Is It Still January?

I am amazed it is still January. For some reason it feels like this month is going fast when it's not. It could be because I have had a week of good days.

MEDICAL:
I found out I have to take an extra inhaler so I can keep the bronchitis and pneumonia away. Then they added prednisone to the mix. I now take 11 pills in the morning and 8 at night. I really wanted to get off more meds but I guess it'll take longer to do that.
Kiddo-2 came home last weekend and cleaned the house. Yes, the whole house. I have kept up with the cleaning too. I cooked homemade chicken-n-dumplings and chicken-noodle soup.  That fed us for 5 days all together and you can't even tell I cooked when looking at my kitchen. Everything is cleaned up. PREDNISONE at it's best. I also have had to return to the chiropractor due to the pain in my shoulders and hips. I lasted 8 months without going. I think the weather change has caused it. By Tuesday I'll be back to normal, I hope.

WEATHER:
With a "white shit that falls from the sky" storm coming into my area tomorrow I had to stock up on a few things to make it with less anxiety. I grabbed soda, milk, eggs, bread, a steak, veggies, salad stuff, ice cream, snacks, fish and a frozen pizza.

 Frig is completely full, freezer is almost full. hen I have all my writing snacks ready to go for my marathon writing days. Should be about 2 full days of words. For me this shopping trip was not normal. I usually don't buy snacks or frozen food stuff. I bet you are wondering what meals I'll be making... Beef fajitas, tacos, steak, salads, pizza and ice cream.

WRITING:
With 4-8 inches of white crap supposedly going to fall, staying warm, munching and writing is what I really need to do. I really want to get beyond 65k words on CoT2. If I can do that I can finish it before CampNaNoWriMo April.
UPDATE: CoT-1 has been handed over to a few friends to read. Then I should only have 2 round of edits left.

I have all of January's Indie Author of the Week posts done. One for February is also done. Now you just have to wait until Saturdays.


*Happy Writing & Happy Reading*

What Time Is It? NANO Time!

Ahh! November is almost here. The one month that gives me great joy and great sadness. Sadness is due to the fact my mom will have been gone for 15 years this year. The great joy is what this post is all about.

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a non-profit.
Their Mission Statement
National Novel Writing Month believes in the transformational power of creativity. We provide the structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds—on and off the page. -(from their site).
If you wish to help support NaNoWriMo your donations are tax deductible. Donate here.

What is NaNoWriMo all about?
Well, the best way I can describe it is, you write 50,000 words in 30 days. You think it sounds really hard, it is sometimes. For me it's a breeze. Yes, that's right, I have finished every year and the last 3 I have hit 50k in 13 days.

On many social medias you may have seen "Prep-tober" This is related to NaNoWriMo. Prep-tober is October for us Wrimos (NaNoWriMo participants). Prep-tober means a month long planning, outlining, plotting, researching and pulling our hair out month.

I plan meals and snacks more than anything else. I don't outline in a traditional way, my plots are usually thought out months if not years before. So, what do I plan for meals & snacks? At least 20 crock pot freezer meals, recipes can be found on my Pinterest, click on the link to the left. I stock up on Halloween candy all of October, make rice krispy treats, puppy chow, brownies and ranch oyster cracker. In October, I make a bunch of cookie dough and freeze it in balls so I just pull them out and pop them in the oven.
As for my outlines, I said I don't do them in the traditional manner but I sort of outline. I use Aeon Timeline to get the event in order. With it I can even have the event timed out, as in it lasted years, 3 hours or 12 seconds. This helps when I'm doing 2 point of views (POV). It is also what I keep all my events for the series in. Each series has it's own file. If I didn't have Aeon I'd never get anything in the correct order. Between books events happen and I can look and say "She did that months ago." if it is brought up in a future novel.
This is what mine looks like.

Yep, that's my outline stuff... Now, what do I use to write? Scrivener! It has everything I need, no hopping over to another window or screen. I keep my inspiration photos, notes, names, rules, definitions, etc. No need for individual programs for it all. They say it's a typewriter, scrapbook and ring-binder all in one. Take a look for yourself...

You can see on the left is my binder , the middle is my writing space and the right is my scrapbook... Yep just like their website says. I used to use Microsoft Word but after trying Scrivener 5 years ago, I can't go back to it.
I bet you wonder what I do when I have an "ah ha" moments, well I carry pen and paper everywhere.

The last week of October is my "try not to write" week. With all the preparation I do it's really though not to. My brain keeps saying "WRITE!" when I can't. On November 1st my manic state will kick in and I will write starting at midnight.

This year my 13 yr old neighbor girl is joining me NaNo through the Young Writers Program. It's for all kids under 18 years old. This year she asked about it and we got her started. I am amazed how into it she is. Asking all the right questions and she has more planned out than I do. I love seeing young ones get excited they was she has.

SO, what are you doing this October? What's planned for November?

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.