It's Getting Up that Counts

This is intended to be a short post. I have been absent too long from this blog and writing in general. But pack up I get, brush myself off and go back at the thing I love to do and need to do.... write and create.

Life is what happens while we make plans and sometimes it can suck the life (or at least the muse) out of you. Divorce, job loss, final illness and death of a parent, new duties as executor and guardian for a developmentally disabled sibling... Things that must be dealt with, grief that must be felt and moved through, responsibilities to assume.  These can be the overwhelming focus of your days, they did mine. Life became not one to-do list but, at times, three. One was my personal to-do. It was mostly maintenance items. You know the kind, pay bills, grocery shop, vacuum. Yes, I had to remind myself to do these things. If I put write or even read on that list, it rarely was scratched off.

But time passes, things resolve themselves and that voice in your head becomes more insistent. My normal life, such as I defined normal, was returning. It may be a new normal but it is a good normal. I am healthy, the endless paperwork of life events is mostly behind me or incorporated into the new normal. I have a richer personal life with new grown children and a special man in my life. I started a new day job that I am pleased with and has enough potential to satisfy the practical side of my nature.

As this happened the voice in me, became louder and louder and more insistent. I joined a monthly book club to not only read but read intentionally. This sparked even more reading and added to the re-ignition of the seanchai in me. So the brainstorming started, I brushed off some old WIPs, and started to attempt to learn the process of outlining. Notice it was an ATTEMPT. I have set aside some of what I wrote years ago and started down fresh roads with some of the characters. I still haven't figured out where outlining fits in my process. But I know that where I start is with a vision of my main character in a setting with something important happening to them. That is the kernel of the plot, theme and journey. At least that is what I hope. Micaela (see my book Dark Dealings) is speaking to me again. I know she will get pushier... it's how we roll.

So I signed up for the July CampNaNoWriMo and set a modest goal for myself of an average of 500 words per day. For me, it is about Getting Back Up. What have you set aside that you MUST get back up and do? What is the passion that is inside you that is a glowing ember waiting to be fanned back into life?

If you want to read a post that came to my inbox at the right time read this from Jami Gold

Today we welcome Sheri Velarde. Her latest release Quest for Redemption releases on Thursday April 23rd!

Synopsis:

Zanna is an elven warrior princess, who seems to have it all, yet really has nothing. Her fate is not in her own hands. Instead, it is bound to an ancient magic she has no control over. She wants to rule the elves, yet must prove herself worthy before she is accepted. She also wants to find her mate, but after two thousand years, didn't hold much hope. Her existence has become mundane, and she craves something new. A routine assignment suddenly turns into something bigger that could ruin all of them. Is she strong enough to save the world and find her own happiness too? Can she change and help change the fate of the world with her?

Will is an orphan who has always been confused by his strangeness. He keeps himself apart, separate from those around him. A chance meeting with a remarkable woman changes everything. He not only learns about himself, but about a whole other world that he is a part of by birthright. However the father that abandoned him as an infant stands to ruin his future and the future of the world unless he can be stopped.

Will and Zanna must face loved ones who work against them and their past as well as find the strength to fight a bigger enemy and save the realms from evil. Can love, friendship, family, and acceptance defeat evil before it brings the realms crashing down? Can Zanna prove herself worthy to rule the kingdom?

Storyteller's Grove: So Sheri, tell us what is was your inspiration for Quest for Redemption?

