My To-Read List

My to read list for this year has been constantly changing. I try to balance my research-type reading with my "fun" reads. To that end I have complied a list and placed it below with a bit of reasoning behind each.

1.  The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century 

      I love medieval history and this is a new one that I keep starting but don't get around to finishing.

2. The Maid of Fishbourne Hall

      A little historical romance for some fun. 

3. Medieval Life and Leisure in the Devonshire Hunting Tapestries

      A little research from a study at the Victoria and Albert Museum. 

4. Medieval Fabrications: Dress, Textiles, Clothwork, and Other Cultural Imaginings

      A slightly different perspective on textiles in the medieval ages. 

I'm sure I'll find more but my list is short. I have a two year old and many times I'm too tired to read for long before bed, my previous prime reading time. I used to read several books a week but as I've grown older I see more informational type of reading sliding into my list which takes longer and sometimes warrants note taking. If I'm looking for something to read I usually just keep a few of my all time faves around to pick up and that I don't have to think too much about because, yes, I've read them that many times! These include: David Eddings' Polgara, To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis and almost anything by Mercedes Lackney. 


Please go visit the writings of my fellow writers at Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour and see why they became writers themselves. The first of the month will bring the writings of Alex F. Fayle.  Until next month, happy reading!
 

Keeping Up With the Jones'

Well it's day six of the August session of Camp NaNo and I have to say that I'm very proud of myself. I've managed to keep up with the daily word goals and even surpass them on a couple of days. This is great news since previous camp sessions have not gone so well for me for one reason or another.

I am also quite pleased with my story. My female MC is coming along nicely, though a bit of a scared-y cat, and the male MC is still mysterious and elusive. So all together good...I think. I'm totally letting the characters drive the plot here so I have no idea where I'm going with it which is part of the fun. It's also the same way I won my first NaNo two years ago. Some people need to plot and plan and I'm more a "pantser," that is to say I write by the seat of my pants. It does pose a few problems but not having to refer to notes and conflicting ideas that might come up makes writing for NaNo a lot easier for me.

Today's goals: I'm hoping that I can get today's writing and tomorrow's done as well since I have to go in for surgery tomorrow to have my gallbladder removed. I don't know what kind of state I will be in after surgery so the less writing I have to do tomorrow the better. I also would prefer not to have to play catch-up on the subsequent days. The conclusion? I will be doing a lot of word sprints today!

Distraction Thy Name is Family

Every writer has distractions. It's just the cold hard truth. The phone rings, the dryer buzzes, your stomach growls. It's all a part of life. To add to some of our lots we have families. Children, pets, and spouses. How we ever get any writing done is a mystery. Tell me if any of this sounds familiar.

1. Typing happily, my son playing with his cars and Duplos until he decides that it would be fun to play instead with mommy's laptop power cord. Distraction.

2. The cat is chilly and so decides to take up residence on your laptop keyboard. Distraction.

3. The dog tied up outside takes exception to a rabbit on the opposite side of the yard. Distraction.

4. The dear spouse who can't find something or suddenly decides that now is a great time to do such and such project and needs your help.

Anything ring a bell? Families, as I am slowly learning, are a huge word count eater. Don't get me wrong. I'm not mad or upset but it certainly can be frustrating. Especially when you're in a groove. You know what I mean. You've finally hit your stride and typing or writing at an awesome pace with the story just flowing from your fingertips when *BAM!* a distraction occurs. You go and take care of whatever it is that needs to be done but how to get back into that awesome groove? What do you do?

I know for myself it's never an easy thing to get back into the groove. I usually have to step away and write something else for a bit...a blog post or something (yep, it's why I'm writing this one now!) and come back to it again. For me I haven't found an easier way but I wonder if other ways exist. What do you do to get your writing groove back? Will you share it with me?