Fight evil. Read books.

Gloomy weather today. I'm glad for it because it means I'm not currently staggering through the woods on little sleep and wondering when the day will be over. (Wow, that sounds weird if you don't know the context.) So I get to write all day! Good, because I haven't been doing as much of that lately as I'd like to be.

This week has sucked. Feeling physically horrible - though yesterday things turned around a bit. And Wednesday night in particular my brain decided to do that INTP typical torture itself thing. So I pulled out my typewriter and decided to use it to write in bed for awhile to figure out exactly what the hell my problem is. It didn't go great. I covered a lot of white space with words, but I don't think it really meant anything. I hate when that happens.

Today though, I am swimming through my fictional worlds with my muse at my side. I love it when he decides to grace me with his constant presence. So I thought I'd make a little update so you all could know what I'm working on.

Luca has trained with the Southern Sun Sages for as long as he can remember. Someday soon he hopes to become a full member of their order, pledging his life to the service of the ancient and eternal Sun God.

Kai is the oldest of seven brothers and sisters. Living on the edge of the Sun Lands, all her family has ever known is strife and the struggle to stay alive in a harsh landscape. With her parents and extended family tending to their failing farm, Kai does all she can to bring in food from hunting in the nearby forest - a place few dare to venture.

When Luca shares his vision of a young peasant woman, his masters reveal that his destiny is much different from that of the priest he hoped to become.

With her family's lives in the balance, the Sun Sages convince Kai to accompany Luca on a journey to the ruins of the Moon Kingdom. All they know is that they seek a grave... The grave of the Moon Goddess.

That would be the basic introduction of the YA fantasy I'm working on right now (The Grave of the Goddess - shocking title, I know). And here's a little summary of what I plan to do for NaNo - a chick lit novel called Solemn Vow: 

Melanie Fitzgerald is perfectly happy. And why shouldn't she be? She has a loving husband, plenty of friends, and a great blog. But when she strikes up a friendship with a one of her fellow bloggers, suddenly she's questioning things she thought she decided long ago. As the friendship moves toward something more, Melanie's perfect little world starts to crack.

I've got all kinds of characters for it so far, but not much in the way of a concrete plot. Of course, I've always been more of a "flying by the seat of my pants" NaNo-er, but I've also only won 3 out of the 7 times I've played this game, so..... No, this is my year! I'm gonna rock it out. I've even considered working on both this and Grave of the Goddess next month. I'm so embroiled in the fantasy right now, that I can't imagine it all just evaporating on the first. 

It's that time of year again!

It is definitely my favorite time of year. All of the trees are exploding with color. Fog and rain are normal weather. I can wear jackets and curl up in oversize sweaters and wear scarves again. Soup is back on the menu.

And all of the novelists on the Internet are gathering in one place.

I'm so happy that I got my writing mojo back before this season hit. Now I'm fully geared up for National Novel Writing Month (November!) in addition to writing a pretty little YA fantasy this month.

Anyway, just dropping by to say - NaNoWriMo 2012: do it up!

I wish I could be as cool as you...

Oh, I am so not a cool kid.

Thursday night. Here I sit. Cheap desk. Cheap white wine - Simply Naked Pinot Grigio. Notebook, paper, and purple pen. Laptop. And loads of books. Poetry, philosophy, books on writing, books on names, books on tarot, books on depression. This is what I choose to be closest to me.

Cat scratching at the door. But I've locked her out because in here is my world of fantasy and there's no room for tigers like her. I only have room for loud music and words. Piles and oodles and heaps of words. Glorious words. Melodramatic words. Poignant words. Enthusiastic and insane words.

So, no, I'm not cool. I'm not at the club. I don't have a roomful of friends laughing at something I just said. I'm not drinking beer in a bar and watching the ball game. (Though I do have the updates flashing on my phone!)

Instead, I'm the slave to a vulpine muse. I'm tethered to a lighthouse full of people only I've met. And I'm happy.

So, so happy.

Solutions (Update #1)

Remember how I said I wanted to lose 40 pounds by my next birthday? Well, progress has been... progressing.