Sheri: Inspiration comes in many forms and from many sources. The inspiration for Quest for Redemption is a combination of things. This novel started out as a NaNoWri novel. (That’s a novel that was written in one month for National Write a Novel Month.) So really the first inspiration was just to get something down on the page and quick as the clock struck midnight. The first thing that popped into my mind was to do a fantasy love story, something with elves. I am a huge Tolkien fan and he started me on my fascination with elven kind. Seriously, who doesn’t have crush on Legolas? Am I right? Anyhow, I also wanted to have a very strong female character, not some damsel in distress. In fact, she would be the warrior, the ruler, the strong one. And that is how Zanna was born. A little of her came from Underworld mixed with Xena Warrior Princess, but in elf form. I also wanted to play with the idea of a half magical creature who had no idea what he really was. Enter Will. Part human, part sprite, part really powerful elf. Throw in some evil, because truthfully I love bad guys. Basically I wrote the novel that I would want to read. I am not going to lie, the first draft was terrible. I let it sit for a year before even tackling it and trying to clean it up for submission. Then my life became a blur or edits and tears, but I must say I am happy with the result. Quest for Redemption started out as something just for fun and became something that I never imagined.

Quest for Redemption will be out on Three Worlds Press April 23, 2015!

Buy Links: Three Worlds Press

http://amzn.com/B00W2TDKGI

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-questforredemption-1781118-143.html

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Sheri_Velarde_Quest_for_Redemption?id=8-ITCAAAQBAJ

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/quest-for-redemption

About the Author:

Sheri Velarde is an author, artist, independent comic creator and jewelry designer out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is a creative soul with eclectic taste and style when it comes to her art and writing. Sheri is a multi-publisher romance author who is now branching into fantasy as well with her Defender of the Realms series. When not creating (which her fiancé argues is never), Sheri can be found spending time with her fiancé and their two dogs, reading, watching fantasy movies, attending metal concerts and just taking time to stop and enjoy life.

You can view Sheri’s work on her website/blog: http://sherivelarde.weebly.com/, on her Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sheri-VelardeKelly-Ryan/, and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Sher_V.

Tuesday Teaser: Quest for Redemption cover reveal.. Elven Warrior

Today we welcome Sheri Velarde to talk about and re-reveal the FABULOUS cover for her upcoming release, Quest for Redemption.

So you may be asking why I am having a cover re-reveal or what is a re-reveal anyways? Well you see, life sometimes gets in the way of the best laid plans and changes sometimes have to be made. 

When I had my first cover reveal back on February 1 (I know because it was my birthday) Quest for Redemption seemed to be on the fast track to coming out, but then life happened.

I can't remember which happened first, but both my editor and I got sick. Like not a cold or flu sick, but majorly sick. I had a major flare in my multiple sclerosis which left me pretty much useless until it began to subside. School, which I was taking just for fun, began to demand more and more of my time. This caused a delay in edits, hence the delay in Quest coming out. Things happen and I can't say that I am truly shocked the Quest for Redemption hit a few bumps on its way to publication. You see, this book has been nothing but bumps and a test in perseverance.

Quest for Redemption has been a mountain for me to climb, over three years in the making and I have finally reached the summit, publication is in sight. This started off as a novel written during National Novel Writing Month, (NaNoWriMo) so needless to say the first draft was a hot mess. It got tabled for a while, then I picked it back up and cleaned it up added things here and there, turned it into something readable. Finally I submitted it, it got accepted. During the time of pre-edits the story began to change again, becoming more fantasy than romance, the characters deepened and solidified. It was hard work this novel, my longest work to date and also my toughest to get through.

Blood, sweat, and many tears went into this work and soon it will be out in the world! This is by far one of my biggest accomplishments as an author. My first full length novel, my first fantasy piece, my first book with my new publisher. Quest for Redemption represents over three years of hard work, sure it took me a little longer to get here bear the release date, but I got here and for that I am grateful. 

So here it is... I LOVE it and hope you will too.  Watch for the release later this month from Three Worlds Press

Synopsis

The fate of the realms rests on the hands of an elven princess yet to prove herself and an orphan just learning his powers.

Zanna is an elven warrior princess, who seems to have it all, yet really has nothing. Her fate is not in her own hands. Instead, it is bound to an ancient magic she has no control over. She wants to rule the elves, yet must prove herself worthy before she is accepted. She also wants to find her mate, but after two thousand years, didn't hold much hope. Her existence has become mundane, and she craves something new. A routine assignment suddenly turns into something bigger that could ruin all of them. Is she strong enough to save the world and find her own happiness too? Can she change and help change the fate of the world with her?

