The Girl in the Clockwork Collar

Before I start the review, sorry for being gone so long. However, I'm getting back onto the ROW80 challenge again. This round started a couple weeks ago, but who's counting, right? The idea is to make progress in writing, and that's what I have time to do again. The past few months have been challenging since I finally started getting signups for my crochet classes, working to finish my certification for teaching crochet (now completed and certificate received--Yay!), prepping for our semi-annual Open House at work (got 7 class signups from it, which is 7 more than the last one), and helping plan and run our Baha'i district's annual convention. My brain was a bit too swamped to think much about writing, though I did a bit here and there. Now that the big things are done and past, I can read, write, and craft (for myself) again. Whew!

So anyway, my goals to start with:
to write for at least an hour 4 days a week
read 1 new book a week and write a review for it
visit and comment on 5 ROWers' blogs a week

This should be easy enough to get me warmed up and back into the swing of it. I've already taken care of goal 2 with this post, and I spent at least an hour yesterday on writing, so that's a good start on goal 1 as well. Cheers to whatever goals you are working on yourselves, whether writing related or otherwise. Now on to the review.

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar by Kady Cross

In New York City, 1897, life has never been more thrilling--or dangerous.

Sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne and her 'straynge band of mysfits' have journeyed from London to America to rescue their friend Jasper, hauled off by bounty hunters. But Jasper is in the clutches of a devious former friend demanding a trade--the dangerous device Jasper stole from him...for the life of the girl Jasper loves.

One false move from Jasper and the strange clockwork collar around Mei's neck tightens. And tightens.

From the rough streets of lower Manhattan to elegant Fifth Avenue, the motley crew of teens with supernatural abilities is on Jasper's elusive trail. And they're about to discover how far they'll go for friendship.

More than ever, Finley Jayne will rely on powerful English duke Griffin King to balance her dark magic with her good side. Yet Griffin is at war with himself over his secret attraction to Finley...and will risk his life and reputation to save her. Sam, more machine than man, finds his moody heart tested by Irish lass Emily--whose own special abilities are no match for the darkness she discovers on the streets.

Now, to help those she's come to care for so deeply, Finley Jayne must infiltrate a criminal gang. Only problem is, she might like the dark side a little too much...

I didn't realize until after I'd started reading that there was a book before this one. The strong references to something that had recently happened, especially the residual effects from facing off with some villain, tipped me off. However, it didn't affect the plot of this book other than how the characters felt about each other because of it. The previous book is essentially treated like backstory, and very well done. Though I plan to go back and read The Girl in the Steel Corset anyway, just to satisfy my curiosity.

Jayne is rather feisty, and she was a lot of fun to follow. Trying to figure out how to balance different aspects of your persona can be tricky enough, but for Jayne, her sides were drastically contrasted. From what I understand, they were actually separate enough that it was like she was two people. Now she's fused into one persona but she still can choose which side she prefers. Not so easy when she likes fighting and flirting with danger, despite her good qualities. However, I can respect a girl who has such loyalty to her friends and works to see justice done.

Jasper and Griffin also get some POV time, and their parts help round out what all is going on in the story. I could really feel for Griffin's desperation in dealing with one particularly determined young heiress after his title, as well as his growing affection for Jayne, and Jasper's desire to get himself and Mei free from Dalton's control. Though Sam and Emily didn't have their own POV parts, their connections with each other and the others were filled in just fine through Jayne and Griffin.

In some ways this book reminds me of Soulless by Gail Carriger mixed with The Society of Steam: The Falling Machine by Andrew P. Mayer. Shouldn't be terribly surprising considering the genre and the time period they are all set. The Falling Machine is set in 1880 and Soulless is Victorian England. But I enjoyed all three, and if you like any of the other ones, you will probably dig into this one, too. I can't wait to read more by Cross now, and her author bio reminds me of a couple of my friends. She's now on my list of authors I want to meet.

C is for Crystal Singer

I was going to try to stick with new books for the A-to-Z, but I decided that Clockwork Angel was going to take too long to both read and review with all the blog reading I want to do, plus working on my story and making more crochet samples. (One of these week I will finally have some signups and be able to teach my first crochet class. Not part of the challenge specifically, but not something that can be neglected either.)

So, instead of a new book, here is one that's a bit of a classic, or is to me anyway: Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey.

Her name was Killashandra Ree; and after ten grueling years of musical training she was young, beautiful--and still without prospects. Then she heard of the mysterious Heptite Guild on the Planet Ballybran, where the fabled Black Crystal was found. For those qualified, the Guild was said to provide careers, security and the chance for wealth beyond imagining. The problem was, few people who landed on Ballybran ever left. To Killashandra the risks were acceptable.

