Tag: life

Reading

Have You Hugged A Book Today?- June 2016

Emily

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

ReadingChallengeJune16

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 ThingsThe 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!

http3a2f2fmashable-com2fwp-content2fgallery2fbook-lovers2f101-dalmations-books

Blogging, Writing

The Quarterly Writing Round Up!- Q2, 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!

pusheen-typing

Blogging, Writing

Once More Unto The (Writing) Breach- June 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

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!

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

CNW_Participant

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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 😉
  3. 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!

JimCarreyTyping

 

 

 

Blogging, Crafting, life, Random, Reading, Writing

#Hashtags And Other Minutiae- June 2016

Emily

I don’t even know that I’ve done anything cool on the internet this month. Let’s find out together! 🙂

Tumblr

  • Favorite Posts:

I just really love animals, okay? Bonus: Tom Hiddleston with a leopard cub.

http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/146210737025/via-httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv-e4muxs4ihty

I just posted this today, actually, and I regret nothing 🙂

http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/146260288277/hufflepuff-why-cant-we-all-just-get

  • Favorite Reblogs:

I’m not crying, you’re crying…

http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/144519373200/elentori-art-no-one-can-help-me-said

Faramir in text posts:

http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/144655825477/theturtleismoving-as-requested

Played this last night for my writing group, we literally watched it three times in a row and could not stop laughing 🙂

http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/146084761132/stellagibsonisalifeforce-anonstarbuck

This was like a punch in the gut 😦

http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/146229791987/captbexx-rip-anton-yelchin-hugs-and-kisses

Twitter

  • Favorite Tweets

Nothing original this month, sorry 😦

  • Favorite Retweets:

Me, basically.

You can ask, but I can’t guarantee I can explain ;P

https://twitter.com/AdanRamie/status/737471130852696064

The original Science Bros 🙂

Instagram

  • I spun up some yarn…

  • And made a cowl!

Pinterest

  • Featured Board: Avengers Assemble! And, you know, other Marvel-ous shenanigans 😉

 

  • Favorite Pins:

I guess that’s it! See you guys around the internet! 🙂

Reading

Have You Hugged A Book Today?- May 2016

Emily

ReadingChallengeMay16

I actually caught up on my reading goal! Hooray! \o/ I blame both a comic book binge and Audible for this. It took me forever to convince my brain that signing up for an audiobook once a month was a good idea, but right now I REGRET NOTHING! 😀

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. Miles Errant by Lois McMaster Bujold– This has been my weekend read for the past couple of weekends 🙂 I love Miles Vorkosigan to death and reading his antics never fails to make me laugh out loud. He’s a delight in every way and I’m glad I’ve been able to get back into his world.
    2. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon– This is a book club read and I’m enjoying it immensely! So far, it’s very much not the over-the-top romance I was expecting and much more a historical fiction with some fantasy realism thrown in. I’m liking it a lot (though I am spending a lot of time waiting for the other shoe to drop right now ;P).
  • Books I’ve Finished 
    1. The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King- Four Stars
    2. Marvel’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude by Will Pilgrim – Three Stars
    3. Avengers: Road to Marvel’s The Avengers- Four Stars
    4. The Martian by Andy Weir- Five Stars
    5. Ms. Marvel Vol 4: Last Days by Willow G. Wilson- Five Stars
    6. Thor Vol 2: Who Holds The Hammer? by Jason Aaron- Four Stars
    7. Doctor Strange: The Oath by Brian K. Vaughan- Five Stars
    8. Chew Vol 2: International Flavor by John Layman- Four Stars
    9. The Wastelands by Stephen King- Four Stars

Fog’s Book Of The Month
Maladaptation (Deviant Behaviors #1)Maladaptation by Adan Ramie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Alright, I finished this book a while ago and I was trying to come up with the perfect words to write in my review, but at this point I think I should just wing it, so here we go! ;P

I loved this book. It’s not in my normal genre wheelhouse, but I’m always trying to expand my experience and, let me tell you, my experience is expanded! It was gritty and dark and very real. I found characters on both sides that I could root for (and in at least one case, scream at in a very WHAT ARE YOU DOING, DON’T DO THAT, I WANT TO KEEP LIKING YOU! kind of way ;P) and I felt sympathy for them in all sorts of different ways. The plot was grim, but engaging and kept me asking questions (which is something I always like) and the end, while not tied up in a perfect bow, was exactly what I didn’t know I needed.

I look forward to digging into more stories with these characters!

(View all my reviews)

 

 

 

Blogging, Writing

Once More Unto The (Writing) Breach- May 2016

Emily

I actually did more this month than I thought (which should really not be surprising to me any more, but it is :P). Let’s get started!