Will is an orphan who has always been confused by his strangeness. He keeps himself apart, separate from those around him. A chance meeting with a remarkable woman changes everything. He not only learns about himself, but about a whole other world that he is a part of by birthright. However the father that abandoned him as an infant stands to ruin his future and the future of the world unless he can be stopped.

Will and Zanna must face loved ones who work against them and their past as well as find the strength to fight a bigger enemy and save the realms from evil. Can love, friendship, family, and acceptance defeat evil before it brings the realms crashing down? Can Zanna prove herself worthy to rule the kingdom?

Sheri Velarde is an author, artist, independent comic creator and jewelry designer out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is a creative soul with eclectic taste and style when it comes to her art and writing. Sheri is a multi-publisher romance author who is now branching into fantasy as well with her Defender of the Realms series. When not creating (which her fiancé argues is never), Sheri can be found spending time with her fiancé and their two dogs, reading, watching fantasy movies, attending metal concerts and just taking time to stop and enjoy life.

You can view Sheri’s work on her website/blog: http://sherivelarde.weebly.com/, on her Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sheri-VelardeKelly-Ryan/, and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Sher_V.

Quest for Redemption will be out on Three Worlds Press April 23, 2015!

NaNoWriMo: One Man's Perspective with Guest Blogger Danny Coleman

Today we welcome Danny Coleman as our guest blogger. Danny is an accomplished journalist and radio personality. Last month, he was invited to his first NaNoWriMo write-in. As many NaNoWriMo participants review their accomplishments and ponder next steps, we hope this post will re-ignite your passion to edit and publish.

November is National Novel Writers Month, more commonly known as “NaNoWriMo.” When first heard, the anagram possibly sounds like language from a strange planet, or perhaps more like a line spoken by Robin Williams in the old “Mork and Mindy” television series; rest assured it is neither.

According to its own web site, “NaNoWriMo is a fun seat-of-your pants approach to creative writing.” Every year, beginning on November 1 and running thru November 30, people from all walks of life and professions are encouraged to take on the challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel over the course of those thirty days. Skilled, unskilled, amateur or professional writers are all welcome to “hunker down” and push themselves towards the finish line in this truly unique literary experience.

The Central New Jersey “WriMos” are one of five “NaNoWriMo” regions and are led by Bridgewater resident Bill Patterson and Richenda Gould of Plainsboro; two very enthusiastic writers in their own right and known as the Municipal Liaisons. From their vantage point at the Hopewell Branch of the Mercer County Library in Pennington, the duo sits amongst their fellow writers and would be novelists, urging them on through various activities like “write- ins” and “word wars.” “You wouldn’t think it because we’re in a library but this really is like a social event,” said Gould.

On this particular day, there were ten participants, a tad higher than the seven to eight that has so far been the daily average. Patterson, a married father of two boys, was the focus of the day’s event as he was the self-imposed “Monkey in the Box.” Putting in an eight hour shift with one fifteen minute break per hour, Patterson accepted the task of writing 10,000 words during that time frame. “I’m averaging about 1,400 per hour,” he said. “The only difference is that I’m writing and all of my words are being projected on a big screen so that everybody can read them, hence, I am the Monkey in the Box. I am under a microscope; it’s a challenge but fun.” “Yes it’s a true public forum,” chimed in Gould. “His written words projected on the big screen for all the people to see, we hope it’s inspiring.” I was afforded the opportunity to participate in an hourly guessing game; guess the total number of words that Patterson will write during the current hour and get to name a character in one of his novels. I came within a hundred words but was bested by another in attendance.

