March Writing Challenges Week 2

I'm doing all I can to get everything set up here at the blog for March and April posts to go out as they should. I want to totally focus on editing and writing during Camp Nano and if my attention is torn between blogging and writing/editing, that's tough. Check out my responses to the current IG challenge and read on to see how the editing is going so far.

#1WordPromptChallenge Week 2: Days 6 - 12

Here's the rundown:

• Day 6 - Trickle - The snippet I share for this one (see below) actually precedes the single line I shared for Day 2. I think I said it preceded Day 5's snippet when I shared it on IG, but that's incorrect. Oops. Lookit there! I'm not perfect. XD
• Day 7 - Surge - No snippet for this one because I shared some concept art for the cover of Surge.
• Day 8 - Routine - See the snippet below. It's from one of my favorite scenes which is probably too drawn out. I love the interaction between these two characters. I'm just not sure it's driving the plot forward. If it doesn't, I'll have to cut it. :(
• Day 9 - Sporadic - No photo for this one. And unless you count my inability to meet all the challenges with a response, there's nothing pertaining to the word 'sporadic' in either my novel or my novelette. :/
• Day 10 - Support - See the snippet below. This will probably be somewhat disjointed since it's a very small part of a longer scene. I think it may help to know the bold portion is Kol throwing Ya'el's words back at her. If you'd like to read this whole scene, sign up for my newsletter. It goes out on the first day of each month. It's not often I send more than one email out to my followers per month so no worries about spam. I also sometimes miss a month because I get so busy I forget about it. :/
• Day 11 - Oppose - There were lots of scenes I could've chosen to pull lines from for this prompt. My MC is quite sure she's quick on the uptake and knows how to deal with any given situation. It sometimes leads to interesting circumstances.
  
• Day 12 - Collect - When coming up with little quirks for my characters which make them more relatable and believable, I think my favorite has been given one of my antagonistic characters a love of shiny things. The fact that he's so very masculine adds to the interest, I think. (Just a note: I believe I've written my character as very masculine but I suppose readers could perceive him in different ways.)
  

Day 6 - Trickle
“Wrong answer,” Whispered menace echoed in her ear. The one named Outh’n sneered, “You’ve no name here.” Ya’el’s eyes finally popped open. Light trickled through the thatch of branches overhead.

Day 8 - Routine
“Thank you, Outh’n. It’s been a while since I’ve had kafkhet.”
“You don’t have any in your stores?”
“I do. I’ve been too tired to brew it. Breaking my nightly fast is a hurried affair. I grab a handful of nuts and dried berries on my way out the door. I eat mid-dawning meals outside, usually as fast as possible. By the time I get back in the evenings, I’m too tired to do more than grab another handful of nuts or dried fruit and smash them into my mouth all at once.” She pantomimed the last bit,leaving him speechless. Was she being silly?

Day 10 - Support
In one swift, smooth motion, she found herself tucked under his arm once again.
When she opened her mouth to protest, he spoke over her. “You have no wings, so you can’t reach the place Edrea has chosen for you without my help, toddling babe.”

Day 11 - Oppose
“Still,” he warned, “you should keep your guard up.”
“That’s tiring,” she chided and waved off his wariness. “Besides, you can’t make friends with someone if they think you’re building walls against them.”

Day 12 - Collect
Outh’n Durr was having a lovely day off. A trip to the market with Eiva yielded three new glashiin bottles in shades of blue, red-orange, and purple - the last, a painful reminder of home. Why he’d retained his memories when others had been spared theirs, he never figured out. “Anyway,” he cheered himself up, “these will make a nice wind-dancer and light-catcher.” Would the Serafin’an welcome such a gift? He frowned, wondering. She’d probably reject it, like everyone else. Why did he even try anymore? Yet try he would. Regardless of what others thought, he could be determined in the oddest ways.

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#SelfEditingProgress Week 2: Moving Right Along

I'm pressing on for the editing/revision of The Tale of Outh'n Durr, even though all my snippets this past week came from Surge. It's not easy to work on two manuscripts at once, especially when you're also the cover designer and trying to do as much of the work yourself as possible. Writing on a budget is not for those who are in a rush -- nor is it for the weak.

