Category Archives: Goals

Preparing for RoW Wednesdays.

It’s been a long time since I’ve participated in A Round of Words in 80 Days, which is a real shame, because I truly believe that the sense of community and encouragement with that group is what ultimate lead me to publish my book last year. As I’m struggling to get off on the right foot for my next book, I’ve been wanting to return to this fantastic challenge, immerse myself back into the productive RoW80 culture, and finally get some more work done!

Now, RoW80 is currently on the tail end of its current round, with the next one starting on April 1st. You can join at any time (my very first round, I hopped in right in the middle), but I’m going to spend the next few weeks really focusing on what I want to be my goals and how I intend to accomplish them. Clearly, it’s going to involve the (hopeful) completion of Serpent in a Cage. I really want to get a grip on what I can set to have this latest draft finished by the end of the round. Too ambitious? Perhaps. But this is the third first draft of this WIP, so at least I’ve had plenty of practice?

Chances are, I probably won’t be able to swing the Sunday posts, just because of my limited computer access, so I’m focusing mostly on Wednesday posts. Therefor, the next few Wednesdays are going to be “RoW-prep”, getting myself in the habit of posting about RoW on Wednesdays. Any suggestions or tricks for setting goals will be welcome; I’m going to have to give some thoughts to what will get me from 50 pages to 250 pages in just 80 days. A challenge, to be sure, but it’s got to be possible.

Back to Business.

Writing, especially in the independent field, is a business. And a business will pretty much go to crap if you don’t tend to it, keep it up, strive to accomplish more and more and more, and generally WORK. Unfortunately, writing is usually not a business that helps you pay your bills right away, so there’s always an “Evil Day Job” that usually gets in the way of making your writing job as successful as your dreams make it out to be.

Though I don’t find my day job too terribly evil, I do know it has been sucking up a lot of my time lately. The last six months or so have been an absolute whirlwind, from working retail during the holiday season to being promoted to a different store and being shipped off for special corporate training for a few weeks, the “Evil Day Job” has essentially taken over the writing work and pushed it aside into the dirt. I still jot down at least a page a day, so writing is still getting done, but I’ve almost entirely abandoned my blog, my social media presence, and my association with other writers and readers.

This is not good.

So, now that the holiday season is over, now that things are quieting down, I am comfortable in my new position and ready for the next but waiting for something to open up, it’s time to get back to writing. Today, I’m making the decision to go back to posting every day (except weekends or days when I can’t borrow the roommate’s computer), interacting every day, perhaps even joining up on the next round of A Round of Words in 80 Days, because I miss it incredibly. I want to start sending stuff out and promoting whatever book decides to be next. I’ve really dropped the ball on this part of my life lately, and it’s time to pick it back up and get it rolling again.

That said, let me take a moment to ask whatever reading might still be hanging out: what do you want to see more of in this blog? Do you like hearing more about projects I’m working on? Cool things I find on the Intrawebz? More book reviews or author quotes or whatever else? I’m interested to see what you think!

Review: “Unseen Academicals” by Terry Pratchett.

“A lot hinges on the fact that, in most circumstances, people are not allowed to hit you with a mallet.”


“Unseen Academicals” by Terry Pratchett

Anyone reading the blog could probably gather that I’m a pretty big Terry Pratchett fan. I think he’s bloody brilliant, and I’m continually convinced that he’s only getting sharper and funnier with each and every book. Unseen Academicals only continues to perpetuate this incredible trend. At its base, Unseen Academicals is a tale about football, but, just like regular football (and all things Pratchett), it’s never just about football. It’s about love, it’s about community, it’s about following rules and breaking them. It’s about the incredible power of the game and the incredible restrictions we put on ourselves and the way we may or may not allow ourselves to be great.

Right from the start, I loved the way Pratchett was twisting the usual conventions of familiar stories in his usual fashion, and there’s a lot more that really impressed me about this particular book. Quite often, the over-arching theme underlying the story is almost too dense, but I never felt as though that aspect was too heavy-handed, as a few of his books have been. And I immediately was drawn into several of the characters. Some of them are older; I was delighted to discover that I’m as entranced by the dynamic between Vetinari and Ridcully as I am by Vetinari and Vimes’ interactions. Some of them are newer, and two of my favorite new Discworldians. Glenda is such a wonderful main character, realistic and relate-able and quite frankly a character we don’t see enough of in fiction (and so cool to see one from a male author, as well). Plus, I’m now convinced that no one can make beautiful, realistic, perfectly flawed relationships like Pratchett can. Though I’m pretty sure no one can ever top Carrot and Angua as my favorite literary couple (though Vimes and Sybil are in the running, too), Pratchett almost made me question their supremacy with coupling in this book. Which I won’t say anything more on, because it’s best to be discovered.