The clicking sound of furious fingers tapping away on laptops was quietly deafening as each would be author applied generous amounts of pressure to themselves to reach their word goal. Pennington resident Shelley Seymour, a married mother of two daughters, real estate referral agent, blogger and self-published author has written five previous novels and got her start because of “NaNoWriMo.” “I’m from Canada,” said Shelley. “I was educated through the graduate level in English Literature from Ottawa Canada where I took creative writing, this event, “NaNoWriMo” got me into this. I’ve now got my own publishing company and I’ve done it pretty much on my own. I figured a literary agent, even with a good one, major publishing companies only accept one out of every twelve hundred to two thousand books; I’ve published five on my own and I got started at an event like this.”

Sarah Sensenig, 29, a married vocal music teacher and like Seymour, a Pennington resident, has only begun writing in the last three months. Sarah is penning a “Dystopian Sci-Fi Romance” because it’s her favorite genre. “My husband is a music teacher at Pennington School; I graduated from Princeton’s Westminster Choir College and my mom was a writer, she wrote a book when I was in third grade and she used to make me read all the time. I never minded because I love to read, I did then and still do now. I started writing for fun and I got hooked. I’ve attended a writing workshop here at the library and decided to come back for “NaNoWriMo.” This is a great thing, I’m glad that I’m doing it.”

Former journalist and Hopewell Township resident Susan Swords, a married mother of one daughter and currently employed by the State of New Jersey was attending her first “NaNo.” “I’ve been writing creatively for about four or five years now, my first job was that of a newspaper reporter, quite a difference in styles. In my journalism days I had to rely on facts and relaying things accurately; as a novelist I can just let it flow. The difference is that I can embellish my work now, I’m not held to the facts.” Swords is writing a “Sci-Fi novel about a girl’s journey, who during its course, keeps getting randomly transported in time without warning,” a “Kind of scary but good undertaking.” “I wrote 3,500 words today but to look at a blank screen, knowing you have a word quota, can be intimidating. I am enjoying every bit of this; I can get something done that I never thought that I’d be able to do and the program gives you tons of support.”

Librarian Ross Holley, 22, participated in “NaNo” in high school and enjoys seeing the writers come and go. “I’ve been a librarian for the last seven years and I’m currently in Grad School, so my time is limited but if it wasn’t, I’d be right with them. I love seeing it drive extra traffic to the library, love the write-ins; it’s always good to have something going on here.”

According to Patterson, he has big plans for the Central New Jersey Region “WriMos,” “I registered for my first “NaNo” in 2007. During the registration process an entire plot, seemingly all 50,000 words came to me, I thought, I can do this. From there I became more involved and eventually thought, why not? I became the Municipal Liaison for Central Jersey Region and when I teamed up with Shen it just got better. I want to have a “Write All Night” where we get going around 6 p.m. and finish at 6 a.m. I want a large venue where we can have a huge group of writers take part. I want this in addition to the smaller library sessions. That’s my job, I dream big and Shen makes it happen!”

To obtain more information about “NaNoWriMo” or the Central Jersey Region, please go to www.nanowrimo.org or www.facebook.com/cnjwrimos.

Danny Coleman is a veteran musician and writer from central New Jersey. He hosts a weekly radio program called “Rock On Radio,” which airs Sunday evenings at 10 p.m. EST, on it he features indie/original bands, solo and unsigned artists and entertainers in a laid-back atmosphere. There are live performances, interviews, phone calls and interactive chat rooms as well. He has been a guest on many radio and television programs. You can find Danny, his radio show and his writings at the links below and his weekly print column can be found in The Trentonian newspaper:

Rock On Radio Facebook Page                                              Concertblogger.com

The Rock Rag                                                                         The Shore Thing

Open call NaNoWriMo writers Critique Weekend

Panters, Plotter or culotter? How do you approach NaNoWriMo?

                For those who don't know this is National Novel Writing Month ...NaNoWriMo for short. The goal is to write a 50,000 word first draft of a novel in 30 days.

