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Posts Tagged ‘ROW80’

ROW80 – Round Three Goals

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 1, 2013| 14 Comments »

I’ve thought and thought about what I want my writing goal to be. I don’t want to set a goal that I’m not likely to achieve, but I also don’t want to make it too easy. There has to be some challenge. Although, last round, writing at all was a challenge. So here is my writing goal. I know I can change it if I have to, but for right now…my goal is to write at MINIMUM three days a week for one hour. Those three days don’t have to be any particular days, just three days sometime in the week. And then we’ll see if I need to change that later.

I want to continue my healthier lifestyle. I don’t set weight goals, because our bodies don’t always cooperate, even when we’re doing the best we can. But I want to continue to work out with weights four days a week and walk on the treadmill 15 minutes in the mornings and 45 minutes or more in the evenings.

There is an announcement I need to make today, but I wasn’t sure it was appropriate on my goals post. However, I don’t particularly like to post twice in one day, so I’ll be brief. Smashwords is having a sale in the month of July, so some of my books there are free and some are half-price. HERE is my profile page and you can find my books from there. The coupon code to use is listed at the top right of each book page.

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Final ROW80 Update 6/20/13

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on June 20, 2013| 17 Comments »

Well, this has been an interesting round. Life has dealt my family and me a few blows, but we keep coming back fighting. How has this affected my writing? It’s really made it hard to write, to be honest. I’ve felt so emotionally drained for the past few months, which also makes me feel drained physically. But I keep trudging on with most things. Just not so much the writing. It doesn’t help that I have a complicated plot, and I’m trying to figure out how to tell the back story. Which is really a story within itself.

I’m not going to take time off from writing between rounds. I’ve had enough time off. And due to the financial situation we’re facing with my husband’s pay dropping, I’ve got to produce more work. Book sales are in the toilet right now (I’m lucky to make $100 a month lately), and I know I’ve got to produce LOTS of work to make any decent money. I know I can’t make enough to live on right now because the market is glutted with self-published books, but I would like to make enough to have a good supplement to our income. So it’s time to stop whining about my plot or how little time I have and start getting to work like this is a real job. You know, like I USED to.

How was YOUR round this time?

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Sunday Update 6/16/13 and Words of Thanks

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on June 16, 2013| 14 Comments »

Finally, Vacation Bible School is over! Whew, I was exhausted every night. It’s amazing how dealing with 6 and 7 year old boys can wear you out. But it was also a very rewarding time. I was the “cool” teacher who let them sit ON the table instead of AT the table. Except the last night, which was punishment for being rowdy the night before. I know, I’m so mean. Imagine punishing first and second graders by NOT letting them sit on the table. LOL. It was a fun week, but I’m glad it’s over.

Now it’s time to get back to writing. I have NO excuses not to do it now. Hubby is back at work and doing well. VBS is over. Work is slowing down, and I’m caught up from being on vacation. NO excuses. Plus, the two good reviews I posted about yesterday has upped my motivation a bit. So I look forward to start back on my WIP. It’s a complicated plot, and it’s going to be hard and slow going, but I can DO this.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who contributed to the fund for me that Kait set up when my husband was in the hospital and then out of work. I keep trying to find words that are adequate to express my feelings, but they all just fall flat. Many of you contributed. Some of you bought my books. And so many of you sent me prayers and/or good wishes, and that means so much to me. I just can’t say enough. I don’t know HOW to say enough. Hospital bills have started coming in, and the $1800+ that was raised really helped. The writing community is made up of good-hearted people. And the readers are awesome, too. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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Sunday Update 6/9/13

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on June 9, 2013| 23 Comments »

I remember the days when the words just flowed out of my mind and into my fingers typing at the keyboard. I remember when I could have a novella written, edited, and published in three months. A novel, slightly longer. Where are those days? Where, I ask you?

I haven’t written since before I went on vacation. I spent last week catching up on work, dealing with a computer problem and working late one night. Yesterday, I spent all day on my house and working on Vacation Bible School stuff. And I’ll be teaching at VBS all this week, so it will be late nights for me. And I can’t write during lunch because that’s when I work out. *sigh*

Writing used to be easy. I’m wondering if this WIP is giving me more trouble because the plot is more complicated than my usual work. Am I just burnt out? Am I scared this WIP won’t be up to par? Am I just extra busy with no energy left for writing? All of the above? Only The Shadow knows. (Some of you younger people might not get that, LOL.)