This is definitely Pratchett and Discworld at their best, Ankh-Morporkians shine in this fabulous football fairy tale, and it’s really sparked up my love for the series and these incredible characters.

Books read: 2/100.

The Forecast for 2013.

Hello, there, Interwebz, how have you been? It’s been a while since I’ve seen much of you, through no fault of your own. I’ve recently just returned from a pretty amazing business trip to Atlanta, and now I’m back, though I wouldn’t exactly say to the usual grind. It’s a new year, I’ve got a new career goal, and I’ve got to do some re-arranging of how I intend to go about the general minutiae of life. Not exactly a small order, but one I’m intending to pursue with verve and vigor.

I’ve already declared on Facebook that this is the year I “finally get my shit together,” though that’s a little unfair, since, let’s be honest, I’ve got my shit pretty well together, all things considered. I’ve always had in in my head that my thirties were going to be incredible, but then I thought, “Why wait until thirty?” So here are the goals I’d like to make for myself to accomplish in 2013. Resolutions, if you will. Because I felt like breaking out of the box and making a list of things to resolve to do at the start of a new year…

Ahem.

I will publish another book this year. I will read at least 100 books this year. I will be promoted to the next level this year in my Regular Job. I will start working out. I will start paying off more of my debt. I will start painting again and I will indulge in the things that make me happy. I will be unabashedly domesticated and maintain a clean home and I will start eating more “real food” and cooking like I used to. I will travel, and I will not be so overly concerned with what others think of me.

I will finally make a Snow Dalek if we get enough snow this winter.

I will have an awesome 2013.

What will you do this year?

When Writing Moves to the Back Burner…

Those of you who follow this blog will know that I was recently promoted in my field of work. It was a pretty big step up and, in this company, it’s usually a fast-track toward more promotions. They really weren’t kidding; I received some excellent news yesterday that I’m scheduled to attend their first management training of the new year in their Atlanta headquarters. This is a huge deal, and I’m extremely stoked to have the honor. It’s a thirteen day trip and, while there will be a lot of training and work to be done, there’s also a good deal of fun and networking involved, as well, and the company pays for travel and room and board. It’s a great chance to meet new people and hone my skills as a manager in the company, and hopefully speed up my transition in the next big step.

When I started working for this company two years ago, did I expect I would be making a career out of it? God, no. But it appears that it’s happening all the same. I’m glad for it; I like the product and the company and I really do enjoy a management position, as stressful as it can be. My only real gripe is the fact that all this success in the retail business has caused my progress in the writing business to take a huge blow. Between holiday retail madness and all these new responsibilities, the training course and the hopeful eventual next step, when do I find time to write? When do I find time to market my book? How in the world do I balance it all?

It’s going to be interesting. I was thinking about it yesterday and how, if I want to really strive to be everything they’re molding me to be, I need to really have my head in the game and focus on that job. This is the complete opposite position I was in last year, when I decided to drop one of my two jobs due to the first promotion, and really focus on my writing with the other job as nothing more than income. I can no longer do that. They’re paying for me to go and be a better person for their company; it’s the least I can do to dedicate myself to it a little more.

So what does that mean for writing? I’m certainly not going to quit; for me, quitting writing would be like quitting breathing. It’s just not possible. Even with the crazy holiday madness, I’ve been ensuring that I still manage to write at least a page of any given manuscript in progress every day. On days like today and tomorrow, which I blissfully have off, I hope to do a little more, as well as catch up with blogs and whatnot. But my dreams of pumping out two to three manuscripts a year are definitely going to have to go on the back burner.

And that’s okay. Life is all about accepting the changes that arrive and rearranging things to suit it. The writing will still happen; the books will still come. There’s plenty of time while I explore this unexpected but exciting journey my job is taking me on. Wish me luck!

