January Writing Challenges Week 3: Days 17 - 23

As January progresses, I find my time is dragging by. I've been able to get some decent work done on Surge and a side story based on another character from the book. I want so much to get short stories out to my newsletter subscribers. What's stopping me? Properly editing them. I can't stand getting a free "book" only to find multiple typos and style issues which keep me from truly enjoying it. So I've been trying to work on two things at once to get at least one short story ready to send out. If you want in on that, scroll to the bottom of any page on my website and you'll find the newsletter sign-up section.
With business out of the way, let's take a look at this week's challenges!

#AuthorFAQChallenge: Days 17 - 23

The prompts were fun this week! Check them out and feel free to share your own answers in the comments. Do we have any in common?

• Day 17 - Coffee, tea, wine, or other writing beverage? - Coffee or tea. I rarely drink wine because I don't do so well with the sulfites added to them. Can I just say how much I wish I could go back to 2010 (or 12) when my husband and I visited Belize? The wine they produced in the town we visited was amazingly good. Still, I wouldn't drink wine while writing anyway. I need all my wits about me.
• Day 18 - National Thesaurus Day: Favorite Obscure Word - I love learning about obscure words! Here are two I researched for my fantasy series.
  1. #Overmorrow - the day after tomorrow
  2. #Ereyesterday - the day before yesterday
  I needed a world-specific word for tomorrow (morrowdawn) and yesterday (yesterdawn). I don't think I'm the only one using the words in parentheses but they do fit my world's lingo. In my search, I discovered so much more! #authorfaqchallenge - favorite obscure word .
  
• Day 19 - National Soup Month (That's a thing?! o.O My oldest daughter must have had a hand in that...) - My favorite comfort food is probably mashed potatoes. My favorite warm beverage, as you all know by now, is coffee, though tea would not go amiss. I also enjoy eggnog, but haven't learned how to make my own yet so I missed having that for Christmas this past year. :(
  
• Day 20 - MLK Jr's Birthday: What's Your Dream? - My dream is to see all my kids settled well into their own lives with families of their own, to see them tackling problems head on and overcoming them victoriously. My dream is to be able to work, live, and write in such a way that the God I serve will be pleased.
  
• Day 21 - What's the best place you've ever visited? - Belize was nice. I enjoyed visiting Phoenix, AZ years ago, though I didn't get to see nearly enough of it. But I think my favorite place to visit so far has been Poverty Point Reservoir and Poverty Point Historical Site in northern Louisiana. I'm a sucker for ancient history.
  
• Day 22 - Favorite Childhood Memory - Singing in church is probably my favorite childhood memory. There was a time, though, that I hated it, during my middle-grade years. Not sure why, but for a time, I truly hated getting up in front of people and singing. I still sang in the choir but in a choir, the attention is divided. I guess it could've been that...
  
• Day 23 - National Handwriting Day: Show us your handwriting! - As you can see, my handwriting is so-so and varies a bit. I think it depends on how my hands are feeling on any given day. I fight arthritis and have for years. It's getting worse now, though. I've thought about trying hand exercises to keep them in working condition longer but haven't implemented them yet.

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#FantasyWIPJan20: Days 17 - 23

 These prompts were also pretty fun. I had to think to answer some of them. What about you? Care to answer any of these in the comments?

• Day 17 - #fandomfriday: What popular series are you not a fan of? - Isn't that like throwing us to the wolves? It takes a pretty courageous person to throw down a gauntlet like this. I'm not a fan of Game of Thrones. I wasn't interested when the books came out. I'm even less interested now that I know how many popular characters die and how much sex is involved. That's just not what I enjoy reading. There are some others I'm not a fan of but that's probably the most recent one. Oh...and Stranger Things, though that's a film series. Does it exist in book format? I mean, did it, before it became a film series? If so, I still wouldn't have been interested. Again, not my thing. Hated...absolutely hated what they did with Terry Brook's Shannara series when they made it for TV. :( Totally ruined my experiences with the book. Not even close to being a fan of 50 Shades. :P I tried The Wheel of Time but I couldn't get past book six and even getting there was a fight. I could go on...but I'll stop here.
• Day 18 - Favorite Childhood Cartoon - I liked all the weird ones -- Space Ghost* (the original, not the goofy knock-off), The Herculoids*, Dungeons & Dragons, Thundarr the Barbarian, GI Joe, Transformers, Voltron*, Jonny Quest* (the original, thankyouverymuch). Some of these* weren't available at my house. I had to watch them when I visited my grandmother who lived in a small town and had cable. I /loved/ cartoons when I was growing up. My favorite for a while was Kidd Video but it came on early so I didn't get to watch it all the time, same with Jem and the Holograms. Both of those were about music and I was all about music videos when they came out so double-win in my book. LOL
• Day 19 - Where would you write, if you could write anywhere? - A cabin in a quiet, rural area would be a most lovely place to write. The most lovely places I've visited which were conducive to writing were a couple of our state parks. Good stuff!
• Day 20 - #moodboardmonday - Can you tell my mood from this board? Hmmm...
• Day 21 - My Writing Style in Three Words - Character-driven, dialoggy, hoppish - I seriously don't understand what they mean by this kind of prompt. I guess my writing style is kind of like me, rather all over the place than any one thing (hoppish). I've only been writing seriously since 2016 and I don't even know what to compare my work to. My mom said it reminded her a little of CS Lewis' Narnia books, but she hasn't read much fantasy at all. Also, Lewis was a Mind Giant. I am not anywhere close. A thinker, yes, but I'm nowhere near as philosophical as he was when it comes to thinking deeply about things. So I know my work won't be nearly as great. All I do know is I start with the characters when I begin a tale and build my story from them. (character driven) I also enjoy writing dialog, maybe too much. (dialoggy) I guess when you have to make up words about your writing style, maybe you're doing something right. Right? *shrugs*
  
• Day 22 - #1linewednesday - Friendship is hard. - During the read-through, I got to this line and my daughter snickered, which grew into a laugh, after which she said, "Same, dude!" or something like that. LOL So lots of other stuff will probably go when I edit, but that line's staying.
  
