Pre-10K Day Post -- More Wild Weather

Since finishing my screenplay last week, I've been preparing for tomorrow's 10K Day. I have two stories in mind. One is from my Immortal Watchdogs series. The other is a character journal story I've begun writing (the whole story is told in blog form). I took a couple of days off over the weekend, and I've been scrambling around for ideas over the past two days. I've got good beginnings to both stories, so I think I'm ready.

And if I'm not, I'll write anyway, because I'm cool that way! :)

It looks like we're in for a rough night again tonight. Storms are already beginning to pop up. We could have anything from larger-than-baseball-sized hail, to tornadoes, to wind gusts to 70 mph, to dangerous lightning. They're saying "explosive [thunderstorm] development is expected along cold front this afternoon as it encounters a strongly unstable air mass." This could get very...interesting, to say the least.

Needless to say, prayers would be appreciated. If I live through this, I'll update tomorrow.

Thank you!

Lois

There's A Big Storm A'Comin'...

Actually, it's here...and I've started the day in rare form. I took Nikita out for her morning walk, and because of all the rain that's fallen on our clay soil, I slipped and fell in the mud! Surprisingly, I only had mud on my knees and a small splatter here and there on my jacket. I was on the grass, and I think that's what saved me from becoming a total mess! :P

Anyway, I cut our walk short because of that. She hasn't pooped yet today, so I'll have to take her out again soon. :-/

After that, I'm going to make today a 10K Day (or get as near to 10K as I can by three o'clock). I want to write. I need to write--even if it's only character journal entries (which I actually love writing). I'll likely turn off the Internet, the Weather Channel, my music--everything--until I'm done. I'm not going to open Tweet Deck, either, even though I've been trying (with extremely limited success) to get back to that. I'll check in later this evening if I'm able.

Depending on how the roads are tomorrow, I might have to babysit. On the other hand, if the roads are too bad, I'll have another writing day.

We shall see...

Lois

10K Days...

I was supposed to participate in at least one of the 10K Days this month: this past Wednesday or Saturday. I couldn't participate in either because I agreed to babysit, so I tried for a 10K Day yesterday. As far as reaching 10K words, the day was a bust, but to me, it wasn't so much about 10K as it was about sitting down and writing. In that respect, it was a success. I managed to write and edit two writing articles, one on character journaling, and one on using outlining in screenwriting. I'll post links when I can. :)

I've completed the first handwarmer in my Handmade Exchange for , and I'm well into the second. They're looking really good, so far! :D

My mom's heading back home on Saturday, so we have some things to do before then...like wash her hair, do her laundry, buy her a lingerie bag for her hand knit items, and laminate her new address tags.

Our library is moving to their new building...finally! I can't wait until they open for business (if they aren't already--I need to check). :)

Before I go, here's a photo to brighten your day. We planted some snapdragons in Jiffy pellets a while back. Eventually, Jeff planted them in pots, and one of them is actually blooming! :D





And now I'm about ready to start work on a new Immortal Watchdogs short story. I still have some planning to do (a lot, really), but I can write out the prologue, at least. :) Today will be my "official" personal 10K Day. ;)

Have a good one!

Lois

So much for piccies...

I haven't had a chance to do any editing since I last posted, but wanted to post a little something anyway. I've taken a few pics of the inch or so of snow we got last night, and those have been added to the folder of pictures to edit.

Hopefully, I'll get a chance to edit them soon.

I finished the scarf I've been working on. This morning, I started a pair of handwarmers to match them. I've also begun a scarf to match Jeff's handwarmers. We discovered last night that we may both need scarves for the nightly walks with Nikita. At least when it's cold and windy. I had my new one, and it kept my face comfortably warm. Jeff didn't have one, and his face was very cold. He's not usually one to wear scarves, but he was wishing for one last night. ;)

Chelsey wants to learn how to knit / crochet. I'm so excited! :D I gave her the Knitting and Crochet for Dummies book I had. It can teach her the basics, but I told her if she has problems, I can help her out. I also gave her some yarn, and let her borrow a pair of knitting needles.

There are two 10K Days for Writers coming up soon. I plan to participate in at least one of them...probably the one on the 19th. I'll either work on an Immortal Watchdogs story or come up with something new. I can't wait! :D

Our new washing machine is awesome! I so love not having to go to the laundromat. :)

My new coffeemaker is awesome, too. Right now, I'm drinking a cup of Sumatra coffee brewed using the aroma button. Thanks, Mom! :)

Today, I'm working on the screenplay edit...and, of course, the two new knitting projects. ;)

What's everyone else doing today?

Lois

Writing, Shopping, Holidays...All That's Missing Is SNOW!

In spite of not getting much done yesterday while I was babysitting, I jotted down quite a bit last night, in regard to backstory for three of my new characters. Today, I'll be exploring them more...personalities, their friends and families, etc. I want them to be as well rounded as I can make them. I'm really loving this!