I read this book years ago. Perhaps it first interested me because I studied music in high school: marching band, concert band, pep band, jazz band, and music theory. (Though I didn't go on and study it in college beyond a semester of private singing lessons.) But I also enjoyed Killashandra's desire to excel and not let anyone make her settle for less than her capacities.

Several times during the application process, Killa is warned that she should not continue with her plan to become a crystal singer. Her singing mentor calls Ballybran a "den of addled mentalities and shattered nerves." Crystal singing "isn't sensible," says the captain who brings her to the moon base over the planet. Even the FSP makes sure that she receives full disclosure of the dangers that await her if she chooses to go to the planet, for even if she successfully integrates with the spore symbiont, she still has the risk of char, catastrophic accident, sonic storms, and memory loss. (Some Singers consider the last to be a benefit, even if it sometimes interferes with being able to find old claims.) Incomplete integration means some sort of physical impairment and placement as one of the support staff on the planet. She is determined that she will succeed and become one of the fabled Crystal Singers, not matter the hazards. But it is not an easy road.

Not only is Killa herself fascinating, McCaffrey does a wonderful job creating Ballybran and the universe in general. From the society at large to the tiered level of careers on the planet, she has developed and integrated the various people Killa meets. They have their own motivations and reactions, some helpful, some concerned, and some haughty. And Ballybran's geography is remarkably detailed. I've always been able to picture it from the inverse mountain ranges to the base to the living quarters. The famous Ballybran crystal is also remarkably well done. There are different shades, each with their own special qualities. However, black is considered the best, necessary for instantaneous communication between linked crystals regardless of distance. You can imagine how important that can be when taking about interstellar distances.

Crystal Singer is followed by Killashandra with Crystal Line wrapping up her story and the research into how to mitigate the hazards, particularly the reasons for the memory loss. I love all three books and come back to them probably once a year, which means I've read them close to 20 times, give or take a few.

ROW 80 goals:
1: Keep up with the A-to-Z daily challenge. - Yep, A, B, and C now done.
2: Write 2 paragraphs on Meridia every day. - Mon: 3 paragraphs, Tuesday: lots of paragraphs (woo!)
3: Read at least 5 blogs very day. -They weren't all ones not from my blogroll, but I did check out some new ones. At least 5 both Mon and Tues.

A is for Aurelie: A Faerie Tale

Aurelie: A Faerie Tale by Heather Tomlinson

Once a upon a time, three children and a little river dragon were the best of friends--until a promise was broken. Now they are almost grown up and barely speaking to one another. With her country in turmoil, Aurelie is sent on a peacekeeping mission. But how can she prevent a war when she can't even make her friends get along?

Heartsick at losing her dearest companions, especially the handsome Garin, Aurelie finds comfort in her secret, late-night trips to fairyland. But a princess can't hide from her duties forever. Her country needs her, and so do her friends--whether they know it or not.

Now I didn't interpret what happened to split them apart as a broken promise so much as an unfortunate incident when Netta slipped up and recognized Loic's father as a fae. He took her sight, because he couldn't abide a mortal being able to see him, but she'd managed to not give away Garin or Aurelie who could also see fae thanks to Loic who'd given the three of them the magic ointment.

However, since they hadn't wanted to make Loic feel bad, they never told him what happened to Netta and stopped visiting, making him feel as though they'd abandoned him. Then Netta went back to her home, refusing to come back to Lumielle, the capital. And Garin went back to Skoe, completely cutting off all contact. Aurelie was left without any of her friends when her mother died.

The threat of war picked up, so in order to try to negotiate with Skoe and the neighboring country of Alhinsa, Aurelie and Count Sicard travel to Skoe. However, it looks like one particular house in Skoe is working to manipulate their way into total power and seeks to bind Jocondagne, Aurelie's country, in marriage to Captain Inglis's son Hue.

Most chapters are following Aurelie's thoughts, but here and there are chapters following the other three. Eventually, they will have to come together to save Jocondagne and Skoe both. It's not a particularly complicated story, but it is sweet. Not everyone goes for sweet, so I'll say it now. It's a charming YA romantic fantasy. If you don't go for that, that's fine. But I enjoyed the story, and that is part of why. This is the sort of book I can curl up with before bedtime and wind down with its cozy feel-good ending.

Quick edit: I almost forgot my ROW 80 goals.
1: Keep up with daily posts for the A-to-Z challenge. (Today's = met. Yay!)
2: Write 2 paragraphs each day on Meridia.
3: Visit and comment on at least 5 blogs. Starting off on the low end considering there's 2 challenges and I have a bunch I follow normally, but looking for something I can succeed at. Will increase as I get into the groove. (I've already done 3 or 4.)

