This was a wild week. Work was rather tame in a feast or famine type of energy. It would be slow one period and then explode the next. Almost like I was in stop-and-go traffic, which can get exhausting after 3 days. Of course, I was balancing some other personal stuff too because Winter Break is looming. Setting things up for that is kind of a headache due to bad timing. Thankfully, I had more downtime than expected.
Starting last Sunday, we had a blizzard or snowstorm. It’s hard to really define it because it would be considered flurries in Maine while the end of the world in Florida. For my area, it was rough because we got about a foot of snow. It meant no school for two days while the storm ended and roads were cleared. My street wasn’t cleared that much, so it’s still a one lane road with nowhere to go if somebody is coming from the opposite direction. Hope it melts more before we get hit again tomorrow. I have to drive through that for a bit too, which is going to be major pain in the butt. Really hoping it’s at least stopped coming down by that point, but the roads are going to be the issue. Fingers crossed for all of that working out.
I managed to get more of Do I Need to Use a Dragon? done and that leaves me at 12 sections. Might even get one done today and that leaves me 11 to finish by the end of Winter Break. It won’t be easy since I have a few outings and get my son for half of it, but I’m determined. Might lose a weekend to getting my second Covid vaccine shot too, which could knock me out for a day. Although, I might be crazy enough to attempt writing one section throughout the whole day as long as I can move and think clearly. Benefit of having detailed notes.
Actually, I could even finish it by the end of next weekend if I maintain my energy throughout the day. It sounds like I’m impatient, but I always get excited when I see the end of a project. Part of it is wanting to put another author feather in my cap, but this time I want to get into a few other projects. Need to outline the next series and a few juicy future ones are bouncing around my school. I might not start writing another book until the summer at this rate, which is good. I’ve got the rest of War of Nytefall to edit and publish at some point. Need to write that blurb too. Always fun and frustrating. Trying to decide on if I want to get some beta readers for Do I Need to Use a Dragon? too since it’s a project filled with doubt. I could become difficult if someone tries to tell me to junk sections or rewrite entire sections. It’s tough because it’s all about opinions on writing as well, which is the point. At least I have a week to figure it out.
In the realm of parenting, I got to spend a lot of time with my son. We started watching a movie series in preparation of the next installment. He made it through ‘Godzilla 2014’ and ‘Kong: Skull Island’. That second one was a big test because it was a lot more action-packed and violent than he’s used to. It was a parental discussion on if it was the right time for it too. He will have to face these kinds of movies when getting together with friends in the future, so giving him a controlled test works out. He enjoyed it and I was able to warn about when he needed to close his eyes. So, we’ll try to watch ‘King of Monsters’ over the break and then we’re ready for ‘Godzilla vs Kong’. I’ll have to see it first, of course, but it also means we can watch the older ones too.
For myself, I finished watching ‘The IT Crowd’, which is a British comedy that I’d heard good things about. Definitely funny, but I think I missed some of the humor in places. I may have gone in with higher expectations too. Still, it was enjoyable and a nice way to relax at the end of a day. After that, I began watching ‘Demon Slayer’, which is an anime about demon slaying. I know. I was surprised too. It’s another that I heard great things about. It’s fun. Keeps my interest and doesn’t skimp on the action. I should be finishing that this weekend. Not sure what to watch after that. Been circling ‘Black Clover’ for a long time, but I might save that for the summer.
Next week isn’t going to be heavy in the planning. It’s the one before break starts, so it can turn crazy at any moment. There’s a few meetings and gatherings that I’ve got on the schedule too. Writing will be filled in around those events. If I start running really low on time then I might do some April blog posts. I finished March, which was all about War of Nytefall: Savagery. Really hope it debuts at that point. If anybody has any post topic suggestions then feel free to suggest. I know I say this all the time and it never seems to get much, but I might as well keep trying.
Goals of the week?
- Work
- Meetings
- Relaxing with friends
- Do I Need to Use a Dragon? progress
- 2nd Covid shot next weekend
- Deal with snow
- Choose another show to watch
- Puzzle time
Legends of Windemere 
My experience with Beta readers has always been positive. The idea is to provide guidelines on expectations and then pose a number of questions that you hope they answer. Stuff like “Are there any plot holes?” I have no experience with the kind of book you are writing and beta readers. My gut tells me that if you are wanting to get input about the flow and not necessarily the content then you should pose questions specifically to the points of information you are seeking. This would be the only way to have readers focus on structure. Some of the questions could be, “Did you enjoy the book?” “Did you learn anything new?” “Did the structure and layout work for you?” Anyway, you get the idea. I hope the snow leaves you alone, but it does look like a cold one next week.
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I’ve had good and bad experiences with them. Some gave me the feedback on things that I was hoping for. Others sent me back feedback that was more along the lines of ‘this is how I would write it’ or ‘totally rewrite all of the book’. This is even with questions. I ran into this a few times with ‘Legends of Windemere’, which is why I stopped. One person started telling me to kill off main characters like Luke and Delvin. It just wasn’t a good experience and it felt like I was more likely to run into someone who put their own style and methods on me.
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I think you have your decision.
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Things have been behaving out here. We’re getting tons of snow in the mountains, but it’s stayed clear in the city. I kind of like it that way.
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That’s good. Hope it stays that way. Looks like the storm is definitely hitting us tomorrow. Not enough or in time to give us Monday off, but it does put a bullet in any Super Bowl activities that require driving.
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Take care.
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Thanks.
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No snow here so far this year and unlikely for the rest of winter. I do miss the snow – the quietness of the snowfall and thereafter (no one here drives in the snow but us, but then we were trained in NY and MA.). Sounds like you achieved a nice balance of work and play and time with your son. I thought my son at age 5 could handle things like witches, but when we took him to see Snow White, he ended up in my lap!
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It’s really strange as to what will set a child off, especially young ones. I still remember that my son was terrified of Mother Gothel in ‘Tangled’, but he walked in once to see the Velociraptors attacking people in ‘Jurassic Park’ without getting scared. I figure he’s fine if I can give him a warning. The snow hasn’t been very quiet here. Lots of wind and periods of sleet make it pretty loud.
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We’ve been having a decent amount of snow, but mostly it melts before we get more than an inch on the ground. Although, a couple of weekends ago we had about five inches on the ground at one time. We’ve probably had about two feet of snow since New Year’s Eve, but not all at once, so the snow itself didn’t cause a problem. There’s been issues with flooding not far from here from all the rain we’ve had between snowstorms though. Anyway, hope the roads don’t get more difficult to navigate than they already are in your area. Good luck with the coming week.
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We’re getting hit again tomorrow. Think this is snowiest winter we’ve had in a few years. Flooding is a problem in some areas too.
I’m dreading the roads.
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Understandably… Stay safe!
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