What I’ve Accomplished This Month

I had every intention of getting right back into the swing of this story after Camp NaNoWriMo in April. It didn’t happen as well as I had wanted. I got bogged down in edits. These later chapters are in far more need of editing than the nine or so chapters previously and it’s making it difficult to get through. But I am persevering, as much as I am able! The time of plot twists is nigh and I’m super excited about it! 🙂

This story was started on a whim. Unfortunately, that means it’s the most likely to get dropped, which is exactly what I’ve decided to do. Not forever (I have way too many plans for this story to possibly consider dropping it forever :P), but at least until I feel like I’m in a good place with “Calenhiril’s Search”, which will probably be when I have the first draft completely finished, possibly not until the whole thing is posted. I just really want to focus on “Calenhiril’s Search” right now and get that off my conscience before I stress myself out with too many other things. And posting two stories at the same time (“Calenhiril’s Search”, and now “Clarity“) is more than enough for my plate right now.

What’s Coming Up in June

ClarityFinishedCoverTall

As of  Wednesday, June 1st, “Clarity” is officially live!

pja3bag

Link to Fanfiction.Net

Link to AO3

There are two chapters currently posted, with an expected chapter count of twenty, plus an epilogue. I will be updating every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, as time allows, so keep an eye out! I’ve already had some really favorable reviews and I’m very pleased about it. I use those reviews to motivate me as I go through the proofreading process for each chapter and my perfectionist brain keeps trying to tell me that it’s all crap 😛

CNW_Participant

That’s right, folks, July’s Camp NaNoWriMo is nearly upon us! I know, I can hardly believe it myself. But June is the time to prep, waffle, and generally stress about the relative sanity of trying to dedicate my life to this thing three months out of the year. And I’m doing a bang up job so far ;P

I’ve got myself almost completely sold on the idea of a Finishing WriMo in July, starting with finishing the first draft of Calenhiril’s Search, followed by a quick foray into “Paradise Found” (the “Worth Living For” short sequel that I’ve been promising for nearly three years now), and finishing up with “Wonderland Reclaimed: Down The Rabbit Hole” (the first part of my Wonderland retelling that I lost in The Great Disaster of 2015).

Which is a great plan. Solid. I’m excited to be a part of it.

(…)

Except that I also started writing out the summary for my Age of Ultron fanfic and I’m really getting excited about it. It even has a title now: “Good Intentions”.

luciatag-smarta

So, yeah, who knows what’s going to happen in July. I’m still about 90% sold on the idea of a Finishing WriMo, and I would get to do at least one Marvel related fic if I did that, so… yeah. Stay tuned next month for my decision! 😛

 

 

Blogging, Crafting, life, Random, Reading, Writing

#Hashtags And Other Minutiae- May 2016

Emily

No cool intros, no witty quips. I’m letting the work speak for itself today 🙂

Tumblr

  • Favorite Posts:

I didn’t do many original posts this past month, mostly I just answered asks ;P

http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/143168203162/did-you-ever-have-that-problem-where-youre

http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/143393964211/that-star-wars-meme-thing-you-just-didwe-have

  • Favorite Reblogs:

RIP Agent Carter…

http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/144307654603/marvelousdorito-the-world-has-changed-and

http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/144314799279/imaginessforall-requested-sagittarius

Clint Barton is my fave.

http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/144486004266

http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/143354420929/remusjohnslupin-au-femfellowship-of-the-ring

Breaking News: Poe Dameron continues to be an A+ life ruiner.

http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/143598132905/reb-chan-all-i-do-now-is-draw-poe-dayumeron

Actual Retail Life

http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/144209346145/skellydun-why-is-it-always-ice

http://fogisbeautiful.tumblr.com/post/144361243428/lazy-afternooner-a-new-hope

Twitter

  • Favorite Tweets

I literally had two tweets this month, sorry Twitter :/

  • Favorite Retweets:

Instagram

  • I finished spinning my milk fiber!

  • And I started a new  spin!

  • I also used up the last of my funky, chunky handspun singles with mitts!

 

Pinterest

  • Featured Board: This month, Changing History!

  • Favorite Pins:

 

That’s all I have for you guys today 🙂 See you around the interwebs!

