! Another set of 5 days to DO things. To MAKE THINGS HAPPEN. Yes. Opportunity. I was hoping for another one of these. *grabs eleven Mondays off the shelf* Don’t mind if I do.

No matter how great your weekend was, how much you have to do this week, or how you woke up feeling today, try to feel the true spirit of Monday. It’s a new day. It’s a new week. It’s a clean slate. It’s like rolling out a new, clean, pretty aisle runner. Sure, you’ve got things to do, but you’ve got a ways to go. There is time. Just get started NOW.

And no matter what, remember: It could always be worse. It could be Friday.

(Sorry if you got this email twice, subscribers. WP is seriously trying to ruin my life blog and keeps making my posts go POOF! right after they are sent to you. This time, it should link to my post. *fingers crossed*)