What I'm Reading Wednesday #9 (April 25, 2017)

I am currently reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King.  Huge book... huge.

Anyway, here is my progress so far... 

2017 Goal: 32 books

Books Read = 11/32

Books from TBR list: 3

Series completed: 0

*Erin's Book Challenge:  8/10  0/Bonus Round

January

1.  Midair by Kodi Scheer

*2.  And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (TBR)

February

*1.  Christine by Stephen King

2.  The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens (yup, I started a new series)

March

1.  The Fire Chronicle by John Stephens (second book in the series)

*2.  Wonder by RJ Palacio (TBR)

*3.  Matched  by Ally Condie

*4.  Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (TBR)

April

*1.  The Ancient Ones by Kirk Mitchell

*2.  The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

*3. The Breaking Light by Heather Hansen

Currently Reading:

11/22/63 by Stephen King

What are you reading this week?  How are your reading goals going?

Revising My Novel: The Editorial Map

I have been revising my novel using  Janice Hardy's At-Home Workshop to Revise Your Novel in 31 Days.

The first step is the editorial map and I recently completed mine.  I'm not sure why it took me so long to finish... probably because I was scared, and... well... I should have been.  So, what did I learn from the experience?  Good question.

1.  I think I have a good basic story structure.  After reviewing the 3-act structure and comparing it to my editorial map, I think my story fits well in the structure(I am never sure when it comes to writing).

2.  My story has a lot of problems.  My characters keep doing things they would (should) never do.  For example, why would a paranoid conspiracy theorist broadcast a cold call about a top secret mission to his whole radio audience?  The answer: he wouldn't.  Unless it was accidental, like if someone was bugging him.... hmmm.

3.  I need more conflict.  A lot of events happen too easily.  I once read that you should do the worst to your characters.  I think I need to go through each scene and add more problems, more hoorible things.  My characters need to suffer more(that sounds bad, huh?).

4.  I do really like to handwrite.  I always start my projects by handwriting and I type everything later, even when I'm editing.

5.  I have some research to do: pirate radio, military stuff, sound vibrations, and a ton of other topics.

6.  I figured out the daughter's name!  Somewhere in my writing I forgot her name and started calling her "the daughter." Now I know her name is Susie and I am not sure that I like it.

Now to begin the next step.  Wish me luck!

2017 What I'm Reading Wednesday #8 (April 12, 2017)

I just started reading The Breaking Light by Heather Hansen, and then my Kindle died.  Oh well, I will really get started tomorrow.

Starting a new book. #amreading #project365 #readersofinstagram #bookstagram

A post shared by Lisa (@lalocadesigns) on Apr 11, 2017 at 5:08pm PDT

Anyway, here is my progress so far... 
2017 Goal: 32 books
Books Read = 10/32
Books from TBR list: 3
Series completed: 0
*Erin's Book Challenge:  7/10  0/Bonus Round


January
1.  Midair by Kodi Scheer
*2.  And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (TBR)

February
*1.  Christine by Stephen King
2.  The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens (yup, I started a new series)

March
1.  The Fire Chronicle by John Stephens (second book in the series)
*2.  Wonder by RJ Palacio (TBR)
*3.  Matched  by Ally Condie
*4.  Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (TBR)

April
*1.  The Ancient Ones by Kirk Mitchell
*2.  The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver



Currently Reading:
The Breaking Light by Heather Hansen

What are you reading this week?  How are your reading goals going?

April Goals

Monthly Goals - April

1.  Read 3 books

In order to meet my annual goal of 32 books, I want to try reading at least 3 books a month.  This month I am also trying to finish Erin's book challenge (I think I have 5 more books to read).  I will be starting with The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver, one of my favorite authors, and then I will move onto The Ancient Ones by Kirk Mitchell.

2.  Write 1 letter

I have been slacking on my penpal letter writing stuff, so I am starting a monthly goal of one letter.  It's a start.

3.  Work on my blogs

I have some specific goals that I am working towards with my blogs this month.  I want to write up a blog business plan, especially for my craft blog.  I want to change my blog schedule a little.  I am still trying to find the perfect posting schedule.  And I want to research how to make money from this blogging enterprise I have begun.

4.  Journal daily

I want to write daily but I don't necessarily want to write fiction daily, so I will be attempting to journal daily.  I may look for some daily prompts, in case I lack motivation, not sure yet.

5.  New-ish Revision Plan

The New-ish Revision Plan (NRP) that I blogged about in my last post is beginning this month.  First I will complete my editorial map, then I will complete days 1-3 of the 31 day revision plan, one day per week.  I will post weekly updates of my progress and learning.