Birthday Week Update

Dog ShamingShort post today, because this was Birthday Week. No, I don’t celebrate mine all week long like some people do, but my birthday fell in this week, as well as my husband’s. We also celebrated Mothers’ Day late, as our daughter came home from college on Friday.

There was also a bit of Dog Shaming going on, as you can see in the photo. Isis has perfected “the pout.” She also got into the trash tonight, and chewed up a glasses case (just a cheap one), but no one thought to take a photo.

What I read this week: I started two novels. Normally I don’t read more than one fiction book at a time, but one was a library book that didn’t come in until I had already started the other. I’m not far enough through either to discuss, though.

ROW80Logo175ROW80 Update: The writing went well this week! I knew the week would be busy, between the family get-together, daughter coming home from school, and the birthdays, so I set a low goal of typing the revisions in to two chapters. I got twelve–half the book! This week will also have some busy, as the daughter leaves for her study-abroad in Germany soon, and there is shopping and other preparations to do, but I’m still hoping to get the type-in finished, and the book off to the beta readers next week. We’ll see how that goes!

What about you–how has your week been? Got any good dog-shaming stories to share? Or pics, maybe? Please share in the comments (links are ok, too!). I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

Pomodoro for the Win!

This has been a good week for the writing–enough to make up for the last, lousy week. I spent about two hours on Sunday trying out the Pomodoro method, as suggested in Write Better, Faster. One thing I liked about that book was that it also gave suggestions on applying the efficiencies therein to other aspects of writing beyond the first draft: outlining, editing, and publishing tasks like cover design and formatting.

Monday was Dog’s Nite Out at the ice cream shop. Isis was so eager for her doggy cup that she almost launched herself into the window when we went to order!

Isis orders ice cream

 

She also saw her Rottie friend there who we met last month:

Isis and rottie

And she made some new friends, a pair of Irish Wolfhounds, and an Ibizan (in back, in the photo below) who was also named Isis!

Isis makes new friends

Blind TemptationWhat I read this week: Blind Temptation, by Stacy McKitrick. I was mostly focused on my own writing, so have not yet finished this book, but close! This is a really different vampire story in that the vampire is a girl who was turned as a teen, so that’s what she looks like, even though she’s over 300 years old. The hero is blind–a totally capable and lovable guy, and a nice change from the typical “alpha” male that typically is found in vampire books. How his sightlessness works with the romance was well-done, and effectively demonstrates the theme. It is book 3 of a series, but these each stand alone and do not need to be read in order. If you like vampire romances but enjoy something a bit different, definitely get this one! Disclaimer: this was published by my publisher–hey, they have great taste! 🙂 But I bought my copy.

ROW80Logo175ROW80 Update: My goal was to finish writing in the revisions for three chapters–I did five and finished the book! So this week’s goal is to type in the changes, and complete this draft. This coming weekend will be a busy one, so I’m hoping to get 10 chapters. That may be a bit ambitious, but with the Pomodoro method to help me stay focused, is doable, I hope!

What about you–have you ever tried, or at least heard of–the Pomodoro technique, and if so, how did it work for you? Have you made any new friends this week, in person or otherwise? What would you do if that was looking in at you through an ice cream shop window? And how are you doing on whatever goals you might be working toward, whether writing or not? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

Writing and Raiding

This week has mostly been about the writing, between times of fatigue and headaches. I got a ton done last Sunday, but after that, the week started out slow (as in, nonexistent) on the writing front.

I was mad, because I had no one to blame for that except me. You see, I was playing too much Clash of Clans, figuring “oh, I’ll just go do one raid, then write.”

Except I realized that usually turns into “just one more raid” and “huh, let’s check out the clan war” and “hmm, I wonder how he did that” and watching replays of other people’s battles. Then the next thing I know, it’s midnight.!

So I decided that writing must come first, then raiding, if at all. That worked out as long as I felt well. (This has not been a good week, but I’m thankful that today was an improvement.) And yes, I did get a couple of good writing days in throughout the week, in fact, I got to the writing computer before dinner a couple of times (that helped a lot).