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30-Day Gratitude Challenge: #mindfulnessmarch Days 1 - 12

I started this challenge late and only because I was asked if I'd like to participate by one of my IG connections. I do think being mindful of my blessings and expressing gratitude for them is an excellent way to remind myself of why I keep going every day. If you're not practicing a habit of daily gratitude, I highly recommend you start. See whether or not it makes a vast difference in your perspective. You might be surprised!
Here are the prompts:

• Day 1: Share something about your body you are thankful for - I'm thankful for the waves in my hair and the color of my eyes. My hair used to be straight as a board and did /nothing/ for my face or shape. It's changed over the years and now I have natural waves. I also have two gray streaks, one at each ear, which I love. And my eyes are green, but they'll change in different lighting, sometimes brightening to a vibrant aqua.
• Day 2: What you find beautiful - I find a /lot/ of things beautiful. But leaves are especially interesting to me. When I think of how complex a simple, single leaf is, I'm blown away by the work of God's hands.
• Day 3: A song you love - One of my favorite songs, and one I consider a good match for me as a theme song, is What You Think I Am by the band, The Choir. You can hear it on YouTube if you click here.
• Day 4: An accomplishment of yours - There's nothing quite like publishing your first book (even though you're still finding mistakes in it...sigh) and donating it to local libraries. That was certainly a big accomplishment for me.
• Day 5: A friend - Y'all! I'm so grateful for my one-and-only Firned, Mary. I have many friends but only one Firned and yes, there's a story behind that. She's been my friend for almost as long as I've been married. And no matter how long between our visits, we're able to pick up where we left off.
• Day 6: A smell you love - Smoking pecan wood in a firepit...there's nothing better. Except maybe citrus and fresh herbs. When I discovered the Fireside candle from Woodwick candles (no I'm not an affiliate but you're gonna want to try these if you never have), I couldn't pass it up. It smelled so much like the memory of family and friends gathered around a bonfire. When I went back to purchase another, I found a trilogy candle which included the scent "Bonfire" with two other scents that sounded promising. I couldn't pass up trying it.
  
• Day 7: Something that makes you smile - This particular Snapchat filter /always/ makes me smile. So does tinsel and when it's on a headband that dances when you nod...FTW! (That's "for the win" just in case some of my readers don't know.)
• Day 8: A happy memory - Some of my happiest memories involve costumes. I love putting them together, although with my grand plans for each one I make, I rarely have the time now. I love seeing the smiles on my husband's and kids' faces when they get to put them on the first time. Also, our grafted in son was so happy to send us photos of his own son so we could keep up with how he was doing, even though he was so far away. It's always a blessing when new lives are brought into the family. :)
• Day 9: Something you like about where you live - I love that it's quiet at least for part of the day. We have far more traffic on the highway that passes by our house than we used to. But it's still far more quiet and peaceful than living in the city. I also love the trees. That's the one thing I really missed when we lived in western Texas.
  I've experienced life in Biloxi, MS (a tourist town) and San Angelo, TX. I know what post/base life at Ft. Polk, LA; Keesler AFB, MS; and Goodfellow AFB, TX is like. And while I didn't mind the suburban living, I much prefer just visiting the city from time to time.
• Day 10: A person in your family - I decided to share my gratitude for our youngest daughter for this prompt. She's super sweet, but going through some tough things right now, on top of which it looks like she really is dyslexic after all. We'll have to learn how learn together. But then, that's what home school generally ends up being anyway. :D
• Day 11: A food you love - Blueberries! I was so upset when I found out I'd have to set them aside because of my fructose intolerance. Then I read I could try adding them back into my diet later. I tried too early and they didn't work out. I waited a year and now I can eat a few. If I bake them into a cake, I can enjoy them that way, too.
• Day 12: An ability of yours - I can sing. I'm not the best, certainly not as good as I used to be, but I love music and I love singing. People still tell me I do a good job. Maybe I'll sing my coffee song and post it to YouTube or Snapchat one day. And that set the butterflies all aflutter in my stomach...so maybe not... :'D

I know this is a lot. That's why I shared them as gallery instead of a slideshow. Next week, there will be only seven if I post for each prompt. If you want to see these in action, you'll have to follow my IG stories. This challenge is exclusively for stories which go away after 24 hours. I do plan to try putting a video together after the challenge is complete and then share it on YouTube, but I'm not sure when I'll have the time to do it.

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Thanks so much for taking some of your valuable time to see how I'm doing. I appreciate your support and encouragement and I continue this writing adventure. Be sure to check in Wednesday to find out which books I've reviewed, what I'm reading now, and what I've added to my TBR list. See you soon!