April challenges bring May confidences

Only a few days left of March, not that it looks like spring outside with winter trying to make a comeback. But I'm working on clearing out the mental cobwebs and preparing my mind for a blossoming of words. I plan to do not one but two challenges in April. First is getting back into regular participation of A Round of Words in 80 Days. Round 2 of 2013 begins April 1. (Hopefully, that day's work won't be a joke.) And secondly is a new one for me: the A-to-Z Challenge.

For those of you unfamiliar with either of these, ROW80 is a challenge to help us with our writing goals, whether it's new draft, revising, or editing. Some people even throw in an exercise goal to go with it. The important thing is to make the goals measurable and achievable and then to share both the goals and the progress (or lack thereof) on them. This is to show ourselves we can succeed, and by being part of a group, we can encourage each other despite the differences in our goals. I haven't decided on mine yet, except that one will be to keep up with the A-to-Z.

The A-to-Z Challenge is a blogfest. Your topics can be random, or you can choose a theme. Mine will be book reviews. The idea is that each day in April, except Sundays, will be a post on a different letter of the alphabet going from, you guessed it, A to Z. I've got some of the letters figured out already and plan to get some of them written ahead of time. A few letters have 2-3 books on my to-read/to-review list. I haven't decided if I will make it a combo day, or pick one for the challenge and do the others in May. Considering how much reading I'm in for, probably the latter. I plan to do as many new-to-me books as I can, though H will be The Hobbit, since it's both classic and current, thanks to the movie.

If you might be interested in either or both of those, check out the links. Even if you don't want to join the challenges, I hope you'll visit each day to root me on.

Society of Steam and ROW80 goals

My thanks to Azuranna--the big blue library dragon, for those of you who haven't met her yet--for posting my notice about moving. I think she's been glad to have me around her library cave the past couple years though she says little to me directly. But now I'm back to reading and writing after getting mostly settled in to my new home. So, today I have both a book review and writing goals to share.

While wandering the cave and saying hello again to the resident sprites and fire lizards, I found a newish book on the shelves that I hadn't read yet. It's book 1 of The Society of Steam: The Falling Machine by Andrew P. Mayer. Since I was in the mood for a bit of steampunk, I pulled it out. I am so glad I did, but now I'm banging my head against the shelf because I want book 2 and it's not out yet. I sincerely hope he's working on it.

It's 1880, New York. Young ladies are expected to do what men tell them and make good marriages. They aren't allowed to vote or do heroic deeds. But Sarah Stanton, a young socialite, still hasn't given up her dream of joining the Paragons and helping them fight crime and villainy. The fact that her father is one of the Paragons only makes the restriction against joining more pronounced. As a child, she'd been allowed to roam the halls of the order's building and spend time with inventing genius and leader of the Paragons, Darby Dennis.

But after he's murdered right in front of her, Sarah is barred from the Hall by her father and ordered to have nothing more to do with the order. Now she must work with the mechanical man Darby created known as the Automaton in order to unravel the mystery behind the murder.

What they find along the way is a conspiracy involving one of the order's members, a traitor in their midst. To save the order and uphold her mentor's dying wish for her to help the Automaton, Sarah must become more than what society expects of her and become the hero she's always dreamed of being.

In retrospect, I think I'd call this book omniscient POV, though I didn't really notice while I was reading. There are multiple viewpoint characters, none of which are in deep perspective. There's a distant feel, but it works very well for the style. From what I've noticed about steampunk stories in general, they all tend to be distant, more observational, which is much like stories actually written in the 1800's. I thought it was very done, so if you want an example of how to write this way even if you aren't into steampunk, I recommend this book. And the steampunk elements are mostly restricted to the heroes and villains, so it doesn't play a huge part in society as a whole. Steampunk-lite, I suppose you could say. Whatever you want to call it, I'd say read the book.

ROW80 Goals:
1) Write for a minimum of 1 hour or 200 words (whichever comes second) 5 days a week.
2) Read at least 5 ROW80 blogs each check-in.
3) Write 2-3 blog posts each week.

I think there'd been something else I wanted as a goal, but I'm a bit distracted right now. Too much talking going on in the room. But this is a good start. We'll see how I do by Wed's check-in.