FasterBetterWhat I read this week: Still not quite done with the novel (though I’m really enjoying it!), which I will wait again to go over, but I also picked up a craft book that ties in well with this week’s efforts in upping productivity: Write Better, Faster by Monica Leonelle. There were a ton of great ideas in there about how to more effectively use time tracking to gauge where you are, and where you want to be, and also went over how this author writes a first draft of each scene by going from outline to draft in four steps. So if you are a writer who’s vehemently opposed to outlining, this book will probably be a lot less useful for you than it was for me, but I think there will still be some good tips in there. I am an outliner, but I still find some useful tips in books that are geared toward not outlining. What was interesting about this book is my approach is similar to hers in that I first do a very brief outline, then I sketch in each scene before I write it in with full details. The main difference with this author is that she breaks the “sketch-in” into two steps, and sketches out the whole book at once. She also emphasizes that every author works differently, and analyzing our own process like she did will help us find what works for us, and do that. She is also a big proponent of the Pomodoro Method of focusing and keeping on task. I tried writing in 25-minute increments, and that helped me immensely.

ROW80Logo175ROW80 Update: I only wrote four days this week, but with what I did today (I counted last Sunday’s work for last week), I still managed to add over 2600 words, which would have been more since I also deleted a good bit here and there (some of the scenes I worked on were mostly revision). So I see that as a win! This week, I want to finish one short scene I broke out of another, and revise two more.

What about you–how has your week been? Do you ever find yourself having a hard time staying focused on a task? Have you found anything to help with that? And how are you doing on whatever goals you might have, whether writing or not? Please drop me a note in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

Binge Week

For lack of a better title, that’s what this past week felt like. I’ve binged on several things this week, some good, some not so good, including:

Isis a YearAgo

Isis on April 25, 2014

Isis cuteness–of course! And throwing the ball to her, as always. To top it off, Facebook informed my husband on Saturday that it was one year ago that we brought Isis home.

We joined Costco and binged on spending money–though less than if we’d spent it elsewhere! Especially since most of what we spent was on new tires for my Camaro.

Headaches–rainy weather always brings them on for me. 🙁

Playing Clash of Clans, because it’s fun, and easier to do with a headache than write.

Tastes like the Ohio State Fair! That would be Fire and Ice Cheescake at Frisch’s. It’s a piece of frozen cheesecake rolled in crushed cornflakes, deep fried, and drizzled with honey and chocolate. It’s right up there with deep fried Snickers and Oreos. See why one piece feels like a binge? Mmmmm….

Working on my website. Nothing to show here yet, since I work on my computer before uploading new stuff, but I did spend a good bit of time working on things to add based on the marketing workshop I signed up for last month. And I disabled the anti-spam plugin, as it was still blocking people whose comments I want! So you shouldn’t have any more problems if you try to comment, but if you do, please email me!

And yes, writing. It didn’t happen until today, but I wrote over 2,000 words to finish the scene I’ve been trying to get to for a good couple of weeks.

What I read this week: I started a novel near the beginning of the week, and I’m really enjoying it, but am less than halfway through, so I’ll discuss after I finish.

ROW80Logo175ROW80 update: I finished that scene, so I’ll call it a win! This week, I have one more new scene to write, so that’s my goal. Also want to do one more thing from my marketing tasks list.

What about you–have you binged on anything lately, good or bad? If you had the time and money, what would you like to binge on? I would love more writing days like today if I had the time! Do you think the Fire and Ice Cheesecake sounds good? How are you doing on whatever goals you might have, writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

Easter Cheer and Round 2 Goals

Hope everyone who celebrates Easter had a good one! We went to my brother’s, where there was plenty of good food, and good times with family.

Isis and cat

Isis tried to make a new friend, but he wasn’t interested

 

Easter basketI also had put together a pretty Easter basket for my college kid, then forgot to take it to the gathering. D’oh! I think my brain’s still a bit fried from what I’ve been working on all week: making this site mobile-friendly. It took some doing, since this theme wasn’t originally intended for mobile, but I like this site’s look and wanted to keep it, so I got it done. So now you can pull it up on a phone or tablet, and won’t have to wait for all the big graphics to load, and there’s now a simplified menu just for mobile users that slides out from the side. If you try it out and see anything wonky, please let me know!

