Express Yourself: February Goals

The Express Yourself Weekly Meme is made possible by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests.

The question for this week is: What goals do you have set for yourself this month?

This is a good question, because I've set my sights high this month.  At least, as high as I can while still making sure my two boys don't get themselves into too much trouble.

First of all, I'll mention an important goal that has nothing to do with my writing. I've been looking into finding a decent used car for $3000 or less.  It doesn't need to be fancy.  It just needs to run and have a backseat for hauling kids around.  We never got around to replacing the Buick that spontaneously combusted on us in October 2012, and I think it's about time we did.

As far as my writing is concerned, I've set the goal of completing the first draft of my WIP by Valentine's Day.  I hope I can do it.  If not, then at least I hope I can do it by the end of the month.  You see, I've arranged for tiny little saboteurs to come to my home and make my life miserable if I fail in this mission.  Though if they mess with my coffee supply, we'll have major issues!

I've also signed on for three fun blog hops this month.  The first is The Bloody Valentine Blog Hop on February 14th.  It's hosted by A.F. Stewart, and it's all about love gone wrong.  It should be a lot of fun coming up with something for that.

The next is the Ubuntu Blog Hop, and it's running from February 18th through the 21st. This gives participants plenty of flexibility in deciding when to post, which is always nice.  This one is hosted by Michelle Wallace, who has now been blogging for three years.  The purpose of the hop is to capture the essence of ubuntu, and it's up to you how you decide to do that.

The last blogging event of the month that I've signed on for is WIP: The Movie. This one is being co-hosted by Kyra Lennon and Rachel Schieffelbein, and it takes place on February 28th.  For this one, we're being asked to cast actors to play the characters in our WIP, and to post pictures of them.  We're also being asked to come up with a soundtrack.  This sounded like a good bit of fun to finish out the month.

One other goal is to keep plugging away at my posts for A to Z.  I've finished all of them for this blog, but I'd like to get a few of them done for my other blog, Warped Nerdiversity, by the end of this month.  I have my subjects selected for each post.  It's just a matter of writing them out.

And last but not least, I'd like to look into doing some freelance writing and editing work to earn some more cash.  As life gets more expensive, I must search for more income.  That's just the way of things, I suppose.  If any of you have any advice for me in this realm, I'm certainly open to it!

Anyway, with such a busy month ahead, I'd better get to it!  What are your goals for this month?

Celebrate the Small Things-January 31, 2014

It's Friday!  Let's take a moment to Celebrate the Small Things with VikLit!

First of all, after officially signing on to do the April A to Z Challenge on two blogs, I volunteered to be a minion in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Ninja Army.  Look at my awesome badge! The color even matches my blog!

I've been plugging away at my writing.  I came up with a new scene for my WIP that I think adds a lot of depth to the story that was missing before, and I'm feeling really good about it.

A friend of mine had a baby boy named Leo on Tuesday.  He's got the cutest chubby cheeks, and he's perfectly healthy.  That's certainly something worth celebrating!

I also want to mention something that isn't happy, but deserves to be acknowledged.  Today would have been my mom's 50th birthday.  She died almost 3 years ago.  I can only imagine how she would have reacted to turning 50.  I remember she wasn't all that happy about 40. Still, as displeased as she may have been with hitting the big 5-0, I'd rather she'd made it there.

What would you like to celebrate this week?

FSF: Frozen

It's time once again for Five Sentence Fiction!  The word for this week is FROZEN.  It's certainly an appropriate word for this time of year, at least where I come from.

Frozen

Source

Entranced by the bird sitting on the ice-covered pond, Malcolm inched forward, his camera clutched in his cold-reddened hands.  The only thing that mattered in that moment was capturing the perfect picture, and his focus prevented him from noticing a few crucial details, the most important of which was the sound of the ice cracking beneath his feet.

Suddenly, the ice gave way, plunging him into the frozen darkness.  His camera slipped from his grip, but that didn’t register as his brain fought to catch up with what was happening.  Needles of cold pierced his body, drawing the warmth from his skin as his heavy limbs struggled to propel him from his chilling nightmare.

