Monthly Archives: May 2014

Returning to the Fold

Why, hello there! This is my first check-in since May 7th, three weeks ago. Where have I been? Did I get lost? Not really. Mostly I just haven’t had anything to report.

Life got busy and I wasn’t working on my writing projects. Yes, there was some self-recrimination, but then I got over that and went on with life. And once I look back on it, there were parts of my goals that I was more heavily focused on. I wasn’t just off running wild and forgetting about my creative projects. Sometimes we need to go out and gather life experience in order to return to the page refreshed and inspired. That’s my story anyway, and I’m sticking to it!

So, this week has been full of revisions! BlackLion and I both found the initial read-through and note-making on our manuscript to be slow and heavy going. But now that that first part is behind us, we’re really enjoying the process. We’re using the method laid out in Rock Your Revisions by Cathy Yardley. We’re doing our scene charting now, and coming up with lots of great ideas for improving our story. Progress is being made. Woo hoo!

I haven’t really made any progress in organizing. In fact, I kind of blew off my blogging plans and had a little mini-hiatus. But I’ll be fine-tuning my process as I return to a regular schedule of blogging and writing. I also plan to get back to working on the new e-book, as well as starting to plot my next novel and further some plans on yet another writing project. Spring is the time for inspiration! I’m certainly full of ideas, and I’m letting them flow.

I also need to re-focus on the marketing aspect of my writing career. I have some books to read and posts to make. I did get invited to be part of a book review circle, and that will be a good way to get the word out about my own books (in my bio and such). I’m not sure exactly where the reviews get published, but I’ll be learning more about what it entails over the next couple of weeks.

The area I’ve been most focused on is my wellness practice. I’ve been doing yoga nearly every day, as well as increasing my other forms of exercise and getting outdoors more now that the weather is better. I’ve been walking more, and I’m learning archery from my daughter. My eating habits have shifted to a much more healthy mode, and I’m noticing how much better it feels. I’ve also devoted a lot of energy to drumming, rehearsing and performing with my troupe. That’s going well.

The weeks to come will have a lot of family and social activities, so I’m not making any promises that I’ll be on-task with every single goal. But I’m happy to let my creativity flow, and to continue to integrate it into my life in healthy and sustainable ways. I hope your work is going well, and you’re enjoying yourself. Blessings!

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Feeling Playful: A Brief Update

It’s been a good week so far. Monday I had to work my part-time job, then we had a fun dinner with my extended family, so I didn’t get much else done that day. I was still recovering from the busy weekend, too.

The past couple of days I’ve been feeling creative and playful. My dreams have been interesting, and I wrote a couple of them down for possible later use in stories. BlackLion has been making good progress on his read-through of our novel, and we’ve been talking a bit about some revisions we might make. I’ve enjoyed blogging, doing yoga, and writing in my journal. And I did jump in feet-first to working on the e-book once again (rather boring working title: Creating and Maintaining a Daily Spiritual Practice). So things are moving along.

I do wish I had more time to devote to writing. Life seems to keep interrupting. There’s the kids to drive around (Dryst has lacrosse every weekday, wow), groceries to get, dinners to make, and those pesky dishes wanting to be washed over and over again. They never quit! But overall the balance seems pretty good. I love my family, and the weather is nice, and my creativity is all sparkly. I’m glad it’s finally spring, for really real. All is well.

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Where Did the Weekend Go?

I don’t really have much to report this time. It was a busy finish to the week, and the weekend has zipped by in a blur. I had a couple drumming gigs, a birthday party, and the annual Beltane on the Beach event to attend. Beltane is the May Day holiday, and every year there’s a celebration on a gorgeous Maine beach, with a couple hundred folks dancing around 5 maypoles with brightly-colored ribbons. I was one of the drummers providing music for the dancing. It was a lot of fun, as usual.

Let’s see, updates. Yoga is still going really well. I’m keeping up with blogging. Not much to report this time on the writing front.  I did work on my decluttering project – I finished organizing the big bookshelf in the living room. It looks good, and is all categorized for easy use. I worked a little more on my writing resource page.

I guess that’s it for now. I have a list of projects to focus on this week, and should have more to report on Wednesday. Hope your week is productive!

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