Happy New Year

More to celebrate coming soon. :D

So, the new year has begun and we are six days into it.  I could say I was busy as an excuse for not posting before now, but that wouldn’t be true.  Yes, I am working.  But not full-time.  As long as I’m in school, I’ll be working part-time hours just to have the extra study time.

In all honesty, I haven’t posted since November, maybe October.  Not because of work or seeking work,but because I have not felt like writing anything.  I barely managed to get through NaNoWriMo and most of that was due to the fact that I was doing a lot of writing in English Comp and my teacher was cheering me on in class as well as encouraging me to help others.  He’s an English major and thought I did well in my writing and better in my editing.

The primary reason for not writing or posting is simply stress over how I was going to meet bills and the huge amount of worry I was under.  Thankfully, I’m back with Wal-Mart as a cashier, now, so there’s income and they are doing well to give me my days off together when they can and as many hours as possible while working around my class schedule and Colin’s therapy day.

Between classes and work, finding time to write hasn’t been easy, but I do have time, just no weekends to go write-ins or much else.  Thankfully, the stress and worry about the bills, especially rent, is lifting.  All I need now is for tax time to roll around so I can use the refund to get my rent caught up again and the power bill current.  Then, maybe, I get the medical stuff took care of though I may do a fund-raiser type thing to help with that.  I've a few sites in mind which are reputable.

With the worst stress lowered, I feel like writing, but now I need to reacquaint myself with the characters and plots.  Which starts the whole process over again.  *flails*

So, I am setting myself a couple of goals for the year since I didn't sign up for #Writemotivation this month.

Holy Mackerel! That’s more than two goals!

1) Finish current edits on SoNL and get at least one round of beta/critiques done on the full manuscript.  stretch goal: two to three rounds of beta/critiques.

2) Finish editing on Test of Ascension and one round of beta/critique.  (18+ if interested in this one)  stretch goal: three rounds of beta/critique and submission to Smashwords or other site for publication under my net name.

3) Finish rough draft of Black Friday 2.  stretch goal: finish rough draft and one round of edits (not counting the spell and grammar check)

4) Finish edits/rewrite of Black Friday (book one).  stretch goal: finish edits/rewrite and submit for republication.

5) Lose 20 pounds and stick to some kind of exercise program.  stretch goal: Lose 50 pounds and stick to an exercise program.

6) Be more active in Colin and Adam’s lives.  stretch goal: Take the boys on a real vacation we will all enjoy.

7) Get all bills current or eliminated completely.  stretch goal: Have all bills gone, except for power, rent, cable, etc, etc, etc, by the end of July, or very close to gone by then.

8) Post more often even when depression sends me to bed more often than what I should.

We’ll see how well I keep to these throughout the year.

#Writemotivation Monday Strikes Again!

Wouldn't ya know it!  I posted on the proper day for the second, or third week, in a row.  Now THAT is an accomplishment.  =^. ^=  <---  happy kitty grin

But, really, it is something to crow about.  Lately, I had posted my progress, or lack thereof, later in the week.  Passing both portions of the broke me out of the funk I was in since I was fired from Wal-Mart of all places.  In all honesty, I loved that job even if I did complain about it.

None of you want to hear about that.  So, keeping it short today, here's what has been done.

Header image and thumbnail photograph by Hugh Lee and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sahlgoode/

1) Focus on "Black Friday 2". Get at least two chapters written.

Nothing new has been written, yet.  There is a very good an valid explanation coming up.  Keep reading.  ;)

2) Pass the second half of the State Exam.

This one has been completed!  I passed with a bare minimum of an 80%.  Tomorrow, I go in and the paperwork done and the program loaded on my laptop.  By the end of the month, I will be bringing home money again.

3)  Get at least 10K on a submission for the Dark Crystal prequel for a contest for Dark Crystal.

This one has been started.  I had to re-download the information.  So, up to now, I've only done research but no writing.  Good thing I did because what I was originally intending to do wouldn't have fit.  The story has to take place between the Conjuction (when the three suns are in alignment and appear as one) and the Wall of Destiny (a place where the prophecy of how to fix the Dark Crystal and by whom.  (Was that the correct pronoun there?)  So, when I was at home at the computer, I was reading up on what was allowed and the time period.  They want the story to take place around the time of the Gelfling Gathering, which gives me a nice intro for the MC, Jena, to come in and get things rolling.