Filk Friday: Battle Dawn (and ROW 80 Round review)

Yes, I have another filk song to share today. Battle Dawn is sung from the perspective of Queen Selenay just before the battle with Ancar's men at the end of Arrow's Fall by Mercedes Lackey. I won't say much more than that because I think you should read the Arrows trilogy. Arrows and Mage Storms are my two favorite sets of stories within the Valdemar setting. And Lackey, in collaboration with several talented people, created several collections of music to accompany her world. Some are songs the characters actually know in the stories like Dark and Stormy Night and Sun and Shadow, while others like Battle Dawn and Trio are sung from their perspectives though not in the stories themselves.



While I'm re-listening to this, I'm thinking I may have to parody it for my current WIP. I can imagine Rhona singing a variation of this song at some point after the mid-point crisis which I have tentatively already planned out. "For Lycurgus and my dear twin, I swear that you will pay!" Muahahahahahaha!

ROW 80 end of round review:
I think I'd give myself about a C for sticking with my goals. Until this last couple weeks, I was great on reading new books (to me), so about an A, maybe A- there.

Writing 100+ words every day, meh. I didn't keep up every day, though most weeks, I did have an average of that many. And I did write some every week, which is better than during the previous round. Many of the days I didn't end up posting like I'd meant to were because I wanted to get my writing done first and then ran out of brain power for blogging. S'okay. Story comes first, even though I felt like I was letting you down anyway.

Exercise was the real kicker. Surely ten minutes every day couldn't have been too hard. But I don't like doing my favorite form of exercise when anyone but my son can see me do it. I'm not bad at dancing, just self-conscious outside of a class setting. And I just never got out the stretch bands or free weights instead like I'd intended. But when I did dance, I did it for more than just 10 minutes, more like 20-30 minutes. I will probably adjust my exercise goal for the next round to so many minutes a week instead of a day. I did get a half-mile walk in this morning just by taking the kid down to the bus stop.

My husband and I joined the local Y yesterday, so hopefully, that will help us both get more fit. Plus my husband is doing sword fighting with the SCA group here. He's going to try two-handed, since he can't shake the fencing style he learned in college which isn't compatible with SCA rules. They're also trying to talk me into fencing, but I want to get him geared up first before trying to get stuff for me. He's already got part of what he needs. In the meantime, I'll be working on my cardio.

Have a great weekend!

Reading, writing, and crafting...oh my!

A month's gone by since I posted, but I haven't forgotten my ROW 80 goals. I'm about a 50% overall I think. I've written on half the days, exercised...mmm...less than half ;), but read many books. I won't try to give a full review on all of them, but here's a listing of what I've read this month (including non-spec fic) and the ratings I gave them on Goodreads.

The New Kid at School (Dragon Slayer's Academy #1) by Kate McMullan
4 stars - both my son and I enjoyed it.

Letters to Jenny by Piers Anthony
5 stars - I tried to write a review on this, and I flounder with the words. A must read. Very touching and a wonderful insight into a writer's life.

Song of the Wanderer (Unicorn Chronicles #2) by Bruce Coville
4 stars - doesn't really read like an individual book but rather like Part 2 of one mega novel. But I still really enjoy the story.

The Ship Avenged by S.M. Stirling and Anne McCaffrey
3 stars - not as good as most of the Brainship universe books, but that's mostly because of content, not the writing. Bit on the dark gritty side. But I was expecting that. Picked it up to read another story with Joat.

How to Be a Pirate (How to Train Your Dragon #2) by Cressida Cowell
3 stars - my son liked it, but the differences in some of the characters and dragons from the How to Train Your Dragon movie was disorienting at first. For instance, in the movie, they were ride-able. In this book, they were small enough to ride on people's shoulders. Cute story though.

The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech
meh, granted it was written for kids but I've read intermediate books with tighter plot, even with keeping the whimsical feel that enticed me to pick it up in the first place. It had potential to be better.

Dark Whispers (Unicorn Chronicles #3) by Bruce Coville
4 stars- still not done yet with the overall story. Need to find The Last Hunt. I think that one is supposed to finish off the arc.

One Good Knight (Five Hundred Kingdoms #2) by Mercedes Lackey
4 stars - This book had some great twists both in plot and with the Sir George vs the Dragon tale. Great ending.

Princess of the Midnight Ball (Princess #1) by Jessica Day George
5 stars - Loved it! A fantastic spin on the story of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. The soldier didn't start off with the intent to find out why their shoes kept getting holes; he made friends with them first while working as a gardener at the palace. Friendship and concern made him finally take his turn to solve the mystery.

One Corpse Too Many (Cadfael #2) by Ellis Peters
4 stars - Pretty close to the movie version (movie #1) I've seen with Sean Pertwee as Hugh Beringer and Derek Jacobi as Brother Cadfael. This was recommended to me when I was looking for mysteries that were solved without modern tech. Very useful for people writing historical fantasies even when they aren't writing in this time period or setting.