               I have tried NaNoWriMo twice with no success.  Part of it was timing.  I worked full time and cooked Thanksgiving dinner with lots of from-scratch items.  Then, of course, there are the Christmas holiday preparations.  

               Another part was my inability to turn off my inner editor and organizer.  I am not a full blown plotter but I am not a pantser, either.   When I wrote Dark Dealings, I could not get momentum going until I had a vision (no, nothing requiring medication, I think) of a beginning middle and end and a very clear picture of my main characters and, at least, most of their goals, motivations and conflicts. But I also don't work with a full-blown outline.

                Ogham Court started as a NaNoWriMo project but didn't get finished in the month.   I did learn a few things about myself and my characters as a result. One of the things I am working on is the ability to turn down, if not turn off the editor.  I can’t do it completely which is a good thing.  In pushing myself to move Ogham Court forward I am discovering things about Nora, the main character and the course of the story.  Unfortunately it means some revisions.  One night I went to bed thinking that a seduction plot line felt wrong.  I had the antagonist romancing Nora.  In the meantime I had introduced her mother, a quirky divorcee.  A woke one morning with one of those writer’s light bulb moments and realized that the romancing had to be of the mother as a way to get to Nora.  It means rewriting some scenes, but I think it gives me the piece I needed to lead to the middle and the end.  At least that’s what I think today. Then again, I could be wrong. My characters will set me straight.

                So I am a half-pantser, or as I told a fellow writer, I am a culotter. No being a culotter does not involve rum, coconut and a blender. Okay maybe it does.  What it means is that I am somewhere in between a  plotter (full detailed outline) and a panster (seat of the pants) as a writer.  But most of all I am dedicated to writing the best damn story I can write.  That, in my mind, is the first and largest part of being a successful author –Write a damn good story that lots of people will want to read and share.

                And it all starts with the plot….tension, tension, tension. Even if your plot evolves like mine from just a beginning, a middle and an end.

                A few reminders as you work through NaNoWriMo:  Show don’t tell.  Dig deep into your characters to find out what makes them tick.  Then in NaNoEdMo (March) edit it and polish it until you can see your face in it.  When you think you’ve got it right,  give it to trusted betas readers with sharp red pens or pencils to have a go at it.  You may not accept everything they suggest but they will see things that you cannot because you have been too close for long to the words, the characters, and the story. They will help you be a better writer.

           Life sometimes gets in the way of things but I am working on a short story for an upcoming Breathless Press anthology and then I will attack Ogham Court.  The voices are back.

          But I have my first draft, the rest is just editing.... um JUST???

          By the way, I am also a Content Editor for Breathless Press, if you have that novel and it is looking for a home...message me. If you are just looking for some awesome reads, stop over and check out our selection. (Warning: Some are EXTREMELY steamy!)

        Are you a plotter, a pantser or a culotter?


              

                

Grandma and Doing What You Have to Do

                I’ve mentioned my grandmother here once or twice.  She came to this country from Ireland in 1928, just in time for the Great Depression. In Athlone and Galway, she was a certified teacher. When she came here, she was told she couldn’t teach in America. This was the age when companies still had signs up that said Irish need not apply. She was told that she talked funny (and this in New Jersey), or that she was only going to get married and pregnant so why bother taking her on. So, as she told me, she did what she had to do.  That involved scrubbing floors and other “menial” tasks. She did marry and had four sons (a small family by standards then). Unfortunately, she married the stereotypical Irishman for that day, he was an alcoholic who liked to drink away his check.

                But she always did what she had to do to survive and hopefully thrive. 

                I wonder if we haven’t lost the ability to do what we have to do. We have become a people of doing what we want when we want. Is this some of the appeal of social media? I am just as guilty of getting sucked into the instant gratification and neglected my writing. 

                But sometimes circumstances remind us to do what we have to do no matter how uncomfortable.