Tell me more.

Let's review the past few weeks, shall we?

Now that the boy and I are all moved in to our new place and I've gotten used to commuting two hours a day, I have been trying to focus more on my new fitness goals. It's difficult, but not quite as difficult as I thought it might be. Reason number one for that might be that I decided to give myself some rewards to work toward. More about these later.

My wonderful mother also sent me a FitBit Ultra! This little device is an amazing resource. Wear it during the day and it tracks how many steps you take, how many flights of stairs you walk up, how many calories you've burned, and how many miles you've walked. Wear it at night and it will tell you how long you slept and how many times you woke up during the night (a.k.a. how much you really slept). The Ultra model even gives you personalized messages (No donut!) as well as working as a clock and giving you a progress bar during the day to let you know how active you've been.It keeps all of this information so you can review it by day, by week, and by month. The FitBit has been a great motivator for walking a bit more than normal... Taking stairs instead of escalators... Get to bed earlier... I love it and can't recommend it more, although it is a tad bit pricey.



I've been keeping a food journal as well. Writing down every bite I eat, and as much of what I can drink that I remember. (Honestly, it's harder than you think to remember every glass of water.) I started out doing this on my phone with the FitBit app and the MyFitnessPal app - both of which will count the calories of food you enter. This has proved a bit too cumbersome for my tastes however and I have switched to using my aforementioned Star Wars moleskine. Another great motivator for leaving food on my plate and not reaching for the cookies I know are in the cupboard. It's also been a good place to keep track of my various moods, headaches, and work outs. I'm starting to see a serious relationship between how active I am and how good I feel. And I've noticed that starting my day with protein usually goes a lot smoother than starting it with carbs. Innnnnnteressting.

Today I discovered a local rail trail. Since it rained like the dickens this morning (and work got canceled) I went to check it out and ended up walking three miles through beautiful woods both rural and urban. Even shared a few nice words with a cute elderly couple. It was glorious! I think I'll start walking it every day. Maybe bring my bike down. Eventually start running on it. Tomorrow I'll go check out the other half and see if it's just as good.

If my scale can be believed, I've lost at least one pound so far. That's one down and many to go. My first reward comes when my scale reliably puts me below 170 every time. I'm going to post a separate page to keep track of my progress and rewards. Feel free to drop by with any input and/or encouragement!

So happy with myself today!

Progress (or, rather, lack thereof)

Holy dairy cows, the past couple weeks (read: two months) have been crazy.

I went through the whole moving process - that took about a month total of looking for a place, signing a lease, packing, moving, and now we're still in the process of settling in. I've given up two hours of my days to driving back and forth from work which is just fun.  

And I'm still struggling to write. I've been journaling a lot more... though not in my usual detail or with any of my usual - a-hem - flair. And obviously I've been neglectful of this blog (as well as two others). It's an uphill battle as they say.

At least I'm up in New Hampshire for the weekend. Wonderful family times can't be beat. Good for recharging, etc. I need it after this week in particular. I got stung by a bee for the first time in about twenty years. No anaphylactic shock, but my finger did swell up to a glorious size for three days. Cue me going into a Benadryl induced coma and losing a bunch of time. No writing. No working. No exercise. Zero progress - unless you count healing insect damage.

My motivation for everything in still high, though I feel pretty frustrated. I've been quite good about keeping my food and fitness journal (it's a Star Wars moleskine that I titled "How to Become a Jedi Like Luke Skywalker"). I've been writing something... almost every day. Even when it's only 100 words. And I've been thinking about my writing almost non-stop. I pulled out a couple of old books: How to Write A Damn Good Novel by James Frey and Bird By Bird by Annie Lamott.

They both, of course, have sections addressing the problem of writer's block. Typical stuff, but good to hear. It happens to everyone, blah blah. Don't let it stop you, blah blah. If you're a writer, you'll figure out a a way through it, blah blah. Mostly it's a matter of hitting your head on the keyboard until something falls out.

Anyway, that's what's up with me for now. What up with all of you? Any of you who stop by and read this at point or another, that is....