March Writing Challenges: Days 8 - 14

Writing challenges have been such a great way for me to find problems in my story. I'm happy they're working in this way. It's not always easy to figure out which direction to go once you find a problem in your draft. Read on to see my responses to the past week's challenges.

#TheMerryWriter: Days 8 - 14

One of the hosts of this challenge dropped me a tweet and thanked me for writing about the challenge. That's the first time someone has thanked me for doing this. While I don't do it for thanks, or fame, or fortune, hearing a happy 'thank you' is always such a great encouragement. So thank you @AriMeghlan for noticing and for your kind thanks. Now...on to my resonses to the prompts!

One of the things I really like about this challenge are the Sat/Sun breaks. I love posting photos but it is somewhat time consuming. The rest over the weekend has been really nice. I'll list the prompts below and explain my responses where necessary.

• Day 8 - Share a photo of your notebook and/or pen collection.
• Day 9 & 10 - Break.
• Day 11 - Would you and your MC(s) be best friends IRL? I think it would depend on the circumstances of our meeting. If we met as kids or if I was an older adult meeting a younger adult, then possibly. I don't get along with too many people my own age for some reason. Even still, I'm not certain I'd be able to be best friends with either Zec or Liha.
• Day 12 - Have you met any of your favorite authors IRL? - No. Several of my favorite authors have sadly passed on. Since I believe in an afterlife and I believe a few of those had similar beliefs, I hope to meet them when I die. :) But as for those still living, I hope to meet at least a couple of them some day.
• Day 13 - Have you ever done a reading of your work? - Not publicly, no. I might, if I can get past the weird feeling I get when I read my own work aloud, especially the super tender or sorrowful spots.
• Day 14 - Do you submit your work to contests and/or magazines? - Not yet. But I did donate copies of my book to the local libraries. I'm super excited about that! I know a lot of my friends can't justify the cost of purchasing my book right now. This way, they can read it for free. :)
  I hope to submit work to magazines and/or contests someday but my current series takes up all the alotted time for writing. Most magazines and contests want work that they can put their stamp on. I can't submit my current series work with those kinds of restrictions. I have actually been studying up on writing short stories and flash fiction.
  

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#MythMadnessWIP Challenge Days 8 - 13

Since I have more than one 'hero' in this book, I'll share that challenge response on Monday. I feel like it's just too many things in one blog article.

Some of these are self-explanatory but some aren't. I'll list the prompts below and explain my answer where necessary.

• Day 8 - How can readers relate to the villain?
  
• Day 9 - Share a photo of your favorite book cover. - This was difficult for me. I love cover art and have many favorites to choose from. I finally went with the cover of 'An Unexpected Apprentice' by Jody Lynn Nye. I haven't seen much hype surrounding this book, and I even found it on the bargain shelf at Books-a-Million! It's a wonderful fantasy novel and if you get a chance to read it, you should. The art on the cover is done in a style I truly love and in colors that soothe my soul.
  
• Day 10 - Who is your villain's closest ally? - Both the Divini'I and the Ka keep to themselves generally, but they will work together when there's some goal in common. Unfortunately, those goals are usually to retain the power they've accumulated over time. As for the Sekot Mundei, their devotees are their closest allies. They can count on them to go even as far as sacrificing their own flesh and blood, just like Aol Natro would be willing to do. When it comes to an assassin like Ibin Etina, allies are hard to come by. Her closest ally is the god she serves, Andurdrao, the creator deity of Y'Dahnndrya.
  
• Day 11 - Describe your hero in ten words or less.
  
• Day 12 - What's your hero's goal?
  
• Day 13 - Does the villain change the hero's goal? If so, does the hero have a new goal?
  
• Day 14 - *(see on Monday)* - Your hero as a GIF
  

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I hope you are enjoying these writing challenge posts and seeing how at least one author processes everything for her writing. I love sharing these things with my readers and if it builds interest in my books, then that's a win-win situation. :) Please come back Monday to see the GIF responses for Day 14's prompt. See you then!