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Sunday Update 6/2/13

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on June 2, 2013| 12 Comments »

We got back from our trip last night. Although I enjoyed my vacation thoroughly, it was good to be home. Well, it WOULD be good to be home if our air conditioner was working. We had it set on 78 while we were gone (couldn’t turn it too high because of the cats), so when we got home, we turned it back to 75. It was 79 in the house. It pretty much STAYED 79 in the house. The air was blowing out the vents, but it wasn’t cold enough to cool the house. I hope all it needs is Freon. That is probably expensive, but not as expensive as a new heat pump. We can’t take any more big financial hits. We’ve gotten most of the hospital/doctor bills in, and there was one that looks like it involves the hospital, but not directly, that apparently wasn’t “in network”. Like we had a choice. So the out of pocket expense and deductible is MUCH higher on that bill. We’re calling the insurance company to find out WHO that bill is actually from (we don’t have the actual bill, just what the insurance company says we have to pay to a “K Beard”). We already have the bill from the hospital itself and one of the doctors who saw him there. What a mess it’s going to be. Then the air conditioner. Grrr. So right now I’m sitting here sweltering. We have all the windows open, and it’s storming.

I’m going to try to get all my sponsor duties done sometime today, visiting all the blogs I’m supposed to. I just want to say a word about that. Please, please, PLEASE make sure your blog is friendly to people who use WordPress, Blogspot, etc. I’ve tried to visit two blogs that required me to sign in with something else and set up an account. So, if your blog doesn’t recognize my WordPress credentials, I’m not going to be able to comment.

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Sunday Update – From Panama City Beach!

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on May 26, 2013| 15 Comments »

I’m sitting here on the balcony of the 20th floor of our condo listening to the waves and feeling the breeze coming in from the ocean. I’ve been reading recipes to make natural products and just placed another order with Mountain Rose Herbs. Now I need vodka. No, not to drink. More on that another day. 🙂

I’ve been a BAD WRITER. Yeah, because I haven’t written anything since week before last. I had so much to do to get ready for this vacation that I just decided I was going to take time off from writing until vacation is over. Now if something about my WIP happens to hit me, I’ll jot it down. But this week is about relaxing and reading. No work.

This morning, I got up and made everyone biscuits, gravy, and eggs (I make it all with canola oil, no saturated fats), then we all went to church. Tonight, after evening church services, we will find a good seafood restaurant to go to. Last night, I had the best stuffed grouper I’ve ever had. There was absolutely NO fishy taste.

This vacation was much needed. I’m SO glad we had it mostly paid for before hubby got sick, or we might not have been able to go. He started back to work on a totally different job (at the same company)last week, so he’s still in training. His boss actually told him he should have used his vacation time while he was out of work! We would have lost our money if he had done that! Plus, after all the stress, he needed this vacation. Some people have no heart.

If I have time, I’ll post a little bit about my thoughts on natural homemade products tomorrow. But if I happen to just want to lie around on the beach and read…I might not. LOL

I hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day weekend. Or if you’re in a country that doesn’t celebrate this holiday, I STILL hope you’re having a great weekend!

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Sunday Update 5/19/13

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on May 19, 2013| 14 Comments »

Happy Sunday, everyone!

As many of you know, I’ve been having problems figuring out what to do about my hero. There’s a horrible secret in the town where he is sheriff, and I’ve been trying to decide whether or not he could be forgiven if he knew about this secret. Could we forgive him? Could the herione forgive him? But I was sitting down for a session of writing Thursday evening, and instead of jumping into the story, I took out some paper and started jotting down notes about the town’s secret and why it happened, etc. And I realized the hero didn’t HAVE to know what was happening. He suspects some things, but they are so unbelievable that he denies to himself what’s going on. It’s going to work this way, I think! I didn’t exactly do an outline, but I wrote down some major points of things that were going on. Next, I’m going to write down some things that need to happen. My biggest problem now is how to explain to the reader what has happened in the past without an info dump. In this case, it’s going to be hard. I think part of it will be explained in dialogue where someone has to tell the story. Doing that is close to an info dump, so I’m going to have to be careful. There are just some things that can’t be revealed any other way than to tell the story.

