I know, y'all have got to be sick of wrap-ups by now (it's not like it's the last day of the year or anything....)

But, since I put out my 2018 goals at the beginning of the year, I'm rather obligated to tell you how those goals went and what my goals are for next year. Actually, the latter part is an added bonus. You're welcome :).

Since we are still in the old year, I shall start with.....




1. Complete my first Goodreads Challenge

At the start of the year, due to my really strong start of 12 books in January, I set my first Goodreads Challenge at 100 books. I really thought that with my constant search for free books and some trips to the library, that my book consumption would be about the same for the rest of the year.

Then in February, I decided to cut out romance for Lent.

While it did help in other areas in my life, it halted the momentum by limiting my fiction choices. And, I ended up with a full-time job for half of the year, which killed said momentum completely. I couldn't get to the library as often as I wanted - and it turned out my library's selection of good books has dwindled quite a bit.

All in all, I've only read 53 books - not counting re-reads - and only 2/3rds of them have reviews attached to them.

So it was a disappointment, but....a good experience. In humility, as well as other things.


2. Read at least 10 books off my TBR list.

Foolishly, I never recorded which books from my TBR I wound up reading....so I made a fast search through Goodreads and my faulty memory banks, which yield the following results:

Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery
Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery
Emily's Quest by L.M. Montgomery
The Runaway King by Jennifer Nielson
The Shadow Throne by Jennifer Nielson
Treasure of Hope by Cecily Wolfe
The Similliaron by J.R.R. Tolkien
Princess Academy: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale
Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters by Shannon Hale
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskill

Turns out - it's exactly 10!! I was so afraid that it was only going to be only 5 or 6, so I'm really happy that I achieved this goal!


3. Write 50 words a day.

This was a miserable failure. Life just kept getting into my way. *grouses*

Come to think about it - this was supposed to be attached to a Goodreads group that I've since rather abandoned.....oh dear.


4.  Enter both Camp NaNos and do a proper NaNoWriMo

This was a success! I had two wonderful experiences during April and July (even with all the stress with July and not achieving my goal in April). And I even participated in NaNo and had a great time there too (in spite of again not achieving the goal. Notice a pattern here?)


5. Actually enter my writing into something other than my blog or RW

I did enter one guest post into Project Canvas in January 2018, and have now started to contribute to another team blog regularly.....but other than that, my writing has pretty much stayed put. No Wattpad stories have been updated, no short stories, no anthologies. I simply have not had the time, motivation, or desire to....


6. FINISH ONE WIP

*cries*

Man, I wish I had been able to do this.

All 8 WIPs have had some more development this year (due to July's Camp) but nothing actually got finished.

The closest WIP to finishing is actually The White Rose. It's the biggest in terms of the word count and the most developed. Because of this, I plan on finishing this WIP first before tackling the rest of them.


7. Cross off at least 10 movies off the To-Watch list.

Foolishly again, I forgot to record which movies I watched too....in a worse way, because instead of using a strike-through, I erased the movie title.

*bangs head against wall*

Now I really have to search through the memory banks.....oh wait....there is a draft history in Google Docs!! *GASP* I"M SAVED.

From The List, I watched:

Black Panther
Infinity War 1
Thor: Ragnarok
Spiderman: Homecoming
WCTH: Season 4 (shhhh, it's on the To-Watch List, it's fine)


And it seems to have been dominated by Marvel this year.....LOL. That's okay, I was behind anyway.



8. Get The Greatest Showman and Rogue One on DVD.

I never got this done. But I did purchase other DVDs:

The Agony and the Ecstasy - a movie with Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison, which is about Michaelango and the painting of the Sistine Chapel. Quite fun to see the banter between these two veteran actors.


9. Watch Seasons 4 and 5 of When Calls the Heart. 

I did watch Season 4 of When Calls the Heart when I was out in Ohio, but unfortunately, Season 5 was not on Netflix. So I'm stuck waiting. *sigh*



Frankly, I'm disappointed in how little I was able to accomplish this year. I believe I have found the problem though. When I was in college, I had a strict schedule with specific deadlines. I did very well under this system, and then ended up ditching it after college - after all, who has a schedule when they are at home?

So, keeping that in mind, I decided to take on some smaller goals with more defined deadlines. Shall we take a peek? 





1. Finish The White Rose - and have it ready for betas by May at the earliest.

Maybe if I stick with one WIP instead of trying to tackle the whole mountain at once, I'll actually get somewhere....

Quite honestly, this story has my heart - and the one that I want to send out to to the world first.


2. Finish Project Blueprint

This was my July Camp NaNo project - yes, the one that I failed around like a dead fish on. I am determined to finish this project before I lose all the notes.


3. Get more print books.

Because of Operation Vintage Makeover, my bookshelf is being opened up. And frankly, most of my books are either middle-grade fiction or non-fiction books. Not a very pretty hoard.

And now, my Kindle is on life support....and am not planning to replace it anytime soon as I don't have the need of it that I did a few years ago. Which means, that I need to build my own library.


4. Eliminate another 10 movies from the To-Watch list.

While I didn't achieve this goal the last time, I have a full year yet! I know that I plan to visit Ohio at least twice, which will help :).



5. Watch Season 5 of WCTH and possibly get a season on DVD.

Netflix gypped me this December, so I still haven't seen Season 5 yet. And even though it promises nothing but drama and tragedy, I really really want to see it.....



6. Finish the draft posts - including old tags and linkups

I was actually hoping to finish this before the end of 2018, but apparently that is not happening (as well as a few other things). Right now, I have 18 draft posts that either have to be written out, thrown away, or transferred to another blog.


I'm also going to try doing monthly goals on here, in hopes that maybe breaking it down will help keep me on track.

January's Goals:

1. Finish the Super Secret Project that I started with Lia

2. Finish one or two draft posts - which ones, well, that will depend on a few things.


Let us hope that I can attain better success with these goals than I did with the previous set, eh?