Reading

Have You Hugged A Book Today?- April 2016

Emily

ReadingChallengeApril16

And I fall farther and farther behind on my reading… I really need to take a day off 😉

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. The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King– I’m much closer to being done with this book than I was! For some reason it’s dragging for me, I don’t remember this happening last time I read it…
  • Books I’ve Finished (I did say comics to the rescue ;P)
    1. Jessica Jones: Alias Vol 3 by Brian Michael Bendis- Four Stars

Fog’s Book Of The Month

This month’s selection:

Jessica Jones: Alias, Vol. 4 (Alias, #4)Jessica Jones: Alias, Vol. 4 by Brian Michael Bendis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have to say, the end of this comic run was not nearly as powerful for me as the Netflix series was. That’s not to say it’s bad (see the five star review), it was just different. I’m mainly keeping the five stars for the references to things that were not in the show, not for the Purple Man story line (hello epic 4th wall break! ;P). Like Jessica’s relationships with the people in her life: Carol, Scott, Quartermain, and Luke. If there is any way for us to see Quartermain in the next season, I would be 900% okay with this. I would also be 900% okay with a guest appearance by Scott Lang, but I’m gonna throw out a guess and say that’s a lot less likely to happen ;P Seeing Jessica’s different reactions to the different people in her life really made her experiences feel real and painful. Also, the wonderful extra reveal at the end of the book was very well done (even though I knew it was coming ;P).

I definitely don’t want to leave the world of Jessica Jones behind and I will definitely be picking up The Pulse next!

(View all my reviews)

  • Book to Screen (Twitter live!tag-#fogwatches)
    • Still nothing. There will be something next time, I swear, I really AM gonna finish the Harry Potter movies…

I’m going to try to read more now that Camp NaNo is over, but that requires taking time off and I just don’t know when that’s going to happen, quite frankly. I’ll leave you with this hilarious comic that I found on the internet, because… um… yeah… ;P

comics-shoeboxblog-books-internet-565116

 

Blogging, Writing

Once More Unto The (Writing) Breach- April 2016

Emily

What I’ve Accomplished This Month

CNW_Winner_1500-1

That’s it. Literally, that was all I did this month. I edited over 80,000 words in 30 days, and let me tell you, there were days I didn’t think I was gonna make it. I started out very confident, completely certain that I was going to get everything done, maybe even get done early! And then I realized I was ripping this story apart and now I had to put it all back together, not once… not twice… THREE TIMES this happened to me, in the second half of the month! It was heart-stoppingly stressful some days, but I think I’ve done the story a lot of good.

For those of you who might not remember what the heck I was even working on, here’s a reprint of the horrible summary for Clarity that is getting a well-deserved rewrite sooner rather than later:

Clarity (A Loki Fanfiction)

Loki (the traitor, the usurper, former prince of Asgard) is imprisoned below the palace that was once his home, cut off from even his mother, possibly the only person in the whole of the Nine Realms who still cares for him. But Lady Frigga has always been a clever woman. And there is a girl in her service, a girl with no past and an unusual quality that makes her uniquely suited to the task the Queen has in mind. Klara might not know who she is, but in the dungeons of Asgard, she might learn who she wants to be.

I’m letting the story rest and I’m going to allow a few trusted readers to read the final product before posting begins in June. The tentative date for the first chapter to post is Wednesday, June 1st, with a posting schedule of Monday, Wednesday, Friday, if anyone wants to mark their calendars!

Also, I have this playlist on Spotify I’ve been listening to while I work on writing/editing Clarity. Feel free to give it a listen if you want a teaser for the fic!

What’s Coming Up in May

My intention is to get back into the swing of regular posting, starting with one chapter per week for both Changing History: Calenhiril’s Search and Double The Baggins, Twice The Took. I might post more as time allows, but mostly I’m taking this month to rest and try to recuperate my energy from my work intensive Camp session. And also prepare for the next Camp NaNoWriMo in July! A writer’s work is never done, it seems! Currently, my heart is set on trying to finish Wonderland Reclaimed, but that could change depending on how I feel about Calenhiril’s Search and DBTT by then. I could be doing a finishing WriMo instead! We’ll see what the future brings!

Until next time…

14654138
If you thought I forgot it was May The Fourth, you clearly don’t understand the level of extreme nerdery I operate at… ;P

 

 

Blogging, Writing

Once More Unto The (Writing) Breach- March 2016, Plus The Quarterly Round-Up!

Emily

What I’ve Accomplished This Month

  • Changing History: Calenhiril’s Search– 7 chapters posted!
    • So, I posted WAY more chapters in March than I had planned, which is AWESOME! I’m still not finished with the first draft of this story, but I feel like it will probably come to me as I go, and I still have at least 30 chapters to post before I really need to start worrying about it too much. I’m just really excited to get this all out there and ACTUALLY be done with Mel and Boromir’s tale 🙂
  • Double The Baggins, Twice The Took– 6 chapters posted!
    • I’m gonna be honest, this came completely out of left field. I wrote the first 50,000 words of this by accident in July 2014, but I just had too many other projects going at the time to even consider posting it. I still have too many stories running at the same time (I’ll be posting THREE simultaneously, come June…), but I happened to read a really great Hobbit fanfiction (Stirring The Leaves, recommended to me by my friend, Sarah!) and it made me realize that my story deserves to be read. So here I am, with yet another story I’m posting even though the first draft isn’t quite finished. But I feel like I have enough of the framework figured out to get a start on it, at any rate. It’s just for fun right now, so we’ll see where it goes 🙂

What’s Coming Up in April

CNW_Participant

I finished all my editing prep work for Clarity, my newest Marvel fanfiction set during the year of Loki’s imprisonment preceding (and including) the events of Thor: The Dark World.

