GEARING UP TO GET AN AGENT BLOGFEST. WEEK2 STORY CHAIN!

Here's the part before mine http://sivmaria.blogspot.com/

My part is weaving in backstory and my words are: kiss, delve, bruise. Here's to living up to those words! Skol!

I bent lower, and searching his face I kissed him on his bruised cheek. I would have done anything to stay with him, but I had to make it to the cave of the Larva. I stood and backed away from his helpless form.

"I'll not forget this Roddern," I sobbed and ran.

Larva. The name sent chills down my spine even as sweat dripped down my back.

Would the Larva help, or would it lead to more death and pain. Once again, I hated myself for finding the book -- finding it and openening the damn thing. And as if I held it in my hands the stench of eggs rotting filled my nostrils.

I wiped my forehead and looked once again at the map. I'd been running for what seemed like hours, the sun was lower in the sky, I hoped to reach the cave before sunset. What would the cave be like in total darkness. Chills again. A nagging thought, if you had the book, you could right the wrongs...maybe even your father's death. No. Those thoughts were not mine. And I would not delve into memories any longer. Yet there was a strange comfort to them.

And then, there it was. The cave. I could smell the Larva. It reminded me of the book.

For the next installment go to: http://weavingataleortwo.blogspot.com/

ROW80 Check In

http://aroundofwordsin80days.wordpress.com/
So far so good. The weekly goals seem to be working. What is it in me that I almost hate to admit this -- as if the Universe will say, "Oh, look, she thinks it's working...bwahahaha! Let's wreck it!"

Idiotic, I do believe in positive thinking. I do, I do.

Words: 800 -- almost half way to my 7 pages
Edits/Revisions: 1.5 hours, not quite where I wanted to be, but not panic time either.

Feeling good. Gonna stay that way.

MADCAP MONDAY (LIVING IN HARMONY)

Well, it certainly would have been a better (and more harmonic) start to madcap Mondays if I had gotten the blog posted this a.m. But since it felt more like mayhem Monday, I couldn't quite get it done. Dang. So I'll combine my madcap Monday and Tuesday tunes post into one.

LIVING IN HARMONY
It's not what you think, actually I don't know what you think, so maybe it is what you think. My Harmony was an actual place and not a state of being. Although that played an important role as well. Let me begin:

When I was 11 my mom and I started taking yoga classes together, now this was the late 60s when practicing yoga was considered one step away from smoking pot, so for my mom to be so open minded about it and to take me with her was really cool.

The best part for me? Classes were at a place called Harmony, sounds like a commune in Arizona. In reality it was a mansion in Woodbury MN. This place was gorgeous: double front doors, a huge round fountain in the entryway, flagstone steps leading down into the main living room with a two story wall of windows. Two baby grands in one corner and a massive stone fireplace in the other. And that was just one room!

Yoga class was in the basement, and by basement, I mean lower level. There was a level lower than that, it held the volleyball court, of course. Did I tell you this place was awesome? So, yoga yoga yoga. We did the real yoga, the kind  with meditation. I soaked it in. I was 11!

The only thing better than going to class at Harmony, would be living at Harmony...D'oh!
I'll continue my "Harmony" posts on Mondays, but not every Monday, 'cuz, I might have other things to say.

So what about you? Any weird childhood experiences? Tell me.

ROW80 CHECK-IN

Okay. I've reassessed the situation and have determined I have a problem. Not a huge problem. Just a problem with daily goals.

Tangent:
When my oldest was a toddler and saying no to as many things as she could, her pediatrician told me not to worry about her daily intake of food, instead, look to her weekly consumption.
Oooh. Way less frustration and worry.

Full Circle:
My daily goals keep getting sabotaged, I'm not naming names...alright, by me mostly, still, that's beside the point. Sabotage, that's the point. No, that's not the point. Goals are the point. What can I get done in a week, not necessarily a day.

Realization:
Daily goals are a good idea with a bad outcome.
Weekly goals are (might be) a better fit.

New Weekly Goals:
4 hours edits and revisions on GONE BLONDE
7 new pages written for BETWIXT

Phew.

THINKING THURSDAY, POSITIVELY.

My Critique Partner reminded me I shouldn't stop my positive thinking when it comes to my writing.

Of course I shouldn't. But I hadn't even realized I was doing it. It's the sneakliest kind of negative thinking -- the accidental negative thought.

You'd think I'd know better. I was served positive thoughts along with my Captain Crunch since I was 5 years old. My mom has been a speaker and writer of positive thinking for a gazillion (count 'em) years http://joankennedy.com/ this is why it threw me for a proverbial loop that I was yucking up my thoughts with negativity.

I think I know why I was doing it though. It means too much to me. The writing. I was protecting my psyche...I wrote a character who voiced this: What if God had a wicked sense of humor, and only gave you a passion for something you had no talent for?

I actually don't believe God would do that, yet, sometimes, I live it.

So, now I'm going to start on purpose positive thinkingabout my writing -- intentional and specific.

I am a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Thank you.
I make more than enough money to support my family with my writing and I love it. Thank you.
Or maybe I should start with something like this:
I enjoy the whole writing process. Thank you...very much!

I'll update as needed.
So, what trips you up?

ROW80 Checking In...Hello?

Okay, so, not an auspicious start.

GONE BLONDE: Looked at some things that I wanted to change...thought about changing things. Set it aside.

BETWIXT: Wrote (and by 'wrote' I mean hacked) almost a page.

See what I mean?

I do have a couple blogs written, long hand in notebook at home.
Sheesh.

Hope everyone else did better. I have high hopes for this evening.

A Round of Words in 80 days!

Hello Jules Verne. Alright, not quite. Yet, still exciting. I'm setting my goals for the next 80 days of writing, and you could too. Here's how: A Round of Words in 80 Days

A challenge that understands I have a life. Thank you!

So, my goals, and I do have them:
Revise GONE BLONDE one hour a day
Write BETWIXT one page a day
Write MY BLOG three days a week (cheating w/ music videos is alowed)

There they are...for now.
I'll post updates and first chapters soon!