Well, I wrote three days last week, but not the three days I originally planned to write. Instead of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I wrote Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. But it was still three days! I wanted to post a word count, but I can’t get Microsoft Excel to work this morning. I’m going to reboot my computer and see what happens. I’ve never had trouble with this program before. 😦

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Sunday Update 5/12/13

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on May 12, 2013| 9 Comments »

Well, I’m still off my game. I only exercised two days, and I didn’t write at all this past week. I had big plans to do a lot of writing yesterday, but I had lots of company, and sometimes company is just more important, you know? Writing will wait, but the people in my life have to come first. That’s just the way I roll. And it seemed like every time I had plans to write during the week, something came up. It was just one of those kinds of weeks.

On another note…hubby and I watched Jack Reacher Friday night (maybe that was one of the things that came up, LOL). I really, really loved that movie. I had qualms about seeing it because of the casting of Tom Cruise. Jack Reacher is suppose to be 6’5″ and between 220-250 lbs. All muscle, of course. You can see why Tom Cruise wouldn’t have been my first choice for the role. When I found out who they had cast, I was ALL bent out of shape. But I will admit, he didn’t do a bad job at all. I still would have cast someone bigger and tougher, but Tom Cruise did fine with the acting. I really enjoyed the movie, and hubby did, too.

It’s only two weeks until my vacation. Luckily, we had already paid for everything before hubby’s hospital stay, so we’re able to go. We’ll just have to pay for food, but since we’re staying in a condo (shared with friends), we can buy groceries just like we would at home instead of going out for every meal. We REALLY need this vacation. I need to just let go of all the stress and just enjoy myself for a little while. One thing we’ll have to be careful about is going too long without stopping on the way. We usually stop at least three times during an eight hour trip, but hubby needs to stop more often this time. Long car rides can actually CAUSE blood clots, and we have to make sure the one in hubby’s leg doesn’t get worse. We don’t want any more breaking off and going into his lung now that his lung is getting better. Life seems to be looking up a little now. I want to keep it that way for awhile, at least what we can control.

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Sunday Update 5/5/13

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 5, 2013| 10 Comments »

Finally, I wrote one day last week! Saturday, I wrote 2038 words. So I’m breathing a sigh of relief. I was beginning to think I just couldn’t write anymore, but I think it was just all the stress worrying about my husband, worrying about finances, worrying about everything. Well, I shouldn’t use the word “worry”, I guess I should say concerned. Worry shows a lack of faith. But none of us are perfect, right? So, yeah, I guess I was worried. But hubby is feeling SO much better. He’s pretty much back to normal, at least on the surface. I know the clots are still there, but his last chest x-ray was better, and his blood is finally thinning like it should. That was a real concern. The doctor made him do some things like walk briskly up and down the hallway to see if he had shortness of breath, and he passed that test. So he is definitely much better. Yay!

Next week, I plan to get back to the gym for weight work. Then, in the evenings, I’ll either walk on the treadmill at home or ride my bike (if I can find the pump to air the tires!). I want to combine the weight and aerobic exercises and get back to healthy living. And I’m going to try to get back to writing at least three days a week, then go up to four. Hopefully, life will get back on track!

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Wednesday Update 5/1/13

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on May 1, 2013| 10 Comments »

Actually, I don’t really have a lot to update. I hope to get back to my Thursday-Saturday writing schedule this week. My WIP has been on my mind, so I guess that’s a good sign. I almost have my office arranged the way I want it, so the writing might be easier.

Hubby is still improving. He had a really rough night a couple of days ago, his chest hurting so badly, I thought I was going to have to take him to the emergency room. We were afraid another clot from his leg had detached and went to his lung. However, when he went to the dr. the next morning for his biweekly blood test, his lung x-ray was actually better. The dr. said he thought hubby had a rib out of whack and did an adjustment. He felt much better after that. Plus, he still has pleurisy from the whole lung ordeal. He REALLY wants to get back to work.

Speaking of back to work…that’s where I am, so I better get to it so I won’t get any further behind.

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