4) Exercise twice a week. (I mean it this time!)

Not a lot was done with this one last week.  I was focusing on other things which had a lot more importance.  But, I did manage to walk the equivalent of a mile Saturday and about a half mile Thursday while Colin was in therapy.  I'll call it a good start, but not close to what I need.  So, if you feel any weird earth tremors, don't worry, that's just me enjoying the Cardio routine on Just Dance 4.

Before I forget, again, I've added this to my goals after they were posted.

5) Work on revising and editing Black Friday, the original book.  

This one has also been started.  I'm going through and taking note of all the different named characters starting with Karina, Nick, and Marcus, my main three, then go through and trim out the extras for use later in BF2, and give the others a little bit of the spotlight.  I'm also contemplating changing the narrative a bit from first person, to omniscient view.  It's a thought.  If anyone is curious about it, I have a copy you can borrow.  It's a quick enough read but it needs a lot of re-polish.

How are things coming in your goals?

#writemotivation June Wrap-Up and July's Goal's

June was a month I'd rather not remember.  Instead of writing or considering writing things, I was going over the different type of life and health insurance, provisions, exclusions, and riders and what they can do to change the basic policy, and trying to learn all the regs, rules, and statutes of the insurance license.  More time was spent on that than anything else and I've one art commission that is suffering because of it.

So, my goals for July are slightly modified.  Again.  *sigh*

Coming to this blog during the month of July will be a few interviews.  Don't expect me to do these often.  I'll be introducing two sites which were created to help the Indie Author and I'll be interviewing a new author on the Indie scene.

Later on this month, I'll be part of a blog hop that will focus on a character from one of my books.  I'm debating if it should be Karina or Sabrina since I've worked with these the most lately.  I'm leaning toward Karina since she's been neglected lately due to my focus on SoNL.  We'll see when the time comes.

Header image and thumbnail photograph by Hugh Lee and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sahlgoode/

June Goals

1) Set SoNL aside until feedback from critiques and betas are in on the first half of the novel

This one was done though I wanted to go in and make more revisions to chapters nine to eleven.  The suspense and hooks in those three needed to be tightened up further and more ideas popped into my head to build up the tension further between Jason and Sabrina.  D-O-N-E!

2) Focus on Black Friday 2. Get at least two chapters written.

Not a lot of focus was given to this one, but I did do some work on it.  In the space of a couple of hours, on Sunday, I wrote two chapters coming from Takesha's POV.  Karina and Marcus were up on the roof to find the holes to be patched up there as well as survey the surrounding area.  Nick and Nahana were off gathering wood and kindling for a fire.  Neither could have given anything specific and there were things which could be used to build the story further and why there's tension building among certain members of the group.  It also opened up a chance to have something happen.  This one is complete!  YAY!

Black Friday, the first book will also be worked on during this month.  Since Xlibris no longer has it on their site, I'll clean it up and tighten up the story before putting it on Smashwords as a republication.  I'm going to have to sit down and list the different names I used then decide which will stay and which will be dropped.  More than likely, new scenes will be added to help deal with the ones I keep and fill out the story better.

3) Keep up the job search. For interviews minimum for the month of June

This is the one that was modified to study for the State Insurance License exam and pass.  I passed one part.  I need to pass the other part then I will start training.  I can call this one partially complete.

4) Exercise twice a week. (I mean it this time!)

Um... Yeah, I did this one, just not with any real exertion.  But, it was done.

One down, one to go! Time to celebrate the first win!

July Goals

1) Set SoNL aside until feedback from critiques and betas are in on the first half of the novel

I don't know why this one is still there, but it'll serve as a reminder until feedback is in.  Don't count this as an Official Goal for July.

2) Focus on Black Friday 2. Get at least two chapters written.

I should be able to manage two more chapters for the month.  We'll see if it happens.

3) Was keep up Job Search.  Now, it is Pass the second half of the State Exam. 

The exam date is the 5th.  I should pass it this time around.  At least it is only the 116 question test instead of both of them.

4)  Get at least 10K on a submission for the Dark Crystal prequel for a contest for Dark Crystal.

