Tag Archives: ukelele

Holiday Fears & Jeers a.k.a. How to Deal with Hump Day

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It’s almost the middle of December and I’m already planning what I’m working on in February, not to mention the rest of 2014.

WRITING:

Working on Aaralyn’s Song keeps me sane. In fact, aside from collecting new ideas in a file that I refuse to entertain, at the moment, other than for recording purposes, my writing life has been devoted the WIPs and the blogging world.

I’ve got blog hosting duties to prepare for as well as my continuing FRIDAY FORAGE POSTS.

READING:

I’m slowly building my revised TBR list to accommodate comp titles for my WIPs. Regardless, when certain things start bogging me down in the real world, it’s nice to escape to the land of make-believe. There are many stories to cheer me up or get all my emotional insides and bounce them around for a spell. I’ve always said how much words have power. 

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October Goals

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Last Quarter of 2013: Are you Ready?

long-road

( via freimaurer32 )

 

To borrow a phrase from one of my favorite shows, here’s THE ROAD SO FAR:

 

WRITING:

This year, I came up with four new stories: Hamelin, The Curse of Briar Rose (a reframing of the story premise morphed it into Aaralyn’s Song), all YA Fantasy, A Love Less Ordinary, a contemporary (possibly Women’s Fiction), and a boatload of new story ideas.

I did the Blogging A to Z Challenge in April, along with Camp NaNoWriMo, SavvyAuthors Boot Camp.

I also participated in JuNoWriMo, July’s Camp NaNoWriMo,  JulNoWriMo, and AugNoWriMo. 

Just when I thought I was WriMo’d out, I spent September revising Imprint, a Spec Fiction Thriller.

All this writing was just for my WIP. I also had various workshop assignment, as well, as my blog posts along with my FRIDAY FORAGE series.

 

READING:

I think I’ve read close to thirty-five books this year. Lately, the focus has been on writing reference or anything to do with how the brain works.

Outside of actual books, I’ve been eyeballs-deep in critiques, beta reads, and book reviews. I suppose all the strain on the eyes was to make up for the exhaustion on the digits from the writing.

For those who don’t know, I’ve been dealing with a fractured thumb and seasonal allergies. The allergy shot regimen has made all the aforementioned tasks an interesting challenge.

 

NETWORKING:

The writing community continues to grow and now that I’m a mod at SavvyAuthors and the WFWA Forums, the reach seems to be boundless.

 

LEARNING:

I’ve expanded my horizons with Udemy, and Duolingo. More learning experiences are coming up this month with Coursera. Gotta keep the brain active. 🙂

All that plus some mad ukelele playing and I’m all set.

 

 

=8=

OCTOBER WRITING:

Major prep needed for my upcoming November challenge with Entangled Smackdown. It was supposed to be a Thriller but since that imprint isn’t included in the challenge, I think I’ll write for the novella imprint. Problem is, what word count will I focus on? The imprint requires 10K-15K words but the challenge is 50K. Do I write multiple novellas? Good thing I have a month to plan. This time, actually plan. No matter how many times I have the intent to plan for a WriMo, something happens and I end up outlining in a forty-eight hour window.

I’ll still work on my other WIPs, old and not-as-old. The writing never stops.

 

OCTOBER READING:

The reading tasks haven’t changed. In fact, they’ve increased. All good stuff, however. I’m keeping an open mind–and still looking for a speed reading course.

 

OCTOBER NETWORKING:

Modding and communicating with the writing world continues. Accountability keeps us moving forward and that’s what it’s all about.

 

OCTOBER LEARNING:

More brain boosts with Udemy, Coursera, Duolingo. I’m on Level 10 in Spanish and Level 7 in French. I’m adding German to the mix, just because. With the other learning opportunities, I’m learning about writing, time management, fitness, and everything in between. It’s an exciting time and fortuitous to have the internet. There’s no limit to attaining knowledge and bettering ourselves.

 

 

=8=

The last three months of this highly productive year are about to roll on. I’m excited to see what happens next.

Care to join me?

longroad

( via 00_jack_00 )

Week in Review – 2013/09/16 – 2013/09/22

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WRITING:

Limping the digits through the progression of my Spec Fic Thriller Imprint and more work on my YA Fantasy Aaralyn’s Song. 

Since NaNoWriMo is just a handful of weeks away, I must get cracking. I’m doubling up and doing the Entangled Smackdown over at SavvyAuthors. They also have SavvyAuthors NaNo Bootcamp. Had a ball last year. This time around I’ll focus on one story for all three events this November. I’ve narrowed the story idea down to two. I hope to have it ironed out by the first week of October.

 

READING:

Classes, beta reads, critiques, my WIPs. It never ends. If anyone can recommend an effective speed reading course, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! 😉

 

NETWORKING:

I’m modding another chat this Wednesday. I look forward to learning the ropes some more. The research for the FRIDAY FORAGE series continues. Busy, busy, busy.

 

LEARNING:

I’m still on Level 9 in Spanish and Level 6 in French on Duolingo. Big lessons but learning lots. It keeps my noodle active and my sanity in check–I hope. haha

The first workshop held by the WFWA starts tomorrow. It’s called Writing the Middle. Looking forward to ensuring I can write my way out of anything during the progression of a story.

