Author's Check-in

My intention was to post at least two blog entries per month, but I was surprised to see that three months have passed between posts. So what the heck have I been doing?

It seems that I always have a great idea for a blog post at 3 am, which means I would probably be up writing it until 5 or 6 am, which I'm trying not to do anymore. I'm attempting to reach some semblance of a sleep schedule to match some of the world: say, sleeping from 2am until 10am. I've only been nominally successful thus far, but I will keep trying.

As far as my 2014 Writing Resolutions go, I'm on track.

1. Finish 4th draft of HISZMA novel - I'm 30% through, after seriously starting it in March.s
2. Finish 1st draft of TSoSS novel - not there yet.
3. Compete in NYC Midnight's short story competition - Done. Made Honorable mention in Round 1.
4. Compete in at least one other contest - I'm looking at Lorian Hemingway's short story contest. The deadline is in May. I've already entered three contests for the PNWA Conference - I entered my HISMZA novel, a short story, and a short personal essay/memoir piece.
5. Read at least 30 books - I'm on track, having read 6, or 20% of my goal. No new ones, yet, though.

Inspired by the historical fiction genre that I was required to write for the NYC Midnight contest, I have continued my learning curve of the Roaring Twenties. I've always loved that era-- it was rife with artists, writers, performers, civil rights, modern advancements, and outrageous behavior-- and I've been reading about it a lot lately. Books about the era and its people, books set in that era, and books written in that era. I'm currently reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Beautiful and the Damned". I'm thinking that I would like to write more stories set in that time. We'll wee where it leads...

NYC Midnight Short Story Competition 2014

Round One of the NYC Midnight Short Story Competition is over. 1000 contestants, spread over 40 Heats. My heat required me to write a 2500 words or less Historical Fiction piece, featuring a widow and sworn enemies, in eight days.

I got Honorable Mention - not bad! And now I won't be hunched over my laptop while sitting in lines at Emerald City ComiCon for Round Two, at least!

~ Happy New Year ~

Resolution is a pretty harsh word, especially when you look at all the baggage it brings along with it, in our culture. It sounds hard: "Resolve". Stern, unyielding, and probably not fun. The word practically has "FAIL" built into it. I prefer to call my list of goals for the year "Goals" (duh) or "Intentions". Intention is a word that is full of possibility, focus, awareness, and concentration, but with a softer, more open connotation. Never mind that phrase my mother is so fond of, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions." That is a different definition of the word. 

I have yet to sit down and plan out my intentions for 2014, but I have been considering it for weeks. I looked over the list for 2013, and honestly, I did pretty well. Firmly hit 6 out of 17 Goals, made at least a bit of headway on another 6, and will carry over the other 5 untouched. (Darn that pesky home organization!)

Here, I am mostly looking at my writing goals. Last year, I planned on making 12 short submissions (done), 3 contest entries (did one, only) finishing the third draft of HISMZA (done) and taking it to the PNWA Conference (done). I also planned on reading 30 books (done). 

This year, I'm planning on the following:

1. Finish Fourth (and hopefully final?) Draft of HISMZA novel.
2. Finish First Draft of "The Sound of Sorrow's Sleep" novel.
3. Compete in NYCMidnight's Short Story Competition (already entered!).
4. Compete in at least one other contest (probably Lorian Hemingway's, again. Also Seattle Crypticon, and PNWA contests).
5. Read 30 books, at least six of which have come out in 2014 (I've realized that I am way behind on my reading list and rarely read anything current!).

Just for kicks, here are some of my non-writing goals for 2014:

1. Organize cluttered home and Spare Room. (A carry-over for years, sadly...)
2. Take at least two dance/exercise classes per week (Already signed up for Bar Method on Fridays and Punk Rock Aerobics on Tuesdays, and have been to each).
3. Use my FitBit to track sleep and steps. Improve regular sleeping patterns... Sleep 1am/2am - 9am/10am! Hit 10K steps at least 3 times a week. Lose .5 - 2 lbs. per week/25 lbs. per year.
4. Work on Alternative Business Women's Association idea.
5. Help Veronica buy the property and increase profits for Standing Stone Healing & Arts. 
6. Maintain friendships: Contact at least one friend per month that I haven't been in touch with regularly.
7. Travel to Tampa, Florida, to visit Mom & Dad's new home.
8. Travel to Tokyo, if possible. Or Paris, France. It's been way too long for each of them.
9. Continue brushing up on language skills: Use apps for Japanese, Italian, and French. Find a class or group to join to increase skills.
10. Get new laptop! Probably MS Surface.
11. Continue my work on my financial life and plan.
12. Increase my massage therapy work in PIP claims (car accident clients).

