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September 2018 Fly-By Status Report – VLOG (Happy Early Talk Like A Pirate Day!)
Doing my tri-yearly update as a live vlog just to shake things up! And HAPPY TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY a day early! Things I talked about (which will open in a new browser window): 0:42 – Star Wars Party vlog status 1:31 – Gardening 2:07 – Camp Flix 2:21 – MomoCon 2:40 – Writer’s Group & Critique Help 3:34 – CrossCode Let’s Play Series – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ankDi… 4:02 – Dragon Con & The State of Vlogging 4:48 – Pitch Wars, Editing My Novel, Writing Schedule & December Writing Hiatus 6:09 – Things I’m Planning to Do & Stuff I Have Done 6:26 – Ukulele & Singing 6:40 – New Twitch…
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Jan. 2017 Fly-By Status Report – My Favorite Time of the Year
Merry Christmas and Happy 2017! I’m still over here celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas, doing a lot of nothing, and baking ^_^ But it’s that time again to think about all the things I want to do next year that I didn’t do this year. I’m pretty enthused for a fresh start! Last year about this time, I wrote my 2016 New Years resolutions on a red Starbucks cup. Lots of good intentions, but the ones that really, truly happened and stuck were landing my perfect job situation, as well as taking significant and progressive steps to getting more physically and spiritually healthy <3 Of course, there’s always more to…
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May Madness
I don’t know how May always becomes a month of crazy, no matter how many times I try to make it NOT crazy. I have such good intentions, but by the time I hit mid-May, I’m consistently neck deep in work! But sarcastic JT aside, other than feeling stressed about it, everything that I’ve been doing the past month has been really awesome! I’ve been juggling two part jobs, as well as a Paint Love project. And I’ve still been crocheting and doing some other art projects, particularly card and gift making (because TONS of family members and friends have anniversaries and birthdays in May, more than any other time…
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May 2016 Fly-By Status Report – I GOT A REAL JOB!
Yes, you read that right: I GOT A REAL JOB! The ultimate happy dance! | via GIPHY It’s a part-time administrative and communication assistant job, which is only a few hours a week, and a few minutes away from my house (YAAAAAY), so hopefully that means I can structure my life around that to get some stability for my creative work! I start today, and I’m really excited to see how it goes! Also, hi, I haven’t seen you since Easter! I’ve been super busy working, arting, volunteering, story researching…in fact, that’s why I decided to do tri-yearly status reports. I figure, if I haven’t blogged or vlogged in a while, I want to make…
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Post-Hiatus! Draft 6 Edit Process in review
Well, that was a lovely hiatus, but I figured I’d come back 😉 It’s been four months, after all! It was such a beautiful morning when I started writing this post, I had to wander into my yard and take some photos of daffodils glowing in the early, rising sun. It so beautifully represented a fresh start to an exciting new year, hence the flower picture for this post’s header. A lot has happened during my hiatus, even in the past few days (some good, some frustrating) but I’m happy to report that despite various time sucks and fluctuating motivation, my writing hiatus was very successful! Regardless of what I…
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Summer in Review & Looking Ahead
AT LAST, a post! This is what I’ve been up to, and why I’ve been so busy! BG music: “Porch Swing Days” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) LINKS to cool stuff: Follow my writing progress: http://puelladocta.com/writings/ Art portfolio coming soon! Cosplay Comission coming soon! FinnyPuppet’s tumblr: http://finnypuppet.tumblr.com/ Dragon*Con Tolkien Track site: http://middleearth.dragoncon.org/ Check out the movie my group made at Camp Flix this year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQNdDqCAoYI Original Maleficent video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p78C3dmLI_c&feature=youtu.be AWA cut of Maleficent video coming soon!
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2015 Writing Plans!!!
I’ve got my writing projects all planned out for the year! For those of you who don’t want to watch the video, here’s the run-down: January 1 – 31: Plan out entire Lottie/Tales of Thoglan Series (ToTS) February 1 – March 13: Finish revisions on ToTS Book 1 March 16 – May 15: Start 1st draft of ToTS Book 2 (90-120 thou. words) May 18 – August 18: Start researching/writing myths and fairy tales for retold anthologies August 24 – September 30: Write Draft 2 of ToTS Book 2 October 1 – 31: Work on anthologies again November 1 – 30: Write ToTS Book 3 during NaNoWriMo December 1 –…
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Lots to Look Forward To (Starting Draft 6 & Purple Hair)
It’s amazing how a few months can change things! I finally got my editing groove back after a long brain break. What a relief! It’s not an easy process, and it’s going slowly, but it’s going. I’m also doing some more character studies as I get inspired. I’m planning on relaunching this site, and I have some plans for guest posts and some of my own posts. I’ve also finally won the Search for More Money and will be starting a part-time seasonal job soon! Oh, and I got purple highlights too 😀 It’s been a good summer’s end. Posted this vlog on Youtube on Aug 22, 2014.