More classes are coming through Coursera, another great online resource I’ve discovered. More on those classes as they draw near.

Happy fun times with Bilbo Watson. Calluses are coming back even if the visions sucky and the thumb’s messed up. Play on.

 

 

Writing, Reading, Learning, Playing. I’ve been a busy girl.

#ROW80 Mid-Week Check-In 2013/09/18

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WRITING:

Doc says the thumb shouldn’t bother me–in about six months! Grr. Could’ve been worse. Healed fracture is better than a broken digit. Silver lining?

That said, my writing has suffered since my last report. I’ve been doing more reading (of my writing) and minor edits than full-on revisions and that makes me sad.

I know it’s a temporary setback. I’d just rather it be over already.

Despite the physical issues, I edited my novella and am at a better stage of revisions than I was a month ago. My current WIP has stalled slightly due to life’s continuous snafus, but I shall chug ahead. Even though the path of the WIP and trajectory of it’s completion has changed, I think these changes are for the betterment of the story and for myself as a growing writer.

On deck: More revisions for my Spec Fic Thriller Imprint and more work on my YA Fantasy Aaralyn’s Song.

READING:

Lots of reading in lieu of writing. Critiques, beta reads, and reviews… oh my. Whatever problems are in my way, I’m still getting some work done, but seriously. Ugh much?

So much to read and I haven’t taken that speed reading course yet! I need to reassess my work-life balance. (See ‘On deck’ below.)

On deck: read through lessons for various workshops. One, oddly enough, is about balancing the chaos and overwhelming nature of multitasking.

NETWORKING:

Speaking of, I need to get cracking on my FRIDAY FORAGE blog post research. I’d hoped to have a few advanced posts tucked away but life had other plans. No worries. It’ll get done.

These check-ins have been super helpful so I can keep track of my ups and downs. Despite the endless list of tasks on my to-do list, my TBR list, and everything else, I think adding more responsibility to my plate, including modding for the WFWA Forums and SavvyAuthors, is forcing me into focus. That’s a good thing.

On deck: I have a chat to moderate tonight over at Savvy Authors. It’s called The Two Strings Technique: Adding Contrast and Interest to Our Writing and will be conducted by L. Jagi Lamplighter. Should be fun. Wednesday nights have become a staple of good fun.

LEARNING:

I’m on Level 9 in Spanish and Level 6 in French on Duolingo. Keeping busy rather than moping about fractured thumbs and whatnot.

I’m supposed to increase mobility and will look into physio. Maybe I should just play more ukelele. 🙂

Languages abound. I plan on adding another language to my learning repertoire in October. More on that soon.

On deck: lingo and lyrics, conjugations and chords. Fun times.

 

How’s your September treating you?

Week in Review – 2013/09/09 – 2013/09/14

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WRITING:

So, I’ve had this pain in my left thumb for about six weeks now. Probably should have gotten it checked out sooner than I did (almost a month after the first day of pain). Got the results of the x-rays a couple days ago and it turns out that I fractured my thumb. Better yet, by the looks of the x-rays, it is a healed fracture. They don’t know when the fracture first occurred, so I’m not sure that the day I woke up to the pain was the day it fractured or if it was already on the road to recovery.

Six weeks later, the pain is still as annoying as it was on probably Day Five. That’s not good, but since it’s already ‘healed’, there’s little else the docs can do but tell me to keep moving it. It’s slow going but it’s hard to function. My left hand is probably 30% functional.

Not fun.

That said, I managed to edit 132 pages for Revision Hell. Those were easy to accomplish because it was mostly reading and minor typing. I haven’t been able to get far in terms of revisions, though. Extensive typing burns me out even though I’m not really using my thumb. It’s like someone’s poking hot needles into my joints.

Wish I could say dictation software helps. It’s fine for drafting, but when I need to take chunks of existing words, reorder, restructure, and rephrase them, it just turns into a hot mess.

Fingers crossed for my thumb, I hope to get back to full speed soon.

READING:

When it rains–you get really wet. Nice to have everything happen at the same time. Fractured thumb, compromised vision from allergy issues. I suppose I really like to put the challenge in ‘Writing/Reading Challenge’. The work I have to beta read, critique, and review this month is slow going but is getting done.

NETWORKING:

A flurry of activity on the WFWA Forums. Good stuff there. It’s nice to be a member of such a nurturing community.

Speaking of, this coming Wednesday I’ll be co-modding an author chat over at SavvyAuthors. My other home away from home.

I find that getting more active within these communities has helped me. It’s good practice for future networking opportunities. Oddly enough, as chaotic as schedules are and the number of posts to deal with, it keeps me sane because I know the countless of writers out there who feel the same way I do on any given day. Writers unite!

LEARNING:

I’m still on Level 9 in Spanish and Level 5 in French on Duolingo. I am making progress though. I try and do at least two lessons each per day. It’s nice to take a break from other writerly duties and activate different parts of my brain.

I haven’t jammed for the last few days because my thumb’s being extra finicky–and that was before I got the results back from the doc. I’ll take it easy and work my thumb on the Uke because it’s just too painful to maneuver through chords on the guitar. Soon, though.

Dare I jinx it and say the weather is finally at a climate I can enjoy?

Have a great writing week, everyone!