December Challenges End and January Challenges Begin

Time to finish up the December writing challenges and embrace some more writing challenges or editing challenges in January. I'll be working on Surge so I need to try to find a challenge that'll work with where I am in that project. But before then, I need to finish up the last few days of the December prompts.

#AuthorsChallenge2019Plus Days 26 - 31

The last few prompts were:

• Day 26 - Weirdest Place to Read - The weirdest place that I ever read was sitting on the floor in our hall. Perhaps it's not so weird to those reading this. I had terrible nightmares as a kid. (I still do but...) Sometimes, I'd have trouble going back to sleep. We always kept the hall light on, so I sat in the corner of the hall and read. When my mom found out I was doing that, she was not happy. 😅 Her reasons were valid and I'm thankful she checked on us at night. One thing I never had to doubt was that she cared about us. This photo represents my view had I bothered looking up from my book.
  
• Day 27 - Loop Friday - <sigh> Such boring photos...the answers are more fun when people say something but no one else wants to be a #followlooprebel it seems. <shrugs>
  
• Day 28 - Great Character Name - My favorite character name is, I think, Obys because his name fits him so well. He's created from the black, streaked obys stone so he's simply called after that stone. Which now I think of it, in their world, his name is probably like calling a dog, Dog. Gotta chuckle at that one, I guess. It's still my favorite closely followed by Tor Gervell and Kol Udota. I'm super happy with those two names.
• Day 29 - Number of Books Read in 2019 - At the time of this preparation, I'm sitting at 121 or something like that. But I recently discovered a glitch which has at least three of the books I've read only once listed as having read them twice. I did meet my goal, though and I'm still continuing on. I think I'll keep the 100 book goal for next year, too. I don't see myself stopping reading at the speed I went this year.
• Day 30 - 2019 in One Word - Tiring. Oh. My. Gosh! It was such a tiring year and in several ways, a disappointment. Thankfully, none of those disappointments were any which truly mattered in the whole scheme of things.
• Day 31 - Writing Resolutions - I don't really do resolutions. I just make it a point to take things one day at a time and continue working to be the best writer I can be. My main goal, though, is to get one or two of my short stories shined up and polished to give to my subscribers...finally...and to get Surge published by the end of the year. It can be done. I know it can.

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#1WordPromptChallenge Days 26 - 31

Here are the last of the one word prompts:

• Day 26 - Mountain - No post.
  
• Day 27 - Valley - Still nothing.
  
• Day 28 - Meal - We got to eat a meal out with family today. That's always a hoot. We also went to a class reunion supper which was fun. It was good to see everyone again.
  
• Day 29 - Snack - I'm always snacking but no pictures for proof. LOL
  
• Day 30 - Sing - I'm always singing, too, and sometimes I write about characters who sing. You'd think as much as I love music myself, more of my characters would be singers or musicians, but they are surprisingly not heavy on the singing. Not since "Ripples," anyway.
  
• Day 31 - Tail - Here's a shot of some fiery tails shooting up from our friend's firepit. (Photo 1) We really enjoyed ending the year with friends.
  

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New Challenges for January - #1WordPromptChallenge, #AuthorFAQChallenge, and #FantasyWIPJan20

On the next blog post, I'll share these in separate sections. But for this week, I'm keeping them in one slideshow/section. Here are the prompts for days 1 and 2 of these challenges.
#1wordpromptchallenge

• Day 1 - Awake - When I wake up, each day I try to start by reading a scripture-based devotional reading, journaling my thoughts on the topic or something that's been on my mind, and a cup of coffee. The photo shows my blog log binder, my current devotional reading book, and my new journal (a gift from my husband and I /LOVE/ it!). I also do devotional readings through the YouVersion Bible App. What I like about this particular devotional reading book is that there are journal prompts to help the topic stick in my head longer.
• Day 2 - Vacation - I so needed a vacation but that's not going to happen for some time now. We'd planned to go to Arizona and try to see the Grand Canyon but those plans fell through. I was a bit bummed since the Grand Canyon has been on my 'To-See' list for a long, long time. Wonky end to a wonky year but here's to the hope of a fresh, new beginning!

#authorfaqchallenge

• Day 1 - New Year's Writing Goals - Everyone keeps asking about my writing goals for 2020! XD My main plan is to edit Surge and fill in the missing pieces. Then I'll need to refine that and get it ready to publish by the end of the year. I also want to challenge myself to keep writing in my journal each day. Creating a writing schedule that is both flexible and realistic has been so hard. I'll keep working on that, too. I'm also striving to be a healthy writer since I'm far too sedentary for my liking. I have a couple of small health issues I have to keep an eye on. One thing I know is healthy for me is drinking hot lemon water in the morning, before even my coffee. It's difficult to remember because the coffee is usually the first thing I head to. LOL I'm all about using natural options for detoxing rather than purchasing someone else's fancy, super-processed quick fix that might cause me problems down the road.
• Day 2 - National Science Fiction Day: Favorite Sci-fi - I think if I had to choose a favorite sci-fi novel, I'd go with A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I truly enjoyed the novelty of that book, as well as its simplicity. But if we're talking sci-fi franchises, my favorite is now Star Trek, hands down. The fact that Disney will now shred Star Wars and make it something it was never really intended to be has me seriously bummed. They bought out the Muppets, too, and have proceeded to ruin it. My apologies to Disney fans but I'm seriously displeased with them.
  

#fantasywipjan20

• Day 1 - Biggest Goals for 2020 - Publish Surge - I don't know if I'll be able to make this goal. I know it's possible because I've done it before. I just don't know what will happen from one day to the next. No matter how well I organize my schedule, it usually gets bunched up somewhere along the way. But that's my biggest goal for 2020.
• Day 2 - January Specific Goals - I'm participating in a beta test for a self-editing course and I'm going to use that to help me begin the process of editing Surge. I'm also going to be working on updating my website a bit. I'm going to leave the home page as it is for now and focus more on revamping the other pages.

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I am so glad to begin a new year with you! Over the course of the next few weeks, I'll be working on the website, too. I can't wait to see what color strike my fancy this time. Maybe something in the green family since I'll be working with a lot of greens for the cover of Surge this year. I may go back to blues, though. I really don't know. I tried a blue for my newsletter but I'm not certain I'll stick with that. I may try pale coral, celadon, navy, and chocolate. I really don't know. :)