Dark Crystal has a contest for all writers to create a prequel to the movie The Dark Crystal.  They've provided all the information on all the lands, people, and a few ideas to use.  I decided to call this one "The Sundering" and will be following a female Vampra tribe Gelfling who is searching for truth behind the mysterious disappearances from not just her tribe but the others as well.

5) Exercise twice a week.

I walked about a mile today with Colin while we were out taking care of the shopping.  The best thing about this trip is the traffic was in our favor and it wasn't busy everywhere we went.  Today is the 1st, Wal-Mart should have been swamped with the welfare crowd.

How's everything going for all of you?  Hope you enjoy your 4th as much as what I will!

#writemotivation Update Week 3

I know, I did week #2 on Sunday.  That tells you the impact the state exam had on me and missed passing it by a few questions.

There's some good news concerning the state exam; I am rescheduled for Tuesday next week.  I need to focus more on the rules, regulations, and statutes, along with the basics of the insurance license.  I pass that test, I won't have to worry too much about the other because that is part of the training.  But, it does look good if I pass both of them.

Provisions, exclusions, and riders are not an easy concept to understand when it comes to life and health insurance.  Add in taxation and you really make a hard subject difficult.  Thankfully, I know the basics of those now and just need to focus more on the provisions, riders, and exclusions.  I also need to make sure I understand the differences between Medicare, Medicare+Choice, and Long Term Care.  There's enough similarities to confuse even a genius like Hawking.

Now, to show what I haven't done for June.  >.<

Header image and thumbnail photograph by Hugh Lee and licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sahlgoode/

1) Set SoNL aside until feedback from critiques and betas are in on the first half of the novel

I can say this is done.  I have partial feedback in now.  I need to meet up with one and go over the material.  There's a couple of subplots I need to give some 'air time' to as well as adding more suspense.  I've got to print out those posts for easier reference.

2) Focus on Black Friday 2. Get at least two chapters written.

Same as where it was last week and the week before.  I need to study if I'm to pass the exam.

3) Keep up the job search. Four interviews minimum for the month of June

I guess I can honestly say this one can be crossed off.  I have the job, I just need to get over this difficult hurdle so I can begin work.  Like other specialized jobs, it is illegal to work without that license.

4) Exercise twice a week. (I mean it this time!)

Exercise has been done, just not quite the amount I wanted.

Half way there... sort of.  :)

How are your goals coming along?

May Wrap-up + June Goals #writwemotivation+ State License Exam

Well, things are finally starting to take a turn for the better.  Technically, I have a job now, but there will be no pay until after the training period is done and I pass the State License Exam for Health and Life insurance.  This is not an easy thing to do.  My first try, with studying at night before bed, I failed it.  A 47 on one partand a 53 on the other.  I need a 70 minimum to pass.  Yeah, I did not do good at all. /le sigh

Do not fear!  The company I will be working with is coaching me and allowing me a quiet place to study and take notes until I re-take the exam next Friday.  I intend on passing this time and with any luck, a minimum of an 80 instead of a 70.

If the quiz I just took on the most important of it all, the statues, rules and regulations of insurance in OK, is any indication, I’ll do fine.  I missed three out of 15 questions.  One of them was a stupid on my part.  The amount of time the State Ins. Commissioner keeps advertisements on file is 4 years, not 3.  I got the time period mixed up with another one that is very similar.  Easily done, but I should have gotten it since I had just finished going through that section and took many notes about the marketing and sales section.

This also means I will be learning more about sales and marketing, too.  I should be able to apply what I learn from insurance to build sales on my book (soon to be books).

May’s Goals:

1) Get a job or at the very least attend five interviews for a job.

Three face-to-face interviews and one phone interview done.  One was for the agency I am studying for.  I consider this one done.

2) Edit/revise five chapters of Society of Night and Lies.

It wasn’t quite five chapters before I decided to stop and send off the first half of SoNL to the beta readers.  Still, it is done.

3) Write two chapters of Black Friday 2.

I never did get around to writing anything for this one.  Total Fail.  :(

4) Exercise twice a week.

Kind of did, but not each week.  I did manage one day per week.  I call it a good start.