All in all, for a variety of reasons, I'm glad to see 2018 go. It has not been a very easy year for me or my family. We've had illness, job struggles, emotional roller coasters, and a gazillion car repairs to deal with, among other things.

But the new year brings a promise of renewal, of forward progress. I have lots of hopes for the new year, and I believe with new tactics and the Grace of God....success will follow. 

In the meantime, I shall go and fetch a wee bit of drink to ring in the new year!

Scribblingly yours,

Catherine <3

Nice confusing title, no?

Though in reality, that's what it is.

This third part of Christine Smith's wrap-up is meant to be after the writing is completed. The truth of the matter is, my writing is STILL not completed. A lot of these questions are also answered in my NaNo wrap-up, so if there is any repeating, I humbly apologize.

BUT - since I participated in the other two link-ups parts, I figured I'd finish the series with a bang. Or a pop. Or a peep.


1. Firstly, how did writing this novel go all around?

Writing this November felt like being in a turtle race - a rather slipshod one at that. Both this writing session - and the one before it - was basically a poor attempt at catching scattered story scenes, pinning them to paper, and then trying to reorder them to fit together. I've only half-succeeded at the moment.....


2. Did it turn out like you expected or completely different? And how do you feel about the outcome?

I was hoping that my drafting would go a lot better than it has been going. Instead of the complete draft that I wanted, I got another collection of story scenes that are loosely tied together.

All in all, I'm not satisfied with how it's turned out so far and will be working hard to improve it.


3. What aspect of the story did you love writing about the most? (Characters, plot, setting, prose, etc.)

Writing character interactions is my favorite aspect of writing this particular novel. I'm not sure why the ordinary conversation holds so much appeal to me, but it does. Humor is also a favorite of mine as well. It is these little vignettes of daily life that make a book charming to me.




4. How about your least favorite part?

I could do without the frustration and the writer's block that I got for at least half of the days of November.

Really, those days killed my drafting and buried it besides.


5. What do you feel like needs the most work?

MY PLOT.

It's a terrible mess. There are so many loose ends that are being tied and untied all over the place. At the moment, I've got to deal with a rogue tribe of gypsies that decided to insert itself there....


6. How do you feel about your characters now that the novel is done? Who’s your favorite? Least favorite? Anyone surprise you? Give us all the details!

Well, it's NOT done, so I'm not sure I can answer this question fully. But as I have fallen more in love with my characters as I work with them.

My two favorite characters are my MC's, Ealdread and Janina. Their friendship and romance is growing deeper as my word count grows. Alvilda and Karsten are not too far behind them in my affections.

The two characters that I wish to throw off a cliff are some minor antagonists, namely King Osgeirr of Ravndal (another small kingdom of my land of Verden) and Orthothien Haisthilt, who is a Duventoliel citizen. Both of these characters are arrogant troublemakers....to say the least.   

Magda, my main antagonist, has actually surprised me the most during this writing session. Her anger and sneakiness reached a zenith towards the end of the plot. She has not been content with one act of sabotage against her sister, but has now committed at least three....



7. What’s your next plan of action with this novel?

The first step....is to finish drafting the silly thing. Right now it sits just under 30K, with only about a third of the plotline being actually in words.

After drafting is completed, this book will be on the track of being published - potentially as a debut novel. Of course, betas and editing will have to come first. The goal is to have this ready for the first beta-reading by May 2019.


8. If you could have your greatest dream realized for this novel, what would it be?

For it to be published, and to be hailed as a favorite fantasy read :)


9. Share a snippet of one of your most favorite scenes!

Grr, there are so many that I have shared already....but I think y'all will enjoy this one:


“Come, Alvilda! I need to practice my dance steps....I’m horribly out of practice!” Janina pleaded to her older sister who sat at the window with the last touches on her Maiden’s Gown.

“But there aren’t any musicians here! Now how do you expect to dance without a beat to dance to, pray?” Alvilda laughed.

“No matter! You keep a beat so wonderfully in your head. Now come, please??” Janina’s eyes widened childishly.

Alvilda sighed in mock reluctance. To tell the truth, she was feeling antsy herself and Janina so dearly loved to dance that she would be horribly disappointed if Alvilda didn’t oblige. So, she set aside the dress she was working on for Magda and shuffle-stepped over to her sister.

"Now, what dance do you need to work on?” Alvilda bounced back and forth between feet to limber up her stiff knees.

Janina was quick to answer. “Let us practice the rondovay first and then the setervise. Marchioness Lottia says that I’ve been rushing the tempo on both of those and I cannot allow myself to get ahead of my partner.”

Alvilda nodded. “A very good reason. Men aren’t quite as quick and light as us you know.” A mischievous twinkle dared to fall from the blue eyes. “Now, how does that song go again....” she trailed off as she fought to extract the melody from her head.

Counting in breathy tones, Alvilda began to tap out a tempo on the stone floor. She ran through a few steps to satisfy herself that it needn’t be changed and then grasped Janina’s hands.

“Okay, for the rondovay....remember to cross your arms under your partners and start off on the heel, not the ball as in the interlace dance. On three!”



10. Did you glean any new writing and/or life lessons from writing this novel?

Oh, quite a bit of them! Most of them were discussed in my NaNo wrap-up, so I won't repeat them here. But every single writing session brings forth a whole bucket load of lessons for me - which is great since I'm still learning.


I'm going to dash off now - Christmas is only FOUR DAYS AWAY!!! and I'm still not prepared.....

Scribbingly yours,

Catherine



P.S. The Super Secret Project is coming along nicely! I hope to publish it sometime after the 1st of the year :).

Hello all!

For this Taggy Tuesday, I've got a tag of a different sort.

This was one of those nameless questionnaire thingies that apparently was passed around in other circles. Eowyn @ A Catholic Author presented as a tag (which I believe is the true identity of this little fun morsel) and she tagged all of her blogging acquaintances with it. Being a name wizard, I gave it a name based on the questions: The Fictional Portal Tag.

