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Showing posts from February, 2015

Complete... Sort of

I finished my first draft of The Page & The Magician on the evening of Wednesday, February 25, 2015. I felt like I wanted to run outside and shout it from the mountaintops. I'm sure lots of people wouldn't understand and some might have thought I should be taken to a special room with soft walls and ultra bright lights. It's the first novel I've finished writing, but not the first I have started. One of my other works in progress, Scion , I have been working on for 5 years and I'm still on the first draft. I wrote the first draft of The Page & The Magician in 4 months. I can't even believe it. I learned a lot about writing, researching, and tenacity during it and that will help me when I get back to my other novel, though it'll take me a little bit to get reacquainted with that story. Right now I feel like I need to sleep for a couple of weeks and do a major house cleaning. I don't have much time for sleep between roller derby, martial arts, an

Back on the Board!

Achieved since last check-in: - Written 720 words - Attended ChiSeries' event for Dark Side II tour of horror authors (bought 5 more books - addicted to books) - Ordered author's business cards - Watched more episodes of Homeland (I think I'm nearly caught up) - Practiced guitar Alright, so not a lot has been done in the last couple of days compared to what I usually accomplish, but I've written more words! The battle is happening, though I'm probably in telling mode more than showing mode, but the words are somewhat flowing. I attended the ChiSeries event last night and had a great time listening to authors read from their books. Last night, something that I hadn't seen at previous readings happened. One of the readings was such a scary topic that the room fell completely silent. Everyone was entirely focused on the author to the point that it was as though they stopped breathing. The author was Rob Pobi and the book Harvest . I mostly bought thrillers, but I h

Layers

Accomplished since Wednesday: - Wrote some research notes that I'm not counting in my word count as more than 3/4 are copied and pasted. - Saw Jupiter Ascending - Practiced guitar - Made macaroons - Went on a date - Finished covering a cord in my living room and started painting it - Got a haircut (long overdue on that one) - Did a load of dishes - Worked on my paper mess - Finished sorting through costumes - Went to Iaido class - Put away some clean clothes - Watched some episodes of Homeland - Put gas in my car - Finished my 2015 objectives for work So I think tonight I feel like talking a bit about my writing process. Right now I'm not putting a lot of words into my story, but I'm okay with that because that's part of my process. Sounds weird, right? I write in layers. My first layer is often like: "Character A is going to do something and Character B is going to feel some way about that." So Layer 1 is just a simple statement to capture a very basic idea.

Research mode plus a mixed bag

What I've accomplished since last check-in: Wrote 0 words, but figured out more characters for the final battle scene and expect words to come soon Learned how to use a hydraulic jack Uploaded my guitar assignment to SoundCloud Caught up on Castle and I'm upset. I hope Kate's going to be okay! Watched some episodes of Homeland Bought things to finish a couple of projects around the house Completed the knit bag for my phone and change purse Bought my tickets for Ottawa Comiccon 2015! Ordered the last trade paperback for a series I've been unable to read as I have 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Today was a mixed bag. I almost got hit while backing out of my parking spot at home and then the same guy almost hit me again when he decided to drive backwards at full speed to ask directions! I arrived at the parking lot across from my work to find the city had removed a large amount of snow allowing people to cross the street and access the sidewalk from any point rathe

Check-in and Other Stuff

Things accomplished since last check-in: - Added 186 words to The Page & The Magician  (but tomorrow IS a holiday for me...), so I'm sitting at 58,328 with 13,219 to go - Rearranged book pieces as the clutter was making my mind upset - Put together my bike trainer and got my bike onto it - Met with a lady about finding out more about my ancestry - Practiced guitar - Had a massage - Went to a Divertimento Orchestra performance - Biked for 30 minutes on my trainer (bad idea before Iaido class as my legs died quickly during class) - Practiced Iaido - Converted the asian screen I bought earlier this year into a headboard (it's now flat and doesn't have open bits) - Began knitting a new carry bag for my phone as ladies pants often don't have pockets or don't have big enough pockets to carry things like phones - Watched more episodes of Castle (loved the ninja episode and the 1970s episode!) Yet to do: - Quizzes and an assignment for my guitar course - Make supper -