All in all, I did accomplish a lot in May.  A portion was dedicated to studying for the failed exam which did hinder things a bit.  Thankfully, I did manage to find some kind of work.  Just have to jump through the hoops before I can start earning again.

June Goals:

1) Set SoNL aside until feedback from critiques and betas are in on the first half of the novel

Done, and well, done.  I already have some feedback in.  There’s going to be some revisions on the opening and what is going on so you see my MC as more than some depressed alcoholic daydreaming when she’s not.

2) Focus on Black Friday 2. Get at least two chapters written.

I won’t start on this until AFTER my exam date.  My primary focus needs to be on getting some income to support my writing.  I’ve a few ideas already on how to move the story along.

3) Keep up the job search. Four interviews minimum for the month of June

I think I can call this one complete.  I am feeling good about the exam and how well I’m handling the practice quizzes.  B’s are better than F’s any day of the week.  This one will be modified to pass the exam.

4) Exercise twice a week. (I mean it this time!)

With warm weather here, this one will be easy.  There’s going to be a lot of swimming and nature walks for me and Colin.

I’ve collected the writing prompts from the Writemotivation G+ community.  I’ll be posting them sometime this weekend here and in the group.  I am curious what you all thought of the prompts from last week.  My favorite was the prompt “Hush, little one, it’s going to be fine…”  It came out so sad.  Did you feel the emotion in that one?

Pray for me as I study my tail off this week.  I need all the help I can to pass this exam.

Catch Up Day the Month in Review + #writemotivation Goals

I have been quiet for far too long.  Too many worries, too many hours at work, and not enough time given to revising and writing because I don’t want to look at my manuscripts.  I’m not just terrified of succeeding, I’m also a terrible procrastinator by sitting on Facebook way too much.  Most nights, that’s all I have the energy to do.

February has been a fun month (note the sarcasm there if you will).  It started off okay with me filling scripts and taking calls behind a nice, safe, counter, and just making people feel better.  Then, it happens.  I made one too many mistakes that could have hurt people.  End result, I was demoted; which put me into a bad funk.  Either way, things were not going to be good for me.

I was either going to be a sales associate stocking shelves and showing people around the store because they can’t, or won’t, read a sign, or end up on a front register where I will end up having a nervous breakdown because the vast majority of the customers have no idea what personal space is or how to keep out of my bubble.  If I can smell your breath and feel how hot it is, you are too damn close.  Too many want to lean in very close and talk in a normal voice or louder when asking a question about something that needs no privacy.  ”Where are the curtains?”

That everything that’s holy for a manager who not only knows me well but knows how well I work (we’ve worked together before).  I may be slow, but I get the job done and it looks professional and clean.  Instead of going to be a cash slave, he snatched me up and put me on the floor to help change modulars (displays), stocks shelves, and keep everything neat and clean on the shelves.  In Health and Beauty, you have to keep on top of the makeup department or it’ll turn into a nightmare fast.

Now, you can understand why I’ve been so quiet.  My work schedule changed, which has thrown off my routine.  I’m more tired in the evening due to the higher workload and mentally tired as well.  I am adjusting nicely and not quite so run down.  My days off are split, which makes adjusting harder, but still possible.  Thursdays I am on the run from noon until dinner time with therapy for my son, come home to cook, then I can sit down to relax and spend some time with the boy.  He comes first before all things.

Now that I have a shiny, new-er, computer that doesn’t bog down at the sight of YIM coming online, I can zoom through the email and other time-wasting activities to spend time working on my novels.  Speaking of working on novels, I’ve my goals to show off for #Writemotivation.

Yes, it is that time again.  At least now I have something to focus on and a very good reason to focus.

1) Revise chapter 8 of Society of Night and Lies and edit through chapter 15.

2) Consider names for book one of SoNL.

3) Try to work on Black Friday 2

4) Think of a name for Black Friday 2

I know, I’ve had these same four goals for the past two months.  In that time, I haven’t touched them at all.  I just explained why for this month, but I digress.  But, I will add one more goal to that list which will be more of a spare time thing.

5) Pre-write the Blogging from A to Z in April entries.  

I have a very good theme in mind and it is one I will enjoy writing about with examples to go with the terms used.  No, I won’t tell what it is, now.  You have to wait and see what I come up with.