As usual, that's a long list, but I'm sure to continue tweaking it. Do any of you want to share your New Year Intentions?

Scrooge Level: 5

Every year, millions of Americans suffer the stress and emotional hangovers that go along with everything December: Christmas/Holiday shopping and spending, end of the year realizations that goals have not been met, hot buttons being pushed by family members and friends, and everything else. It's like all our issues and flaws are amplified in December. 

Like a lot of people, I celebrate Christmas as a strictly secular holiday. I don't have children, and I live thousands of miles away from my own family, so I have managed to minimize a lot of the triggers in my life. Yet, every year I am faced with my own inefficiencies as a human being. I have many good intentions, but rarely follow through. There just never seems to be enough Time and/or Money!

1. I intend to show my love and appreciation for the people in my life by rewarding them with something I know that they want, need, or like, and making homemade gifts like art and cookies. 
2. I intend to carry on my Italian heritage tradition of making a homemade lasagna for Christmas Day. Perhaps even biscotti, and ambitiously, cannoli.
3. I intend to clear my home, tidy up for the end of the year to make room for the new one, and decorate- SPARSELY- for the season. (A wreath, a few sprigs of mistletoe or holly, a small display of cards and stockings, etc. So far, I only ever get the cards pinned up on the wall each year.)
4. I intend to send holiday cards to all my friends and family, well in advance of the 25th. In reality, some years I don't get cards out at all, and others, like this one, I am sure they are going to arrive Dec. 26th or later, if I'm lucky.

My job is busy. I'm not sure that it is busier now than any month of the year, but it is busy. And I'm still struggling with keeping my finances in some semblance of an order, but the timing is still never quite right. When I have time to shop or make things, I don't have the dough, and when I do, there's not enough time. I'm working on changing that; I am constantly reminding myself of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, which I interpret thus: Time is relative, so there is always enough time. There is enough time to do what needs to be done, to do it well, and to enjoy it. I suppose it is a bit more of an affirmation than a reminder, at that.

So what were my goals this year? I had seventeen of them. (I prefer the term "goals" to "resolutions".) 

1. Finish Revisions (3rd/4th draft) on How I Spent My Zombie Apocalypse novel.
2. Take HISMZA to the PNWA Conference - buy tickets in March.
3. Send out Query Letters for HISMZA.
4. Send out 12 Short Story Sumbissions.
5. Enter 3 writing contests.
6. Get a kitten!
7. Organize Home...Bedroom, closets, bookshelves, desk, kitchen...
8. The Spare Room.
9. Put together under-the-sink caddy.
10. Get new regional DVD player.
11. Get regular with the workouts.
12. Find a damn dance class that I want to take (Could someone in Seattle please start a Broadway class or an Angie Dickinson 60's Style Jazz class?!?)
13. Continue Language Skills... Brushing up on French & Japanese
14. Start Italian lessons.
15. Start using Juicer again.
16. Work on Non-Fic Massage Manual Book.
17. Submit two articles on Massage/IFR.

Six of those pertain to writing. I did finish the 3rd draft of my novel, How I Spent My Zombie Apocalypse (#1) and take it to the PNWA conference (#2), but haven't sent out my query letters, because I've discovered I need to do yet another draft of the novel to improve upon what I've got. Okay, well, this is my first time going through this process, with a 'finished' novel, so I'm learning as I go. No biggie. Sometimes I want to kick myself, but I continue to try to remember to be nice to myself, instead, and allow myself the space and time (it's all relative!) to create the best novel I can create.

