AugNoWriMo 2018 - The Round-Cheeked Moon

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mrsmig

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OH...Doggos on the beach are the best. Look at that sandy face! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATE! :snoopy::snoopy::snoopy::snoopy::Cake::Cake::Cake::Cake::Cake::snoopy::snoopy::snoopy::snoopy:
 

Kjbartolotta

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Aww, thanks. He's a happy pup. The party hat was a thought, but impossible from an engineering perspective in that situation. (I'll try to get one for posterity).
 

Tamlyn

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Happy pupday! ^^


Week two. Gotten a little offtrack. Today was meant to be a writing day, but with a friend in the country for the month, last minute things with her (between family, other friends, and obligations, she can't give much warning) have been taking priority. We (and one of my sisters, who took the day off) went in to the city and bought books. And looked at gardens and had lunch and stuff. But books! I edited a chapter when I got home in between dinner stuff, and I could maybe do more stuff tonight... but I wouldn't be able to do anything else and I think I'd rather just not. I doubt I'll get another chance this week, so that goal is probably fizzled.

So I've done a few more chapters all up. Not done any stories. Opened and looked in my story folder yesterday and went nuh. So, yeah >> Still going along here and there with the other goals, making bits of progress.

Finished The Martian and started What Katy Did Next. Not sure why I felt like reading it, but I did.

1. Read five books. 1/5
2. Continue game planning. Yes.
3. Continue transcription. Some.
4. Edit two shorts or flash. 0/2
5. Continue Haven. Ongoing.
6. Edit Marietta. Few chapters.
7. Min 500 words OR 2 pages edited per day with one 4hr min day per week. Yes. But probably no by the end of the week.
 

mrsmig

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We've passed the midpoint of the month, folks!

The HVAC replacement/repairs are done, and the house is cool again, thank goodness. As a result I hit my exercise goal for the week, so hooray for that. My short story got rejected, but it was a personal and encouraging rejection, inviting me to submit to them again. A much smaller hooray for that.

My husband went out of town Thursday and I was really hoping to get a lot of writing done while he's gone. Unfortunately Friday I had an on-camera audition for an industrial video and it ate into the day. I wouldn't have minded so much except I think it was a complete bust. I don't often feel like I wasn't given a fair shake at an audition, but this was one of those times. First the guy I was supposed to read with complained because he hadn't prepped that particular scene, so they asked me to wait. Eventually they paired me with a young actor who hadn't prepared the scene either, and as a result the audition was kind of a mess. In an on-camera audition you try to be familiar with the script so you're not looking at it instead of your scene partner, so this guy was giving approximations of the lines instead of the actual lines, which messed both of us up. In addition, my part was small - only about nine lines - so at the end of the audition the director asked us to switch parts so I'd have more to read. Of course, I hadn't prepared the man's part, and it was weird because the scene was very gender-specific (it's for a sexual harassment training video). Both of us were dismissed afterward, so there wasn't even a chance to try it again. The young actor didn't even get to read the scene he'd been asked to prepare for. I was bummed for both of us.

I spoke to the marketing person at my publisher and she's dialed back the amount of material she needs for the virtual book tour for my upcoming release - apparently most of the participants want excerpts from the book rather than blogs, so I sent her five excerpts and one set of interview questions. She says I might want to write a few blogs just in case, and if they're not used for the tour she wants to use them on publishers website. :tongue I hate writing random (unpaid) blogs to provide content for my publisher, so I can't say this is a priority for me. I have a feeling the virtual tour is going to be a bust, too - I think the publisher scheduled too many releases too close together to promote each one properly.

I also read a book this week, pretty much in one sitting: Kate Atkinson's Life After Life. I had some issues with it, but overall it was pretty good.


[ ] Write 20k new words on rough draft of Book 5 - 2765 of 20,000
[ ] Write 10 guest blogs/other promo for Book 4 virtual book tour - 6 of 10
[ ] Exercise at least 2 hours per week
[x] Week 1
[ ] Week 2
[x] Week 3
[ ] Week 4
[ ] Week 5​
[ ] Lose five pounds - 0 of 5
[x] Submit a short story somewhere
[ ] Write two blogs for my website - 0 of 2
[ ] Weed gardens - 0 of 2
[ ] Read two books - 1 of 2
 

Jaymz Connelly

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Not a huge amount of progress this week. Still dealing with a cold (they knock me around something shocking) so energy levels are pretty low. Funnily enough, the only thing I've managed much work on is the quasi-historical story idea that just won't let go. I'm still hopeful I'll finish the sweater and the fanfic by the end of the month.

[ ] finish knitted sweater (Christmas gift) – going very slow
[-] work on The Crystal Throne – shelved for now
[-] work on expanded map for Lantaria – shelved for now
[ ] finish blasted fanfic – progress, at last!
[-] attempt brandy truffles – not happening
[ ] work on new story (6,250 words so far)
 

bdwilson

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Had one of those "busy but not completing the checklist items" weeks. I expect this week to largely be the same, but I should see more movement the week after.