From my Camp NaNo Synopsis:

Clarity (A Loki Fanfiction)

Loki (the traitor, the usurper, former prince of Asgard) is imprisoned below the palace that was once his home, cut off from even his mother, possibly the only person in the whole of the Nine Realms who still cares for him. But Lady Frigga has always been a clever woman. And there is a girl in her service, a girl with no past and an unusual quality that makes her uniquely suited to the task the Queen has in mind. Klara might not know who she is, but in the dungeons of Asgard, she might learn who she wants to be.

Despite that terrible blurb, I’m really, really excited about this project, and so far it’s been a joy to edit! I’ve been adding and cutting and rearranging like a crazy person and it’s been a lot of fun! I’m really hoping to have everything done and ready to go by the end of the month, then it will rest for a couple of weeks before I start posting in June.

Speaking of long-term goals, it’s time to introduce our newest segment!

The Quarterly Round-Up!

So, at the beginning of the year, I set out some yearly goals and some quarterly goals, and vowed to reevaluate and re-prioritize every three months. Three months have come and gone and it’s time to keep my word! Let’s start with a reminder/recap of my goals for the year:

Overall goals for the year: Finish Changing History rewrites DONE!, 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, 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.

Now, let’s break it down by month!

  • January: First month of NaNoWriMo’s “Now What?” months, focusing on revising and editing. My goals are to finish editing and posting Changing History: Second Chances, and to finish the first draft of Entwives.
    • I didn’t finish my rewrite in January, which set everything for the year back a bit. I also didn’t finish my Entwives (now Calenhiril’s Search) first draft, but that didn’t set me back as much as I feared it might.
    • Unexpectedly, I started work on my new Star Wars collaboration, Resolving of Gray, with Sarah this month! We’re still working on it, but it’s slowed down a bit now, with both of us working on other projects at the moment.
  • February: Second month of NaNoWriMo’s “Now What?” months. I’ll be setting aside Changing History this month and shifting my focus onto my intense editing of Clarity (Loki fic). I will also add new words to the rewriting of Part One of Wonderland Reclaimed.
    • Because of the setbacks in January, February had to be completely rethought. I made the decision to move the editing of Clarity to April for my Camp NaNoWriMo project, and shifted my focus from new words to editing and finishing of Changing History. I also made the decision to add a new villain to Wonderland Reclaimed, which means that when I do finally sit down to finish it, it’s gonna be a lot more work than I had anticipated…
    • I finished the Changing History: Second Chances rewrites this month! It was glorious! There were gifs!
  • March: Prep Month for Camp NaNo #1. Prepare to edit Entwives, write out an outline of what I have so far and make note of any plot holes that need filling. I’ll also continue to add words to Wonderland Part One.
    • So, by the time March got here, everything was all outta whack. I did start posting the fourth and final part of Entwives (now Calenhiril’s Search)(see above), but I didn’t work on Wonderland at all. I did finish all my prep work to edit Clarity for April Camp NaNo, though.
    • Began posting Double The Baggins, Twice The Took on a whim (6 chapters posted)

So, despite a slow start to the year, I did actually manage to accomplish quite a bit in this first quarter, even if not all of it was in the original plan (the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men, amirite? ;P). I’ve decided to put less emphasis on new words this next quarter, and more emphasis on getting these projects finished, be that writing, editing, or posting. On the flip side of that, I just found out that Alice Through The Looking Glass is being released on May 27th, and since my original novel is an Alice In Wonderland retelling, I would like to get that finished sooner rather than later, in order to capitalize on any resurgence in that genre that might result from the movie (which looks AMAZING, by the way, check out the trailer!).

As much as I’m enjoying editing my Loki fanfiction, in light of this news, I kind of wish I had set it aside and worked on Wonderland this month. Since that’s no longer an option (I’ve COMMITTED, dang it! ;P), I’m going to try (try!) to work on finishing the first draft in May, instead. With that in mind, here’s a break down of my goals for the second quarter!

  • April: Camp NaNoWriMo #1! Edit Clarity (A Loki Fanfiction).
  • 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).
  • 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’m going to be honest, this next quarter looks super intimidating. It’s a lot of work. And I’m going to make a side-goal this quarter of making time for my original fiction, even if that means setting aside a fanfiction project I’m enjoying. I can always come back to it once I’m done 🙂

And that’s it! We’ll see what happens! If you’re doing Camp NaNoWriMo this month, break a leg, and I’ll see you all on the other side!