Sunday Update 8/4/24

 :blink blink: It's morning, isn't it?  Bleh.  :chugs coffee:  Okay, let's see if we can rebuild the week.

I wrapped up JuLoWriMo on Wednesday night.  And only wrote one day since then.  I did put out over 1300 words that night, but I'm guessing that I still didn't acquire the habit of writing every day if it was so easy to not write.  Gotta work on that.  The book is at 30055 words now.  

Yesterday, I did set up the SCIU books to run this week as a sale.  Dying Embers will be free.  Fertile Ground and Early Grave will be 99c (US and UK only).  I updated one of my previous sale graphics to go with it, which I'd show you but Google won't let me access the damn thing.  Derp.

I forgot to post a Reading Wrap-up this week.  It wasn't exciting or anything.  I only read one book.  I'll add that to next week's post.

In baking news, I made homemade pizza again.  Woohoo.  Otherwise, it really is too damn hot to bake.  Today, I'm going to make a pork roast in the crockpot.  It'll be yummy and still not add too much to the house heat.

On the activity front, Monday I walked the loop here - 1.1 miles of terrain.  Unfortunately, they've re-graveled the unpaved portion and it kinda makes for unsure footing.  I didn't fall, but I slipped around a couple times and must've pulled my calf muscle.  That sucker hurt.  This basically shut down my walking for the rest of the week.  It's finally feeling okay again, so I'll try to get a walk in this morning.  I also need to get back to cleaning.  Weight: 170.2

I don't think I've mentioned it, but I started doing crossword puzzles again.  We get a magazine from our electric company every month and each one has a crossword in the back.  Being the packrat I am, I have several years worth of the magazines, so I'm working my way through the puzzles.  Each time I complete a puzzle, I throw the magazine out.  Exercising the brain AND decluttering.  Go me.  (Not really a lot of exercise for the brain. The puzzles are kinda lame.  Plus, I cheat at crosswords.)

Oh, I almost forgot.  We were without phones again - Monday through Friday night.  They're back, but I'm not holding my breath that they'll stay that way.  The techs are doing the best they can, but the equipment out here is in desperate need of an upgrade and Brightspeed isn't interested in spending the money for an area that brings in so little revenue.  I get it, but it sucks.  We're still back and forth with the idea of ditching the landline altogether.  We'll see.  UPDATE: as of 9:45am, we are without phone again.  For the record, I hate Brightspeed.  If you can avoid using them, do so.

Other than that, not much really going on around here.  The life is pretty boring, which is good thing.  After two years of stress-stress-stress, it's a needed break.  

How was your week?

JuLoWriMo Wrap-up

Okay, so Silver and I did this thing in July that we called JuLoWriMo, wherein the plan was to do something writerly every day.  The idea was to use the month to get back into the saddle after our extended periods of not-writing - hers due to medical issues and mine due to working outside the home for a couple years (which, frankly, sucked the creativity right out of me).

All in all, I think it worked for both of us.  She's back to working on her stuff daily and I'm back to putting words on paper.  I didn't do every day.  I wrote 27 out of 31 days, though, and managed to add approximately 24000 words to my WIP.  

For this, I chose to work on the next Duke Noble.  I'm calling it Thicker Than Water right now.  I'm not sure if I'll use that as the title at the end.  I liked it better when I first started the book than I do now.  :shrug:  Anyway, I started writing on this story on May 30th when I laid down 198 starter words.  I was creeping up on the end of my day-job and the ideas were starting to pop, so I jotted one down.  I did some more words in the month of June - like revving the engine before the big race.  This gave me 4564 at the start of July.  

The hardest part, at the beginning there, was getting my hands used to cranking out words again.  I did not have to remind my hands how to type, thank goodness.  I did do a lot of that at work, just not for any extended length of time.  And writing requires extended typing.  So, my fingers were fairly flying over the keys, but after 30-40 minutes, my hands would start to cramp and my wrists would complain.  The next morning, my digits would be pork sausages.  Gotta work those bad devils until they get over it, doncha know.  Eventually, the ouchie got less and less and I could produce more words without paying for the deed the next day.  I'm not up to previous numbers, but I did manage to whip out 1304 in one sitting.

