What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My Current WIP (Work In Progress):  As I mentioned in the last What's Up Wednesday, I had to work extra hours at the day job last week and make a card for my niece's baby shower in any free time I had so I didn't get any writing done. (I also had to finish crocheting the baby blanket I was making to give with the rest of my gifts.) Now that the card and blanket are made and given and I'm back to working my regular hours this week, I hope to get some serious work done on Spellbound.

Quote of the Week:  “There’s nothing false about hope. It may not change things immediately, but it will change you immediately, and that will change things eventually. Hold onto hope, white-knuckled if necessary.” ~ Unknown

What I'm Reading: I'm still reading The Lady Travelers Guide to Scoundrels & Other Gentlemen by Victoria Alexander. I'm enjoying the book, just haven't had a lot of free time to read.

Random Thoughts: I can't believe it will be September in a few days. The summer months have flown by. If only the winter months would go by so quickly.

Random Photo of the Week:

                            Mrs. Green helping me crochet the baby blanket I gave my niece.
 

Writing a Series

I'm working on my first series. I have the first two books written and part of the third. I hope to have at least six books in the series. While doing research on how to write a series and maintain continuity, I ran across an article on StandOutBooks.com. The article is a bit dated, first posted on November 6, 2013, but it has good advice that is still relevant.

If you're interested in writing a series or are curious how an author writes a series, here's the link: How to Write a Book Series

This I know for sure...

While my day job is now much, much, much less stressful, I still consider the time I spend doing crafts to be a form of stress relief. I like to do a variety of different crafts.

I like to crochet, but usually only do it during the colder months. It can sometimes be too hot to have a blanket covering you as you're working on it in the summer. As I mentioned in previous posts, I make cards for various card giving occasions. I really enjoy doing this and am always on the look out for ways to make the cards unique and different. I dabble in scrapbooking, but don't do it enough to really make it worthwhile. I like to make Christmas ornaments to give with gifts. I also like to do cross stitch though I haven't done it in the last couple of years.

What do you like to do for stress relief? Do you have a favorite type of crafting that you enjoy?

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My current WIP (work in progress): I didn't get much accomplished last week. I ended up having to work extra hours at the day job. I'll be working extra hours this week too. I also need to make a card for my niece's baby shower this weekend.

Quote of the Week: "The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate." ~ Oprah Winfrey

What I'm reading:  The Lady Travelers Guide to Scoundrels & Other Gentlemen by Victoria Alexander. I've been looking forward to reading this book.

Random Thoughts:  I try to make the cards I give for birthdays, the December holidays, baby/wedding showers, and such. While it can be time consuming (each card takes an average of 4 hours to make), I find it relaxing and I love seeing people's reactions to the cards.

Random Photo of the Week:

 Christmas ribbon on sale at a local craft store. While I understand why it's in the store so early - so crafters have time to get their holiday projects completed before Christmas actually arrives, I'm still not ready to see Christmas stuff in stores in August.

Driving to Distraction?

With the change in my day job, I now have a longer commute. Not that much longer than the old commute, only about 10 minutes more unless the traffic is backed up due to inclement weather or an accident or in my area, the ever-present ongoing road construction for three seasons throughout the year.

I like the longer commute in a way. It gives me a bit of decompression time to leave the stresses of the work day behind before I get home. It also gives me a little time to work on story lines in my head. I talk through any problems I'm having with a scene or character. Talking out loud while I'm alone in the car seems to help me sort out what needs to change to make the scene work or the character or dialogue believable.

Another nice thing about my new commute is that it's not so long that I forget those lines of dialogue or how I solved a plot, scene, or character problem. I do have a voice activated recorder app on my phone that I try to turn on when I get in the car, but I don't always remember. If I am stuck in traffic where I'm sitting still, then I will sometimes jot down a brief note or two to remind myself of whatever it is I want to make sure I don't forget.

At the same time I can't help wondering if doing any of the above is safe. What if I get so wrapped up in a scene or working out a problem, or working on dialogue that I start not paying close attention to what is happening on the road? Is it any different that people who sing along to the radio or talk back to it when they listen to talk radio stations? How about people who eat and drive? Drink coffee or soda and drive?

Anything can happen in the blink of an eye even if you're distracted for only a second. I know of someone who lost a loved one when a driver looked down to pick up his/her beverage and hit the loved one who was legally crossing the street. The driver was distracted for just those few seconds to pick up the drink and drove through a stop sign and into the crosswalk.

Do you find yourself thinking about things when you have a commute longer than fifteen minutes or so? What are you thoughts on spending the drive time working on story lines in your head?

This I know for sure...

Some days I don't think I know anything for sure...especially in today's world. 😢