February Writing Challenges & Self-Editing Progress Week 2

Am I really so busy? Time flies by so fast I can barely keep my days straight. I've gotten into the practice of writing most things down so I can try to remember them. That works...as long as I remember to check my list. XD
I'm still doing everything I can on both Surge and The Tale of Outh'n Durr. More on that in the last portion of today's post.
Ready to check out my challenge responses for the last week? Let's go!

#CandleLoversFeb20 Book and Candle Aesthetic Challenge Days 7 - 13

I'm having so much fun creating these book aesthetics. Whether I'm highlight a single book, or sharing a whole stack of them, it's a good way to encourage my creativity to grow. Here are the prompts for the past week:

• Day 7 - Myths - The  books: The Moon Spinners by Mary Stewart; Irish Folk Tales by W.B. Yeats; Norse Mythology (an Usborne book) by Alex Frith; The Celts by Juliette Wood; The Mythic Beastiary by Tony Allan - I hope you'll see one that piques your interest. :) For a fantasy author, folk tales, mythology, and fairytales are great resources to keep on your bookshelves.
• Day 8 - Castles - The books: Wizard's Castle by Dianna Wynn Jones; Heraldry by Walter Buehr; Alissa & the Castle Ghost by Jillian Ross; Scotland by Dorothy B. Sutherland - I hope you'll check these out. Two were book we got in a library book haul. Wizard's Castle was a bargain purchase from a used book store and has books one and two of Ms. Jones' series about the world where the wizard, Howl, lives. I actually did not realize these were the first and second books in the series. I thought "House of Many Ways" was the second book. It's amazing what you learn when you do a little digging...
• Day 9 - Swords - The books: Tahn by L.A. Kelly; Return to Alistair by L.A. Kelly - I just discovered there's a third book in this series that I need to read! The Scarlet Trefoil is calling my name. Now to find a copy...which might prove difficult. These books have been on Goodreads long enough that their links are super short! o.O
• Day 10 - War - The books: Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes; The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank; American Sniper* by Chris Kyle; Left of Bang* by Patrick Van Horne & Jason A. Riley; On Combat* by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman; The Art of War for Managers* by Sun Tzu & Gerald A. Michaelson; Danger Close* by Steve Call; 1066 by ; The Wars of the Roses by Kenneth Allen (There was no link to a Goodreads page on this book.); The Illustrated History of the Civil War by Time Life Books (These aren't making a great showing on the Goodreads site, either.) - The ones marked with an asterisk, I borrowed from my husband's collection. He and my son are very interested in military and war history. I guess that might be a given considering the long and proud history our families have of military life. The other books came from our school shelves, with two coming out of our library book haul.
• Day 11 - Dwarves - The Books: Snow White & Rose Red by Marjorie Cooper & Jacob Grimm; The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien;
• Day 12 - Curses - For this set, I shared the first two mega-volumes of Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya and the last two volumes I own of The Demon Prince of Momochi House by Aya Shouoto. Both are manga collections about people who are living under a curse that must be broken. I still don't know exactly what the curse is for the second series, but I've read all of Fruits Basket. It's mostly a happy story with some sad portions coloring the plot in more realistic shades. It's beautifully done, both the stories, I mean, from the artwork to the plot lines. Even though I'm in my 40s, I still enjoy reading manga. After all, I'm a sucker for a beautiful picture book.
• Day 13 - Good - This was a harder challenge. I thought for certain I had tons of books that would fit in this stack. I came up with these three: Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead; Rumpole by John Mortimer (the link will take you to a collection of Rumpole stories in one volume on Goodreads, but not the volume I have, which is a special edition, I guess.); and Angels in the Snow by Melody Carlson. The only one of this set that I haven't read yet is "Rumpole" but I'm getting to it for sure. Those books are seriously jolly romps!
  

