July 2016 – FogIsBeautiful

A Hobbit’s Walking Tale- July 2016

July 26, 2016August 31, 2016 Emily

A Hobbit’s Walking Tale (Twitter tags: #AHobbitsWalkingTale #byfogisbeautiful)

Miles Walked This Month (June 30th-July 25th): 55.5 miles
Total Miles Walked: 390.1 miles
Milestones Reached: Trollshaws, Ford of Bruinen

“For just at that moment the light came over the hill, and there was a mighty twitter in the branches. William never spoke for he turned to stone as he stooped; and Bert and Tom were stuck like rocks as they looked at him. And there they stand to this day, all alone, unless the birds perch on them…”

~The Hobbit, Chapter 2: Roast Mutton

“One morning they forded a river at a wide shallow place full of the noise of stones and foam. The far bank was steep and slippery. When they got to the top of it, leading their ponies, they saw that the great mountains had marched down very near to them.”

~The Hobbit, Chapter 3: A Short Rest

Well, it wasn’t the worst month I’ve ever had, but it was a near thing. I did, however, manage to walk more than I did last month, which was the goal! We survived Trollshaws (without being squashed to jelly!):

We’ve nearly made it to Rivendell, but not quite, we’re just on the other side of the Ford of Bruinen:

Next month, we’ll meet Lord Elrond and begin our perilous journey into the Misty Mountains, if all goes well!

On a blogging note, you may have noticed that I missed last week’s blog post. This was due to a combination of Camp NaNoWriMo, and the fact that I’m considering switching that particular post to something else. I didn’t have time to get it ready this month, but stay tuned next month for something new and exciting!

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Reading

Have You Hugged A Book Today?- June 2016

July 14, 2016July 14, 2016 Emily

You guys! I was so into NaNo and Pokemon Go, I forgot my blog post! I’m so sorry, here we go!

I’m two books ahead of schedule! This is so awesome! I feel so accomplished this month 🙂

Here’s the link to my star rating breakdown if anyone needs a refresher. It’s also up in the header 🙂

What I’m currently reading (in order of Date Started)
1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon– Into Month #2 of reading this for the book club 🙂 Still enjoying it, but I’m not sure if I’m going to continue the series. It’s really going to depend on the ending I think, and I’m nowhere near there yet 🙂
2. Wizard and Glass by Stephen King– Book Four in the Dark Tower series. This is where Mr. King lost me last time around. I’m powering through, but I have to say, I’m not all that interested in what’s happening here. It all seems pretty predictable to me, and I feel like I could live without it…
3. Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Spirit by Sean Hepburn Ferrer– This is a book that a friend let me borrow and I’m just now getting around to reading it. Because I’m a terrible friend like that (sorry, Peggy!). It’s a beautiful book and a nice read for a slow day on the couch.
Books I’ve Finished
1. Miles Errant (Vorkosigan Omnibus #4) by Lois McMaster Bujold- Five Stars
2. The Walking Dead, Vol 16: A Larger World by Robert Kirkman- Four Stars
3. The Walking Dead, Vol 17: Something To Fear by Robert Kirkman- Four Stars
4. The Walking Dead, Vol 18: What Comes After by Robert Kirkman- Five Stars
5. Hawkeye, Vol 6: Hawkeyes by Jeff Lemire- Four Stars

Fog’s Book Of The Month
The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I like that Pat put a warning that this book might not be for everyone. I can see how it might have been necessary. But I can also say that this book was definitely for me 🙂 As with all of Pat’s books (I’m using the familiar form of his name because, by god, I feel like the man is my literary friend, fight me ;P), the language was beautiful, but I never felt like it was ostentatious or unnecessary. Every word used in the proper way, every phrase put in it’s perfect place 🙂 Auri was lovely to read about, I loved her more than I have ever loved her before and I will never read about her in the same way again.

As Pat said, this book is for all of those that are a little broken. We are many. We are not alone. This book was a reminder that we are not forgotten and we are beautiful and we are loved. Yet another book that changed my life 🙂

View all my reviews

Extra! Extra!

