Monday, December 1, 2014

Repeat Reading, ShaNo Final Update, 2014 Goal Check-in, & Endless Blog Tour

Today's a busy day here on The Warrior Muse. Not for any particular reason. Just because I have bunches of things to talk about.

Repeat Reads


There was a post on Facebook the other day about what books you read over and over, and I was surprised how many people said they never read books more than once. Now, there are plenty of books I'll never read again, but I have several I've read over and over again. I'm curious about what others have to say. Do you read books over and over again? If so, which ones do you read most?

Some of the books I've read multiple times include The Hobbit, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Lord of the Flies, The Gunslinger, It, The Shining, The Stand, Anne of Green Gables, Harry Potter (though this one is only because I read it with my kiddos as they get old enough), The Secret Garden, and probably a bunch more I'm not thinking about right now. What about you?

ShaNoShoStoWriEdSubMo


Writing

Write 1 new flash fiction piece
Write 1 new vignette 
Write 2 1 new short stories (one down)
Write at least 5000 new words on WIP #2
Write at least 2700 additional words to the above goals (and then some)

Editing

Edit 2 flash fiction pieces awaiting editing
Edit 3 2 short stories awaiting editing (got one edited and submitted)
Edit at least 5 chapters of WIP #1

Submitting

Re-submit pieces currently awaiting submission
Submit newly edited pieces from above (Submitted the one short story and the flash fiction pieces I edited)
Re-submit rejected pieces

All in all, not bad. The goals I didn't complete will carry over into this month. I've got two other short stories on the cusp of being finished, so I'll have that done soon. I will be pushing off the novel/WIP goals above until the new year, which is when I intended to return to my novels to begin with. I'd like to have all the short works related goals done by the end of this month (and then some.)

2014 Goals--Checkup to see how much I need to do before the end of the year.


  • Better self-discipline.
  • Finish novel #2.
  • Edit novel #1.
  • Submit at least three short stories.
  • Work out a better schedule (this is a perpetual goal...and one I never seem to achieve.)
  • Spend more time writing.
  • Do something writing-related that makes me nervous. Example: Submit to a pro-paying market I think I stand no chance of getting into.
  • Write something different than what I typically write. For instance, a genre I don't dabble in typically. Romance? Erotica? Steampunk? 
The better self-discipline and better schedule are hard to quantify, but I do think I improved the self-discipline (in writing), but did not work out a better schedule.

I'm not aiming to finish novel #2 or finish editing novel #1, because after I'd set these goals I chose to set aside work on my novels until 2015 and focus on writing short form fiction so I could submit it to get publishing credits to my name and work on craft before jumping back into novels. Plus, I've been enjoying working in the short form too much, and I'd like to continue doing so for the rest of this month. Next year I'll have to figure out how to juggle the two.

Endless Book Tour



Author Name: Jaclyn Weist
Book Title:  Endless
Book Genre:  YA fantasy
Release Date: November 28th, 2014
Publisher: Trifecta Books
Tour Host: Silverbow Promotions

PURCHASE IT HERE


Synopsis:
Sydney lives her nightmares every night. While other teenagers are dreaming of boys or traveling to exotic places, she must run a staircase with no beginning or no end, or a terrible debt will never be paid.

Just before her seventeenth birthday, the dreams change. She is no longer alone.

But her nightmares don’t end when she wakes up. Her stepmother and stepsisters threaten to ruin everything she holds dear. She must protect the secret that both she and her father have magic or they will use it to their advantage.

As Sydney learns to control her magic, what seemed impossible before—escaping her stepmother and those ever-present stairs—is now at her fingertips. When she learns the ultimate plan of her evil captor, Sydney must stop her at all costs, or she will forever be trapped inside her nightmares.

Excerpt: 
Dad handed over the ticket and turned to us. He noticed me staring and glanced back to where the valet had been standing. “That's Luke. He’s the son of one of my partners.”

“He’s gorgeous,” Sarah said. “Do you think he’d go out with me?”

Dad laughed. “Maybe so. He’ll be coming to Sydney’s birthday party, along with a few other young men I think you would prefer over Luke. Dillon seems more your type.” He gestured toward another guy coming up to the restaurant with his family.