                I recently resigned from the bank where I had worked for the last six years. I had started when it was called something else. It was a good place to work by and large. We put the customer first and believed that doing the right thing would drive results and profitability.  We treated employees like assets not expenses.  The place I use to work is in the terminal stages of a merger with another large bank creating a national behemoth. It was a process three years in the making.

                Those who know me know that I am not adverse to change. When the changes started coming, there was concern over the direction we were headed. But I counseled patience. Things would get better when the dust settled.  As time passed and changes continued, I counseled patience saying things had to get better.  After years of dealing with people who made a mockery of management and a farce of the term leadership, it had taken a toll on my physical and mental health and my family. So after trying patience and weighing the pros, cons and consequences, and without any immediate prospects I severed my relationship with that bank.

                This was not an easy decision to make as it puts a strain on personal finances in the near term. But in the long run, it has given me control back of my future, allowed me to begin healing my psyche from the almost daily trials. It has given me hope.

                And my muse is back. I had been too exhausted to hear her.  While I search for my next source of immediate cash, doors open for me. I am speaking at a Women in Business breakfast next month. I am putting a long term business plan together for my writing ventures and meeting some wonderful writers and entrepreneurs along the way. I am finding self-discipline and I am rediscovering my passions.  Which is a good thing, as I intend to try my hand at erotica for NaNoWriMo. But more on that in a later post.

                And in many ways I have my grandmother to thank for this.

                Have you made big changes in your life? Share your story with us.

NaNoWriMo and the Uncomfortable Zone

Earlier this week I talked about risk taking. Today I am talking about NaNoWriMo as a form of risk.  If you have not heard, every November hundreds of thousands of writers (200,500 in 2010) step up to the challenge of writing a 50,000 word first draft of a novel in thirty days. There are regional groups around the world that organize write-ins, launch parties and after-parties. So what’s the risk here and why take it?

NaNoWriMo is really about stepping out of your comfort zone. You may have “thought” about writing that novel. But as my father always says “And we know what thought did, right?” Trick question. Thought does not do anything.  But moving from thought to action can mean taking risk.

So the part of your brain that likes the word “no” says “What if you don’t finish 50,000 words? What if my first draft is shitty (with a nod to Anne Lamott)? 50,000 words! You’ve never written anything longer than a grocery list.  You don’t have the time. Why bother writing no one will like it.”

So why bother?  If you a writer, if the bug has bitten you, then you know you have no choice. The story must be heard, the characters demand attention.

So you’ve never written anything longer than a grocery list. There is only one way to know if you’ve got 50,000 words in you. Start.

What if the first draft is shitty? That’s why we edit and edit and then edit again. Sometimes referred to as rinse and repeat.

But no one will read it. Most likely no one except you will read the first draft. But after an edit or two you will call on some of the other writers you’ve met along the way to form a critique group (sounds formal but it’s often not.). They will become your beta readers and help you make the additional cuts and changes to begin polishing your novel.

Remember what I said in the earlier post. No sane person takes a risk with preparation. So how do you prepare when NaNoWriMo is a little more than 11 days away. First, don’t panic. Second go to the NaNoWriMo site, if you haven’t already, and sign up.

Then you need to do some preliminary activities:

1)      Decide if you are a paper or electronic writer. I write on my laptop because I have no patience for re-typing it later. For those who know me, I am a terrible typist when going direct to electronic. Factor in my handwriting and the scratch outs and arrow I’d have to follow.  A nightmare worthy of Stephen King.

2)      Write down your ideas and characters.  Even if NaNoWriMo on the surface appears to be an activity for pantsers, you will do better even if all you have are main character names, setting, time and four or five sentences about the plot. I recommend if you can to have some idea of beginning, middle and end.

3)      Stock up on snacks and beverages and any writing supplies you may need.

4)      Tell your friends what you are doing or, if you are not ready to come-out as a writer, tell them you have a 30-day flu and will be in quarantine. That can help handle the “enough time” problem.