Oh, Here It Goes Again.

So, I’ve taken a little bit of a break from writing and from the blog to have some well-spent time with a friend, which I have a feeling I’ll be doing a lot of on the weekends if this new schedule that gives me Sundays off stays consistent. From what I hear, this is typical for the position I’m going to be taking a different store, so I’m pretty stoked about that. While there’s more work and demands and probably a likelihood of having to more on any given week, a certain regularity to when I’ll need to be there will be kind of nice. I’m definitely excited for it…

…but I’m also excited that it’s Monday and I have at least the week to try to get back into the swing of writing and get some work done there, too. It’s definitely going to be an exciting week on that front; I got a letter from Amazon regarding my first royalty check coming through, which should happen any time this week, so I can officially say I’m a published, paid, professional writer. Booyah.

I’m still running my Autumn Anthology contest, though I realized that ‘anthology’ was spelled wrong in the title of that particular post, which probably doesn’t help my street cred too much. That’s okay, though; I’m embracing my laziness about actually fixing it. There’s also been an exciting change! I will be accepting all of your short stories and poetry fit for a thrills and chills Halloween-esque anthology! Honestly, as I told the Writing Poetry Group on Facebook, I’m surprised I didn’t think of poetry. I think I’d love to accept any images, too, especially for a potential cover. So, send me your stories, your poems, your artwork or photography for consideration! You have until September 30th to submit! I can’t wait to see what you come up with, and be sure to share the contest with your friends, too!

Other than that, I’ll be plugging away at Serpent in a Cage, reading a lot (as usual!), and trying to get a grasp on what I want to do for NaNoWriMo. I really want to be proactive and go out to the get-togethers they were holding last year in Naperville that I was too shy or spastic or busy to attend last year. This is definitely going to be the year I finish NaNo! I am determined. Besides, it’ll be good to have a finished draft just in case it looks like neither the anthology or SiaC are coming out by the end of 2012 (since I did that whole ‘going to publish two books this year’ plan and everything). I know there’s another round of RoW80 starting soon, so I’ll have to access my goals there, too.

I’m also looking forward to catching up with everyone and their blogs, but if I’ve missed something good and interesting over the weekend, let me know! How’s everyone getting on? I can’t wait to get to work this week.

The 100 Books Project: Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue.

“I would hope, however, that we might think of these things as what they are: arbitrary fashions of formal language that we must attend to just as we dress according to the random dictates of the fashions of our moment. Remember that what is considered ‘proper’ English varies with the times just as fashion does.”


“Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English” by John McWhorter

When this little gem of a language book fell into my possession after being found dirt-cheap on a bargain shelf, I was pretty stoked. Not stoked enough, as is usually the case, to dig right into it, but stoked to know, all the same, that it wound up in my TBR pile to eventually rise to the top to be devoured. As a writer, I’m a great lover of language and words, and McWhorter’s slim little volume promised to open my mind to a dramatic new approach to the way we view the development of English, and it naturally brought to mind one of my favorite quotes from James D. Nichol: “English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.” and the subsequently similar poster/t-shirt.

Alas, McWhorter seems more interested in beating down fellow grammarians and linguists than he does beating down the actual language, and yet I did not find anything remarkably note-worthy in the volume. It was an incredibly nice breath of fresh air to encounter another of the opinion that language is fluid, what is ‘proper’ in language is sometimes a suggestion of fashion more than actual language, and it’s nice to have someone promising not to go all grammar-nazi on a person who uses “they” when speaking of an generic individual and might even go easy on you if should you misuse “he and I” (something I am not nearly as forgiving about).

While I find McWhorter’s exploration of certain oddities about the English language and where these were most likely developed (Celts, Vikings, Icelandic origins) fascinating and interesting, it never came across as anything new. Perhaps it’s my own Germanic language background, but the connections he made seemed fairly obvious to this particular scholar, which made the fact that so much of the book’s energy spent on debunking things contrary to these points pretty unwieldy. Vikings and Celts butchered the original English language? We have weird quirks that are similar to Welsh? English is related to these languages? Are people actually contending that? Apparently they are, and that boggled my head a little bit.