The other hard part was learning to focus on writing again.  Sit here in this chair with my hands on the keyboard and let words flow out of my fingertips without distraction.  Hubs was awesome and wrangled the cats on several occasions, so I could work in quiet.  But life doesn't work that way most of the time, so I needed to get used to working with things going on around me.  I think I accomplished that, too.  I was in the middle of my writing session Wednesday night when Hubs got stung by that wasp, and after I took care of him, I sat back down and got about 500 more words out.  

What I need to do from here on out is continue to write every day (or most days) and for longer stretches of time.  And if I can't do longer stretches of time, then I need to start having more than one writing session a day.  In the old days, I could crank out a 

Anyway, I think JuLoWriMo was a success.  If you've never done something like this, I highly recommend it.  Even if you're not a writer.  They say it takes 30 days to form a good habit... I think.  This is one way to do that.  Write every day.  Or exercise.  Or paint.  Whatever it is you want to do, pick a month and go for it.  You might be surprised at the results.  

Sunday Update 7/14/24

 Welp, it's Sunday again.  If you don't know what happened in the news yesterday, some asshole tried to assassinate Trump.  He'll be fine and at least two other people fared much worse.  If you want to know more, there are a million articles about it out there now.

Onward to my world...

I wrote every day but one this week.  I took Tuesday off.  Still, I ended the week with 5058 new words added, and the book is at 14098 total.  I'm trying to remember to make a little note about Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo at the end of every blog post here, but I'm also adding it the widget over there on the right.  In addition to actually putting words on the page, I have notes of things that may or may not happen farther done the storyline, which is always a good thing to have.  It's kind of money in my writing bank.

The PROJECT HERMES freebie thing ended with me moving a total of 82 books.  No sales or page reads off this yet.  (And if it hasn't happened by now, it most likely won't.)  Derp.  

In reading news, I finished two books this week and I'm currently working on an Agatha Christie I've never read before.  Yay.

I didn't do too much in the activity column.  Two days walking, one day cleaning and rearranging my closet.  (I cleaned and rearranged my closet because Hubs found a brown recluse spider in our bed, so I made it a less welcome environment.)  I also cleaned other areas of the house that day.  Also, I went grocery shopping, which sorta counts as an activity because it involves a lot of walking and pushing the cart, etc.  

On the baking front, I didn't.  It's too hot to bake.  I did make a batch of no-bake cookies, though.  Also, yay.

The fawns are getting bigger and we're seeing them more frequently.

I really need to clean the house today.  Regular cleaning as opposed to 'OMG there's a nasty spider in our bed better clean where I don't usually clean' cleaning.  I also need to figure out my next move in the book marketing scheme of things.  I'll probably go with the genie books.  We'll see.  Right now, though, I should probably get dressed and go for a walk before it gets ungodly hot again.  

What happened in your world last week?  

Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo Day 13
Starting Word Count: 13285
Ending Word Count: 14098
New Words: 813

Sunday Update 7/7/24

Sorry I'm late, but I had marketing stuffs to do.

In writing news, I'm plugging along on Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo - writing every day whether I feel like it or not.  Like last night and the night before... totally did not feel like writing.  Did it anyway.  More about that on Monday.  Since 7/1, though, I've added 3772 words to Duke #2.  So basically, this is working.  It doesn't add up to a lot of time spent writing, but that's good for me for now.  My hands need to get used to the activity or I'll write a whole bunch and then spend the next day in pain - which will make me not want to write, which will keep my hands atrophied...  It's a vicious circle.  

In other writerly news, I've been doing a shitload of marketing.  Project Hermes - Kindle version -  is free. I've been posting to various FB groups about it.  Thus far, I've moved 60 copies and I still have two days to go.  Last time I looked, PH was #4 in one of the ranking lists - either medical thriller or conspiracy theory.  I'm really hoping this will equate into KU page reads.  

In other other writerly news, I discovered some issues with the paperbacks I imported from CreateSpace eons ago.  More about that tomorrow.  Suffice it to say, it's taken up hours of my time these past couple days and I ain't done yet.  Derp.

On the reading front, I finished a couple books last week and I'm most of the way through a large book.  I've also picked up some new ebooks, so yay.

