It's February!

As we enter into the second month of 2018, I'm looking at what is to be done. Being bipolar with anxiety and arthritis this month sucks. January I completed only a few tasks out of 25. I managed to read A book, cook meals, kept up with dishes and folded laundry when it was brought home. Things I didn't get done that NEEDED to be done: read 5 books, write every day, lose 2 pounds, cut back on soda, drink more water, cut down on smoking and staying calm when kiddo-2 acts out.

I know what you are thinking, I wanted to do more than I should have. Though I think all were reasonable. I'm not too upset I didn't complete January's to do list. This month will be better I hope.

Mental Issues
1. I went to therapy and just bitched about kiddo-2's behavior. Mainly the fact that when I try to remove myself from the situation she follows me, even outside. Therapist had no ideas for me, as usual.
2. I saw my shrink. We decided that I could go 2 months between visits rather than 1. I was also given the go ahead to wean myself off the primidone. That means dropping from every night to every other night for 2 weeks then off them completely. As I have said before my shrink has the confidence in me to control my meds myself. I tried to go off  keppra, but that didn't work well. That means I am staying on it. So far the primidone cut hasn't given me trouble.
3. I managed to socialize with my neighbor, lets call her P. P had an incident that I know will effect her forever. I went through it a long time ago. We hadn't talked much other than the hello in passing. Now we talk 4-5 times a week. She has bipolar, OCD and anxiety too.
4. I made several healthy dinners and made sure there was leftovers to take to my other neighbor, the shut-in. Lets call him S. S doesn't like being around anyone and he doesn't cook other than toss it in the oven crap. I just knock, he answers and I hand him the container. That's it. I go home... walk 3 steps to my door.

Writing
I didn't even come close to me writing goals. I started Midnight Whispers over and am stuck. I tried to edit Dalara and just couldn't get into it. I had hoped to have at least 10,000 words done. Though with everything going on I understand why. When I'm stressed I can't focus and I'm trying something new with Midnight Whispers. Oh, and I've been sick for 2 months or more. Now that I'm better focus should come soon.
Here is my February goals:
1. Re-setup Scrivener for Midnight Whispers
2. Write 15,000 words of Midnight Whispers.
3. Edit at least 2 chapters of Dalara.
4. Get Inevitable Destinyz off to a beta reader & editor.
5. Research self-publishing again
6. Get Aeon Timeline set up for Midnight Whispers


Reading
I finished "When Darkness Comes"  by Alexandra Ivy. It's the 1st in her Guardians of Eternity series. I have read it several times and I love it more each time. This month I plan on reading the next 4 in the series.

Other Goals
1. Make freezer meals (Feb. 2nd & 3rd)
2. Cut down o soda
3. Drink more water
4. Keep the living room clean
5. Crochet a bit

That seems a lot but it really isn't. I know if I set my mind to them all I can get them all done. Remember, when setting goals make them small and simple. Even 1 small thing completed will make you feel better.

NaNoWriMo Time!

It's that time of year! NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is almost here. I have been preparing for it for the first time, in detail that is. Here are the things I have worked on so far. The title is Midnight Whispers. The is a permanent one thanks to my Twitter friends.

Here is the logo for my main male character's business, Thegrot Security. The do a wide variety of services from home security systems to secret body guards, internet security and child recovery. 

The logo was created at Free Logo Design.

They have many vehicles but he one below is the most used. All are bullet resistant and have several features of protection. 

Yes I have done tons of prepping this year. I still can't believe I've done so much. 

Next up is Elyan's (main male character) personal vehicle and yes it's a typical guy car. Porsche 718 S.

You want to know how I found them? Well, I went to the car websites and built them. This means I customized everything and have every detail about each car. Now if I need to describe the stereo system I have it. It was kind of fun. It was easy since I'm a car girl.

On top of all that research I have done I have worked on my Scrivener. I have all the characters so far, their DOB's and a few have cars and habits. I still have far to go with their bios but that usually comes as I write. I never know what their favorite food, music, etc. until I get to know them a bit. My 2 main characters have a bit more than the supporting ones have. Adding to that I have places and their descriptions of the exterior and interior. I have the security firm, strip club, bar & grill, a popular local bar, a pizza place, the hospital where my main female character works and her apartment. I'm working on my main male character's home now.  Here's what it looks like now.

This is the first time I captured Scrivener with the inspector open. As you can see I have my main characters set as photos instead of a words. This help if I need a quick reminder of their appearance while writing. When I come across a picture I find I like for the other characters I'll do the same thing.

Another aspect of Scrivener I normally don't look at or use is the Outline section. This year for NaNoWriMo I started to and I think it helped a tiny bit. Look and see. Yes I'm sharing my outline, at least what I have so far. You also see how short my scene splits are. I use each one for a single event such as meeting, seeing or an interaction. I haven't met anyone that does it besides me, not that others don't. Each scene section can be anywhere from 500 words to 3000 words. I also split them into each character scene. Say Elyan sees Caitlyn and his emotions are described the next one could be Caitlyn feeling him watching her and her fear.

My Aeon Timeline is started as well. I have the first 2 events in it and the beginning of the species creation. All the characters are entered with dates of birth; making it easy to see their age in each event. With the places in there it helps with keeping track of where everyone goes and how much. You can see below, the ages of Elyan and Caitlyn when the events occur. 

I have finally found out how to use the length of time per event. This has been a wonderful option. I now know how long it takes a character to get home from work or how long they stay at a place. Here is an example of using the duration option. In the inspector to the right of the picture you see the options.

I thought about using Scapple with this project but I can't seem to get at it. I used it for another project but I don't think I'll use it for this one.

Another thing I'm doing for NaNoWriMo is making a menu and shopping list. Here's what I'll be making:

Beef fajitas (crock pot freezer meal)
Sweet-n-sour chicken (crock pot freezer meal)
Meatloaf
Spaghetti
Beef stew (crock pot freezer meal)
Sub sandmiches
Chicken-n-dumplings (homemade)
Flank steak (crock pot freezer meal)
Mongolian beef (crock pot freezer meal)
Tacos
Salads
Roasted veggies

Now for snackies:

Rice Krispie treats with chocolate frosting
Spinach/artichoke dip
Reese's peanut butter cups
Kit-Kats
A bunch of different chips
Chocolate chip cheese cake
Homemade cookies

So, preparing for NaNoWriMo isn't just preparing for writing. I love getting food all ready on the 3rd of the month.  I'll write all day on the 1st, grocery shop on the 2nd & prep food on the 3rd. I'll have all freezer meals done, snacks prepped and cook up taco meat & spaghetti meat. Dicing all veggies for everything... this make tacos easy, just heat up the meat and toss the pre-cut veggies on. The same go for the salads. I'll end up cutting 12 peppers (different colors), onions, tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, and anything else needed. Before you ask, yes I do this every month. It makes parenting life easy. Just pull out what you want the night before and toss it into the crock pot in the morning. Sometimes my daughter will do it both. 

If you want ideas for freezer meals search Pinterest. I have tone of them on my boards.