I’ve started reorganizing my bookshelf and putting books into boxes 😦 I know, it’s a sad state, but not as sad as the piles currently on my floor. Stay tuned, I might post photos! 😉

Until next time!

Blogging, Writing

The Quarterly Writing Round Up!- Q2, 2016

July 7, 2016 Emily

A reminder: At the beginning of the year, I made some yearly goals and some quarterly goals, which I promised to reevaluate and re-prioritize every three months. It’s been six months now, and it’s time to look back at Quarter Two 2016! Here’s a recap of my goals for the year, in case you don’t want to go back and read the original post:

Overall goals for the year: ~~Finish Changing History rewrites~~ DONE! (Q1), Finish first draft of Changing History: Entwives, Write the Worth Living For short that I’ve been planning for ages, Edit and begin posting Clarity DONE! (Q2), Finish the first draft of all three parts of Wonderland Reclaimed.

Reward Project: If I finish Wonderland Reclaimed, I can write my Avengers: Age of Ultron fic for NaNoWriMo in November.

So out of five goals, I’ve finished two. Not quite half, but pretty close, considering I’ve been working on Calenhiril’s Search as well.

And here’s the month by month!

Quarter Two, 2016- Review

April: Camp NaNoWriMo #1! Edit Clarity (A Loki Fanfiction).

I did this! 80,000 words edited in thirty days! It was awesome! I’m super excited! 😀

May: Continue to post at least one chapter of Calenhiril’s Search and DBTT a week. Finish the first draft of Wonderland Reclaimed, or add 50,000 new words (whichever comes first).

I posted three chapters of Calenhiril’s Search. Respectable, but not quite what I was hoping for.
I only posted one chapter of Double The Baggins, Twice The Took, and this was the month that I decided to put this particular fic aside for the time being, until I could dedicate the time and attention it deserves.
No new words were written in May. Actually, I may have, kinda, forgot I had even made this goal. Whoops! ;P Hopefully July will make up for this!

June: Prep month for Camp NaNoWriMo #2! Depending on how May goes, either prep for editing Wonderland Reclaimed, or prep for a finishing WriMo (50K words on Wonderland/Calenhiril’s Search/DBTT). Begin posting schedule for Clarity (M/W/F).

I… prepped as much as I could? Okay, I didn’t really prep for Camp. I’m doing a Finishing WriMo so it’s not quite as critical, but I probably should have done more on this front. Hopefully it won’t be too detrimental. Also, I changed up one of the stories I decided to finish, instead of DBTT I’m working on my Worth Living For short (one of my year-end goals, so yay!).
I started posting Clarity! \o/ I only missed one day early in June, but I’m still well on my way to being finished with Clarity by the end of the month of… wow, I’ll probably be done by the end of July if I keep up the way I have! 🙂
I also got back into the swing of posting Calenhiril’s Search and made up for the missed chapter in May by posting five chapters in June 🙂

In review, I think I accomplished a decent amount this quarter. Granted, no new words were written (I feel like such a dumbass for forgetting that goal, tbh), but I got a lot of other things finished and several more things are in the process of being finished. One of my goals for 2017 is to limit myself to two sprawling epics in a year, one fanfic and one original work. I’m well on my way to making that happen, I think 🙂

With that in mind, here’s what I have planned for the next three months:

Quarter Three, 2016- Goals

July: Camp NaNoWriMo #2! Finishing WriMo including Calenhiril’s Search, Paradise Found (Worth Living For short), and Wonderland Reclaimed: Down The Rabbit Hole, 50k words cumulative. Possibly finish posting Clarity, but NaNo is the priority.

August: Finish posting Clarity (if not finished in July), I don’t plan to add any new words this month, instead focusing on the editing and posting of Calenhiril’s Search (at least one chapter posted a week, more as I finish them).

September: Continue posting at least one chapter of Calenhiril’s Search a week, complete first edit of Paradise Found, add at least another 25k to Wonderland Reclaimed.

So, with any luck, by next quarter, I will have finished two more of my yearly goals and be well on my way to completing another, which will put me on track for the year! I’m really looking forward to this quarter, I think my goals are definitely doable, if nothing untoward happens (which, let’s be honest, is always a possibility).

Until next time!