I believe it follows the standard tag rules, so let's go ahead and jump all in!

1. If my life were fiction it would be set in: 

Probably sometime back in history - it's a tossup between Medieval/Renaissance, 18th and 19th centuries. These time periods are frankly my favorites out of all time.

I'd probably be most at home in the 19th century :) The pioneer lifestyle is very appealing to me, because they have the old-fashioned morals and small-town community that I crave so much. And I do have a sense of adventure :). 


To be honest, I don't believe my story would be set in the prairies. I'm not a fan of very harsh winters or the unbreaking sea of sod. I'd rather have the trees and mountains.

I believe my story will be set in western Ohio, which is one of my favorite places in the world :). 

2. Right now I would be wearing:

A very long calico dress, with many petticoats, a work apron, shoes and socks, and period undergarments.... including a corset. And maybe a scarf on my head to keep it clean.

Image Source: Pixabay I definitely love the dress in this picture, not so wild about the cap.

3. The biggest crisis I would be facing would be:

Surviving. Getting enough food saved for winter. Not working myself to death. Trying to find a husband. All those good pioneer struggles that you often find in stories. 

4. My biggest joy would come from:

Little things in nature. Antics of my animals, especially the babies. Comaderie among community, those little everyday things. I'm not hard to please, it seems. 

5. The most frustrating daily challenge would be:

How long everything takes - and I get a few things done instead of the whole list. I tend to take things slow and steady, which helps in quality, I suppose. 




6. Looking out my window, I would see:

Wide fields and pastures, with mountains looming in the very far distance. Animals grazing, sun on the dew, a pond just off to the side. Barns are just out of sight of one window. Birds flying overhead. 

7. The other characters in the story would be:

 A good circle of girl friends, especially those with the same state of life that I have. An older married couple who act as mentors, because I love inter-generational interactions. And probably the most important, a love interest/husband. As the pioneer story was all about settling a country.

8. An essential element of a happy ending would be:

 A successful romance, complete with marriage and babies. And of course, surviving the elements and being out of debt, LOL. 

Well, that was a really fun tag! I'll leave this little gem out for anyone who wants it :) I'd love to hear about whatever fictional lives y'all create! 

Scribblingly yours, 

Catherine

Note: I wrote this review quite some time ago and had published it on my personal blog and Maidens for Mary. I found a copy of it on my draft files and decided to publish it here as well. I definitely recommend this book as a Christmas gift idea!!! 


I've always been on the lookout for a good novel from the Catholic worldview. So when I heard about Paint Everything Blue, I was really excited. I got even more excited when I found out that the author was asking for reviews. Needless to say, I volunteered gladly :).

Paint Everything Blue pitched me into a wonderfully dramatic story worthy for all ages and all time.

I will say one thing....have a tissue box handy. Cause you will cry. A lot.

Don't believe me?

My teenage brother read it after I did. And he cried....a lot.


What I Liked: 

First thing, I love the title very much. It was a really nice way to incorporate a subtle Marian reference.

Lena wrote her character's arcs very well. This is definitely her strength as an author. Each character really did have their own unique cross and struggles. Some share a cross, others bear their cross on their own, but all handle it in their own way - good and bad! And while some go backwards before going forwards, all do go forwards.

Lena also does a great job at using characters to show real-world struggles such as working mothers, physical challenges like hypoglycemia, and mental issues like PTSD. In this book, she also has themes such as the importance of communication, and relief from despair.

One thing that I was very impressed with is how Lena humanized her priest character Don Alphonso. One danger of Catholic writers is to portray priests as these wise, can-do-no-wrong persons, when in reality they are human as well. Lena also did a great job with all of the Confession scenes. Carlo is also a great example of Christian charity (though many people will probably think him idealized, I feel that he was a good example of saintliness).

As an author, Lena is also very good at giving those enticing details and not info-dumping. I also like how we never really see the world through Carlo's eyes, but let the viewpoints of the other characters tell his story. It is an interesting technique. I also liked how all the characters were a variety of ages, instead of staying with one age bracket.


What I Didn't Like: 

The World-Building: This was actually my biggest disappointment of the entire book. According to the author, the story was set in Foggia, Italy in 1960. Besides the Italian dialect and city references, I didn't really get a sense that we were in Italy at all, or at that time. It honestly felt more like it was set in America (for myself, I thought it felt more like something like Los Angeles or New York, while my younger brother thought more South America.) Granted, the word "Padre" was probably the culprit. As for the time period - all the hint that I got that it was not contemporary was the references to Tuberculous (a disease which has mostly been eradicated in recent times). It gave me a jolt to see a year (1947) in the book, only to find out after reading it that it wasn't right. I also had the funny feeling that I was seeing more American than Italian colloquialisms.

The Closeness of Reader's Lens of Focus: Tying into that last note, I believe that the lack of world-building can be explained by the closeness of the focus on the characters and their stories. If this book was in a movie form, the camera would only show closeups and a tiny bit of background that matters at that moment. There really is no big picture to orient ourselves into a specific place or time period. Instead, it felt like we were in a big bubble. Even physical descriptions of character seem a little sparse - we see so much of the "inside" that we are unclear what is on the "outside".

Some inconsistencies: Regina's age threw me a bit - she seemed a high school student at first, and then I find that she's supposed to be 8. Paolo's money issues seem a little confusing too. Eva's pregnancy seemed to hit very suddenly and that part seemed rushed compared to the rest of the book.

Trigger/Content Warnings: Book contains an an attempted abortion (doesn't go beyond talking), an attempted suicide (which is stopped before any harm occurs), thematic elements (married couple sleeping together), an attempted gang attack (and the PTSD that occurs after), mentions of car accidents, and somewhat detailed descriptions of tuberculosis symptoms. There is also a lot of strained family relationships. All of these are handled extremely well.
   