Sarah wrinkled her nose. “No, he’s more Kaylee’s type. Oh! Here’s Luke with the car.” She hurried forward so she would be standing in front when he opened the door.

I rolled my eyes and glanced over at Kaylee. She was too busy staring at Dillon to notice me. Sarah was right, I guess. I climbed in the other side of the car, hoping to avoid the embarrassment of Sarah throwing herself at Luke.

Dad climbed in right after. “You don’t want to meet him?”

I shook my head. “No. Not right now, at least. Dad, that feeling is here. Someone’s here that shouldn't be, and I don’t know who. What if it’s Luke?”

“You felt it too, huh? There’s a bad feeling here, but it’s not him. His dad—” He stopped when Julie climbed in.

About the Author: Jaclyn is an Idaho farm girl who grew up loving to read. She developed a love for writing as a senior in high school, when her dad jokingly said she was the next Dr. Seuss (not even close but very sweet). She met her husband, Steve at BYU and they have six happy, crazy children that encourage her writing. After owning a bookstore and running away to have adventures in Australia, they settled back down in their home in Utah. Jaclyn now spends her days herding her kids to various activities and trying to remember what she was supposed to do next.

Follow Jaclyn . . .

What do you think of the Endless cover? The excerpt? Do you read books multiple times or only once? Which books do you repeat read or have you read more than once? How did you do with NaNo? Your personal goals? Are you on track for your 2014 goals? Do you review your goals before the end of the year to catch up?

May you find your Muse.


18 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Congratulations, Jaclyn.
You did good with your goals, Shannon.
I admit, I almost never re-read books. Just too many new ones.

shelly said...

The Holidays make everything busier. As for reading books over the over, I've read the Bible several times through. Paulo Cuelo's books. And Tuesdays with Morie.

Good luck with your goals this week.

Hugs and chocolate!

A Beer for the Shower said...

Ha, based on the title I thought it was literally an endless book tour, where it just never stops.

Congrats on what you managed with your goals!

Oh, and I read What's Eating Gilbert Grape a few times. That's the only one I've read more than once, though.

Andrew Leon said...

Mostly, I don't re-read, but there are two that I have read more times than I actually remember at this point:
The Hobbit
Watership Down.

Also, I read The House on the Corner every year to the 6th grade class at my daughter's school. This is the fourth year for that, and I have two more to go.

cleemckenzie said...

Love it when I can cross out something and SEE I've accomplished what I set out to do. Congrats on that.

Last summer I reread four books I read in college. I was amazed at how much I enjoyed them. Rereading at a different time in your life is very valuable. Glad you mentioned this today.

Kimberly said...

You amaze me with your goals! I am going to do this - very soon. :) I'm excited that a 'change' is occurring soon that should give me more time for writing and writing related stuff.

Congrats to Jaclyn on her new novel - it sounds fabulous!

Pat Hatt said...

I've rewatched movies, but books I almost never re-read either.

Chrys Fey said...

Not read books more than once? I certainly have! If I love a book enough, of course I read it again in a year or two. I especially love to reread books I loved as a teen. :)

Morgan said...

Love the goals, Shannon! And Jaclyn's work looks FAB. Loved this.

Shannon Lawrence said...

There are definitely too many new ones. I'm trying to make myself not purchase anymore books until I make more progress on the massive TBR piles by my bed.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I have yet to read Tuesdays With Morie, and haven't heard of Paulo Cuelo. Will have to check him out.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I guess if you release a bunch of books it could feel like one big long endless book tour. I haven't read What's Eating Gilbert Grape at all. I'm ashamed to admit I didn't know it was a book.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I've read both of those more than once, and own both still. I think it's great you're still reading to the class each year.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I've done that, too, Lee. Reading something because you're forced to can quell some of the pleasure of reading. I went back and read A Separate Peace and Lord of the Flies, as well as Homer, and probably several others I can't think of. Those were after high school, not college.

Shannon Lawrence said...

That sounds great! Congratulations on the change, and good luck with your increased writing time!

Shannon Lawrence said...

It's much quicker to re-watch a movie than to re-read a book, so that makes sense.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I went on a rash of reading books I enjoyed as a teen. Such fun!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Thanks, Morgan! I always do better with at least a few sensible goals.