January 2019 Writing Challenges Begin: #FantasyWIPJan Challenge

Yes. I took on another challenge. <sigh> I know. You're probably thinking about all those times I've talked about being tired and overloaded. I know. I do it to myself. But these challenges help me so much, I figure the time I spend on them is worth it.

#FantasyWIPJan Challenge: Week 1

So here are my responses for the first six days of this challenge, co-hosted by @kierawriteswattus (who I cannot link to), @sydney_hawthorn, and @andiebarrauthor.

I won't go into a whole lot of detail on these since there are so many and I'm lumping them into one post. But I'll give a brief overview of my responses that goes into a little more detail, especially for the last two answers.

Day 1 - My ultimate goal for the year is to be a better writer, to improve my work as a writer. As such, I'm hoping to take the courses on writing through The Great Courses Plus app. They have several to choose from so I'm looking forward to them.

Day 2 - My ultimate goal for January is to finish the current revision of 'Over Land & Under Stone' and knock out some missing pieces of the story.

Day 3 - I've blogged about the authors who inspire me before so let me just add that Elizabeth D. Marie is a new favorite. Her work is inspiring because she's doing what I aim to do in my own work and succeeding with that, in my opinion. The way she includes faith in her writing hits the exact balance of just enough and no more that it needs to be believable and as fitting to the tale as it needs to be.

Day 4 - TBR for the year...well, I only know of two that I absolutely cannot wait to read. Neither are out yet but one of them will be before long. "Guarding Snow", a Snow White retelling by Elizabeth D. Marie, and "Midnight Sands", the second book in C.H. Knyght's Twilight Shadows fantasy series about a world of shape-shifters. Other than those two, I don't really know how to list all the ones I'm wanting to read. There are so many. And I have to read 100 or get as close as I can to that to meet my Goodreads goal for the year.

Day 5 - My MC's do have weaknesses. They aren't immortal, though they are sturdy in frame and different from the other clans of Y'Dahnndrya. Zec is weaker in hot weather. There's a strange connection with his particular gift which is revealed in the story later on. He also has trouble trusting others because of the threat to his life since he has this particular gift. Liha, on the other hand, is too trusting and naive, moreso at the beginning of the tale.

Day 6 - Zec's immunity is his resistance to cold weather and that's all I'm going to say about that. Liha isn't really immune to anything, unless you count her undaunted faith as an immunity to negativity.

Day 7 - Perhaps you'll remember this quote from a couple other challenges I did last year. But if you're like me, probably not. LOL I really like this quote about writing. (I apologize about the wrong hashtag on the bottom of the photo. I didn't have the new frame ready to share on IG at the time I was writing this.)

"I passionately hate the idea of being 'with it': I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time." - Orson Wells

Stay tuned for the final post at the end of the challenge. I'll include a slideshow of all the pictures and collages I made for this challenge.