In conclusion: 

For those of you who are teenagers/adults and looking for a good Catholic novel, I highly recommend this book! I rated this book 4 stars out of 5. The main story was really good, and the writing of high quality. I just felt that there wasn't enough world-building and big-picture to give it a full five stars.

If you would like to purchase it, visit Lena's blog One Good Catholic Book.

Note: I recieved a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. All words are my personal opinion.

Scribblingly yours,

Catherine

*Catherine peeks out from behind the back wall at the readers milling around*

pppssst.

*readers look up*

Hey, come over here....

*readers look at each other in confusion*

Yeah, you guys. Come on over here.

*readers cautiously approach Catherine, who still is hiding behind the wall*

Out of curiosity, have any of you seen Lia's post?

*some readers nod, in others the confusion deepens*

Okay, I'll lay it all out. Lia and I are, ahem, plotting a super secret project of epic proportions.

*readers eyebrows raise*

But here's the deal....

*readers lean in*

In order for this to work, we need curious minds. Especially, those who love a good story. Is there something that you're dying to know about either Lia or me? Any inside jokes that you want to hear the explanation of? Any crazy factoids that we have neglected to share about ourselves?

Ask Us Anything!

*Catherine pushes out an empty comment box for the reader's convenience and then disappears into the shadows* 

At last, the cold, gray and dreary month that we all call November has faded into the past.

While everything else outside has been dying, inside the writer's workshops, things were very much alive. Some wrote fast and furiously, others took great care with the few little words they made. But all worked their hardest to to spread truth, light and hope through the written word.

Before I get in the nitty gritty details, I would love to give a big huge shout-out to the Pen Dragons, which is the NaNo Hangouts group that was hosted by Christine Smith @ Musings of an Elf. I knew several of the other writers already, and the rest immediately became great friends too. They are an awesome group of gals, and I look forward to continuing to collaborate with them in the future.

I also want to give a huge shout-out to all of you readers who have been following me through this journey, especially for the lovely comments. I know it's really difficult to keep up with commenting this month and I appreciate every single one of those lovely notes :). *Hugs to all*


Best part of NaNo:


- Word Warring with several of my fellow Pen Dragons

- Creating a lot more plot scenes

- Those few precious scenes that I actually broke 1000 words [like on my best writing day (November 6, 2018) with 1885 words].

- My romance plotline went much better than I had expected.

- The encouragement we all gave each other, especially during the last couple of days.


What I learned:

- Even if I think I know the basic plot and where it's going to go, that doesn't prevent the blank page syndrome.

- Having the panster take a break and let the plotter take control for a time to figure things out prevents plot trainwrecks, plot sinkholes and writer frustration.

- I need to make a map of my locations. Really really soon. (Does anyone have any good map-making tips???)

- That I can overcome the plot roadblocks if I spend enough time developing the novel before and during writing.

- As long as I have some kind of note that corresponds to a scene idea, it can still be mentally recalled....maybe not as clear as when it first popped into my head, but at least it's there!

- That I seriously need to invest in a laptop before next NaNo.....being tethered to a desktop really does have it's limits.....especially in sitting position, LOL.

- Villains from sequels will occasionally muscle their way into the story that you are writing - after all, they want to be the star too!

- A night writer being forced to write during the day due to her job may be the worst thing ever.








With that said, how did "writing" go?:

My good friend Keturah Lamb asked all of us Pen Dragons at the end of NaNo this question: If there was one word that described this year's NaNo, what would it be?

And friends.....my word was slow.

If y'all had been following my rather boring, robotic, and very skimmable update posts, you probably noticed that there were several days in which I never even made 100 words. 14 days in the entire month, to be exact.

I actually started out strong on the first day, but the inspiration train was in and out for most of the month. Some days were really good, and I was able to write a 1000 words scene. Others, I was lucky to get 50 words down.

I did manage to write more plot-related scenes in this writing session than during my first writing session for this WIP (Camp NaNo April 2018). Though, to be quite honest, a lot of them were centered around Janina and Ealdread and their growing relationship. I think this is because the romance is more "set in stone" than the other half of my plot (which deals with political intrigue....of a political system that I'm still drafting, LOL.)

I still felt a lot of the same frustrations that I do with a lot of my stories, but especially with the low word counts. There were several days when I could only write bits and pieces because I had no idea where I was going or what order that the scenes would go in. So many arcs and plotlines snarled, I dreaded it would have been another trainwreck like with SOI back in July 2017.

Around Day 16, my pantser side took a step back and let my plotting brain take the reins. After spending a few days in a slump, my writing picked up a little again towards the end of the month.

All in all, at the end of NaNo, my word count was 12,906 words. 

I didn't make it even close to the 50,000 that I was hoping for (and I know that I can squeeze into that novel....). I checked back over to April 2018 stats and discovered that I wrote only 2000 words more this month than in April. To be quite honest, I'm not sure how I feel about that. I mean, it is an improvement but it's a small improvement.....

Even though my word count still stayed rather small, I felt much more confident in writing this story than I have in any other. I think if I keep working at it steadily that it will turn into a pretty decent novel.

In fact, I really think that this story may be the elusive debut that I've been chasing after......(if it be His Will).

Now, if I take the total word count from November, and add it to the total word count after April NaNo (and March prepping), the actual novel word count is 28,373 words.

Whoo hooo! My draft is now officially novella length!!!

This being my third drafting session on this same WIP, I was hoping for a more substantial and coherent draft. While it definitely has a great start, there is much more that needs be added in. Instead of a quarter, it's now probably closer to a third done. Maybe. We'll see.



So....what's next? 

Writing is going to take the passenger seat to some other things this month, including helping my mom around the house, Christmas preparation, church choir, and job hunting.

For those readers who didn't read my recent posts on my personal blog, I resigned from the dairy about 2 weeks ago. My last day actually coincided with the last day of NaNoWriMo. It wasn't a light decision to make, especially since at the moment I don't have any other job opportunities on the horizon. But, I truly believe that it is for the best for all parties concerned and that I need to move on to other pastures. Please pray for me!