Either way, the contentions that I wasn’t really aware about in the world of English language history aside, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue is an amusing little volume expounding the things I pretty much already believed. That language is fluid and liquid and completely changeable, that what we know as “proper” language today is usually a reflection of society and that change in language is inevitable based on what’s going on around it, what it’s being used for, and by who.

Or is that by whom?

Books read: 31/100.

And, on another note, I’d love to welcome Word Fusion to the blog as my latest subscriber! Thanks so much for coming along!

The 100 Books Project: Mercenaries.

“From huge, publicly owned firms to small independent companies, the corporate world has learned that war is indeed good business, and business is good and getting better.”


“Mercenaries: Soldiers of Fortune, from Ancient Greece to Today’s Private Military Companies” by Michael Lee Lanning

Mercenaries is a very straight-forward book, of the non-fiction variety, going through the different stages of hired soldiers through time, a journey that I rather enjoyed taking for all the academic, non-literary approach that the journey took. Still, Lanning approaches the subject with a little bit of humor and a great deal of expertise and knowledge. The history of the soldier of fortune isn’t something I ever expected I’d be actively interested in, but I had this book in my Big Pile of Books and thought I’d give it a try. Don’t expect a great deal of literary prose here, but there’s a treasure trove of really great information that could be great for research if you’re intending on writing anything having to deal with mercenaries, be it in a historical context or a modern day setting.

Naturally, as a history nut, I took more interest in the earlier groups of mercenaries, though Lanning’s recounting of groups in Africa during the ’60s made me want to go and pick up Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible again. Meanwhile, the details on the ventures of private companies to turn hired soldiers into fortune and profit made me want to watch a bunch of James Bond and Archer. It was definitely interesting to get a little highlight on these various aspects on the topic in different media.

I find it difficult to say much about a book that doesn’t have a lot of literary value, but Mercenaries is a really cool resource to have in your arsenal. Lanning’s writing is clear and concise, with the occasional spot of humor, and he handles the topic with a business-like knowledge. I think it’s a good read for anyone who’s interested in soldiers of fortune or intend to use them in some fashion in their writing.

Books read: 29/100.

I’d also like to take a second to thank Emma McCoy for subscribing to the blog! Welcome aboard, Emma! Good to have you with us.

RoW80 Check-In: What Happened to the Weekend?

“     ‘We’re paying you to care about rescuing the girl,’ Estialog stated simply. ‘What happens afterwards is categorically none of your business.’
     ‘And if we have a moral concern?’
     Tayahyla snorted again, but held back comment. ‘An odd bunch of brigands,’ Estialog murmured, ‘to be concerned with morality.’
     ‘We never claimed to be typical.’”

As I was writing the title of this Wednesday’s Round of Words in 80 Days check-in, I’m thinking to myself, “But, L, it’s Wednesday. You’re halfway to the next weekend already.” And that just really highlights how busy last weekend has felt, in the fact that my brain is still back there on Sunday or something, while time rushes on through to the next weekend.

I’m used to the weekends being busy and a little crazy; it’s par for the course when you work in retail, and it’s usually the weekdays that mean relaxation, especially the earlier, mid-week days that aren’t so hot for shopping. There’s a lot of crazy, exciting things going on where I work, so everything’s in a whirlwind, things are really crazy, and I was really looking forward to spend today getting back in touch with my writing, and then a coworker asks if I can cover for her tonight. Sigh. This means working six days this week, including one day for 9 hours in an 11 hour span (I got a 2 hour break in between, half of which was driving between locations). I want to shake my fists and just yell “ARRRGGGH,” but I know that this is just the start. There’s a good chance things will get crazier, so I’m bracing myself.

And using all the wonderful writing and reading to keep myself centered and Zen. Everyone’s been noting how I really seem in control of my shit lately, and I intend to keep in control and ride through the chaos like an unfappable breeze of serenity. And I think it’s my writing and the fact that, no matter what happens with my Day Job, things are happening with my Dream Job, too, and that’s just incredible.

The print proof for Bowlful of Bunnies arrived the other day, which is such a trip. I took it to work and showed it off to everyone, too, but I think I want a much smaller size, so today I’m reformatting and resubmitting it for review. Part of my brain wanted to just go with what I have now, but then I had to remind myself that patience is a virtue. While it would be exciting to start shilling this print version now, it’s much better to make sure it’s exactly what I want it to be before I let it out in the world. CreateSpace was incredibly fast…much quicker than they had projected…so I doubt I’d have to wait too long again. Plus, the excitement gets me in a fabulous mood, and, whenever I start to get irritated, all I have to do is think about how, in a few days, I’ll have a print proof of my potential book that people without Kindles can actually buy, whaaaaaat?