I wasn't the most active person this past week.  I walked once and did some gardening one morning.  Weight: 170.4

Last Sunday, I made an apple crisp.  Woohoo.  Then on Monday, I made an awesome pork roast in the crockpot.  Best one yet.  Yummers.

Basically, I'm a boring person.  But if you've been here long enough, you either know that or you think otherwise.  Thanks for staying with me either way. LOL

Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo Day 6
Starting word count: 8210
Ending word count: 9040
New words: 830

Looking Forward to the Olympics

I'm not sure if you pay attention to these things, but the Olympics are coming up.  Over the weekend, Hubs and I were watching the Olympic Trials in Men's Gymnastics, Women's Gymnastics, and a bit of the Track and Field.  They picked the teams for the gymnastics and those are fine.  Not great, mind you, but fine.  We'll see how they stack up against the competition later this month.  

I'm not sure how they go about picking the actual individuals that get sent for the teams.  I get the whole highest overall score thing, but even that seems a little odd to me.  I know there were several individuals who rocked harder in their specific event more than others who didn't make the team.  Sad that, really.  I'm all about the individual, so... :shrug:

I was really pulling for this one girl - Tiana.  I thought she was pretty much flawless in her execution, but I guess her difficulty wasn't high enough to get the points.  Personally, I'd rather see someone nail their routine with a lower difficulty then flub the thing with a higher difficulty, but that's me.  Flawless execution is a thing of beauty on its own without all the extra tricks that may or may not come off.  Jus' sayin'.

There was another girl - Joscelyn - that reminded me of Mary Lou Retton.  She made the team as an alternate. I expect she'll kick ass at the trials in 4 years.  

The new blood to watch on this year's team will be Hezly.  She's a little spitfire.  

I don't remember much about the guys, to be frank.  In that case, I was rooting for Shane Wiskus.  He only made it as an alternate and he looked kinda crushed.  Frederic did well and he's probably our best shot for a medal.  I wish him the best.  

Previously, we'd watched the swimming trials.  Katie is kicking ass as usual.  I love to watch her.  She makes it look like she's just out for a swim and she's so far away from the other swimmers it's like she's swimming alone.  

All in all, I'm looking forward to the Olympics.  How about you?

And for my own 'Olympics', here are my stats from Day One of Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo

Starting Word Count - 4564
Ending Word Count - 5438
New Words = 874
Time: 35 minutes

I also put a widget up there on the right to keep track.  

Have a great day!

Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo Begins

Welcome to Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo... and no, I don't know what it stands for other than 'we're doing a writing thing this month'.  Join in if you want to.  If you don't want to, feel free to stop by and watch the progress here and at Silver's blog.  

Right now, the plan for me is to work on the next Duke Noble book - which, right now, is called Thicker than Water.  If I catch my stride, I may be able to get pretty far along in a first draft.  I'm not promising anything at this point, though.  

This month is all about no pressure, no expectations - for me.  You do you.  The only thing we're pushing each other toward is 'write or edit every day', and even then I don't think we're going to be too hard on each other if we stumble.  Might shake a stern finger over the internet.  :shrug:

Okay, so starting out... Thicker Than Water is at 4564 words and page 14.  Since I generally write in the evenings between dinner and bed time, I'll post my progress the following mornings - probably at the end of whatever else I'm posting for the day.  Then we'll see what I have accomplished on August 1st.  Woohoo.

I'm finding it hard to be all excited, but it's early and I need more coffee.  :half-heartedly waves pompoms:  Good luck!

Sunday Update 6/30/24

Yay, I remembered to do this on a Sunday for a change!  :muppetflail: You have to celebrate the little successes, doncha know.

Not much to talk about in the writing sphere.  I wrote two days out of seven for 1866 words.  Tomorrow, Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo starts, so I better get over that shit in a hurry and set my ass down here to work every day.  Again, Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo is about 'no expectations' other than to write every day.  I had said something about no editing, but as Silver (who's also participating) pointed out, she's editing, too.  Like I said, no expectations.  This month is to do whatever you want to do as long as you're writing every day.  My problem is I sometimes use editing to avoid writing, so no editing for me.  Basically, Silver and I are using this month to get back into writing since we've both been on our own hiatuses for long enough that it's hard to find the groove again.  If you need this, too, join in.  It doesn't matter what you write.  It doesn't matter how many words you put down.  It doesn't matter if you get to the end of anything in the next 31 days.  Personally, I'm planning on working on the next Duke Noble for those days.  If I get stuck, though, I'll happily jump over to any of the other unfinished books I have.  Or I'll hit something totally new.  