That is not to say that I will be neglecting blogging and writing altogether this December.

The immediate goal is to catch up on some badly neglected blog tags and commenting. With the occasional day to work more on The White Rose whenever the fancy strikes.

The next thing is to re-examine my writing goals so I can make my goals list for next year. This will include looking at each of the 8 WIPs that I have and deciding which ones will be considered for publishing and which ones are for more personal use. I already know that one of those goals is to bring The White Rose up that promised 65K that I was supposed to get at NaNo.

With the end of the year approaching fast, it's time to start wrapping things up....including this post, LOL.

I've rambled on far enough - tell me how your NaNo (or November) went! What plans do you have for this December? What do you want me to write about in 2019?  

Scribbingly yours,

Catherine


P.S. As I went to go to publish this post, I looked over at my stats and discovered that this particular post is my 100th published post! I really can't believe it.....100 posts in almost 2 years!

Hello y'all!

A thousand apologies for missing last week's update!!!!! Things got rather hairy around Thanksgiving so I never got Week 3's post written and sent out in the world. As a result, this week's update is going to be loooooong.....and probably boring.

So, feel free to skip this post for my next one. Unless you want to read a whole bunch of snippets.

Whoever created this and placed it on Pixabay is a genius....

Monday, November 12

Being in bed with a headache paved the way for a large writing day with a notebook and pencil. Two word wars with my NaNo hangouts group (The Pen Dragons) really really helped - I wrote 1180 words in total!

Here is a snippet:



Tuesday, November 13

Welp, so much for a decent start. I wound up only writing 52 words that day. Not much to write home about.


Wednesday, November 14

I only wrote partial scenes this day, but those 559 words revolved mostly around the first of the Karala Games events, which is to tame a wild horse. There is a bit of a twist that sent Ealdread into the library to do some research, so that was fun, LOL.



Thursday, November 15

Today was a really good writing day with 1436 words!

My antagonist crept out from the shadows of Castle Sidabras and really surprised me with another sabotaging incident. Though I really should have known that Magda would not have been satisfied with just ONE sabotaging incident towards the end of the novel.

Here is a snippet:




Friday, November 16

This day was also a day that I wrote a lot of partial or small scenes, with a 555 word count. My favorite was a scene with Ealdread and Janina as they fight to keep some rowdy kids under control.


November 17-19: 0 words

This was, by far, my longest stretch without writing....but this weekend was a disaster for me.

Saturday is never really a good day for me to write anyway because of my work schedule. But I wound up being asked to work a Sunday shift, so that shot my writing time for pretty much the entire day. Monday...was a recovery day, plus starting to prep for Thanksgiving. 


Tuesday, November 20: 

After having three days of having no words at all, even a small amount of words (52) was acceptable. Too bad the laundry had to take precedence over writing, LOL.


Wednesday, November 21:

As my family and I were making a flying visit to extended family for Thanksgiving, naturally lots of preparations had to done today. I wasn't able to write any words in the car either, but I did manage to work on a tag or two, LOL.


Thursday, November 22:

Even though it was Thanksgiving, I managed to squeeze out 156 words while I was watching the parade on TV.

The particular scene that I worked on that day was the beginning of the second of the Karala events, which is currently called the Archery Hunt. At the moment, it's just bare bones, but at least it's a start!


Friday, November 23: 

Today was another good day: 1360 words!

Well, y'all....my villian struck again. And she's getting more and more dangerous by the minute.....

To show what I mean, here's a snippet:



Saturday, November 24:

Today was adding onto one small scene and starting another one, mostly character interaction. After such an intense scene as yesterday's, a happy meeting scene is just what the muse wanted. Though I'm not sure I particularly like the 275 word count.


November 25-26: 0 words. 

At the moment, things are pretty sparse in the inspiration department. Either that or I was too tired to write. Both are acceptable excuses, right?


Tuesday, November 27:

Today's writing was adding 253 words onto the "happy meeting" scene that I stopped on the last time I wrote. Now to write actual dance steps into it....LOL.


Wednesday, November 28:

I managed to add another 90 words to the Archery Hunt event chapter while I watched some TV. The words were simply not coming that night, even though I had an idea of where I was going. Hopefully that will change tomorrow.


Thursday, November 29:

If a writing day could be repeated, this would be it. It was basically yesterday's writing with 5 additional words.



Friday, November 30:

Today, I finished NaNo with a pretty strong word count: 1230 words. I did a lot of fleshing out on the Archery Hunt chapters - yes, chapters, I had to break it up because there was so much going on!

And here is one final snippet for you hungry readers:





And that takes us to the end of the month! Soon, I'll have my usual recap post that will go more into detail about some of the struggles and triumphs that made up my first ever NaNoWriMo!

Scribblingly yours,

Catherine

Hello everyone!!

Please excuse the pathetic, obviously robot-written NaNo update post of (what day was it now?). Remind me never again to write an update post when my brain is fogged beyond comprehension.

Today, I'm taking part of the second installment of Christine Smith's Know the Novel linkup! Also known as the bigger and better cousin to the old Beautiful Books Linkup. If you would also like to participate, click this link HERE. 

And since I know that y'all are scanning this introduction to get down to the questions, I won't keep you here. Let us be off!


1. How’s the writing going?

Ahhhh.....

*sobs*

It's going sooooooooo sllloooooooowwwwww.

My writing could easily lose to a turtle at this point.

Let's put it this way - as I write this linkup, it's November 16. So, we're just past the midpoint of NaNo. By now, I should have written about 25-28k by now, right?

eh heh heh....

I've only written 8K of new material this November.

Now, the actual WIP (which includes all the material from Camp NaNo) is actually approaching 25K. And I still haven't written much of the actual plot....I've definitely alluded to it, but nothing of import has happened just yet.