As far as short work submissions go, I thought I might be behind, since I have been focusing on my novels most of the year. But, a quick check at my page on Duotrope.com (the best website for writers ever), told me differently- I have actually sent out 12 submissions the past 12 months! Just the right number. I believe I've only entered one contest, not the three I had planned, but that's okay. It's not like I've been slacking!

I haven't touched goals #16 or #17, unfortunately. I will have to transfer them onto 2014's list. 

As far as the non-writing goals go, I did okay: #6 Yep! Frankie Fourpaws was adopted in January; #7/8 Some effort was made, but no major progress; #9 Yes; #10 No; #11 Inconsistent efforts and results; #12 Nope; #13/14 I downloaded some apps... does that count? #15 Another inconsistent effort. 

Sleepytime Now...

Hey. It's twenty minutes from midnight on Nov. 30th, the end of NaNoWriMo. I just validated my novel, at 50,006 words, on the website. Whew?

Why Whew? and not Whew! you ask? Hm... let me tell you how tired I am. I am so tired that despite cranking out nearly fifteen thousand words in a little over a day, I am still updating this blog. What is wrong with me?!? Hahaha... I'm going to go bed now. SNL is a rerun, I have a full day of massage work tomorrow, and I'm literally writing half mys stuff with my eyes closed this evening.

Good night, and congratulations to my NaNo writing buddies who are also winners! Yay, us!

Nearing the End of NaNoWriMo 2013

WHAT?!? 18 hours to go before the ind of NaNoWriMo?!? 

Uh... I've gotten off track. Several days I wrote under par, and many days I didn't write at all. I'm at 30,702 words - which leaves 19,298 to go. That's over a thousand words an hour - if I don't do anything else. Crap! What was I thinking? I didn't set an alarm today, and ended up sleeping in till nearly two pm. Lolling about lazily, long bath and a bit of a read, and now I'm finally at Starbucks, my Writing Office.

And my story? All over the place. I've written scenes that ultimately will be out of order, and changed my victims and villains several times. Ugh, this will be result in one hell of a rewriting challenge!

Okay, back to my (probably) futile effort to hit my goal of 50,000 words. Wish me luck! 

NaNoWriMo 2013. Am I crazy??

Yup.

Still revising both the synopsis and the manuscript of How I Spent My Zombie Apocalypse, I am yet embarking on the madcap adventure that is NaNoWriMo: an international project filled with writers of all types attempting to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. November 1st (midnight) through November 30th (midnight) drives writers to dark corners of bedrooms, basements, and coffee shops with their laptops, ipads, and notebooks. Forget dates. Forget housework. Forget phone calls. There is only The Page.

There is only The Page... and my blog, my Facebook, my Twitter... I tend to get overly wordy during November. I write my words for the day, then I blog about it, post about it, research it, and other stuff. My netbook gets a workout each November, that is for sure!

I am a "pantser" - I write by the seat of my pants. No outlines, no plot points, no storyboards. I pick a topic, a place, a person and GO.

This year, I have been focussed on the many steps of revision and publication for my 2011 NaNo project, so I had no idea if I was even going to do it again this year. But, I can't resist the challenge. I love the international (and strong local!) atmosphere of furious writing and hearty competition. Also, Mercury is in Retrograde, which is Astrological-ese for "your life will be filled with dumb-fuckery for the next three weeks". Computers crash, credit cards don't work, appointments are missed, arguments are made from misunderstandings, etc., etc. I've spent the last week in Los Angeles, NOT doing anything I planned. Called it quits a week early, and here I sit, unprepared for my favorite Halloween, handing out candy to half-assed Trick-or-Treaters and watching a Ghost Adventures marathon on Travel Channel.

And lo, and behold, the new two-hour special episode is set in Romania, aka Transylvania, centered around Vlad "The Impaler" Tepes/Count Dracula, and this crazy haunted woods called the Hoia Baciu Forest, where paranormal is normal. Ghosts, orbs, disappearances, UFOs, voices, illnesses, you name it. My interest is piqued.

For the moment, my story is called The Sound of Sorrow's Sleep. We'll see where it takes me!