I’ve been plugging along with Serpent in a Cage, too, finally getting to the point where I think the dragging middle expositionary section gets back into the action again, which should pick things up. I played around with the idea of bringing in Tayahyla as a narrator again, but I think three is enough for now. Her story can be told better in the next book. I’m also poking at Soulless, the haunted house, and the western with dragons a little bit, too, and wondering if I should skip NaNoWriMo this year or go for it. There’s still time, I must remind myself. People are already talking about it, though, which gets me flailing slightly. I have trouble refusing a challenge when it’s presented, yet maybe I should force myself to show some restraint. We shall have to see.

I’ve still got those book reviews to do (I’ve realized that I’ve been putting them off because I don’t particularly like doing negative reviews, and these ones are not glowing, no), but, other than that, all my attention has been mostly on BoB and SiaC and this craziness that is my life lately. Next week, I might be taking what I’m going to call a brief “writer’s retreat” for a few days, and that should definitely help me anchor my center through the chaos…and allow me some uninterrupted, undistracted chunks of time for writing!

How everyone else doing? Did you get a chance to check out any other RoWers today? (If not, you can find them here!) I’m off to do more formatting and reading and scribbling.

Happy writing!

RoW80 Check-In: The Waiting Game.

“Locke grunted, trying to hold down his irritation. ‘Men lie, Majani,’ he said, ‘and quite often, and that’s why I ask. You didn’t honestly believe us to just blindly follow anyone with enough gold into caves and secret dungeons, do you?’”

I wasn’t sure if I was going to pull off a check-in post today, but, thanks to an agreement that has me working all day tomorrow, I was released from work early today and could have enough time to pen this after all. It’s not going to be much of an update, a little quick and dirty, but things have been going really, really well. Not so much with my Round of Words in 80 Days goals, but with life in general. And I’ve strayed a bit from the goals, but other accomplishments have surfaced, which makes me feel a little better about it. Especially since the whole point of RoW80 is the flexibility.

I’ve been doing really, really well with a-page-a-day on Serpent in a Cage, although I feel this chapter is kind of a hot mess. I’m just going to keep plugging along. This is the boring travel chapter, where I have to rely on character interactions to carry it, and I don’t think I’m doing as well as I could be with that. However, that’s what edits are for, right?

I started transcribing what I have for SiaC‘s sequel, too, and, oh man, is it bad! It’s almost kind of funny. It was last year’s NaNo, so, when I was writing it, it was all about word count. SiaC is still my main focus between the two, obviously, but I’m really going to have to roll up my sleeves when I get to cracking down on this one.

But the real catch in my recent progress is that pesky song of the Muse. Sometimes, I feel like I have practically no attention span at all, but my Muse makes me feel like I’ve got the focus of a GOD. Lately, two of my previous WIPs (Soulless with the zombie dystopian world and the one with the super haunted house) have been calling to me, and, not wanting to ignore them, I’ve embraced them with a little bit of scribbling here and there, too. Now, I know I’ve talked a lot about how I was going to push back the fear of finishing Serpent in a Cage, but a part of me still feels, “Maybe not yet…” So if either of these WIPs continue to demand my attention, I might switch my focus again, but we shall see.

I’ve also got two book reviews that I’ve been lazy about writing, and another one to come up shortly, too, so the reading’s going well, too.

And the most exciting news of all?

The print proof for Bowlful of Bunnies should arrive sometime this week. Wait. Did I say print proof? I do believe I did! I’ve finally hopped on over to CreateSpace to give their program a try, and so far, I am incredibly impressed…as well as completely flabbergasted by how incredibly easy it was! Granted, I haven’t gotten the print yet, so I don’t yet know how it’s going to work out, but if it does….having a print version of BoB is going to open a lot of doors. I have a lot of exciting things planned, and I can’t wait to get them started. Definitely stay tuned!

And, in the meantime, why don’t you hop on over here and visit my fellow RoWers? You’ll be glad you did.

Happy writing!