Or it has, and I've missed noticing. Which is of course very possible, due to my state as an exhausted writer.


2. What’s been the most fun aspect about writing this novel so far?

All the good character relationships. You know, those characters that are light-hearted and happy together? The ones that make you laugh and lift you up? the ones that are missing from YA at the moment?


3. Has your novel surprised you in any way?

Well, yes. There have been a few surprises.

For one, my antagonist from From the Cave magically decided to insert himself into the story as a minor character. Not sure how exactly he managed to slip in there....

My antagonist for this novel has surprised me with her ability to sneak around the castle...but I guess I should have guessed that.

And my romance is actually working? 😲




4. What do you think of your characters at this point? Who’s your favorite to write about?

I love my characters more and more as I continue to write this book! Sometimes they drive me up the wall like any children, but it's all good....

I have five favorites that I like to write with: Ealdread (my male MC), Janina (my female MC), Alvilda (Janina's sister), Karsten (Ealdread's friend), and Arnor (liveryman and friend to Janina and Alvilda). Not that I don't like to write with others (Tobias, Janina's brother, tends to show up a lot).......



5. If you were transported into your novel and became any one of the characters, which one do you think you’d be? Would you take any different actions than they have?

Even though I'm very similar to Magda in some ways, I'd probably end up becoming Alvilda or Queen Carina. Both are a strong moral influence in the story, and are of similar temperament to me (Janina is a bit soft for me).

To be quite honest, I don't believe that I would take any different course of action than either of the two do. Except maybe in Alvilda's case, speaking up more....especially in the beginning. And maybe in Queen Carina's case, observing Magda and doing something more to help her before she got as bad as she did.....



6. Give us the first sentence or paragraph and then 2 (or 3!) more favorite snippets!

Okay, so the first sentence goes something like this....at least at the moment:

A little beam of light stole between the narrow panes of glass and sought it’s playmate - a young maiden, who as of yet was stretched on her bed.


Only two or three favorite snippets??? Oh this is going to be interesting.....
welp, forgive me if I wind up sharing a snippet y'all have seen before......


Snippet #1 (which picks up right after that first sentence):




Snippet #2:



Snippet #3:





7. Have you come across any problem areas?

Umm yeah....

The actual Games/competition is really giving me a huge problem. I simply do not know how to write them.....at least, not without copying someone's novel/movie or watching a million YouTube videos that don't help me.....


8. What’s been your biggest victory with writing this novel at this point?

The interpersonal relationships between Ealdread, Janina, Karsten and Alvilda. Especially the growing romantic relationship between Ealdread and Janina.....which I totally didn't expect. 



9. Be honest, have you killed any characters off yet?

Noooooooooo.....

Though I have had my little liveryman faint from the heat, and he's had a scarf wrapped around his head. And another liveryman was just chloroformed by Magda....



10. Take us on a tour of a what a normal writing day for this particular novel has looked like. Where do you write? What time of day? Alone or with others? Is a lot of coffee (or some other drink) consumed? Do you light candles? Play music? Get distracted by social media (*cough, cough*)? Tell all!


If I may borrow Faith Thompson's response, there is no normal writing day.....a lot of NaNo has been happening on the spur of the moment whenever I can fit it in.

If I'm being deliberate about sitting down to write, I'll go out to my family office/school room and plop down in front of my desktop....conviently placed on top of the record cabinet.
(Don't judge, it's only "temporary" until I get a desk set up in here.....which should have happened a year ago, but time sure flies around here....) 

Then, I'll immediately get up and go to the kitchen....because I forgot to get my tea. And while that's brewing, I'll scrounge around for some trail mix, dried fruit....or chocolate covered fruit.....or even a candy or too.....whatever I find.

After I get my tea ready, I'll go back to my "desk" and crank up Spotify to the playlist I have for The White Rose. I'll then scan the story notes and figure out where I want to go next. Though lately, there has been a five minute delay between these two steps because of a recent war with dying headphones....

I'll then spend a few minutes playing clips of songs to find the song that best fits the mood of the piece that I want to write. This could take 2 minutes or a half-hour.....

I'll then start drafting. Sometimes, depending on if there is a NaNo event going on, I'll check to see if there is anyone up for a word war. I tend to do better when there is one....

I'll then continue to draft until my muse gives out. Sometimes, I'll go onto Pinterest and stare at an image or GIF to get an expression right, but most of the time, my eyes are on my Shaxpir (or my notebook) as I draft. If I get bored, I'll go onto my Blogger feed or email for a "quick check".

That's pretty much how I roll.....





Did I come to the end already??? Huh, didn't realize that was so short.....normally I deliberate on this type of post for days.....

What is your writing day like? How much have y'all written this month? How has your WIP surprised you? I want to know all the details! 

Scribblingly yours,

Catherine

Hey everyone!!


Welp, the gloomy November days continue onward....I swear it felt like night at 2pm this afternoon. Rather a discocerting feeling that winter is now fastly approaching.....

Since I haven't been on since last week, I thought I would pop in for a quick moment to update y'all on how my second week of NaNo went. Stay tuned for story snippets from The White Rose!




Monday, November 5

My week didn't start off with a bang: I only wrote 178 words. It was a partial scene in which Ealdread and Janina start discussing some common interests, which I suppose is a good start to their relationship 😏.


Tuesday, November 6

This was a really wonderful writing day: I managed to write 1885 words!

This particular chapter was one of my absolute favorites to write. It really highlights the comraderie between Janina, her sister Alvilda, Ealdread and his friend Karsten; as Ealdread *attempts* to teach Janina how to play a common strategy game (which is based on the game of chess).

Here is a snippet:




Wednesday, November 7

As it seems to be a pattern by now, today was another slow day with only 86 words. I believe this is the day that I wrote a scene that featured Janina's love for Aistarainian dance ;).


Thursday, November 8

I only did a little bit of writing while I was waiting for choir practice to start, so my word count was again small: 95 words.