[X] Read A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
[-] Read Fire & Ice by Patty Jansen
[X] Pick Book Club book for August
[-] Read A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
[-] Prep Phantom Echoes
[0/4] Critique about once a week on Scribophile
[X] Edit every day: Week 31 (August portion)
[X] Edit every day: Week 32
[X] Edit every day: Week 33
[ ] Edit every day: Week 34
[ ] Edit every day: Week 35
[ ] Go through my kick-knacks for stuff I can give away
[ ] Give away the give-away pile
[ ] Give away/sell books I cleared out
 

Tamlyn

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So after I missed my normal writing day last week, I felt bad for just kind of shrugging and going oh well and decided I better try and get it done on a work day. So I wrote on the train in, during every break at work, train home, then straight into writing there. And I did it!

And it was absolutely exhausting and I am never doing it again. I didn't have any brain for the last hour either.

But I am still on track on goals now.

So done a bunch of words, a chapter (or two?) more, had a look at what stories to edit at least, some transcription (probably too much: it was my fall back on busy weekends). Playing too much Stardew Valley. Conversation went:

My sister: Oh, hey, Stardew has multiplayer now.
Me: Want to try it?
Her: Sure, we can just test it out.

Two weeks later...

Finished What Katy Did Next. Hasn't changed since the last time I read it :p Went to a massive book sale last weekend. Now, I've been out of this city for eight years so this is the first time I've gotten to the sale in a long while. My sisters were all, oh, it's worse this year, while I was just BOOOOOOKS. (And one sister asking why are you buying Redwall, I just threw all mine out. -_-) Anyway, reading Mary Poppins by PL Travers now because I've always been curious.

Also got my shiny, new, more-expensive-than-my-home-gaming-computer Surface! Hopefully it will be less frustrating than my cheapo alternative and will last me forever given how much it cost >>

1. Read five books. 2/5
2. Continue game planning. Yes.
3. Continue transcription. Good amount.
4. Edit two shorts or flash. 0/2
5. Continue Haven. Ongoing.
6. Edit Marietta. Few chapters.
7. Min 500 words OR 2 pages edited per day with one 4hr min day per week. Still yes!
 
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Tamlyn

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It makes life difficult.


That tiny farm is VERY important though. It needs me!
 

mrsmig

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Only one more week left in August. Truth be told, I'm ready for this month to be over.

My husband and I had just breathed a sigh of relief that the misery (and expense) of replacing our HVAC was done, only to discover two nights back that our hot water tank had also decided to call it quits. The soonest we can get it replaced is Monday; meanwhile, no hot water in the house and another couple thousand out of the bank account. On top of that, my 97 year-old mom fell and fractured her pelvis the beginning of the week. After a couple of days in the hospital, she's now in a rehab facility for the foreseeable future. I was planning to go down to Tennessee to visit her in late September/early October, but now I'm poised to drop everything and run down there if needed. (Fortunately my youngest sister lives in the same town, but she's got a full time job so her time is limited. I'm currently unemployed so time is the only thing I have plenty of.)

With all that going on, I made progress on some of my goals this week - unfortunately, writing wasn't one of them. Did some more excerpts for my publisher, got my weekly exercise sessions in, wrote a blog about the importance of speaking up (based on some recent events in both my acting and writing lives) and got one of my gardens weeded. And as a bonus, I resubmitted that short story to another market.


[ ] Write 20k new words on rough draft of Book 5 - 2765 of 20,000
[x] Write 10 guest blogs/other promo for Book 4 virtual book tour - 10 of 10
[ ] Exercise at least 2 hours per week
[x] Week 1
[ ] Week 2
[x] Week 3
[x] Week 4
[ ] Week 5​
[ ] Lose five pounds - 0 of 5
[x] Submit a short story somewhere
[ ] Write two blogs for my website - 1 of 2
[ ] Weed gardens - 1 of 2
[ ] Read two books - 1 of 2
 
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Kjbartolotta

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Oof, that's a lot to deal with. Great blog post, btw, the older I get the more I realize that speaking up is not easy, can have bad consequences, and is something you need to be able to do sometimes. (Abusive people on the bus have taught me this as much as anything)
 

mrsmig

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Oof, that's a lot to deal with. Great blog post, btw, the older I get the more I realize that speaking up is not easy, can have bad consequences, and is something you need to be able to do sometimes. (Abusive people on the bus have taught me this as much as anything)

Thank you. Funnily, the older I get the less I care about the consequences.
 

Jaymz Connelly

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Man, that's a lot of stuff to take care of in one month, Mrsmig. I hope September will be kinder to you.

I'm failing at all my goals for August - except for working on the new story. That one is going amazingly well. I can't believe I've written almost 20K words on it since I checked in last week.

