A bridge over a beautiful waterfall

A bridge over a beautiful waterfall
Nature brings magic

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Just a quick update

Life threw me another curve ball and I landed back in the hospital for 5 days. I got home late on Wednesday so I was home for Thanksgiving but it was a toss up to see if I'd be spending the holiday in the hospital or not. I got to spend the holiday with family so it was a good ending to a bad situation.

To the ROW 80 crowd, I'm still pushing forward towards my goal of winning NaNoWriMo this year. I'm behind on the word count at the moment but I'm still out of work so I've got a chance this week to make up for it. Everything else got put on hold because of the trip to the hospital. I'm getting back to normal so I expect I'll be back to work on my usual stuff by mid-week.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Random stuff

This is just a post of random stuff and my mid-week #ROW80 update.

Random thing #1: HOORAY ELECTION DAY IS OVER! If you got out to vote, hooray for you! No, really. I'm glad you went out and voted. I'm not registered to vote in my area and I don't have the ability (no utility bill/proof of residency) to get registered so I'm not able to vote. I'd have voted if I could. But for all of you who exercised your right, I'm glad you did.

Random thing #2: I REALLY hate being stuck at home on a leave of absence. I go stir crazy and I'm only on day 3 of the new LOA.

Random thing #3: I'm addicted to Mountain Dew. (Okay, that may not be anything new to people who've known me for a while.)

Random thing #4: My cat likes to play paw tag with the new kitten at random hours that are extremely ungodly which wakes me up and makes me cranky. Which then gets the cats into trouble when all they want to do is play. Not their fault, but I am NOT a 4 am perky person.

Random thing #5: I need a nap (because of the 4 am wake up call this morning).

And now for the #ROW80 update:

Everything is going the same. Exercise is good. Started a new med cycle this week so I'm getting used to that. Writing on the novel is progressing. Back to square one on the work thing but moving forward from there.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

WIP Blog Hop: Burning Dreams

Well, the wonderful KD Sarge tagged me for a blog hop, and like any good friend I accepted her invitation. You're supposed to answer ten questions about your current work in progress. Then you tag five other writers/bloggers and link to them. So I'm going to give it a shot.


1) What is the working title of your book?

I call it "Burning Dreams" because Raghnall is a fire elementalist and because it's not a happy book.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

Raghnall showed up about 5 incarnations of this world ago as a minor character and worked his way into becoming a major character. His story has changed drastically over those 5 incarnations to what it is today. Where today's specific idea came from was a brainstorming session with Himself because I wasn't happy with how happy/fluffy/cheerful my stories were.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

High fantasy

4) Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I really don't know who could play Raghnall and Elan. It would have to be a pair of young actors and I'm afraid my knowledge of the younger crowd is sadly lacking. Both would have to be incredibly fit. The one for Raghnall ideally would have to be a martial artist because Raghnall is a fighting monk as well as a mage.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Raghnall must learn to control his powers as he watches the world burn in the fires of war.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I haven't decided yet.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I'm writing it right now. It's my NaNo project so I hope to have the bulk of it written this November and to finish it by January.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

That's a tough question. I would say the Last Herald Mage books by Mercedes Lackey have some elements of this story. Possibly her  Brightly Burning story as well. Also Soulforge and Brothers At Arms by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weiss.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Some of what happens to Raghnall mirrors the abuse I suffered as a child. Most of it, though, came out of a desire to tell a story that was completely different from what I'd done before.

10) What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

A demon has possessed the Emperor and is orchestrating the destruction of Lytharia to fuel its power, and the chosen servant of the God of Balance is on the run for his life. A dragon guards a spell so powerful it can utterly destroy all magic in the area it is cast in, to the point where magic can never be cast there again.

And now who to tag...

Miriam
Murphy's Lawyer
Angela
Heather

Not my best day

I went back to work on the 1st. Yesterday (the 3rd) after 2 hours, my boss hauled me into her office and told me I was worse than I'd been before I left on my leave and that she wanted me gone until I could come back as my normal self. So it's back to the rounds of doctors and issues with Met Life and problems with finances until I can get things sorted out. I am not looking forward to this.

I guess, on the plus side, I'll have more time to write. The problem is I've had nothing but time to write since I went on my leave in September. Yes, I'll be able to finish NaNo this year. Hell, if I do end up taking a continued leave of absence I'll be able to finish it before the end of November.

But I don't want to take a continued leave of absence. I wanted to go back to work. I was tired of being stuck at home, worrying about money, and being bored off my ass. There's only so much I can do when I'm stuck within the same four walls.

We'll have to wait and see what happens tomorrow when my doctor's office is open. I also have to call Met Life and see what their procedure is for me continuing a leave that I was just released from. I need to find out if I can even do that or if I have to start the process over again. Which would suck, but at least my doctor knows the procedure now.

To be honest, I didn't manage to work my full shift on Thursday. I had a hard time even working my few hours that I agreed to come in and work on Friday. Maybe I wasn't ready to go back to work. I know I've talked to those around me (Himself and roommates) and they agree with my boss that my mood has been all over the place and I'm worse now than I was before I went into the hospital. So I probably need to take some more time off until I can get the med situation worked out.

As for the ROW 80 update, I'm keeping up on my personal goal of exercising. My writing goal of working on the novel is going well. I seem to have failed spectacularly at my work goal so I'm back to square one on that one.