Appropriately, since I was at church, I wound up writing a short snippet scene where Janina is at "church".


Friday, November 9

According to my writing stats, I wrote 82 words. I believe this is the day that I started to review all of my story arcs (all 90 million of them....) and started weaving them together.

During that process, I found that it felt similar to the arc trainwreck that I had with SOI....but this arc mess was A LOT easier to get through. I think it's because I KNOW how this story is actually going to go. oh my heavens, I'm moving forward.....aaaaaaahhhhhh


Saturday, November 10

This is actually my first day without any new writing. I literally had no time to write between catching up on some of my old writing, and running around collecting scrap metal between dairy shifts.


Sunday, November 11

In lieu of the zero day that I had yesterday, I buckled down to write a full scene today. All in all, I managed to 813 words between making a pie and watching some sick brothers.

Here is a snippet:



Currently, my "new" word count is right around 5K words, no doubt due to the small writing days that have been popping up. With all of this new material, however, my overall word count for The White Rose is over 20K!

I doubt that I will reach 50K of new material, unless I get more days over 800 words next week. But, that is still material that would not be there if I had not written anything this month. I'm satisfied, and my story is finally starting to gel together instead of being a bunch of discombobulated snippets and scenes. It will be wonderful to have a full flowing story for once!

To my fellow NaNoers, how has your second week gone? To my non-NaNo readers, what have you been up this second week of November? Tell me all the details in the comments! 

Scribblingly yours,

Catherine <3

Hey y'all!
She reached the pink-flowered tree at the corner and still there was no sign. Magda waited and waited for what seemed like hours to her impatient soul. Just as she turned to go, she felt a finger trace along her shoulder up to her neck.

She turned to him with a smile.


Friday, November 2:

My strong start continued on, with a total word count of 850. I wound up writing those words in a notebook, as I was curled up in bed with nasty period cramps.

I wrote parts of two scenes, one more intense than the other. Because I had pretty much established my characters in the first 15k of the draft, these scenes are much more plot-related. I feel that I can write the rest of this novel with this NaNo.

Here is a snippet:

He waited until the bevy of lads had left the room. There was no pint in competing for her attention with them around - youth will always be attracted to youthful conversation before any other. 

He could hear snickering from the younger men as he entered into the small hall. Exteriorly, he maintained a calm, serious expression; while interiorly, a roar was threatening to emerge. Surely, age does not hinder friendship!



Saturday, November 3:

This day was a rather horrid writing day. I only wrote 151 words.

Saturday is my one and only double-shift day, meaning I work both milking shifts. Usually, at the end of the week, I feel rather exhausted anyway. So, many of the hours that I probably should have used for writing.....I used for sleeping.

Not that I regret that....


Sunday, November 4:

Sunday was also a poor writing day with 166 words. I spent most of the day at church and catching up on blog posts. My muse was pretty much dead anyway, rest was much needed. LOL.


All in all, it was a fairly strong start to my first NaNo! My perfectionist side is rather miffed that I've slipped up on my word count, but the main goal I have for this event is to a) write every day and b) only write new material. Even if that means not making it to my goal of 50k at the end of November.


How bout y'all? How did your first week of November (or NaNo) go? 

Scribblingly yours,

Catherine

Photo courtesy of Elanor :)

Hello all!

Months and months and MONTHS ago, the original creator of the tag, Elanor, tagged me for this fun tag. You can see her original post here - provided the link still works. I understand she's closed down that blog when she moved over to her other one.....which serves me right for taking so darn long....

Also, Movie Critic tagged me in a later month. You can view her post HERE.

As you can see, I'm starting to work through some of the tags that I still have left over before I move into NaNo madness, LOL.

Better late than never, no?

And now for ze rules:

1. Answer the Questions (obviously!)
2. Link back to the person who tagged you (which would be the creator herself, Elanor)
3. Tag at least one blogger at the end.


The Questions:

1. What was the most recent period drama you watched? Share what you thought of it.

At the time of writing this tag, it was Little Women (BBC, 2018).

There were moments of brilliance. Aunt March, the theater/Apollyon storyline, the costumes and the scenery were among them. I liked the scene with the paper boats in Episode 3, and I LOVED Mark Stanley's portrayal of Professor Bhaer A LOT.

Favorite cinematic scene, was the "Land of the Leel" film sequence. That was so thrilling, and chilling, and emotional, and gahhhhhhh. The singing was absolutely gorgeous against the contrasting visual scenes from the battlefield. Alcott kinda glossed over John's war service, so it was really nice to see it, and even from Meg's perspective too!

And to be perfectly honest, I like this Meg and John better than the 1994 movie.

But there was a lot of disappointments in this too - the pacing was horribly off, some of the key characterizations were terrible (AKA Laurie and Amy), and some of it just was "forced". *SPOILER* The Christmas joy was very anticlimactic!! Super disappointed. It lacked the joy that the scene from the book entailed. They treated it as "oh. you're home" not like "OH MY GOSH, FATHER IS HOME". *END SPOILER*

One thing that drove me nuts was that there was a lot of little details that I knew (from reading the book) but there was not really a big picture. So I can't recommend that people see this to get a sense of what the book is about.


2. Do you generally prefer period dramas in the form of a movie or a TV series/mini-series? Why?

I don't mind if they are in a movie or a mini-series. Though it tends to be easier to get a hold of them if they are in a movie form than a mini-series, it seems!!


3. What is your favorite musical period drama?

I'll be honest - I don't have a favorite. I have a couple of period dramas that are musicals that I really like (Fiddler on the Roof, Sound of Music, Newsies, etc.) but none are my particular "favorite".


4. Read the book first or watch the movie first?

I've done both....though I would prefer to read the book first. Mostly because the film usually comes up short of the book or the film messed something up from the book. *rolls eyes*




5. What is a valuable life lesson you learned from a period drama? 

For goodness sakes, get to know the guy before you sell your heart and soul to him. There are cads out there and they are not looking in your best interests.