There's only 4 1/2 days left in the month and there's just no way I'll meet any of my other goals by the end of the month, so I'm admitting defeat on everything but the new story which has kind of become an obsession. Maybe I'll finish the first draft in another week and be able to get back on track with other things. LOL

[ ] finish knitted sweater (Christmas gift) – no progress since last week
[-] work on The Crystal Throne – shelved for now
[-] work on expanded map for Lantaria – shelved for now
[ ] finish blasted fanfic – no progress since last week
[-] attempt brandy truffles – not happening
[ ] work on new story (historical fantasy) (24,922 words so far)
 

arikdiver

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[ ] Complete edit of Act 1 novel
[ ] Two Blog Posts - 1
[ ] Read 2 books - 1
[ ] Finish knitting sock

Also failing spectacularly. This month has ended up so much busier than I thought it would be. I will have to try and get at least one thing ticked off in the next two days.
 

Kjbartolotta

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[X] 20k on first draft. I did it! Now, because of my arbitrary and not-terribly-impressive goal, I plan on slacking the rest of the month.
 

mrsmig

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Congratulations, Kjbartolotta!
 

Saoirse

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Abysmal month. Got slammed with freelance work (which is actually great), but haven't had the energy to do much else. September will be better. *fierce look*

Goals:

[] Finish 2nd round edits on secret project
[] Have secret project professionally edited
[] Oubliette words?
[] Launch plan for secret project
[] Finalize short story idea for antho
 

Jaymz Connelly

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[X] 20k on first draft. I did it! Now, because of my arbitrary and not-terribly-impressive goal, I plan on slacking the rest of the month.

Way to go, Kev! :e2cheer: You can slack off now, until Saturday. :whip:

It's kind of looking like August was a not so great month for pretty much everyone else. Here's hoping September will be better!
 

arikdiver

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[ ] Complete edit of Act 1 novel - nope
[ ] Two Blog Posts - managed one
[ ] Read 2 books - finished one and a half
[
X] Finish knitting sock

Last day of August (and winter here). Finished knitting my socks, so at least I managed to get at least one thing ticked off my list. See you all in the next thread for a more productive (hopefully) month in September.

 

mrsmig

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Last day of the month! How did everyone do with their goals?

Failed miserably on my writing goal (why did I think 20k was going to be achievable when I know I'm a slow writer) and only lost about a pound and a half (I had lost three, but then was eating my feelings and jumped back up). Exercise was a bit of a fail but still more than I've been getting recently. I haven't technically finished that second book but I'm close to the end and will probably finish it tonight, so I'm calling that done. And I got a second blog posted this week, so that's a win.

Hoping for a more productive September. There's some weird shit happening with my publisher so I expect a request for a reversion of my rights is in my immediate future. I was depressed about it earlier in the week but I think I've finally come to terms with it - it'll be all for the best in the long run.

I'm glad fall is coming up fast. I'm tired of summer.


[ ] Write 20k new words on rough draft of Book 5 - 2765 of 20,000
[x] Write 10 guest blogs/other promo for Book 4 virtual book tour - 10 of 10
[ ] Exercise at least 2 hours per week
[x] Week 1
[ ] Week 2
[x] Week 3
[x] Week 4
[ ] Week 5​
[ ] Lose five pounds - 0 of 5
[x] Submit a short story somewhere
[x] Write two blogs for my website - 2 of 2
[ ] Weed gardens - 1 of 2
[x] Read two books - 2 of 2

The September goals thread is up - join me over there to state your goals!
 
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Tamlyn

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Kjbartolotta - grats! 20k doesn't seem like a little goal to me

mrsmig - I hope things turn around for you in the summer

commiserations on awful months for everyone else

I didn't have an awful one, but I didn't have a particular good one, I guess. I got a bunch of ticks and some nos, but I probably did more transcription than I should have and never read enough.

I'm happy about the amount of chapters I did for Marietta at least. I got over 10k words for Haven. And my new Surface is lovely. It did not, alas, suddenly make me able to draw.

1. Read five books. 3/5
2. Continue game planning. Yes.
3. Continue transcription. Probably too much.
4. Edit two shorts or flash. 1/2
5. Continue Haven. Yes.
6. Edit Marietta. 6.5 chapters.
7. Min 500 words OR 2 pages edited per day with one 4hr min day per week. Yes.
 

EMaree

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[x] Finish eLearning Course: Learning How to Learn
(can highly recommend it, great advice on avoiding procrastination and finding focus)
[x] Finish the DtS Scrivener file reshuffle
[x] Write 30k for the month.
[ ] Write 40k. (Nah, but 36k isn't bad!)
[92k] Hit 100k words on DtS. (Almost!)
[ ] Finish the DtS old version Word doc merge
[ ] Finish the DtS edit.


[ ] Hit the 130s weight range. (Nah, but lost 3.2lbs so nae bad)
[1/3] Read three books.

Not my best month, but lots of highlights! I had fun.
 
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