The Sanctuary Sparrow (Cadfael #7) by Ellis Peters
4 stars - Yes, I'm reading them out of order. But it doesn't matter too much since I knew this and that the movies had been somewhat out of order as well. So I expected the change of Abbots from Monk's Hood. It has a few differences, but still very close in plot sequencing.

Monk's Hood (Cadfael #3) by Ellis Peters
4 stars - I haven't gotten to read A Leper of St Giles yet, but out of the three stories I have read and watched, this one had the most differences in plot. I rather liked the movie, but now that I've read the book, I think the book plot makes more sense and the characters more engaging. (And I like Brother Mark better than Brother Oswin as Brother Cadfael's assistant.) Still worth checking both versions out if you can find them.

Tripping Over the Lunch Lady: and Other School Stories edited by Nancy E. Mercado
4 stars - This collection of short stories was hilarious. Following each story was a blurb about each author's school years such as worst school smell, favorite field trip, and worst/favorite subject.

Harry and the Terrible Whatzit by Dick Gackenbach
3 stars - cute picture book. Harry's mom goes down to the cellar and doesn't come back up. He goes down and discovers the terrible whatzit. But he learns the whatzit isn't as terrible as he'd thought.

St Peters Fair (Cadfael #4) by Ellis Peters
4 stars - The town is still dealing with the effects of the fighting that had happened when King Stephen moved in on Empress Maud's forces earlier in the year (see book 2). A series of events seemed ordinary at first but they covered a deeper plot involving kingdom politics.

A Coming Evil by Viviane Vande Velde
4 stars - This intermediate level story is a historical fiction story...with a ghost. I wouldn't have picked it up since I don't normally read war themed stories-this one takes place during WWII in German-occupied France-but I liked the author's spins on Rumpelstiltskin in The Rumpelstiltskin Problem, so I gave this one a chance. Glad I read it, because it worked well, and she uses the ghost aspect in a unique way. A nice way to introduce young readers to some of the issues that some kids faced during the war without being in the middle of the worst parts.

As you can see, many books, a couple of which had been on my to-read list. I've also been doing lots of beading and crocheting, experimenting with pieces I'll want to sell once I open my Etsy shop. Some aren't too bad, but some things are too tedious or not working as well as I want. Even though all this crafting has taken up a bunch of my brain time, my ROW 80 goals have kept me from losing track completely.

When magic and detective fiction collide

I finally got around to reading one of my husband's highly recommended books: the first book of the Dresden Files - STORM FRONT by Jim Butcher. We have some overlapping tastes like most of Lackey's and McCaffrey's books (and Harry Potter, go figure), but even though we're both big SF/F fans, we have widely different preferences within spec fic. Well, last night I was browsing through our newly reorganized book collection (with my flashlight since the power had gone out thanks to high winds), and I decided to grab something different.

By the end of the first chapter I was hooked. "Paranoid? Probably. But just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face." The voice is incredible. I really felt sorry for Harry while he's trying to work with a police contact, keep a gangster from sending his thugs after him, figure out who is cooking up the new drug on the streets (to help with point 2), not reveal anything to a sexy reporter, solve a grisly set of murders caused by magic, and not take the rap for it by the police as well as the White Council and a biased Warden. Oh yeah, and not get killed before the Council even meets to put him on trial. What's a nearly broke wizard to do? Keep moving of course. And have a little faith that he's the good guy.

I really liked the combination of magic in a contemporary world with an old fashioned detective sort of novel. I've been reading more mysteries lately, for variety, and this was well done in more than just voice. The mystery kept me guessing but all of Harry's thoughts made sense as he worked out what was going on and how it all connected. I give this book 5 stars.

As for my ROW 80 goals, I haven't been as on track as I'd like.
Writing 100 words every day: Wed, Sun, Mon - no; Thurs, Fri, Sat, Tues - yes
Exercising 10 mins a day: Wed, Thurs, Sun - yes; Fri, Sat, Mon, Tues - no
New book for the week: yes a few times :D

I haven't counted today for yes or no yet, but I'm going to get on that soon. Dresden tied up my morning.

Fun with kids' books and check-in

While I'm waiting for the books I requested at the library from my TBR list to come in, I picked up some kids' books. I had fun reading them with my son (chosen to share). Got a few more, too, but we haven't read them yet.

Wizard And Wart At Sea by Janice Lee Smith
Wizard and Wart In Trouble by Janice Lee Smith
My Mom Is a Pirate by Jackie French

I also just read Into the Land of Unicorns by Bruce Coville, picked for myself. I'm going to have to snag the other books in the Unicorn Chronicles from the library. It was fun.