Why I Think Bricks and Mortar Businesses are Struggling

This week, as part of my Valentine's gift to myself, I ordered a bike trainer from Amazon. I truly would have got one in town, but the cheapest in town was at Canadian Tire for $199.00 plus tax. Other places had them upwards $300.00 plus tax. I paid less than $300.00 for my entire bike. My bike trainer from Amazon cost $89.95. I added the front wheel riser for around $15. In total my order including tax and shipping was about $140.00. I find bricks and mortar businesses are often not in tune with consumer needs. The one I ordered is supposed to be fairly quiet. The one at Canadian Tire is apparently so noisy one can't hear a TV over it or use it well in a condo/apartment building. What made them choose to only stock one option of the many available? I intend to get in shape while catching up on the plethora of TV shows I'm behind in. I don't think it's unusual for people to do cardio workout while watching TV either. If it was, the gyms wouldn't have TVs in the

Writing, skating, music, swords, and other fun stuff

Since the Sunday check-in I've: - Written 1017 words - Attended my monthly writer's group meeting - Skated on the Rideau Canal for the first time ever (Dow's Lake to Lansdowne and back) - Bought new guitar strings and a guitar humidifier - Restrung my 3/4 acoustic guitar (I need a lot more practice at this) - Practiced Iaido - Practiced Guitar (I'm convinced we're learning The House of the Rising Sun) - Completed a technical manual at work that's been in the works for over a year (I hate technical writing and was very busy with more critical things) - Ran my dishwasher - Started collecting things for my 2015 Comiccon costume - Watched some episodes of Castle Today I got a sweet leather backpack that is big enough to carry my laptop for $10 at a thrift store. I learned in previous years at Comiccon that it's good to have a backpack to carry things as I usually buy stuff and I like to take notes at the panels. I wrote the ending of my book today. I think I'

I can see the end!

I can't believe I forgot to check-in on Wednesday! I was even on vacation... Since last Sunday's check-in I've: - written 1,548 words - completed my level 1 sewing class (hope there are enough students for level 2 to run) - learned buttonholes and that my machine does them in an awesomely magical way where I stick a button into the foot and it auto-magically calculates everything and just does it! - started Introduction to Guitar on Coursera - managed to kick my snooze button habit (next up, getting out of the house before 9:30 am) - been tested for Celiac's and H. Pylori (unsure when I get the results) - knitted a new lanyard for my work badge as the only ones I could find to buy had beer logos on them - tuned my acoustic guitar - completed 3/4 of a jigsaw puzzle (everything left is blue) - caught up on The Walking Dead - finally moved my Christmas tree into storage - laundry (thanks to friends who let me use their machines as our laundry room has been closed for 3 wee

My Martial Arts Journey

An essay I wrote for a course I took on learning: My martial arts journey began in 2010 with Shotokan Karate, where I worked my way up to a blue belt. My reasons for joining karate were mainly because I was curious about martial arts and felt I needed to do something active after completing a degree in business. I chose my school or dojo (doe-joe) based on having the teacher or sensei (sen-say) as a classmate in a couple of business classes. I was not athletic prior to this, and I was overweight, which made the workouts difficult. During the journey to blue belt I eventually was able to do 1,000 kicks for the fundraiser the dojo had that year. Later, I decided to try out Goju Ryu Karate, but my life was filled with multiple stresses and I could not focus on learning new things, so though I truly enjoyed my time at my second dojo, I doubt I can recall any of the exercises or katas (kah-tahs) I worked on during that period. I moved to a new city and knew I needed a martial art in my life

Check-in!

Since the last check-in, I've: - written 74 words - reorganized some chapters - completed my Coursera course - bought new printer cartridges - attended roller derby practice where I practiced paperwork and the annual league meeting - had my second sewing class- registered for another course and Coursea There may have been more, but I'm nodding off as I write this. Ciao, R~