Today's Hodge Podge

I'm finding it hard to keep working on my current WIP. I'm at a point where I need to do some, well hard to prove productive, work. What do I mean? Well, I've been writing out character developments. You know, likes, dislikes, appearance, other key points, for each character. I also would like to do some writing exercises about some of the key places in the book. For instance, there's a bar & grill, and an apartment that pop up a lot and I think it would be good to have a general feel for each place. Kind of like how I want to write down my main chick's hair color. It may not be this way for other people, but for me as a reader and a writer, I like to know what the characters look like, but really as I read, I don't picture a face with details for each character. I may remember they have brown hair, but I don't have a face to go with that. So when I write, it's the same way. It's not about the way the character looks, although that adds important detail to some, to me it's about the story and the character's actions and reactions. I know, weird, right? Also, I kind of find work, like research, to be tedious. It's hard to really prove that it was important to research, oh say, a city that's in the book, but I've never been to. Again, it's important to know where the characters are, but for me, the rest of the details fade a bit. But I know that to many, these details are important, so I'm determined to get it right.
So for now, no actual editing :(
Next hodge podge, baby was very good today :) He took a 3 hour morning nap and an hour pm nap. Must have been tired :)
My work outs, to Insanity, are getting better:) I won't say more for fear of jinxing myself.
I have a confession! I've also had trouble doing the work on my WIP cause I watched the dvd's Twilight and New Moon, and then read Eclipse. I know I shouldn't, but I'm going to read Breaking Dawn too.
Horses: I want them back! They're not really gone, they're about 5 or so minutes away and I see them every day to feed them. But it's not the same! I'm feeling the itch to ride and more importantly, finish breaking out Rain. So, today I practiced loading. For those of you who've read previous post, you know how this could have gone! Bad news first. Big Boy loaded once pretty darn easy and then went into stubborn mode. Blah! I don't know why he has this one trick pony thing going on. Good news next! Nina went half way in on her own and then backed out. Then she loaded right in 2 times in a row! Lol, cause when I turned her loose she took off like I had been torturing her! Ok, 'nough said for now!
P.s. Wish me luck, hubby is miserably sick :(

Review/Spoilers/Shift by Rachel Vincent

So on my week off, after finishing draft 1, I read Shift by Rachel Vincent. I have read all of this series and I love it. I will say, it is emotionally intense! Faythe has to save her Pride from the thunderbirds. The whole time she’s doing this with the help of the two men she loves! And one doesn’t know about the other! Did I mention that along with saving her Pride, she’s also saving a prized tabby? Tension!!! This book sucked me in and kept me reading, just like all the rest. But again, there is an emotional level that you don’t find in say, a Sookie book. Faythe sometimes makes stupid decisions and sometimes it’s not for a bad reason. Then you have to watch her go through the consequences. Sometimes I really dislike her mistakes, but I tell you what, she has grown as a character so much, that I dislike her mistakes a little less. Also, she’s growing up in a world that’s a lot tougher on women than ours so I mostly give her a break 

Dead Until Dark

So I read Dead Until Dark about a month ago. This is the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series and the tv series True Blood is based on this series. I loved it! I devoured the book and hence did not get any writing done. I will not be reading any more of these books or watching the season 1 until I am done writing my first draft, the book was that good. Sookie can read people’s thoughts and yet she’s pretty darn normal considering that. Instead of being some glamoured up, kick butt chick, she’s normal! This character is written in such a way that she’s believable. She acts like how a real person would act if they actually had her ability and grew up where she did(small southern town). It was a great break/relief to read a book set in a small town, with supernatural characters and normal characters facing everyday problems. Don’t get me wrong, I love urban fantasy to death(Keri Arthur and Rachel Vincent are 2 of my favorite authors), but I like to have a change too. There was a bit of mystery to this book, a killer on the loose, and I had no idea who it was until it happened. I was definitely surprised, but not in a too dramatic way. This book was great. Now I will say, I do have a couple ‘negatives’ to say, but really one isn’t my words and the other is being nit picky. Ok, first, I’ve heard it said that this is an adult Twilight book, but I totally disagree. Sure, there are some similarities, but come on, there are lot’s of books out there with similarities. Look how many werewolf stories there are, do we lump them all together? No! The other negative is about Sookie’s love story. In some sort of way, I feel like it all happened too fast. Although, on the other hand, she does have her doubts and asks her man to back off a couple of different times so she can acclimate. I dunno, it’s confusing to me(my opinion that is) so I’m sure it’s confusing to you too!

What I've Done

What have I done today? WIP-wise I have made a 2nd journal that is strictly editing. Also, I wrote out a general plan of attack. I need to do some pen to paper on characters. This needs to be solid, so I can refer back to it. What am I talking about? Well, some of it is as simple as remembering a secondary character's hair color. I also want to do some brief descriptions of prominent scenes and solidify some other settings that were wishy washy :)
I also edited one and wrote out 2 other brief book reviews :)
Baby, at 11 months, now has thrush! So I spend a couple hours yesterday dealing with that.
In horsey news, we've re-advertised our paint, Rain, for sale and I realized I've done her a disservice. I know everyone says a horse has potential, but she really does. I have not trained her any where near her potential and I need to get on that stat! Ok, hope you all are doing great!

Checked Out

Sorry, I've checked out in the past week. I have mostly thoroughly enjoyed it too :) There have been a few bumps along the way though. Hubby threw up last week which convinced him after 2 weeks of running a low grade fever to go to the doctor. Hubby's job is super stressful right now :( and I can't do anything about it. Part of it's because he's been working long, hard hours and staying out of town some. Me, well I've got allergies and I've never had them like this before. I can't take benadryl, can't take sudephrine(sp?), so now I'm trying the off brand of Zyrtec. Cross your fingers that it works :) I did finish the book Shift by Rachel Vincent and it was wonderful! So now I have several book reviews due. I do plan on trying to get back into the groove of blogging, and to start some preliminary work on my WIP before real editing begins. I hope you've hit The End or are getting close, or are just on your way!

THE END

I wrote 745 words today, the first day I've wrote in several. I let life get in the way and I was a wee bit lazy! Anyways I ended with a total of 75,697 words. That's right, I said ENDED, as in
THE END! (well, at least of the first draft)
'Nuff said.

Weekend

So, I've had a pretty good weekend and I hope everyone else has too. Nothing super exciting happened that I can think of...We went out to eat with some friends and some aquaintances, and had a good time. It's been a while since we did that sort of thing, so it made it extra nice :) Ok, so I thought I'd leave you with a picture from the circus I went to last fall. May your writing be creative and even if it's not great, at least you're doing something! That's more than some people!