Studying Vocabulary

I was inspired to write this short story while perusing lists of odd vocabulary words.  I'd tell you what the word is, but that might spoil the story.  You'll know the word when you see it. That's all I can tell you.  Enjoy!

Studying Vocabulary

Open textbooks littered the kitchen table, but that didn’t stop Savannah and her best friend Will from binging on snacks.  An open package of Oreos was perched on Will’s calculus book, and Savannah’s bag of potato chips sat beside her vocabulary worksheets.

She reached into the bag only to have her fingers scrape the bottom.  A thin film of oily residue coated her fingertips when she withdrew her hand.  “Darn it,” she mumbled.  “There’s only a tittynope left.”

Will spluttered, and Oreo crumbs flew from his mouth, coating his homework.  “What?  There’s a  . . . what?”

“A tittynope,” Savannah replied with a smile.  “It means ‘a small residual of something that is leftover.’”  She held up the vocabulary sheet from which she’d read the definition.  “I’m studying my vocabulary like I’m supposed to be.”

Will looked down, noticing the mess that he’d made of his work.  “I hate you.  There’s no way you weren’t trying to get a reaction out of me.”

She shrugged.  “It’s just one of the many reasons why I love vocabulary.”

Express Yourself: Self-Improvement

The Express Yourself Weekly Meme is hosted by Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests.

The question for this week is: Is there anything you'd like to change, or work on, about yourself this year?

I think we all have those things that we'd like to improve about ourselves.  My main issue is that I'm not confident enough.  When it comes to my writing, I second guess myself all the time, and sometimes it's almost crippling.  I try to put myself out there as much as I can, which is why I started this blog.  Even so, I think I could accomplish more if I didn't spend so much time feeling inadequate.  Yes, I have a lot to learn, but if I let myself give up before I try, I'll never learn what I need to know to be successful.

I need to tell myself that I can do it.  Every day I need to focus on my goals instead of the reasons why I might fail.  I know that focusing on failure instead of the possibilities will only doom me to failure.

I know where my insecurities come from, and I know that I want to do everything I can to overcome them.  Sure, we all have our moments of doubt, but we can't let them define us. This year, I want to do everything I can to stop my insecurities from defining me.

What would you like to work on in the coming year?

Musing About My Writing Goals

This week, I'm feeling pretty good as far as my writing is concerned.  My muse is sticking with me for the time being, and I'm pleased about that.  My current WIP Silent Soliloquy has been challenging for me, so while I haven't made the kind of rapid progress I would like, I still feel like I'm making steady progress.  If all goes well, I hope to have the rough draft done by Valentine's Day.  I'm going to do all I can to adhere to that goal.

I've also finished all of my A-Z posts for this blog, and now I plan to start the posts for my other blog sometime soon.  I have the topic for each post selected, so hopefully those will come together for me relatively easily.

The weather here is awful, and probably won't be much better tomorrow. Perfect weather for staying inside.  Hopefully that will keep me motivated.

What are your goals for the week?  Has your muse been kind to you lately?

Celebrate the Small Things-January 24, 2014

Today is Friday, and that means it's time to Celebrate the Small Things with VikLit!

First of all, I'd like to give a couple of shout outs.  Today is the last day for the Love is in the Air Blogfest, so if you're curious about it or would like to jump in before time runs out, click HERE.  Also, if you'd like to check out my entry for this blogfest, you can find it HERE.

Next, the one and only Alex J. Cavanaugh is nearing an amazing milestone.  He has nearly 2,000 followers, so he's looking to celebrate with an awesome giveaway.  To learn more, click HERE.

As for my own life, I've had an extremely productive writing week.  I selected my theme for the April A-Z blogging challenge, and once I did that, I was so excited that I had to make a head start on it.  Now, as I write this, I have 22 out of 26 posts written.  I am almost never this ahead of the game, and it's a little stunning to me.  Of course, I'm trying to keep my posts short this year so people can have a quick little read and then move on to the next blog.  That might have something to do with why I've been able to get so much done.

Also, we did our taxes this week.  We're well ahead of time on that, but taxes are bets dealt with in a timely manner as far as we're concerned.  Putting them off only seems to invite trouble.

What would you like to celebrate?