Author Journey: August 4, 2023 - Happenings Are Always Happening

 Welcome to the scenic route! I know today's title is wonky. Honestly, my whole being feels that way today. Like my favorite writing meme (which has an interesting back story), it says so much, even though it's redundant and obvious. I better get started! I've got ten minutes to get this post out on time. Let's see if I can do it...

Author Journey: I Won!

I think I mentioned last week that I either won or was close to winning Camp Nano. 

I set a lower goal for this one because life's been so crazy lately. My official camp goal was 35k. But my personal goal, that I didn't even want to speak out loud was to edit through the last chapter. I blasted my official goal out of the water, and had only two chapters left to edit after camp was over. So I finished it out afterward and I feel pretty awesome to have met both goals. 

Ok, so I didn't meet that 10:00 goal for getting this post out on time. Oh, well...moving on. 

In other writing related things, I'm going to do a bit of cover art design. I get so discouraged when I see other people taking all these fancy classes and attending webinars and writing cons. I'm not able to do any of those unless they offer deep discounts. 

I keep pressing on, though, because I do want to learn more. I want to do a better job. There's not really any excuse for not being able to do a better job, because so many things are available online -- tutorials, free classes, free webinars, etc. It's harder to find them, but they exist. 

So for those working on a super tight budget like me, don't give up! Don't be discouraged! We can do this!

Writer's Life: If This is What It's Like to Fly, I'm Not Sure I Like It

That's what things are like right now in my life. I feel like so many things are trying to drive a wedge between different members of our family. We still don't have an exact idea of what's going on with my Mom's health. I'm starting to feel disconnected from people. Everything's just so up in the air. (Hence the section heading...)

Spartacus keeps us smiling and laughing for the most part. He's such a precious blessing. My husband says he's spoiled. Maybe so, but not in a bad way. He just doesn't know what it's like to live as a farm cat. That would've been his life has his momma not gotten run over. He's almost a year and a half, now, and so big! When we rescued him, he fit in my daughters hand. Now it takes two arms to hold him safely...which he's not too fond of. Strangely enough, he allows our youngest to hold him, maybe because she's the one who fished him out from under the porch and sat with him while we waited for her coworker to come pick him up. (We had a trip to make that week and had no experience raising tiny, pre-weaned kittens.) 

I took that photo back in May. That's my son. He's our oldest. I thought it was really cute how Spartacus was looking up at him, but our son had been staring down at him for a while before Spartacus noticed. 

Just Keep Writing: Friday Fascicles

If this is your first time participating in this kind of writing exercise, you're in for a treat. If you've done this with me before, just keep scrolling for the prompt.

Rules:

1. You can use any/all of the words and/or the photo in the prompt below to create a unique written work. Fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, even lyrics are acceptable.  
2. Please keep the material you write clean (i.e. nothing R-rated or worse) if you wish to share the link to your work here, as well as if you link back to my site. I strive to keep my site free of such things. My readers know and expect this. I respect your right to write whatever you feel you need to write. And you're free to use my prompts. But if your material is graphic, I'd rather not view it, and most of my readers will not wish to. 
3. Have fun! This type of exercise is perfect for growing in the writing craft, or for helping through a rough patch in your current WIP. If you're looking to push your author limits and you normally write in nonfiction prose, try a whimsical collection of lyrics. If you normally write poems about real life events, try your hand at a fanfic. Give yourself some room to explore.

Don't forget to leave a link to your creation (unless you're writing graphic material) so my readers and I can check out your work. I'd appreciate a link back to this post to help me reach more readers, but it's not required. 

I hope you found today's post encouraging or helpful. I'm now multitasking so I'll be brief in closing. 

Please come back next week to get more word prompts, book reviews, and a peek into the life of a determined indie author. 

Until next time,
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