Sunday, August 19, 2018

Round 3, Week 7: Catch-up!

Round 3, Week 7 of A Round of Words in 80 Days, with only 31 days left in this round. We're just home from a two-week jaunt to Canada, visiting familiar and new places. Lots of pictures, learned our limits on hiking and touring (need those rest days).

The real question: Did I get any writing done? I pretty much set everything else aside and did manage to write every day on The Seventh Tapestry, with Section 01 coming into focus (more romance) and a few scenes for Section 02 (a fire and a death). Stats: 4,800 words over 14 days = a little over 300 words a day with notes on what comes next and what needs more research.

Eden's note for today's check-in suggests now is the time (she's right) to focus on what we can accomplish (and want to complete) before Round 3 ends. My working list is too long, so basically, here are my goals:

  • WRITING: How about 9,000 new words before September 31 on Tapestry
  • Other writing: Work on moving The Mermaid Quilt to audio-book. Really would like to update Years of Stone format for paperback. The Kindle version shows updates beautifully, but I can't get the paperback format updated. Yet. Also have updates pending for Standing Stones for paperback and Kindle. Neither have updated . . . yet.
  • COMMUNITY/MARKETING. Confirm book club visits x2, both in September. Read more blogs consistently (minimum 8 per week). Set up some kind of  'thank you' and send newsletter for end-of-summer (which is ending far too fast and far too smoky for most of us). Continue reviews x2 for indie writers each month. Meet with writers' group x2/month.
  • OTHER: Finish maybe 2 comfort quilts in September. Keep working that weight goal for July. So far, so good. Exercise: 3x/week swimming. That vacation was a learning experience (stamina) and new adventures. Here's my favorite picture of Allen at the Alberta Wild Bird Preserve.

OTHER UNFINISHED GOALS (and not in any particular order):

  • Wanted to collect my poems into a chapbook. Not sure this will happen this year. Will participate in OctPoWriMo, a poem a day for the month of October.
  • Wanted to work on family history. Again, found some fascinating stuff, including one hardy ancestor who used to walk his bear (yes, black and furry) right down the street in Sweden back in the 1820's. 
  • Would love to blog on my writing blog more than 2x a month. Maybe? This goes back to the newsletter -- connecting with my readers. 
  • Would love to finish (and publish) Mothers Don't Die (kind of a dark, serial killer mystery) this year. Got some amazingly helpful feedback from judges after entering PNWA's writing competition this year. Green light go?
  • Would love to create a boxed set for my historical fiction trilogy, but can't do this until Amazon accepts my updates! Darn!
Ah, the list is too long. Which one would you choose??? Some days now, I need to put my feet up and rest. 

May your goal-setting go smoothly with just a month to go. Let's be thankful for the coming month and see what other ROW80 writers are up to on the blog or on FaceBook.

Oh, and the elevators in our Calgary hotel had the funniest pictures (here's just one, a rare selfie), making me laugh and want to write more memes! Or, like Rui Chan, maybe a haiku with pictures!

Selfie: The left of the sign shows hot sauce bottles!



4 comments:

  1. Sounds like you got some good writing done while on vacation. Hope it was a good trip.

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    1. Thanks, Fallon. It was a fabulous trip, despite the smoke everywhere in Alberta and BC. We came home to even worse smoke here in Spokane!

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  2. I'm the last person to help with choosing which goals to work on first! I'm just going to keep stumbling forward on mine. Once summer is over, hopefully things will settle down (no, that's gonna happen if you've seen my schedule this fall!).

    My brother-in-law was in Seattle last week and said it was so hazy out and they were advising people to wear masks when outside. How sad and scary too.

    Hope this weather, around the world, straightens out soon.

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    1. Actually, I read your update this week before I wrote mine, so that fall schedule of yours looks busy (don't we go one step at a time, hoping for the best). Smoke is a little better this morning with cooler weather for the coming week, but still weather-related challenges remain everywhere. Thank you for your encouragement!

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