So I'm good for my new book for the week. :D

As for my other two goals...
*Writing 100 words every day: check. I haven't written a huge amount over that, but I did do it, about double every day.
*Exercise 10 minutes every day: check. I danced for half an hour on Sun and Tues, and did ten minutes of using my new stretch bands on Monday.

ROW 80: Round 1 of 2012: Goals

Round 1 of ROW 80 has already begun, but I jumped in with some writing before working on my goals this past week, plus I worked on some other non-writing related projects. I'm going very modest on my goals this round. In addition to writing and reading, I'm trying to do more crafting, so I need to give myself time for that as well.

Warmup goal: write 100 words every day. Even when I feel like crud, I can usually scrape out that much.

Read one new book a week. New to me that is, but I'll try to get some new releases in here and there as well. I have a huge list of TBRs to get through that is growing faster than I can knock it down. My over all reading goal for the year is 75 books, but that can include old favorites with the new ones. This will give me more books to write reviews on for this blog, something I feel I need to get back to doing again on a regular basis.

Spend 10 mins a day exercising. Super modest but doable. This is more to build a daily routine since I can boogie for an hour to my favorite music, but it's not a daily thing yet.

I'll probably adjust these and/or add new ones in about a month, but this will be a good start.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays despite the cooling weather. I got to dress up this week twice, since work let us come in costume all week. However, only a few of us did so. But at least I got lots of compliments. Thursday I went as a gypsy and yesterday as a pirate. I cold have dressed up on Saturday when I took my son to the mall for their trick-or-treat event, but I was too tired to mess with changing. We finished in half an hour by skipping the middle shindig. The line was obscene for what he'd be getting. But he was happy with his modest haul anyway, especially the KitKat bar from our first stop. Simple pleasures. :D

This week is going to have different goals. I want to catch up on my expanding reading list, at least to get through my new books. Anything else I get done of my regular goals will be bonus, though I intend to still do my rounds of visiting other check-ins. I'll be doing lots of winter preparedness this week, the joys of living out in the country. We did get the majority of the snow fence put up already. But there's finishing it, attaching the snowblower to the tractor and removing the mower deck, cleaning the garage, packing the emergency essentials bag, fixing the truck and attaching the plow, and so much more. Oh joy. Boo winter.

I finished Fangtales and enjoyed it. Vampires are not my thing, but every story was at least a 3. Don't always get that with an anthology. I've been though some books that ranged from 1-5. I'm currently working my way through CassaStar, up to page 42 so far. Pretty good even if my reading has been so chopped up that my focus hasn't really dug into it yet.

Midweek reflections

I don't really have much to comment on today. Sort of in a reflective mood but it hasn't really come out in words much yet. So check-in goals and random stuff it is then.

However, goals: I did read and comment on at least 5 of Sunday's ROW80 check-ins. I started at the bottom of the list and then popped on a few of the ones I've been on more than once. I've put in at least an hour of ponderings each day since Sunday on Broken Destinies. Haven't written much yet, still brainstorming what the characters are going to be doing in the last third, but after discussion with my husband, we worked out more of the hidden story going on during the already completed part, plus a couple areas I need to develop more. But then most of the completed part was done during NaNo last year, so it's fast and loose and has parts where I have comments like "write more about ___ here." Still going to try to have plot hashed out by this upcoming Sunday, but even if I don't make it, I'm getting back into the feel of the world and the character goals.

This is post 2 for the week, so coming along there. Still have to do my two crits, will try to get one of those done this evening. Had a bit of a scare on Saturday or Sunday when our whole group had been banned from the forum for spam. Turns out to have been a mistake regarding an ISP thing, so in less than a day, it was corrected. But it was still freaky.

Big news for me was getting the books I'd ordered. I'm currently halfway through Fangtales now, and most of the stories have been pretty good so far, which should be taken as high praise since I am NOT a vampire fan at all. I give it a fairly consistent 3-4 throughout the first half.

The other fun thing was today's worldbuilding hangout on Google+ hosted by Juliette Wade. We talked about magic systems. Next Wednesday we'll be talking about gender. So if you want to jump in the discussion or just join to listen, it'll be at 2pm EST. Hope some of you will stop on by.

Have a great rest of the week.

Sleepy week

I'm not going to bother listing each goal individually today. I got little done this week, though I did poke at my story somewhat. My brain just kept fizzling on how to follow up on the suggestions my crit group made.