Blogging, Writing

Once More Unto The (Writing) Breach- June 2016

July 5, 2016 Emily

I got so much done and my heart is so full of love and appreciation, let’s get started before I burst 🙂

What I’ve Accomplished This Month

Changing History: Calenhiril’s Search– 5 chapters posted

This went really well this month! I’ve had several really excellent reviews, very detailed (even if a few of them made me feel a bit defensive) and overall quite positive 🙂 I’m really excited to finish up the first draft of this story this month for Camp and finally have it behind me. Not that I don’t love these characters, but… well, this could get lengthy and will probably merit it’s own blog post when the time comes 🙂 Suffice it to say, I’m very pleased with how things are going in Middle Earth and I’ll be even more excited to jump back in after Camp in August!

Clarity– 12 chapters posted

I cannot tell you how thrilled I am with the reception of Clarity! All of the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. And by overwhelming, I mean I’ve seriously been brought close to tears a few times by the kind words and love that has been poured out for this fic that has been so close to my heart. It means so much to me that the messages I was hoping to convey have been so completely understood and embraced with such enthusiasm. If any of you out there are readers of this fic and are reading this, words cannot express my gratitude for your words and your encouragement. I read every review (sometimes over and over) and I appreciate every kindness. We’re on the downhill slide now, and things are heating up, thank you for taking this journey with me 🙂

In extra writing related news, I’ve discovered a new site. It’s called WordKeeperAlpha and it is a stats site made by a writer, for writers. I’m not gonna lie, the most motivating part of NaNo for me is the bar graph. Watching that graph move up little by little every day and striving to reach and surpass that dotted goal line is what keeps me going on the days when I would really rather do anything but write. This site has a similar draw for me. It’s a work in progress (I’m still waiting for the Goals bar graph and the NaNo-like bar graph features), but I’ve found it extremely motivating even just as it is and the creator assures me that in between his own writings he is working on getting more features implemented. In the meantime I think it’ll be a great way to keep up with my progress throughout the year, rather than relying on NaNo’s bar graph only three times a year 🙂

With that said…

What’s Coming Up in July

That’s right, it’s that time of year again! I finally decided on a Finishing WriMo, with three stories on the agenda and a goal of 50k words:

Changing History: Calenhiril’s Search– This should honestly be a surprise to no one ;P I’ve set aside 20k words for this, but I’m working on it until it is DONE, damn it! Finished, finito (Italian), fini (French), fertig (German), terminat (Romanian)(Are you there, Sebastian Stan? This one’s for you)(As a matter of fact, yes, I did go a little nuts with Google Translate. Why do you ask? ;P). I will be finished with the first draft by the end of this month, hell or high water. I should only have about four chapters left to write, but we’ll see how that goes.
Paradise Found: A Worth Living For short story– Those of you reading this that know me are probably reading the words “short story” and laughing your asses off. I know, the self-proclaimed Queen of the Sprawling Epic, writing a short story? What wacked out AU have we been tossed into? But stay with me, it’s actually just a small part of a much larger story that will be written later. But I’ve been promising this short since Worth Living For (my Bruce Banner fic) was published, almost three years ago. It’s going to get done this month, at least the first draft will. And hopefully it will segue nicely into the Age of Ultron fic I have planned after that 😉
Wonderland Reclaimed: Down the Rabbit Hole– Once those two fics are taken care of, I’m going to buckle down and spend the rest of my remaining 50k rewriting the Lost Words from The Great Disaster of 2015. It’s time. I really would like to be published before I’m forty. I’m really feeling the pressure now. I’m thirty years old and I have done nothing of note with my life. It would be nice to be published before I’m thirty-one, but I’m realistic, that won’t happen. Thirty-five would be nice. Forty is an absolute maximum. But I have to start working on things and stop putting them off because it’s painful. This is the first step toward making that happen.

There it is, The Master Plan for July! I’m well on my way (6,000 words as of this writing), stay tuned to see how I fare!

Also, I’ve become aware that I owe you guys a Quarterly Update on my New Year’s goals. That will happen later this week, so keep an eye out. I know, two blog posts in one week? What madness is this??? Just you wait! Until next time!