Cats On the KeyboardI also have some exciting news: the cat story anthology I designed the cover for is now out! Cats on the Keyboard: Real Life Cat Stories by 14 Historical Romance Authors is a collection of true cat stories, written by cat-loving historical romance writers, and compiled and edited by one of my writing friends and editors, Michele Stegman. Enjoy the stories and take a look at the excerpts from each author’s book. (I was included because I write historical time-travel.) Since I don’t have a cat, my contribution to this one is how my parents ended up with their cat, Q.T. Pi. It also includes a sneak peek from my current WIP and upcoming release, Time’s Best Friend, which features a dog. Best of all, Cats on the Keyboard is free on BarnesandNoble.com and Smashwords.com. If you’d like to get it for free on Amazon, please visit its page, click “Tell us about a Lower Price,” and enter the Barnes & Noble link above, so they will lower the price to free. If you prefer to get your ebooks from iTunes or Kobo Books, it will be available at those retailers soon.

If you gather from the above that I didn’t get much writing done, you’d be right. I decided to take the week off and just get the mobile website done. I did do some reading though.

Huntress6atomic-cityWhat I read this week: Huntress of the Star Empire, Episode 6 by Athena Grayson. Getting better and better! I also finished–pretty much–an interesting nonfiction book I started for research several weeks ago, The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan. The subtitle pretty much says it all: “The Untold Story of the Women who Helped Win World War II.” What I especially liked about it was that it focused on all the behind-the-scenes people who did all the un-glamorous jobs at Oak Ridge, but who all contributed to the cause. I especially liked it because I learned not only about who worked on “The Project” and what it was like, but also about the ordinary lives of ordinary people in an extraordinary time. My kind of thing!

ROW80Logo175ROW80 Update: It’s time for Round 2, and a new set of goals! Well, mine aren’t really new, as I didn’t get as much done last Round as I’d hoped, so the major goal from Round 1 are pretty much being rebooted for this Round. That would be to finish the WIP and revision, and get it to the beta readers. Ideally, it will be published by the end of Round 2, but since my saying it seems to have a way of making it not happen, we’ll just hope for the best. Also, publishing it is not fully in my control, as there are editors, my publisher, etc. I also spent a lot of time on the marketing workshop this past Round, so my other main goal for this round is to put what I learned into place. Getting the mobile-friendly website design implemented was the first step there.

What about you–if you celebrate Easter, did you have a good one? Do you like pet stories? (If so, go get Cats on the Keyboard!) Got any pet stories of your own to share here in the comments? If you’re participating in ROW80, or even if you’re not, what are some of your goals for these next three months? Please tell us about it below–I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

First Quarter Wrap-up

ROW80, “The Writing Challenge that Knows You Have a Life,” ended its first Round of the year this past Thursday. Since I only post on Sundays, it’s time for a wrapup, and review of how the quarter went for me and my writing goals.

Isis takes a rest in HER spot

Isis takes a rest in HER spot

Looking back, my goals were pretty ambitious. Actually, they were really ambitious, given my fatigue issues and the fact that I work full time. I didn’t do much toward this week’s goals either, though for different reasons. Mainly, my daughter was home from college, and that’s a major routine disruptor. One I was happy to have; just one that made not much writing get done. I will also admit that I made the mistake of getting caught up in a computer game, and spent too much time doing that. Writing is fun, but so is gaming, and my husband has been playing this one for a while, so now it’s like family time. Family does come first, after all. 😀 I got about 2000 words written on a new scene, but that’s about it.

ROW80Logo175Here were my goals for the quarter/Round, and how I did:

  • Finish the WIP, get it revised, and out to beta readers – Nope. This book has fought me every step of the way, refusing to be written in order (my usual M.O.) and continually throwing new scenes and ideas that need to be worked in because they’re making it better.
  • Prep work for next one, which includes a self-directed workshop – No, see above.
  • Make changes to the Love’s a Beach anthology for my publisher – No. (It’s still available, and therefore this is low priority).
  • Read one craft or business book – Done, plus read two more!
  • Take one online workshop or video series – Done, although with a different workshop than I’d planned, and haven’t gone through a bunch of extras yet, but I will eventually.

Now on the other hand, I ended up doing a few things that weren’t on the list at all. Three of my friends/cover art clients decided to release new work that needed covers. One is for an anthology and was fairly simple; the other was for a serial, so basically is four different covers (we’re reusing each one for three of twelve episodes). I have the anthology cover and three of the serial cover sets done. My other friend just decided to go indie with a project a couple weeks ago, so here’s hoping I’ll get to that one soon. I have a great idea for it, so it will be fun!

I’m also in the process of making my website more mobile-friendly. More and more people are viewing sites through phones and tablets, so this is becoming more important.