A couple days ago, I decided to set it aside for a week or two and switch to another WIP, a novel that's supposed to be book 1 of a trilogy. So far I've read through to the end of what I'd already done and now trying to figure out what's going to come next. It's about two thirds of the way through, but I'm not sure if the middle third actually works for the overall plot. The main antagonist for that part isn't developed well enough yet. There's some good stuff though.

This week's goal: plan out the arc for the last third of what I've tentatively titled Broken Destinies. It's actually a co-authored piece I'm doing with my husband, so at some point when he has some spare brain power (he's had a rough week), I'll get him to do some brainstorming with me.

Checking in and other thoughts

For 10/12 check-in: (yes, the fairies are nagging me that I'm a day behind)

goal 1: one hour every day working on a story task, either new material WIP or revising RRH: umm, coming back to this one

goal 2: read and comment on minimum of 5 posts for each check-in: I don't think I did any for Sunday's, and haven't hit any for yesterday yet either. Gonna get on that. Probably won't go back to Sunday but will snag yesterday's.

goal 3: post on my blog 3 times a week, one of which must be a check-in: This post makes 2 so far, should have another tomorrow.

goal 4: Crit 2 posts each week on WD: None so far, but I did go read a few earlier today. I'm thinking what to say on one of them.

goal 5: Have and complete 1 specific goal each week on primary project, this week's being revising scene 1 of RRH. I started tweaking based on comments from last week. Now I have to work on the broader changes like grounding the setting better, clarifying support characters descriptions and relationship roles, and trimming out unnecessarily repeated information/mild info dumps.

Some of what they pointed out surprised me but are valid concerns like the mention I have of a dead character. The way it's written, he could be either her brother or lover, and it makes a big difference. (Her betrothed, just so you know.) So that all is the harder part, but at least everyone likes the style, characters, and world setting. And they want to read more.

Okay back to goal one. I have to admit that while I've been doing lots of writing, it hasn't been on a publishable story. Some of my friends and I are doing a roleplaying game (TORG, for you gamer folks out there who may know it) online via Obsidian Portal where we have a forum and internal wikis of things, people, and places. It's an immense amount of fun, and it's helping me understand in practicality many of the things I've been learning about culture, especially culture clashes, from Juliette Wade's worldbuilding posts on TalkToYoUniverse. But it doesn't exactly help me finish my WIPs. I didn't count the time spent on writing my character's entries when I checked in on Sunday, and I don't really count them now, but I have definitely put in more than an hour a day of writing time.

I think I may talk more about the game sometime next week, because I really have learned some interesting things from the game regarding culture that I'd like to share with you. Even something that appears familiar can be very alien in feel, and that makes for some fascinating culture clashes and culture shock.

ROW 80: Check-In 10/9/11

Okay, first week update:

1. Spend 1 hour every day working on a story task, whether writing new material on any WIPs or revising RRH.
--First half of the week: I kept up. Last part of week: weak. Too much going on and feeling vaguely unwell.

2. Read and comment on a minimum of 5 posts each check-in.
--Success! Checked 8 blogs for Mon check-in, 7 for Wed's.

3. Post on my blog 3 times a week, 1 of which must be a check-in.
--Got 2 of them in: Mon (check-in) and Fri (song/book feature).

4. Critique at least 2 posts each week on the SF/F crit forum over at Writer's Digest.
--Halfway there, got one done.

5. Have a specific smaller goal each week regarding my primary project.
First week's goal: Finish writing the beginning of RRH and connect it to the existing draft.
--It was a bit rushed at the end, but I did finish the scene. Next scene will be right before she goes into the woods, which is essentially where I originally started. Much happier with this draft. My crit group made some minor suggestions of things I overlooked, gave me some ideas on adding more description (my weak area), and pointed out where the scene ending was lacking. I'd call this a success.

This next week's goal: Take suggestions from crit group and revise first scene.

Here we go aROWnd again...

It's time for a new set of goals. Round 4 of ROW80 2011 starts today. After studying the kinds of goals other people had and how vague some of my goals had been, I'm starting off clearer and to more purpose. It also includes care of this blog and support to my fellow writers, since none of us exist in a vacuum.

1. Spend 1 hour every day working on a story task, whether writing new material on any WIPs or revising RRH.

2. Read and comment on a minimum of 5 posts each check-in.

3. Post on my blog 3 times a week, 1 of which must be a check-in.

4. Critique at least 2 posts each week on the SF/F crit forum over at Writer's Digest.

5. Have a specific smaller goal each week regarding my primary project.

This week's goal: Finish writing the beginning of RRH and connect it to the existing draft. Hoping that third time's the charm. Yes, this is attempt three. First two went to scrap file as they didn't fit overall character and story goals. Feeling good about this one, good enough that my crit group may actually get to see it. Currently, it's sitting at 1557 words. Another 500-1000 should get me where I need it to go.

