Wednesday, March 2, 2016

ROW80 Check-in: Another Challenge?

Take Control of Your TBR PileI can't believe I'm taking on another challenge. Thanks to Kat Morrisey and a few others leading the way, the March Take Control of Your TBR Pile CHALLENGE starts right now! 

Here's my working list of books that have been in my TBR pile for over a year (not counting books on Kindle). 
1. Ape House by Sara Gruen.
2. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini.
3. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.
4. Incidents of Travel in Yucatan by John Lloyd Stephens.
5. Springer's Heart by Bob Manion.

Perhaps this new challenge is just a metaphor for change. We're home. Nothing changed here but the garage door won't open, the kitchen light won't work, and it's a sharp drop from 75 degrees to a high of 40, with yesterday's morning rain looking awfully like sloppy snow. DH's back went into spasm, and he can barely walk, grunting now and then, those short gasps that say serious pain has taken up residence. Yesterday was doctor day and a rough 7-10 days ahead. I'm hoping the stronger muscle relaxant will work. At least he had Super Tuesday to get him through the day/night, though how many more times I can hear those TV hosts say, "Stand by for breaking news"?

I've only been gone a month, but friends have hubbies in the  hospital, cats and dogs and birds have died, and it's still not spring.

ROW80 goals for writing? By this Sunday, at least 3 out of 4 editing/revising sessions for Rivers of Stone.

Community? Attend Spokane Authors, Read ROW80 x 6. Maybe write a blog article on a new book I found.

As for the rest, just maybe not this week.

And is it Wednesday, time for WIPpet Wednesday? Yep. Under the working premise of it's better to write something than nothing, I offer the following short opening, something funny to play with between the round of editing for Rivers of Stone above. 

Here's 105 words (the math related to the date = 3/2/2016 = 14 sentences divided by 2 because I feel only half home = grand total of 7 sentences. Working title? Granny Vampire. My only question: Would you want to read more?


If Tommy Hunter cut in front of her one more time, flipping his long blonde hair and flashing her a grin like dimples trumped who was first, she’d transform right before his eyes into a blazing vampire with knifes for fingernails. Sandy tipped her head back on the pillow, imagining the black leathers she’d wear and the look on his face as she moved in for the kill.
A bell chimed, once, twice, three times.
Dammit, she thought. Breakfast time. 
Sandy coughed and reached for the walker close to her twin bed. If I could turn myself into a vampire, now would be the time.

That's it . . . Have a great week. See y'all Sunday. Read what others have written for WIPpet Wednesday and ROW80.  And keep our online community hanging in there!

Not a self-portrait but pic of Iguana from
South Texas Botanical Gardens (Feb 2016) 

7 comments:

  1. Oh, wow! Yes, I would definitely want to read more. The last bit caught me by surprise and piqued my interest.

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    1. Sometimes I fall so deeply into revision of the main wip that I forget the fun of just writing. This opening came as a dream, just this scene, but I think I'm going to try to plot out a short with it. Just for fun. Thanks for commenting AM.

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  2. I like your snippet. Is she disabled because she reached for her walker?
    Shalom,
    Pat

    My WIPpet is at http://www.patgarciaschaack.com/thinking_it_over/2016/03/wippet-wednesday-march-2-2016.html

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    1. Hello, Pat. Thank you for reading and commenting. Not sure yet. Maybe I'll find out . . . as the story unfolds. I was winging from the title, GRANNY VAMPIRE. :)

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  3. This reminds me of a post I saw on Facebook not long ago about how terrible it is that Chosen Ones are always teenagers who don't have enough life experience to really deal with saving the world, and where are all the kick-ass grandmas? I would definitely read more!

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  4. You pack a lot of punch in those 7 sentences. Very intriguing indeed. Have a great week and hope things around the house start going better for you and hubby.

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  5. What Emily said! I get so sick and tired of those teenagers ...

    I have to admit that I'm not a big vampire fan, but this one looks like fun. :)

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