And the workshop I ended up taking was more time-intensive than the one I had originally planned to take. All worthwhile, so all is good!

ROW80 Round 2 starts back up on April 6, so I’ll be back on the 5th with my second quarter goals. If you’re a writer, consider joining us! Just click the ROW80 logo or the link at the top of this post for more info.

Smiths-Monthly-Cover-9-webHuntress5-1000What I read this week: Smith’s Monthly #9, by Dean Wesley Smith. Not my favorite of these so far, but still entertaining. Ironically, one of my favorite covers, although definitely one that’s more about the “feel” of the story rather than its actual contents. As a cover designer, it’s much more important to capture feel than exact characters or scene, though it’s fantastic when a cover does both. Still liked this one! I also picked back up on Huntress of the Star Empire, Episode 5 by Athena Grayson, which keeps getting better and better!  

How about you–do you ever shoot for goals that are way too much? How are you doing on whatever goals you might be working toward, whether writing-related or not? Does your dog take over the sofa? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

Where Did the Week Go?

I did not get much done on my writing this week, and at initial glance, I wasn’t sure why.

Then I looked at what else I had going on over the week. Early in the week, I designed a cover for a writer friend who’s putting together an anthology of true stories about cats. I’ll post the cover when she’s ready for a reveal. Yes, I have an entry in it too, the story of how my parents got their cat! I’ll announce more when it releases.

I did more work on the marketing course, and also worked on a mobile version of my website (anyone who’s hit this site with a phone knows it’s not very mobile-friendly).

And Thursday was a special day–my wedding anniversary! Since we took a trip last year, we kept it simpler this year–DH and I just went out for a nice dinner that included steak, lobster, wine, and chocolate lava cake. 🙂

On Friday, my daughter came home for spring break, so lots of time spent catching up with her. We do talk on the phone regularly, but it’s not the same. Yesterday was more good weather, and our first fire in the backyard. And finally, today’s post went up late because she and I went to see the musical South Pacific at a local dinner theater with my mom, so more good family time.

And of course, there’s always this:

Isis catching ball

I did manage to get some reading done, but not much, so I’ll share that next week.

ROW80Logo175ROW80 Update: I keep getting fooled by the changes I’m making, thinking there’s less to them than there are. Last week I had one new scene turn into three; this week I had one scene that I thought would be an easy revision, actually needs to be entirely redrafted, due to changes I made earlier in the story. I outlined that, but it still needs to be written. I also had one complete scene that somehow never got printed out, and therefore never went through initial review and markup, so I did that. That seems to have been the MO of this story all along. So not much progress there, though not for lack of me trying. This week may be busy, with today mostly gone, my daughter home, and possibly some other family stuff (good stuff) later in the week. With that, I figure any progress will be good, though I’m going to try to get the one scene redrafted, and the next one marked up. It’s also the end of ROW80 Round 1, so I’ll give a recap next week.

What about you–how has your week been? Had one lately where one thing after another kept you from something you wanted to do? Here’s hoping it’s like mine–good stuff, so can’t complain! How are you doing on whatever goals you might be working toward, whether writing-related or not? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

Small Changes

As you can guess from the title, nothing major has happened this week, but there were several other things going on. For starters, we’re finally getting some nice weather here in southwest Ohio, with some sunny and some rainy days in seasonal temperatures in the 40s and 50s. I especially love the first few days when it’s warm enough to drive with my windows down! We had two or three of those last week, and more to come this week. It’s also been good weather for this:

Isis ball 2

…although the field in the photo has been kind of soggy with the snowmelt and recent rain, so not too much throwing the ball in there yet. My husband is a good, devoted dog person who will walk Isis no matter how cold–it has to be a blizzard, a torrential downpour, or a foot of snow on the ground before he skips the dog walk. I, however, am a fair weather walker, but this week has been nice enough even for me. In fact, that’s probably what I’ll do this afternoon.

My husband got Lasik surgery yesterday, and has nice, clear vision now. Well, at least in one eye–the other isn’t quite there, but he called the doctor and goes for a follow-up tomorrow. The doctor didn’t sound too concerned, so here’s hoping that’s a good sign. Not wearing glasses will be a nice little change for my husband.

I also went to a write-in yesterday with some local writing friends and my new laptop that came last week. It worked like a champ, and connected to the library’s wifi right away! I got half of a new scene written, plus enjoyed some social time with my writer friends.