And happy blog-o-versary! My blog is two years old now. It was technically last week, but I don't care. I'm impressed that I've kept it up this long, that I have more followers, and better yet, more readers. Thanks to all of you for supporting my endeavors.

End of my first Round

My goals for Round 3:

Write an hour a day: certainly feasible but didn't keep it up. I just needed to kick my own tush more. I'm going to have less time at home starting tomorrow (new job), but I think I might be able to give this goal another whack during Round 4. We'll see.

Hmm, I intended to rough out the second half of one novel in chapter summary format. Never worked on that. Oops. Kind forgot that one.

I did finish the first draft of Red Riding Hood. I'd hoped to be done with the first pass through, but I've at least received feedback from my two alpha readers who have given me some ideas.

All in all, though I didn't stick to my goals very well, I did better than I might have. I also have a better ideas of how to make clearer goals for the next round now that I've seen what other people have used. Progress goals will be more incremented to have steps I can check off. And I'm going to post my goals somewhere on my desk where I can see them and remember what they are.

ROW 80: Check-In 9/14/11

I slipped the past few weeks on working on my goals. Not enough effort even though I had time on most days. On a few I had good reason to not write, but most of the time, I have no excuse. I need to do better. The last couple weeks of August had been great.

My RRH story is not really any closer to being ready for crits. I've made progress on the second version of the new beginning. Today I looked it over, then read the original draft. I think I've lost something. Probably the story focus. It's much closer in line with what I was going for than the first attempt. That one I've made a quick sketch-up on how I can use it in something else. But this one bothers me even it reads okay. I'm hoping one or both of my alpha readers have time to look over the whole thing tonight. I need a fresh opinion.

I hadn't made it a stated goal, but I've also slacked on reading check-ins. I've only been on a couple people's lately. So for the last week I plan to visit 10 new blogs plus the ones I've been to before.

ROW 80: Check-In 8/14/11

This week hasn't been too bad for working. Though I haven't written as much as I'd hoped to, I've made progress. Part of the time spent was on Behind the Name. The MC now has a new name. It took me long enough, but first I had to let myself get pulled deep enough to be more open to names that suited the mood, setting, and her personality. After narrowing it down to two names, I took the one that sounded prettier and tried it out. It fits really well and adds to the flavor of the setting better than I thought.

The new beginning is moving along. I'm still not sure how I'm going to mesh it with what I already have, but I'm not quite up to that point yet. I just hope that my crit group will think it makes sense. They're looking forward to reading it, which is always a nice feeling.

I've also started researching where to send this piece when I get it polished up. Not in depth with that part yet, since I'm only in round 2 of the draft. (Round 3 is my crit group.) But just to start getting ideas and see if there's any deadlines I may want to keep in mind.

My goal for the week: finish the new beginning and connect up to the previous beginning. It'll take a bit of rewriting, since I made a few setting and story changes, but I hope it'll be even stronger.

ROW 80: Check-In 8/7/11

Goal: to begin working on the revision for RRH story. Check. I'm not very far, but I started. I got far enough that I decided I needed to do a bit of research. First was to work on renaming the characters to better fit the feel I was going for. I still haven't settled on the MC's name, but her dead bethrothed has had his name tweaked. The two other named characters haven't been renamed yet, but since their names don't come up much, not a big deal. I'll probably come back to theirs after the current revision round is over. Second bit of research: to read a bunch of other fairy tale type stories for a look at the pacing, language, and tension use. So I cracked open my copy of Happily Ever After, an anthology of fairy tale retellings. I'm about two thirds of the way through it and getting some ideas to keep me on track with my story goals.

Goal: to spend an hour every day on the writing. Err, not great. Sunday I gave myself a break of excitement for finishing the story. M, T, F, and Sat have word counts. I did think about the story on Wed and Thurs, but I spent those days doing a bunch of things with my son, like the weekly trip to the library. So, that was cool. Better than I thought. Today, I haven't done any writing yet, but I'm still reading through my book. I intend to sit down and do a bit of writing later but at least I've decided where I'm going with the first scene.

I've read some great books this week. One of my favorites was Murder and Mayhem: A Doctor Answers Medical and Forensics Questions for Mystery Writers. I posted a review on Tuesday, so if you didn't catch it, I hope you'll check it out. Fantastic book, and not just for mystery writers either. It's for pretty much any genre; the questions simply came from mystery writers. If anyone wants to check out what I read, visit my shelves on Goodreads.

Have a great week on your goals!