What’s the benefit of taking the risk: You get the start of a novel. Make it to 50,000 words and you get a really cool certificate and bragging rights.  You meet other cool writers.

You also learn how to turn off your inner editor.  Many of us can kill a project by beating the same page to death instead of moving on. To get to the finish, you need to keep plowing ahead.  I will share a little technique that I began using. It feeds my inner editor just enough so she doesn’t whine.  I type my first draft in track changes mode.  Not to edit text, but for the nifty comment bubbles.  If I’m writing a new unplanned scene some prior information may be missing. If it stays in the next draft, it may need more set-up.  I put a note to go back and do that in the comment bubble. It helps me keep moving forward.

Maybe you are like me and want to use NaNo to experiment in a new genre. To step out of your comfort zone.  I will have a first draft done of one WIP before November1, so I’m going to try something new in November. Then, in December, after my current WIP has rested I can return to it with fresh eyes for the first round of slash and burn edits.

So are you taking the risk of creating something in November and joining me in NaNo?  Ah, you want to know what I’m experimenting with in November.  Let’s just say if it works, it will be HOT.

Row, Row, Row your Goals. No flaking allowed.

I have been, I hope, noticeably absent from this site of late. That is because I am trying to follow the advice passed on from a Twitter follower of Laurell K. Hamilton (Urban Fantasy author extraordinaire—and then some).  The original tweet is lost on a long list of tweets, so I am unable to give the sender their props.  If you see this, please chime in so you can be thanked. But here it is:

                The @LKHamilton Way: Self-impose a deadline, give up fun activities to meet deadline, and do not fucking flake out on the deadline!

                In sticking with that theme, and since my betas hit me with their comments I have been in the cave.  On one of my less frequent visits to Twitter, I found #ROW80.  Rather than re-invent the wheel, let me post the description from their site.

A Round of Words in 80 Days is exactly what it sounds like.  It is a writing challenge that runs for 80 days.

How is it different from other writing challenges?

Well apart from being longer than most writing challenges (NaNoWriMo being the one most folks are familiar with), ROW80 allows YOU to set YOUR GOAL (You’ll wanna read this post about what constitutes an actual measurable GOAL).  We don’t presuppose that everybody has the same needs, the same level of productivity, or the same schedule.  When the challenge starts, you might be in the middle of a WIP.  Or you might be on revisions.  Everybody’s different.  You take whatever project you are working on, in whatever stage it is in, and you figure out a goal for it, share it with us in a blog post that you link to when the challenge begins, and you join our community of dedicated writers and fellow cheerleaders.  Don’t feel limited to fiction.  We’ve had non-fiction writers on here as well as one participant who was working on her dissertation!

And here’s the clincher about what makes ROW80 different from all the other writing challenges out there: We recognize that you have a life.  It’s all well and good to think that you can put your job and family and responsibilities on hold for a month or more to hammer out a book, but it’s not realistic.  Hundreds of thousands of people start NaNo and only a fraction actually SUCCEED.  Because life happens.  It gets in the way.  And real writers have to find a way to cope with it and STILL GET THE WORK DONE.  So in light of the fact that we know you have a life, ROW80 allows you to change your goal should you need to. 

And since we all want to (presumably) be writers rather than hobbyists, we need a challenge that happens more than once a year.  A Round of Words in 80 Days happens FOUR times a year.

Round 3 begins today July 4th.

So here are my ROW80 goals:

1)      Finish the polish edits on Dark Dealings, including formatting.

2)      Finish outline of Ogham Court

3)      Write an additional 50,000 words for Ogham, which should mean a completed first draft, or pretty darn close.

4)       DO NOT FLAKE OUT!

Who's with me.  If you want to jump in, you can do so on any reporting day which is Sunday and Wednesday.  See the link above for details.  I'll be checking in here and at #ROW80.