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#1WordPromptChallenge Days 7 - 13

I'm trying to share as much from my WsIP as possible. (Yes. I can't stand saying WIPs when I say it in my head as 'works-in-progress' and not 'work-in-progresses'. Maybe I should just spell it out...) Anyway, here are this past week's prompts:

• Day 7 - Unkind - Scroll down for the snippet. I have a really hard time writing harrowing situations. Maybe it's because I do my best to avoid them in real life. Either way, this scene must improve or meh... There's no 'or'. It has to stay, at least for now unless I can find other ways to convey the knowledge so improved it must be!
• Day 8 - Humid - No post. I couldn't even take a photo outside as the weather was gorgeous and the humidity low. I also don't write on Saturdays if I can help it so there was no writing something specific for this prompt, either.
• Day 9 - Cool - Again, no photo from outside because the weather wasn't cooperating with the prompt. And while I could've shared a photo of my cool friends gathered around the piano at church, I didn't even think about it. Putting the foundation down for our Resurrection Day program has been consuming all my thoughts...
• Day 10 - Picture - I spent most of my day setting up blog posts. But toward the end, I got to work on filling in the #picture of Kol Udota, a side character in #Surge. It's the next novel I will publish in the #ChildrenofYDahnndrya series. I also worked on #TheTaleofOuthnDurr which is a #novelette that takes place before Surge. So while I never used the prompt for the day as a word, I still feel this photo fits the challenge. #1wordpromptchallenge.
• Day 11 - Movie - I'm sharing a picture but I'm not sure it's what MJ Vaughn intended. I share a video with each chapter I post on Wattpad. It's a great way to show readers what kind of music I enjoy pairing with my writing, what artists are sparking my creativity these days, and even introduce new names to readers.
  Back to the big screen, though, my oldest daughter keeps saying my books would make excellent movies. That might be true but that has never been my goal or desire. I do NOT want to see my books ever hit the big screen. I know. I know. You're thinking I'm weird. Thing is, I know I am. XD Books lose so much when they're translated into film and while in some cases, LOTR for instance, that turns out better than you'd think. In most others, it falls so far short of what the author intended to convey with their story. (I'd use Eragon here as an example but I don't feel like it was even a good book. :? #hatersgonhate) I don't want the messages of my books to be clouded in any way. (I might actually do that myself, but if so, I hope someone will bring it to my attention so I can fix the problem.) So, no. There will be no movie franchise for "Children of Y'Dahnndrya" unless I and my children and grandchildren are cold in our graves. Or unless a film company with morals exists...heh...
  
• Day 12 - Success - I don't have a post for this one or the next. Life's been kind of up and down for us lately. Living one day to the next, though, is one success I can share with you, though there's not a picture for it.
• Day 13 - Failure - I've been working, I haven't come across snippets that fit either here or for the previous prompt. They exist in both Surge and The Tale of Outh'n Durr, but if I share them now, I don't know what that would do for the reader. Rather than risk ruining one of the stories for you, I'd rather skip that kind of failure...

Keys jangled against the lock startling Outh’n from a fitful doze. Cold dread flooded his stomach and he clenched his jaw in preparation. Moving wasn’t going to be pleasant. If they were opening the door, judgment had been determined. He wasn’t sure he was ready to hear the verdict but regardless, he was about to.
“Come on you piece of trash,” the guard growled at him from the door, blinding him with a brightly burning torch. “Come on, I say! You’re in luck. Looks as if the council’s letting you off lightly, though I can’t figure out why. Neither can most of the village.”  He spat on the dirt near Outh’n’s feet. “You’re trash, Outh’n Durr,” he sneered as the derogatory word stabbed at Outh’n’s heart. “Anyone who’d kill a friend deserves to die in my mind.” He shook his head and turned sideways to allow Outh’n to pass in front of him. “Now. Let’s go,” he pushed. “Move your feet, trash.”

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#SelfEditing Progress Days 7 - 13

I could probably work faster if I didn't have other obligations but where most of those are concerned, I wouldn't trade them if someone offered me the world in exhcange. Here's how this week's progress looked and where I hope to be by the end of next week.
I've been filling out interviews with my characters for Surge and let me tell you, that's a daunting task. I have two of them done. The interview questions are really good! They are sparking my writing and really helping me dig deep. But I have to wonder if I'm getting too in-depth and need to just keep it shorter so I can get back to the writing. I already have limited time to write and have to weigh the worth of such a detailed questionnaire for my kind of work schedule. This novel has been sitting untouched for almost two years, I think. It's time to get it out to the public! At least, that's what my mind keeps telling me.
The Tale of Outh'n Durr is updated with three chapters ready for your entertainment. I hope you'll check it out on Wattpad and let me know what you think. What's missing? What's overdone? Thanks in advance.

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I'm so glad you stopped and took the time to read how things are going on my writing journey. If you enjoyed your visit, be sure to check back on Wednesday for another book review. I'm continuing my feature on a great indie author. Leah Atwood's mission is to write clean and inspirational romance novels that will leave you smiling at the end. I hope you'll come check it out!