Enjoy your month and the changes in my writing schedule once I get back to writing my posts again.

Belated NaNoWriMo wrap-up and #writemotivation #fiction #fantasy #amwriting

November ended over a week ago and boy did it end with a bang!  The furious writing and hectic hours made for a very tired author.  I’m still trying to recover from the long hours.  That’s the good part of it all.

The bad side?  There’s no bad side in any sense of the phrase.  I have two decent stories (if you call porn decent) and started on another before hitting the 50K mark on the 29th. Yes, I made it with a little over a day to spare.  Thankfully, that allowed me to enjoy the final write-in and TGIO party a lot more.  I will say this, I was the first to leave the TGIO party.  I would have stayed until the end, but being a mom and a crotchety old woman, I had to get home and get some sleep.  Still, it was fun and I came home with a small prize which I will be using often.

It was fun, even if I couldn’t attend the write-ins like I wanted.  What I got out of this year’s Nano was a potential compilation of stories centering around my character, Leofa, and her business, The Rabbit Hutch.  I want to finish Trysts of the Hearts first then maybe focus on Leofa’s stories.  While Trysts will be published on Smashwords, Leofa’s stories will only be seen, and distributed, over at FurAffinity.net due to content.

Usually, I post a set of goals for the month at about this time.  Thanks to the rush of NaNo and Christmas coming, I’m going to take a break from writing and just sit back and enjoy the season and maybe write when the mood strikes.  No rush to meet goals or worries over anything else.  Come January, I’ll be working hard on finishing the edits and rewrites on SoNL then perhaps get some help to get it ready for the spring Pitchfest.  I intend on having SoNL ready in March for agents and/or publishing houses.

Black Friday 2 will be the next novel to be prepared for publishing.  I’m debating sending it to an agent/publisher or just keep the series with Xlibris.

No matter what, I’ll be back to blogging Sundays, Mondays or Wednesdays soon enough.  Aren’t you glad I didn’t fall off the face of the internet?  I know I am!

#writemotivation Check-In

Due to malfunction in the cerebrum, there will be no witty snippets to begin today’s post.  Due to this same malfunction, this post is also arriving late.  Please be patient while these malfunctions are being repaired.  Normal function should return within a week or sooner depending on varying conditions.

And for the not so technical (hehe) I’m still recovering from last week’s virus.  I’m over the worst but energy levels are still kind of low.  Thinking hasn’t been easy, even at work, and I tire easily.  That’s why this post is so freaking late.  I’ll be back to my normal, strange, self eventually, but this recovery is a long and slow process this time around.

There is some good news out of the long bout with the virus.  I had lost ten pounds.  Not because of being sick.  I had a decent appetite which helped a lot. Normal weight loss thanks to some help from my medication to control my blood sugar.  Thanks to my general appetite decreasing from being sick, I’ll be shedding a few extra pounds.  I don’t intend to go back to eating so much again.

I still have a long way to go before I reach my goal weight of 180 pounds.  But, the first ten are gone with more slowly falling away.

Doc didn’t put me on any kind of diet, but did suggest several changes to make which I had already started to help manage my cholesterol.  More fiber, less carbs, and more lean meat will be what I’ll have, and definitely more veggies.

Gotta love veggies!  Oh!  And fruit, too.  Yum!  /drool

Due not feeling so good, I haven’t done much on my goals, but I did manage to check one off.  I’ll work on the last one over the weekend if it’s raining.

1) Polish and revise chapters 4 (or five as the case may be) through 7 of Society of Night and Lies.

This one is done!  All I have to do now is add them to the main file on my hard drive so there’s an extra copy available.

2) Write another two chapters of Black Friday 2 and maybe come up with an actual name for the book.

Sadly, nothing has been done to this one, yet.  Like I said, I just haven’t had the energy.

3) Study the craft. Reading project for the month to learn more about creative writing, scene and structure, and other writerly things.

This one can be checked off.  I finished Scene and Structure last week and returned it to the library.  I’ve started Revision and Self-Editing but haven’t gotten very far in it.  There is some good advice in there someplace.  Just got to get through the techno-babble to find it.

How’s everyone else doing on their goals so close to the end of the month?