My other main focus in writing is an online marketing course I’ve been going through this week. That’s been taking a lot of time, but good stuff that I think I can actually use. To that end, I’ve been making some small changes in my website. Most of those have been on a copy that just runs on my computer, but if you look at my Books page, you can see one change I’ve implemented here. My next task is to make a more mobile-friendly version of my site.

Huntress4What I read this week: I finished Huntress of the Star Empire, Episode Four, by Athena Grayson. Another thrill-ride that has me looking forward to the next installment! This episode features a new cover design I did for Athena a couple of weeks ago, too. After finishing that, I read the short stories and serial segments in Smith’s Monthly #9, and started on the novel therein, which I’ll discuss next week.

ROW80Logo175ROW80 Update: I did not make as much progress here as I’d hoped, partly due to spending more time on the marketing workshop, and partly because one scene I needed to revise actually was three scenes, two of which were new ones I had yet to write. I got both done, but along with those, only revised two chapters, in addition to one more new scene I did know I needed. So this week, I have one more new scene to write, and would like to get the rest of the revisions done for two more chapters. I also want to get through one more segment of the marketing workshop. I have a couple of things going on later this week, so that may be pushing it–we’ll see!

What about you–are you getting any nice weather in your part of the world? Any recent changes in your life, big or small? How are you doing on whatever goals you might be working toward, whether writing or not? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

Birthdays and Presents

No, not mine. Well, not my birthday, but I did get myself a present, and it came this week: a new laptop. I do most of my writing on a big ol’ desktop computer (actually, I have two–one for writing new words, and one for everything else), but the laptop is nice when I want to go somewhere to write, take on vacation, etc. For this, I had a netbook that I bought in 2009. But the netbook was really showing its age, and last time I took it to a write-in, took so long to start up, find Wifi, and find my flash drive, half my writing time was gone.

laptop-inspiron-3000-magnum-pdp-module-1So I came home and ordered a fun little 2-in-1, a laptop that can fold back on itself and function as a tablet. It weighs the same as the netbook, and cost a bit more (but still very reasonable), but wow is it faster! And so much fun to use both with the keyboard, and as a tablet at other times. I now know why I hardly ever used the netbook–it was too slow and un-functional. This computer is useful for when I’m sitting on the couch and want to look something up, or just surf the net. Even better, this particular computer was on sale at the time, and came with a free 7″ tablet. Can’t beat that!

And birthdays? There were two, and both fell on the same day, March 4th. One was my Great-aunt Marie (yes, I’m named after her), who turned 98. No photos, because she’s always hated having her picture taken! My family went to her house and had a nice, quiet celebration with her and her grandson, who lives with and takes care of her.

The other birthday was our dog Isis! She turned one year old. Now she’s no longer a puppy! Of course, she hasn’t looked like a puppy in a long time. Isis got a trip to the pet store, where she got to pick out several squeaky balls and got a box of treats. She also went to the vet to be weighed: 88 lbs. of cute! We took a photo to compare this year to right after we got her, with the same toy:

IsisYear1-Year2.-smjpg

Huntress3ebookWhat I read this week: I finished Huntress of the Star Empire, Episode Three. Wow, what a ride this story is turning out to be! And it works perfectly as a serial–each episode concludes its own action, but ends with a cliffhanger or big question that definitely makes you want the next one ASAP. I guess it doesn’t annoy me because I expect it–and that’s a big part of being an author: fulfilling reader expectations. This one does it all: a fascinating world, with complex characters that we learn a bit more about with each episode. If you like science fiction with some romance mixed in, get it now!

ROW80Logo175ROW80 Update: My goal was to get edits written in for 7 chapters this week. I knew that was a bit ambitious, and it turned out I was right. I got five chapters written in, but the last two turned out to need more work than I anticipated. So I’m going to back down to five chapters this week. Those five chapters include two completely new scenes, so I’m going to shoot for getting everything else done during the week, then getting those done on Saturday, when I attend another write-in. At least I know my computer won’t take 1/2 hour just to start up!

What about you–have you gotten yourself a present lately? Even if it’s something small–mine usually aren’t this “big.” Any recent celebrations, or ones coming up? Have you read any good books lately? And how are you doing on whatever goals you might be working on, whether writing or otherwise? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

The Liebster Award!