And for someone like me who may or may not be desperately looking for a match, that's an important thing to remember....


6. Which period drama hero would you be likely to fall in love with in real life?

Now there's a very hard question. Cause I have a small habit of, hem, falling in love with a lot of characters.

Henry Tilney is a good candidate...




Since his knowledge of muslin and his practical, soft-hearted nature is so endearing.

Gilbert Blythe is also a strong possibility....



He's too sweet and faithful NOT to consider him!

But I have a sneaky feeling that I would fall in love first with...


Jack Thornton.


7. Do you ever like to binge-watch a period drama series?

......me? Binge watch?

You mean that I would sit voluntarily in front of a TV with either needlework or my wool for hours and hours watching people in pretty clothes get into scrapes and possibly fall in love with each other?

If you thought that....YOU WOULD BE CORRECT!! *breaks out the DVD collection*  


8. What things go best with watching a period drama?

Some kind of needlework (either knitting, crochet, sewing, or embroidery).

Tea. Definitely tea.

Maybe a hankie. Depends on the film.


9. Which period drama do you think you would fit into best?

That's a fairly easy answer:

IMDB

Because I've reenacted in the time period that WCTH is set in (the early 1900s), it will be fairly easy for me to slip back into that mindset. No poshy-fancy manners to learn, the fashion is much more to my personal tastes, I can ride if I like, I can work as hard as I like (being out in the frontier has it's advantages), it's a small town and everybody will know me (which I love!)...and why in the world am I not THERE already?!


10. If you could have any period drama character for a best friend, who would it be? And why?

Hmmm...

When I originally wrote out this tag, I originally thought of Abigail Stanton (WCTH) or Charlotte Lucas (P&P) since they were the more phlegmatic personality types.

But you know....chances are that in real life, it would probably be Marianne Dashwood. And I only say that because Lia (aka, my unbiological sister/Best Friend Forever) is the Marianne Dashwood to my Elinor Dashwood.


11. Show us a picture of a period drama costume you wish you could wear in real life.






There's actually three in there that I would, because I couldn't find a picture of the one I wanted...*sigh*

The late Victorian/early Edwardian style of clothing is one of my most favorite, if you leave out all the sheer clothing that was becoming popular then. I've actually worn "period drama" costumes (1830s and 1900s) so I would wear practically every outfit from those time periods (and the ones in between) with relative ease every single day :). As soon as I get used to wearing a corset, that is.

Mini rant: One thing that drives me nuts about period drama is the fact that a lot of the costumes have really low necklines. In reality, those dresses were a lot higher or they had another piece of cloth covering that section of the body. Plus I'm never comfortable with low necklines.....

12. Are there any period dramas you like to watch during a particular season or holiday?

Well...not really. I'll watch period drama whenever.

Though I do tend to watch Anne of Green Gables (Sullivan edition) either in the springtime or in the fall. Lia and I just finished watching this a couple of weeks ago, LOL.


13. Which period drama has your favorite soundtrack? 

My favorite is the Sense and Sensibility 1995 soundtrack by Patrick Doyle. Which I was what  I was listening to as I wrote this tag....

It is really simple, but really poignant. It's not fluffy, and it has that classic appeal to it.


14. Dream cast your favorite actor and actress in a period drama of your choosing; tell which parts they would play and why.***deceased actors do count!

Ugh, I'm terrible at casting. Most of the time because I wouldn't change the casting of the original version.

Brent Bailey (who plays Alex Knightly in Emma Approved) should really play some kind of period drama hero, I think. But then, I can't picture him outside of the office.....

RRRGH. I GIVE UP.

(Oh, btw....this was totally the reason why the tag was taking so long to finish. I literally couldn't find anything, despite three major attempts.....)

15. Are there any period dramas you like more than one version of?

Persuasion (1998 and 2008). Both of these films did a good job with the story and I loved the acting in both of them.

Of all the other period drama with multiple versions, I've only seen one version of each. Or, in the case of Anne of Green Gables, I only got about five minutes into the latest version to shut it off in disgust.

Okay, correction, I have seen two versions of Little Women, and hope to see a third one of these days....but I like the 1994 movie better than the 2018 version, as you can see from the above commentary.


16. What are the top three period dramas that you haven't seen on your to-watch list? 

*consults The List*

Pride and Prejudice (1995 version)
Belle (2013)
Amazing Grace (2006)

17. Show a picture of your favorite period drama hairstyle.

Rrgh. I like a lot of them. They are so beautiful....I think my favorite one of all is the one that Emma Woodhouse (2009) wears a lot:




My second favorite may surprise you....



It's Elizabeth's "half-bun" style seen in this scene in Pride and Prejudice 2005.

I've actually managed to copy this hairstyle fairly easily. All it is a partial ponytail that has been braided and wrapped into a small bun. It's my go-to style for "nice occasions" such as professional engagements, church events, etc.

18. What was your favorite wedding in a period drama?

LEE AND ROSEMARY'S WEDDING FROM WHEN CALLS THE HEART!!!!




That whole episode was just.....AHHHHHHH.

I'm okay. Promise.

Until I see Jack and Elizabeth's wedding....


19. What is your favorite biographical period drama?

The Story of Ruth



Like any true biographical period drama, it's fictionized account of real people, has a romance (or two) in it, and is set in a specific time period. And it's one of my favorite movies of all time.


20. Which historical novel will you forever recommend to anyone and everyone?

Anne of Green Gables and the rest of the Chronicles of Avonlea. Those novels that are character and life driven are among my very favorites and it appeals to a variety of audiences.



I tag:

Grace Avender @ Maidens of Green Gables
And anyone else who is a period drama fan that hasn't done this tag yet!

Well, I should go catch up on some other tags now.....and maybe comment on about 50 posts that I really want to comment on....

Scribblingly yours,

Catherine