Celebrations and Do You Have Goals?

Many thanks to Viklit and her team for hosting Celebrate the Small Things, and Many Thanks to Misha and Beth for hosting Do You Have Goals?

I'm going to combine posts, so hopefully it all makes sense, and is short enough to read. :)


1. Progress on Champion's Destiny sputtered and nearly died, and then I started up again - new plan, refreshed perspective.

2. I wrote a grouping of poetry/fiction/vignettes and submitted them at the beginning of the month, so my "short works" Write 1 Sub 1 goal is on track. Plus, a previous submission, "Cloud Download," was published at Espresso Stories.

3. I'm working on several "short" projects like: my micro-fiction series, Ashes Burn, a free, ongoing series; plus some re-pubs of individual short stories like "Seedling," "The Bridge Snap," and "The Horse in the Well" - which are all kindle select publications which I plan to use for my Friday Freebies. (Hint: wait for them to come up free on Fridays in the months to come.)

4. I had a sale on my books this month - trying to earn some coffee money, at least. Marketing seems to be a skill that has escaped me entirely, but I'm still persevering.

5. I'm signed up for NaNoWriMo. At first, I planned on focusing on Captain Wrath (finally), but now it looks like I'll be working on dueling plots: Champion's Destiny in the mornings, and Captain Wrath in the afternoons/evenings. I will get them finished, by hook or by crook. (does anyone else actually say that?)

6. The red carpet premiere of Ghost Noir - a little indie film that both my daughters acted in this last summer and fall. (2 pics at the end of post - added late)



What are you celebrating? And, do you have goals that you're working towards this year?


#FridayFreebie Dragonfold and Other Adventures - only free on Friday

Celebrate the Small Things and Prep for NaNo, part 3

Celebrate the Small Things:
(Brought to us by Viklit and her team of Celebrators)

1. My husband's hospital stay was less than 36 hours - yay! He's a healthy guy, but we had a scare that is requiring some further tests. With some minor medical care and his usual eat-healthy-bike-to-work lifestyle, he should be ok.

2. Lots of prayers, thoughts, hugs, and offers of help by family and friends. Thank you. When my prayers were in the speechless-shock-groan-of-the-heart category, I had some serious
prayer warriors intervening. Again, thank you.

3. Ashes Burnis on its 9th episode today. The three characters: Wend, Teresa, and King Bryant have intertwined stories. Wend's story updates on Mondays, Teresa's story updates on Wednesdays, and King Bryant's updates on Fridays.

4. And, these eyes . . .

Clyde, our "foundling-rescue" dog. And yes, he's full-grown - part pug, part beagle, part ?

Prep for NaNoWriMo, Part 3: Super Simple Outlines

 Loglines are a single sentence summary of the plot. Although a challenge to write, they guide me through the twisting "squirrel" chasing moments of mad writing for NaNoWriMo.

I would write more about loglines, but I found this amazing, incredible post on loglines by C. Lee Mckenzie.

After I write a logline for the whole book, I try to write one for each character.

 Logline for the novel:

Logline for the MC:

Logline for the antagonist:

Logline for the love interest/best friend/mentor:

  
When I get through my loglines, I expand to this style of outline:

Super Simple Outline:

1. Set up/Inciting Incident: What starts the story?

2. Three challenges/obstacles that the MC will face:

3. Mirror Moment: at what point will the MC see the difference between who she/he wants to be and who she/he is, and decide to change/make a difference?

4. Climax:

5. Resolution:


Slightly more extended outlines, like the Save the Cat 18 point outline, are where I head next . . .

Do you use simple loglines or outlines, or do you need the twenty page type outlines to write? Are you a plotter/pantser/hybrid?

What are you celebrating this week?

And don't forget your Friday Freebie: Dragonfold and Other Adventures for kindle readers. This is a book of fantastical stories and poems. Enjoy!

Also, the first two books in The Champion Trilogy, Champion in the Darkness and Champion in Flight, are currently 99 cents for ebook. This sale lasts until the end of October.

 

 

 

 

Celebrate the Small Things

Many thanks to Viklit and her awesome team of celebrators!

This week, I'm celebrating:

1. Two projects 99% complete and in use. My books of notes and assignments, although not as polished as I would like them to be, are done and are in use for two of my co-op classes this year.

In response, one young man said, "You wrote this! You wrote all of this, this summer . . . for fun?!"  Then, he turned bright red, as if he realized he had insulted my idea of "fun."
(The reality is that I have some serious control freak issues in the area of teen writing curriculum . . . either that, or incredible arrogance.)

2. All the awesome votes I received for Champion in Flight for the categories of "Best Kickbutt Main Character" and "Most Evil Villain" at Indie Recon Live! Voting is closed, but I feel seriously loved. Thanks!!!

3. I jumped off a cliff jump-started a project I've had in the works since early spring - an experimental micro-fiction serial entitled Ashes Burn. The first season Ashes Burn: Away is pre-loaded and will start "airing" on October 6th, with three "episodes" a week. (It's super experimental and super short so it's super scary, but I really want to get it out there anyway.)

4. How I Found the Write Path is out and is FREE in e-book format everywhere!!! The amazing Carrie Butler put this project together with some help from PK Hrezo. It's a huge honor to be on the list of sixty authors in this book.

Here’s the lowdown on this project: To celebrate Carrie's third blogoversary, she decided to pay it forward by inviting the writing/blogging community to help those just starting on their publishing journey. Why? Because it’s one of the most crucial periods in a writer’s life—full of nerves and hope we refuse to acknowledge. We’ve all been there.

That’s why over sixty of us have written letters to our past selves, candidly sharing things we don’t always discuss in public. The hope is that those of you who haven’t published will learn from our experiences. And those of you who have published? Well, you just might realize you’re not alone.

 

 

Links for free download:

► Amazon Kindle (US)
► Barnes & Noble Nook
► Kobo
► iTunes
► Smashwords
► Txtr
► Scribd
► Amazon Kindle (UK)
► Amazon Kindle (AU)

Have you picked up your free copy of How I Found the Write Path? Ever had anyone be surprised by your writing habits/idea of fun? Ever heard of micro-fiction? And, what are you celebrating this week?

And for those who think I have a cheerleader life and a naturally sunny disposition, please note that I spent Wednesday this week feeling super grumpy, in pain, and finally, I went to bed with a book and some ibuprofen (and I don't like taking any meds unless they're absolutely necessary) and I made my family fend for themselves for dinner. We all have days like that.
I'm thankful for the stuff we get to celebrate and for Viklit who reminds us to celebrate!