Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo & More Challenge Responses

I gave you guys a heads-up last week, but with everything going on in my life right now, I need to reduce the amount of blog posts you'll see from me each week. I'm going to blog at least twice a week. If you get any extra blog post notifications, then those are bonuses. It may be that I found something interesting, or something nifty happened. But for a while, just expect two until things settle back down into the normal routine. Read on to find out more about what I did over the weekend.

Instawrimo Days 17-21

I've finally caught up with my #instawrimo posts. They are as follows:

• Day 17 - Cast Your Villain - My main villains are Sa Mye's intended groom (Ruu Yvii Nol), Kai's uncle (Kor Bahn Luu), and a gang headed by one guy named Ja Chi.
  
• Day 18 - Cast a Secondary Character - I created an inspiration photo for Kai's parents for this part of the challenge. They are Aki Bahn Iil (dad) and Lai Bahn Rii (mom). As you can see, they took pieces of their own first names to create his.
  
• Day 19 - Overheard Dialog - I'm not going to retype this. I will try to fix the slide show in such a way that you can pause it to read the dialog there. Also, please be kind since it's just a very basic scene sketch.
  
• Day 20 - Map - Since I don't have a larger, more detailed map of Bot'ha yet, a close-up of the world map is what I shared.
  
• Day 21 - Outdoor Setting - Bot'ha is a land of crops, gardens, hills, rivers, and waterfalls.
  

I hope you enjoy the slideshows I create of these photos. They certainly save space.

#Oktowrimo Days 15 - 21

I apologize for any reposts. I totally got mixed up on this challenge! :/ The #oktowrimo challenges were:

• Day 15 - What's your hero's best friend like? Kai thought Ja Chi was his friend for a while until he was betrayed by the guy. Now his best friend is the old healer of Cartang'il, Ma Ryn, who patches him up if he gets hurt.
• Day 16 - How do you approach word count goals? - Armed with coffee, tea, and sheer determination.
  
• Day 17 - How many times do you read through your story in the editing phase? I think that would depend on how solid the first draft was. I just know I revised Ripples at least seven times, maybe eight.
• Day 18 - Hardback or paperback? - Hardback is my preference for longevity.
• Day 19 - Do you have a song you associate with your heroine? - Fight Song by Rachel Platten - I'm not into girl power songs very much. My daughter helped me find this one. Also, I can't believe how hard it is to find a girl power song that is NOT relationship oriented. What's that about? o.O
• Day 20 - What's your heroine's best friend like? - Sa Mye's best friend is her companion. While the young woman doesn't have a name just yet, she's loyal and bright and cheerful, always encouraging Sa Mye to keep trying and do her best.
• Day 21 - Gloss or matte (covers)? - Matte is my preference. I find they last longer than glossy covers. I also prefer the wrap covers over the dust jackets because my dust jackets always flop around and tear.

Coming up!

It just so happens I finished reading another book. I'm that much closer to my goal! I originally set a goal of 100 books in a year with our district library, but Goodreads was set to 50. I'm very close to 50 but doubting I'll get to 100 this year. I'll make it next year, though. :) Anyway, I finished another book which means I'll have one extra post for you this week, my book review of Frostblood by Elly Blake. I'm still learning how to do these book reviews in a more comprehensive way. Please bear with me as I keep working at it. 
And later in the week, I'll have more challenge responses to share with you. You can also look forward to the November newsletter which will be coming at you as soon as I figure out how to switch over my mailing list to Mailerlite. MailChimp was nice, but I think Mailerlite might be a vast improvement. Here's hoping! So you can expect some big changes to the newsletter, too.
Somehow, all these changes happening in autumn seem...right. It's my favorite month and I feel more invigorated than any other time of the year. It's regrettable that I can't enjoy mulled wine or warm cider or cocoa. But at least I can still enjoy my tea and coffee. :)