I still need to do some research on the Apache, too.

And at some point, I'll need to start working on the female character. But for now, I'm concentrating on the first three, since they'll definitely be in a story together. I'm not sure if the female character will be in the same story or be in a story of her own.

Anyway, I plan on treating today like a Wednesday Writing Sprints day. I'm going to work on my writing, research and character development as much as I can.

Jeff is assuming he has tomorrow off, which is goofy (he should already know for sure); but if he has it off, it would be a great day for us to do our shopping and run some other errands. Saturday is 10K Day and I'd love to participate, if at all possible.

We were talking about our Christmas budget this morning and we still haven't decided on what to spend...at least I don't think we have. O_o And I don't know when we'll get a tree, but I'd love to do that tomorrow.

We also haven't decided when we'll go see New Moon, but now I'm thinking we should just wait and get it on DVD. We're going to get some fudge for the stockings, too. We love to buy it at one of the shops down on Main Street. We'll be doing that again this year. I've mentioned this before, but the woman who owns the shop makes all the fudge herself and she always remembers us when we shop there. She's very friendly, and I think she was the one who ultimately made me feel good about our move down here. We had a great conversation with her. :)

Jeff and I were also talking about what we would do if he started taking two week vacations in the summer and none in the winter. What would we do? He'd like to see his mom and step-dad on the west coast. And we'd like to go see Montana and northern Maine. I told him I would love to go check out the Van Buren, Maine area. It's on the northern border. I've seen photos online and it looks like a great little town. :)

And now I need to hurry up if I want to get anything done today.

Have an awesome day!

Lois

I Did It!

Again, I managed to write 10K on a 10K Day! :D My actual word count for today was 10,114.

This brought my unofficial word count to 64,879.

Unfortunately, the Nanowrimo word count validator always eats some of my words. This time it ate about 2,400. So, my official word count is 62,475.

It's still nothing to sneeze at, I know, but I wish OpenOffice.org's word counter and the Nanowrimo word count validator were closer. :/

But YAY! I did it! *happy dance*

My Own Personal 10K Day!

I'm starting a bit late for my personal 10K Day today, but I'm about to get started. I had an e-mail to write to my Nanowrimo mentees, and that took a bit of time. But now I'm ready to work on Xander's backstory. I came up with several ideas last night, and I'm looking forward to writing them up.

I won't be on here until later this afternoon or evening. I'm hoping to get 10K, of course, and I'm really going to push myself today.

My mom's here and is settled in. She had a good flight and got to see Eric, Chelsey and Josiah last night. Poor little guy's still sick, but he seemed like he was in good spirits. I think Eric and Chelsey are still sick, too. Eric's voice was really bad, but it sounded like it was getting better last night.

Jeff thinks he may be coming down with it now. He and I have been taking Airbourne and Cold Eeze and taking vitamins, so hopefully that'll keep the cold/ flu at bay. I need to see if my mom can take those.

Well, I'd better get to it. I want to get to 80K as soon as possible. I want to revise it when I'm done. I want to publish this thing! :D

Have a great day!

Lois

Brainstorming & Road Trip!

We'll be heading out soon to pick up my mom at the airport. I'm taking my laptop, but most of my work will be in a notebook. I'll be brainstorming. I won't have my device either, so I may not connect. We'll see...

I've thought up an alternate ending to the story...one in which Xander proves to himself that he is stronger and more courageous than he thinks. I look forward to fleshing it out. :)

We're going to the bank and to Salvation Army and the car wash before we head for L.R., so it'll be a long trip, but fun. I have CD's and I'm not afraid to use them. ;)

At least until we pick up my mom! :P I don't think she'd like Forever, Disciple, Decyfer Down, Family Force 5 or Demon Hunter...or most of the stuff I like. I'm taking my media player with me, too. ;)

Anyway, I'm not sure if I mentioned this here, but I'm making tomorrow a 10K Day, so I'll still post in the morning, but I won't do anything else online until I'm done for the day. I'm going to start as early as I can. I'd like to get Xander's backstory, at least a good chunk of it, completed tomorrow, if possible.

Well, I guess I'd better hurry up and finish here so I can get ready to leave.

Have an awesome weekend! :D

Lois

Bad Day for 10K

I only managed to squeeze out about 3,571 words today. My unofficial word count is 54,765, but the Nano word counter says it's at 52,595. I've lost 2,170 words. I knew this would happen though, so I'm not surprised. But now that their word counter says my novel's over 50K, I'll be going by that total.

Anyway, today was a bad day for trying a 10K because I forgot we've got to go grocery shopping tonight. So I'll be making Sunday a 10K Day, instead.

Xander has gotten out of the country and is now in France, where he's been approached about joining an elite black ops team. He's been given 24 hours to mull it over.

And that's my writing day today. :)

I can't wait to work on this some more on Sunday! Until then, I plan to do a little brainstorming for his first mission in which he has to prove himself.

Have a great evening!

Lois