• Day 23 - Favorite Writing Podcast or Blog - Oh, gosh! I don't get much time to listen to podcasts or read blog posts dedicatedly. The blog I find most helpful, though, is the Writer Beware Blog. I link to it here on my website because I find it imperative to stay on top of scammy companies and their vile practices.

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#1WordPromptChallenge: Days 17 - 23

Here are the prompts, though I didn't catch them all this past week:

• Day 17 - Extra - I can't believe how much I struggled with this one. I am so extra. My whole house reflects it. So here's a photo of what would be in my desk drawers if I had a desk with drawers. This is why I do NOT have a desk with drawers. XD
• Day 18 - Minimum - I didn't post a picture for this, but I wish I could knock my household goods down to the minimium of what we need but while I'm still homeschooling, I hesitate. We can't afford to replace items I get rid of and then need later. *shrugs* It is what it is.
• Day 19 - Care - Again, I didn't post a photo for this but church attendance is a part of self-care for me. I almost didn't go yesterday (at the time I'm writing this post) but I'm so glad I did.
• Day 20 - Neglect - Am I the only one who neglects chores to write? I doubt it... I also find our yard is often neglected. But on that note, we happen to have lovely weeds here in Louisiana. What I can't grow myself, God provides. :D So I posted one photo and tagged it for two prompts because I find it hard to care for a garden and it often ends up neglected.
• Day 21 - Sink - Oh, yea! A chance to share a portion of Surge! (See below for the snippet.) I'm trying to share snippets that won't spoil anything. And I didn't want my books to be so connected but books one and two have become just that. So don't read this book before you read book 1, Ripples.
• Day 22 - Swim - Awesome! Another line from my story today because it's also #1linewednesday and I can kill two birds with one stone...except that my line for the other challenge has nothing to do with swimming. So here's another for you from Surge. :) (See below for the snippet. I've also cleaned these up a bit for you.)
• Day 23 - Bloom - I think I can manage another line from my story with this prompt, too. Woot! This one is from The Tale of Outh'n Durr, though.
  

She could barely see him, couldn’t swim. How was she to catch him? “You’re already floating without holding on to me. Come on!” And with that, he sank below the glassy ripples.
“Iteiki?” The scared whimper that echoed back to her was so unfamiliar it was like a slap in the face. She was *******, the decendant of *******. Today was as good a dawning as any to die. Before she could change her mind, she squeezed her eyes shut and allowed herself to sink below the surface.
A sudden brush against her skin startled her. She turned, her eyes widening to see a whole new world open up underneath and around her.  -- Day 21's snippet taken from Surge

Kol could barely see his charge who was frozen in shock and surely near to panicking. “You don’t have to worry. If you follow my instructions, all will be well. Just be calm.” He waited and then added quickly, “And don’t talk back to me, either.”
She floated and kept as still as possible as the vine examined her from head to toe. He was certain she trembled considering her fear of the deeps, but there was nothing he could do aside from speaking words of encouragement.
“It’s almost done. It’s just curious.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he grimaced.
“It?”
He sprang into action, grabbing the end of another vinelike limb which was hanging from a nearby root. He yanked — hard. Though he couldn't see what was going on behind him, he doubted the jimla was happy at his sudden attack. “Swim fast *******! Swim for the denser roots!” -- Day 22's snippet taken from Surge

“What about one of these?” He pointed to a black glashiin medallion embossed with a silvery moon.
“Are you being serious?” Disgust tainted her lovely visage and Outh’n frowned back at her.
“Look, I was just trying to help. You’ve chosen black beads. I thought this matched.”
“It does, but, Outh’n! It’s Min, the blue moon, that’s most coveted in our art. Min is the symbol of Genzet. To wear Dahl —” She left the sentence hanging but he understood, having seen how important tradition and duty were to Kol. He just hadn't expected the same from her.
“My apologies.” He scanned the selection again and found a purple one embossed with one of Edrea’s round, single-petaled blossoms. He picked it up, admiring the craftsmanship. It was very well done. He wondered who the artisan was. “What about this one,” he murmured half-heartedly. If she didn’t want it, he did.
“Let me see,” she demanded as she reached for it. He held it out of her reach. When she finally turned toward him, confusion was all he could read. She didn’t understand courtesy in the least.
He slowly passed it to her. “It’s polite to ask. You never know. I might have wanted to purchase it.”
Eiva laughed then but uncertainly. “You? What would you do with a piece of jewelry like this?” -- Day 23's snippet taken from The Tale of Outh'n Durr

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#SelfEditing Challenge Week 3

At least, I think this is technically week three of my self-editing challenge. This one is a personal challenge I set for myself. Over the past week, I managed a read-through of The Tale of Outh'n Durr with my oldest daughter. Whew! It's rough and will require some intensive work to make it what it needs to be. Y'all please pray! I'd like to have that story completely finished by the end of March or early April.

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So this is how my week went. How about y'all? Any of these prompts strike your fancy? Recall fond memories? Feel free to share in the comments. I'd love to hear what you have to say. :)