In reading, I finished an ebook and I'm almost finished with the 866 page omnibus of Hercule Poirot stories.  I also picked up 12 new hardcopy books yesterday and a book I ordered from Amazon arrived in the mail.  So yay.  

Not much baking this week, other than I made a pan of chicken enchiladas.  We ate them for dinner one night and I have enough leftovers for two more hearty meals and one lunch.  Today, I'm planning on making apple crisp.  

On the weight/activity front, I did 4 days out of 7.  Weight: 170.4.  Yeah, I'm gaining since I stopped work.  I expected this to happen, so I'm not berating myself for it.  I need to get back to eating smaller portions and increasing my activity.  To that end, I'm going to try to start walking in the mornings.  (It's too damn hot to walk any other time of day.)  I also still have a lot of garden work to do which can also only be done in the mornings.  We'll see.  

The fawns are here.  They're all so tiny and cute.  We've seen like 3 single fawns, but yesterday, I actually saw a verified set of twins, so yay.

I'm still not fishing.  It's too damn hot to fish.  And, like I said, I'm busy with other stuff first thing in the morning which is the most likely time for fish to be biting this time of year.  Oh, well.  There'll be plenty of time to fish this Fall.

My gardens are pathetic right now.  Aside from the neglect they've suffered, we had a hard rain the other morning that knocked my new tomato plants over.  I need to cage those suckers, but that's a task for another day.  The coneflowers I bought look tragic.  They may be at the end of their growing season, which is part of it.  The other part is the deer have discovered them and have gotten over their fear of NEW THING, and they're munching on the plants now.  Derp.

Well, I think that's it for me today.  If I missed anything that you have a burning desire to get on update on, let me know.  Have a great day!  And feel free to leave a comment letting me know how your week went.  

Wednesday

It's Wednesday.  In my recent-past life, Wednesday was meeting day.  Not for me, but for everyone else in the office.  I got a bye to not attend because someone had to answer the phones.  Yay.  I hate meetings anyway, so it was all good, baby.

In my other job - the spreadsheety thing I've been doing for like 20 years for the family business (aka pay-job) - Wednesdays are the days I have to get my timesheet to the office so they can mail me a check on Thursday morning.  Yay.  (Don't get too excited. It's not enough to live on. LOL)

Otherwise, Wednesdays don't have a purpose that's any different from any other day.  I'd like to change that.  (See yesterday's post.)  

Maybe Wednesday is a good day to talk about writing...

First off, I'm probably not the first person anyone should come to for writing advice.  Any advice I give take with a grain of salt.  If it seems sound and it works for you, take it.  If not, that's fine, too.  After all, it's not like I'm flashing my Bestselling Author card.  I don't have one.  I only have the 'been in the trenches for twenty years' pin.  It's around here somewhere... probably hiding underneath a pile of unfinished manuscripts.  

But enough about that.  It's all sound and fury signifying nothing.  I write books.  Sometimes I dabble in short stories, but that's rare.  My brain isn't wired for short.  I always have something more I want to say or another twist to throw at my characters.  To paraphrase Sir Mix-a-lot, I write big books and I cannot lie. A thing my readers can't deny. When a book pops into my little bitty head with a round plot in my face, I get sprung.  (All apologies for that. I couldn't help myself.)

I write big books.  You may right short stories.  You could write limericks on the subway wall for all I care.  Are you writing?  Awesome.  If you've got words burning in your head to get out, then let's do this.  To that end, Silver and I are pushing each other next month.  We're calling it Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo and basically we are going to write something every day.  Word counts are optional.  We'll probably tell each other the amounts, but it won't really matter as long as we can say 'I wrote today', we'll win.  Feel free to join along.

This has been somewhat of a rambling post.  Sorry about that.  My brain still needs some rewiring after a couple years of shunting my focus elsewhere.  Give me time.  

What say you?  If you're a writer, what do you write?  If you're a reader, what's your go-to thing to read?  If you're neither, feel free to pull up a chair and watch the weirdness.