ROW80 Sunday night check-in

Saturday, I spent the entire day at a quilt workshop, learning how to make quilt squares slant. No pattern. Vivid colors. Quite a challenge and yet, by the end of the day, I had four and a half blocks, 2 houses, a sideways tree, and a star. A friend gave me a few panel pieces that might make a quilt, women dancing barefoot under a bright sun. And so the next project begins.

Free form block (Camp 2014)

Much like writing that begins with a flicker, a bit of dialogue, and suddenly a scene emerges, a character rebels, or an old journal surfaces a line that jangles against a newspaper article, a time in history, a half-forgotten dream.

I have five short books to read, all about the Oregon trail, the Whitman massacre, the early wagon trains setting out overland to California. These borrowed books have been waiting for several months atop one of my bookcases, as I pursued the final editing on Years of Stone. This week, I shall begin.

ROW80 Sunday update and goals for the week ahead:

--Work on book supplements for Years of Stone (afterword, list of characters, map, glossary). Draft blurb for cover. No real progress yet. High priority for the coming week. 
--Post on writing blog 2x, travel blog 1x, ROW80 2x and read minimum 5. OK progress. Posted once on writing blog, 0 on travel blog, made goal for ROW80.
--Write Reflection piece for A to Z challenge. Not yet.

--Read and review 5 ABNA quarter finalists this week. Done.
--Read at least one of two pending beta reads. No progress. Currently reading My Name is Resolute by Nancy E. Turner and Diana Gabaldon's Outlander, nice thick books that promise another world.
--Begin reading for Rivers of Stone, Book 3.
--Work on MailChimp. Steady progress. Setting up mail list.

--Hold my breath until May 23 for the Publishers' Weekly review of Years of Stone. Now this last goal (?) was a real challenge, for the review was not positive. Intellectually, I understand the way forward. Emotionally, I'm still grappling with the fallout and wrote about it on my writing blog. For any writer must face down self-doubt as well as negative critiques. And persevere.

Now, if you are so inclined to offer words of encouragement to other participants in A Round of Words in 80 Days, go HERE to see what other ROW80 writers are about this week. And may your own writing and/or reading go well!