LiebsterAwardThe Liebster Award circulates around the blogosphere every year around this time, and this year, it came to me twice! It’s a fun little exercise where the award “recipient” answers a few fun questions, then passes on the award to others. Fun fact: “Liebster” is German for “dearest” or “sweetest.” (I felt obligated to look that up, since my daughter is a German major in college.) There are also a few German characters in my WIP. They don’t ever use that word. 🙂

Rules-for-Liebster-Award-300x240I was given the Liebster Award by Michele Stegman and Denise D. Young. Michele also posted the rules, to the right. Since I got the award twice and most of their questions are different, I’m going to answer both sets of questions, instead of giving random facts. I’m sure there will be some random weirdness in my answers!

Michele asked:

1. Who or what most inspires you to write?

Fascinating people. Fascinating history. And Front Line Assembly!

2. Are you a daisy or an orchid? In other words, do you prefer the outdoors or being inside?

I like being outside when the weather’s nice, but I don’t like cold or hot. So I guess that makes me an indoor person!

3. Are you an introvert or extrovert? Which would you prefer to be?

I’m an introvert, and I’m okay with that.

4. Do you write with music playing or do you prefer silence when you write?

I can write either way–depends on my mood. Just no TV on, please!

5. Do you have a particular time of day you prefer to write?

I am not a morning person; after dinner seems to be my best writing time.

6. Do you have any pets? What are they?

Regular readers of this blog should be familiar with Isis, our Rottweiler who turns one year old this week! I also have an aquatic turtle (red-eared slider), three gerbils, and a goldfish.

Isis waits patiently for her walk.

Isis waits patiently for her walk.

7. What hobbies do you have?

I like to sew clothing, but don’t have much time for it any more.

8. Do you have a “day” job? What is it?

I am a software (web) developer, and have worked in that industry since 1997. Before that, I worked in graphic design for ten years, which is also what my college degree is in.

9. What is your favorite beverage?

Mountain Dew!

10. What is your favorite animal?

That’s a tough question–I love all kinds of animals! But probably dogs, if I have to pick one.

11. Do you have a writers support group or critique group?

I used to belong to a local chapter of Romance Writers of America, where I met Michele and many of my writing friends, until the chapter was forced to disband at the end of 2014 due to new regulations from National that made it impossible for us to field a president. Several of us still meet informally. I have also made many online friends from ROW80 (where I “met” Denise) and in Kristen Lamb’s WANA (“We Are Not Alone”) networking group.

And here are Denise’s questions:

1.) What most inspires your writing?

See above

2.) It’s a cold and stormy night. What book do you curl up with?

Whatever I’m currently reading, normally an ebook on my Kindle.

3.) What was your favorite book when you were growing up?

Just one??? Can’t do it. But a few that stand out are The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, Below the Root by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander and C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. Obviously, I was a big fantasy fan (still am, but now want romance with it).

4.) Who is your greatest inspiration?

Again, too many to narrow down, so I’m going to weasel out of this one and just say a lot of historical people, people who’ve overcome adversity, and writers whose work I admire.

5.) What’s your favorite movie? What do you love about it?

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, because it’s time travel, it’s hilarious, and they’re great characters!

6.) Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, or no chocolate? What’s your preference?

Dark. But they’re all good!

7.) If you could travel to any place, real or imagined, where would it be?

Australia!

8.) What do you do when you’re not writing?

Play way too many computer games, do business stuff and paperwork for my husband’s businesses, and of course there’s the day job…

9.) What’s your hidden talent?

I can curl my tongue.

10.) If you were a supernatural/paranormal creature/being, what would you be and why?

One who could be in multiple places at once, so one of me could go to work and do the day job, and another of me could write LOL.

11.) Finish this sentence: The perfect day involves…

Family, fun, relaxation, and writing!

Now, we’re supposed to make up our own questions and pass this on, but I need to save my creativity for my fiction, so my recipients can just take their pick and use either of my sets of questions. And my awardees, should they choose to accept, are:

If you aren’t into this, no worries. But if you accept, I look forward to seeing your responses!

What I read this week: I didn’t finish anything new, and this blog’s already running long, so I’ll catch up with this next week.

ROW80Logo175ROW80 Update: My goal was to write in the revisions for chapters 5-10, and I made that goal! This week will, I hope, be a quiet one, so I’m going to push to get chapters 11-17’s revisions written in.

What about you–do you have any fun answers to any of those questions you’d like to share here? How are you doing on whatever goals you might have, whether writing or otherwise? Please share–I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.