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Vlogs that I forgot to post on here
Remember how I used to have a Youtube video importing plugin that stopped importing my vlogs a number of months ago? Yeah. That was fun. As I’m updating my site I have to go back, delete the random vlogs I don’t really want on here (they’ll still be up on my Youtube channel) and re-embed the ones I do want, cuz I just got sick of the plugin. SO, in honor of Throwback Thursday, I’m posting some of these older ones from this year and the end of last year, which I really like a lot, but never made it here. They’re posted from most to least recent. Do enjoy!
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My Writing Process (Blog Tour)
Thanks to the adorable and very talented Sarah Shotts, I’ve been tagged to participate in The Great Blog Tour, aiming to make a web of authors that stretches as wide as the internet is long! I’m so honored to be included, and I’m excited to talk about my writing process (and to show off some cool pictures I took for the question headers)! So, shall we begin? •~~~•~~~•~~~•~~~• Since late middle school/early high school, I’ve been building my own fantasy world filled with characters, which has grown and changed throughout the years, as I have. I worked on it tirelessly, until college, only pausing to focus on my studies, with just…
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Why NaNoWriMo is Awesome
November 1st marks a very auspicious day for writers around the world; it is the start of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a glorious month-long holiday that encourages everyone with a story inside of them to put it down on paper. The plan is to come out with 50,000 words by the end of the month, which is quite an endeavor, but with the encouragement of others on the internet, or even in your home city, it’s a worthy goal that leaves you with a great feeling of accomplishment. It’s been the most encouraging thing to happen to my writing in a long time. In college I didn’t have time…
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House, Agents and NaNoWriMo
I give you a quick glimpse of the front of my new place, and share recent writing news…what little of it there is right now 😛
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Captive Vlogging (Finally!)
When Panger decides to take a nap on me, I finally get back into vlogging after a 3-month hiatus 😛
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VEDA 2013 – Day #29: Winning!
Finished my Camp NaNoWriMo novel a day early! W00t! Now I am tired.
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VEDA 2013 – Day #24: Pushing Past the Boredom
Why do I feel bored writing my NaNo novel?
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VEDA 2013 – Day #19: Worldbuilding & Ideas (Podcast)
Second and last in the series of old podcasts getting posted to Youtube for posterity!
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VEDA 2013 – Day #18: Can You Ever Stop Being a Writer? (Podcast)
Happy Amateur Radio Day! Finally posting the first of two podcasts I recorded in 2010, which I want to put on here for posterity since the podcast seriously fell out of use.
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VEDA 2013 – Day #14: Giving Myself a Pep Talk…Rant…Thing
*sings* Da da da-da-da Day four-teen! I’m actually not exhausted so I’m able to ramble for a while AND still carry the topic with gusto without too many pauses!
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VEDA 2013 – Day 7: Deliberation vs. Discovery
Planning your writing projects is always good, but writing is a process of discovery. Easy to forget ^_^
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VEDA 2013 – Day 5: Life, London and North Korea
Using my life experiences to help my writing along is something I really enjoy doing, even if it can get emotional. Also, was well-informed by Hank Green’s video on North Korea, and love all the Londoniness of Maureen Johnson’s “The Name of the Star.”
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VEDA 2013 – Day 3: Hurting My Characters
I run errands, get frustrated at “The Name of the Wind” (but that just means IT’S REALLY GOOD!!!), make goat noises, mishear lyrics, and talk about how hard it is for me to heap hardships upon my characters.
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VEDA 2013 – Day 2: In Which Much Writing Occurs
I love being ahead of the curve! We’re also reading a really mathy book. And the cat is adorable.
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With a Little Help From Nostalgia
ast night, right before bed, I found myself in that cozy, soft realm between sleep and awake. During that time for me, walls tend to come down. Thankfully the lights were still on and my hubby was next to me playing a mindless game on my iPod, so I found myself talking about what was on my heart: my writing. It hasn’t been going to plan lately. Of course, man makes his plans in vain, but I’ve been trying to write, really I have. It always gets brushed off with the chores of the day. Plus, the revolving computer wallpaper of disapproving actors and writers telling me I should be…
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Hiding
I can’t stay in bed all day because I’m overwhelmed with life. Also finally trying to climb on the HD bandwagon.
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Agents, Writings, and Other Stuff
Wherein I discuss hearing back from the agent I talked to at the writing conference, I talk about how much I’ve written on Book 2, and some potpourri.
