What's Up Wednesday- Feb. 11th



Of Wings of Hundreds of Beats Per Second, of People whose Wings are Just a Blur...


What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what's up.  Should you wish to join, check out Jaime's or Erin's lovely blogs and sign up with the link widget at the bottom of the post.

WHAT I'M READING
Lately, Boy Chris and I have been binge-watching Game of Thrones as a means to relax at the end of the day. I was curious if the Game of Thrones books were similar to the television series so I downloaded the first one. So far, I've been pleasantly surprised. It is well written and I like how they handle "old magic".

WHAT I'M WRITING
I beat my goal two out of three days this week. I like having a time goal instead of a word count goal. It seems to work better for me and the resulting words are better. (I think) So my goal for this week is the same. Spend at least 1hr working on writing related things, 3 times this week. 

WHAT WORKS FOR ME
Being realistic. This is a hard one for me. Some days I wake up and I feel like I can do All The Things. Other days I realize I am human and I require sleep and lots of snacks. I've had to turn down a couple of opportunities lately, but I'm glad I did. I really wouldn't have done them justice. And being realistic applies to my writing life as well. I need to stop stressing about what I have not yet achieved and realize that I have come a long way already. There are a lot of people out there who haven't written a book, let alone several books. (When you talk to other writers every day, it's easy to forget this.) Cranking out that many pages of words is a monumental achievement in and of itself. So I'm going to try and be more realistic. Focus on improving my craft and taking things at my own pace. I'll let you know how that goes. *grin*

I'm calling this one- Lotus Pond in the Rain :)
WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO 

All. The. Things. (I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it)

◆     I've been working on the Guest House for an eternity now. But I am finally getting to the fun part. (Decorating- yes please! Ripping up glued down carpet and installing tile-not so much.) I've been making a lot of the decor myself. This is in part due to my ridiculously small budget and also because I enjoy it. So I've been doing crazy paintings and making rugs and casting corals out of resin and generally enjoying myself thoroughly. Though there hasn't been a day this week that my fingers (and toes) have not be stained blue with paint and fabric dye. I look like I have a Teal Disease. *grin*
◆    Making all this new stuff has made me want to open a second Etsy shop. Which is INSANE, I know. Perhaps I should make handmade straight jackets for people stupid enough to open a second Etsy shop. But I waaaant to. I want to make some different things lately and they just don't fit with my first shop. 
◆   What else have I been up to? Kayaking, roller-blading, baking bread, eating hot bread, stressing out about the impending visit from my pseudo- in laws. (They are lovely people, it just means more cleaning and entertaining and there just aren't enough hours in the day.)

*Above: Chris got some wonderful shots of hummingbirds on our Caribbean Trip. I want to go back.

What have you been up to?

10 comments:

  1. There's also less rape in the Game of Thrones books, which is always a plus!

    Congrats on reaching and surpassing your writing goal, that's fantastic! :) When you set yourself challenges like that and you complete them it really boosts your confidence, doesn't it?

    Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congrats on surpassing your goal, Kris. AWESOME!!!! I only read the first Game of Thrones book. I liked it but didn't love it- found it confusing to keep track of all the characters. i haven't seen the TV show yet. Have a great week and good luck with the guest house :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's awesome you are doing the home decor. I love that painting! Good luck with your time goals, you are right...writing for a length instead of a word count can certainly result in better words, =)

    ReplyDelete
  4. You sound so busy! Good to hear your goal is working so well, too ^_^

    Have an amazing week.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think I prefer the GoT books to the TV show, but they're both gripping!

    Sounds like you have a lot of things happening. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  6. "I need to stop stressing about what I have not yet achieved and realize that I have come a long way already." Yessss! I feel the same way. It's too easy to get hung up on the "I'm not there yet" part of things instead of the "look what I've done so far" part of it. I struggle with this all the time.

    I had to laugh about your second Etsy shop. Bahahaha! So this idea of opening up a literary-themed knit goods shop has me thinking I might need a second shop for geeky knit goods and a third for anything that doesn't fall under those categories... We need an Etsy intervention. That said, your decor and craftiness is amazeballs and I know people would love to buy it. Look at me enabling you... ;-)

    Hope you have a wonderful week, Kris!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sometimes I need to ground myself too when it comes to expectations in the writing biz, and it helps because then I don't crash and burn when nothing goes as planned! I haven't watched for read the Game of Thrones books, but have heard many wonderful things. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I know it will probably sound strange but I was surprised how easy the Game of Thrones books were to read. I've tried to read fantasy before but I don't know what it is I've just never been sucked into a book like the Game of Thrones series. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I do love a good reno project! Best of luck!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love the photo and the painting - so beautiful.

    I'm a time-goal person, too. Word count goals just feel like pressure.

    Try not to stress too much and enjoy visiting with the pseudo-in-laws :)

    ReplyDelete