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Writing Throwbacks | “Just Dracula and Me”
Cleaning through the old family books and files at my parent’s house a few years ago, my mom came across a bunch of my old stories I wrote in the early to mid 90s. I plan to present these stories in their original glory, with no added punctuation or corrected spelling or grammar. This is the first in what I hope to be a fun tradition, and serve to remind that all authors have to start somewhere 🙂 I figured this one would be perfect for Halloween! This is supposed to be a conversation between me and Dracula, and I definitely had the writing bug, but I hadn’t mastered the…
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Procrastination
I avoid writing, but decide to keep going. And I do realize that filming, editing and posting this video also counts as procrastination 😛 Don’t worry, I’m writing as soon as I’m done uploading this!
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Editing & Weather
Making up for a lack of one the week before. Sorry it’s a little bit of a hot mess…
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I’m Back!!! Happy New Year!
I take you for a tour through my new house and show you my favorite writing spots and new creative toys I got for Christmas!
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Infusing my Writing Process with More Technology
I’m super pleased with a new plot/story organizing software I found called SuperNotecard. It’s pretty much amazing and it’s helping me organize Book 2! Also, for some reason WordPress ate my awesome entry on “The Butterfly Circus.” Will remedy when I recover from the shock ;P
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VEDA – Day 11: Inspired
I remind myself that even if people don’t like my book, it’s okay. And okay is wonderful.
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VICTORY!!!!!!!!!! (and Sweet Readin’ Cakes)
Angry zombie mongooses and I FINISH DRAFT 4 OF MY NOVEL!!!! YAAAAAAY!!!!!! Hoooraaaaaaaay!!!!!! Draft 4 is done and sent out to the first batch of reviewers! Once I get it back from them, it’s hopefully just moderate editing, and then off to a publisher! Man, this calls for a celebration! How ’bout some bookish cake, huh? All these (and more) from CakeWrecks.
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VEDA – Day 2: Toys
Authors need toys to mess with to help them write. Here are a few of mine.
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Software of the Trade
Well, Mr. P. Phil, it’s flippin’ cold outside. I hope the weather starts acting its season, or no amount of April Showers will bring May Flowers. Cold weather just makes me want to go out LESS than I do anyway, but at least it’s sunny right now. Makes staying inside and writing more enticing, and since I finally had a breakthrough with my editor’s block, I no longer feel like my head will explode if I try to roll the plot around. This is a good thing ^_^ Well, I’ve been getting the emails again! It must be almost Screnzy season! Also, who is their designer? They rock! I won’t…
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Author Unplugged: The December Discussion
Two podcast updates at once! Mercy me! They’re actually whittled down halves of one long conversation I had with Wervyn about writing, recorded Dec. 2010. It was tough deciding to split the whole thing up, and it was hard cutting the halves down to a crisp 5 minutes or less (audioboo specifications), but I did it! I even created an intro and an outro! *is pleased*
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Exciting Updates!!!
I know I try to post only writing related news on here, but this is kind of a big deal! It’s a huge life changer! Gentle audience, I had no idea that a few hours after my last blog entry, I would be getting engaged!!! And to think, last year I was writing haikus about my only date for Valentine’s Day being a box of chocolate! You never know what a year can bring! The lad in question is Wervyn, who is the coding man for this site! He’s a wonderful, brilliant man and a fantastic writer, and he’s been helping me a lot with the final draft of my…
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CONTAINS ACTUAL WRITING!!!!
I disclose 4 things I like to have about my person while writing and then you get to see me in action. Lucky you
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New Years Resolutions for a Write-Tastic 2011
My writing resolutions for the new year. I also discuss the joys of Evernote and a video idea that is happily unfinished.
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Author Unplugged: Appeasing the Inner Nerd
You know what’s kind of ridiculous? I just realized that some of the BEST NEWS about my manuscript all year was the focus of my first blog in 2011! It’s already shaping up to be a good year! Editing is going well, but slower than I’d like. I’m at an interesting juncture where I’m trying to integrate some worthy opinions from some trusted editors, and need to figure out if I should go with their ideas or keep things the way they are. Ultimately I need to find an agent, and they’ll help me with that too, but just trying to make the outgoing manuscript the best that it can…
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Oh Joy! Rapture!
MY EDITOR GOT BACK TO ME! OMG SO EXCITED! I read through her critiques and over all it’s very positive! She even said my next draft should be given to an agent!!! EEEE! All you pray-ers out there, pray that I will find my soul mate agent somewhere! Now that I have a few month’s distance from the manuscript, I can finally get back to editing with a clear head! Here is her cherry on top culminating comment: You continue to be a strong writer with an absolutely vibrant and powerful imagination. I am in awe of the world that you have created, down to the language and the details,…
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Joyeux Noël 2010!
I know I’ve been scarce, so I’m considering calling another hiatus, but instead I’d rather say: “It’s the holidays! Chill!” ^_^ MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! Whatever you celebrate, hope you have fun and enjoy yourself today! With rumors of snow flying in the next few days, sounds like we’ll have a white Christmas after all! Even though I haven’t been writing much at all I’ve had a wonderful time with family and friends, and that counts for a lot. I have some plans and some New Years writing resolutions, so it will be forthcoming! Random Tolkien nerd moment that I think everyone can appreciate: According to the Lord of the Rings…
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At the End of Draft 3. And Also Pumpkins
Draft 3. It was probably the shortest editing time window I’ve ever had, from Sept. 23 to Oct. 25, 2010. As I wait for my editor friend to give me some feedback, instead of the usual celebratory graphic (like fireworks or sparkly text announcing that it’s done), behold my simple commentary about the last bit of the editing process. Towards the end of editing Draft 3, I started going a little nuts….I wanted to be done with it so bad! Thankfully, things have improved since I recorded this. And also pumpkins.
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A Good Nightmare Always Begins in a Dark Cellar with a Coffin
Zzzzzzzz…. The pirate video ate up so much time that I’m finally getting back to editing Draft 3! I just felt like writing a real entry, since all I’ve done the last two weeks was tweet, make promises, break them, and eventually upload a pirate movie 😉 I have plans for other entries, but this one is getting back to the basics, where I actually write about writing. It’s been hard the last few weeks to get writing in, between visiting friends and work, so tonight I’ve started to be a bit smarter with my time. In addition to editing, I’m taking notes. Why? I live in mortal dread of…
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Writing Dialogue Tips
Had this convo with a writer friend Ben, who I’ve collaborated with on blogs before, and figured I’d post up what I told him, for anyone else who’s curious about dialogue. PS: I’m planning a new vlog for posting on the 19th! Ben: How do you handle dialogue? Me: I write it as it comes out of my head, depending on what I believe a character would say, and then read it aloud later. Often I don’t read it aloud til [someone] reminds me, but it REALLY helps you figure out how it flows [to read it aloud]. Ben: I bet. That’s a good idea. I cringe at all my…
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The Dead Time, Part 2
I has better lighting! And I am in a bit of a writing lull. And apparently I touch my hair a lot. Music from incompetech.com >> Read Part One here.
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The Dead Time
And my brain hath shut down 😀 I don’t want to touch the darn second draft until I get it back and can start on the next (and hopefully final) round of editing. I’ve even tried writing a bit of Book 2, but what I have just doesn’t feel right. I have ideas for other stories, so I jot down my thoughts, but my brain can’t hold more than one comprehensive world at a time! So I know I should finish the world of Thoglan stories before I move on to exploring other places. But the website thing is still a little maddening (in all senses of the word and…
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DONE! AGAIN!
DRAFT 2 of { Book One } IS FINISHED! Although, that’s what I felt like last time at the end of Draft 1. This time, with Draft 2, I’m a bit more like this: Maybe not that serene but…at least able to skim through it and check for misspellings. Last time, I was lucky to get it emailed to friends, I was so worn OUT. And I was worn out for DAYS. I’m curious to see how my body reacts to this one being done. But it’s been sent out to my editor friend already, and I’m looking forward to her critique! Aaaaaaaaannndddd this is my second late-night entry in…
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My First Interview
INTERVIEW with writer Christina Nelson, author of The Sign of the Sparrow, first in a medieval-esque fantasy fiction book series focusing upon young teen Charlotte Imadara, who comes of age in a mysterious world filled with complex surprises. Radiating an abundance of positive energy as she approaches the table, writer Christina Nelson sits down for the interview at a popular luncheon spot. Her engaging smile highlights an attractive face, bright hazel eyes and past-the-shoulder dark hair. Raised outside of Richmond, Virginia and a graduate of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA, Nelson is mid-twenty-something. For the interview, she is comfortably dressed in a simple, beige-and-brown print sundress. Silver hoops at…
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In My Own Little Corner
I just realized. It’s the last day of January. I can hardly believe the year is 1/12th over! This is my view from the screened in porch today.The ground is covered in snow with a sheet of thin ice over top. It’s funny to watch the dogs walk on top of the snow, and if they step too hard, they suddenly sink in with a jerk. When they chase each other across the yard they kick up chunks of icy snow. Oh, yes. In case you didn’t catch that, I’m on the screened in porch. With snow outside. Don’t worry, I’m wearing a down jacket, boots, and a fuzzy hat,…
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Who doesn’t love a good Renaissance fair?*
*quote from one of my dear editor friends! Happy Belated Thanksgiving, all! I’m not exactly back, but there have been a few new developments on the writing front. First off, I’ve halted work for National Novel Writing Month and started a very basic outline of a web comic project, which sadly was going at a snail’s pace mostly because of my lack of fresh inspiration. I hope to finish sometime in the future, except I just got all the edits back I had handed out for Book 1. Which is the second thing. I’ve started to do a number of story-enriching edits, and oh, my word! It felt like I…
Artist, Author, Geek
