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January 2022 Fly-By Status Report – So we’re still in a pandemic, okay…I kinda wish it would snow…I need a cup of tea before I can start editing…
Well hi! Smiley day to ya! Why yes, I have been watching a lot of Critical Role lately, and no, I’m not procrastinating, why? Why would you even say that? I’m hurt. My new writing deadline to submit to an editor is April, which evens out to editing roughly a chapter a day if I play my cards right. But as I get closer to the end and I’m staring at a bunch of loose threads, I don’t think I’m gonna always be able to measure by chapter, there will be lots of jumping around and organizing data to make sure I finish everything up as neatly as possible. Which…
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September 2021 Fly-By Status Report – The State of the Art
Ahoy there! Just swinging by to update you on what’s been going on since my last report. View this post on Instagram A post shared by PuellaDocta's Minlandia (@myminlandia) The Etsy shop sales went slowly this summer, even as I was investigating other selling avenues that haven’t panned out yet, so I decided to take a break until Dragon Con got closer. I’ll come back to Dragon Con a little bit later in the post, but if you haven’t followed Sunlit Nook on Instagram or Facebook you totally should! I’m taking a break from MomoCon this year. Because of COVID Delta shenaniganery they decided to postpone til winter, and I…
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January/February 2021 Fly-By Status Report – 2021 Vision
Well, looks like I totally blew past my Fall/Winter 2020 Status Report. I think because nothing really changed in the goal department for 6 months! What even did I want to do *consults last post*…OH YEAH apparently I got rid of my agenda thing cuz it was boring. Good idea. So here’s what I’ve been up to, and what I hope to achieve! The Etsy shop is doing pretty well! Still not making a ton, but I am making a little money from it, and I’m having fun, so that’s all that matters! I’ve been doodling more with my Wacom tablet, and I designed the shrinky dink Japanese heart jewelry…
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January-March 2020 Fly-By Status Report – Creating in a Time of Coronavirus
Hello everyone! I’m sitting on my couch, where I do most of my work & editing, and I’m here with my cats and Wervyn, and despite the coronavirus spreading outside, with this social distancing we’re in introvert heaven! But I was having a lot of anxiety for the last couple of weeks; in addition to not knowing if I was going to have enough groceries, my church office coworkers and I were scrambling to get everything together for live-streaming Sunday services, which was mad hectic. But I’m taking off work till April 1, and we have enough food, so I’m feeling a lot better already! And with the open schedule,…
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May 2018 Fly-By Status Report – Gardening, PitMad and Pitch Wars take 2!
Hello, all! Can I just say that I freaking love late spring? It’s warm, things are growing, and down south it’s not too hot yet. We’ve also had a swath of glorious sunny, breezy days one after another, which got broken by rain JUST in time to water everything I’ve recently planted. Yeah, my coping with MomoCon stress mechanism has turned to gardening this year, as we just got some landscaping done and the time feels right. Speaking of MomoCon, IT STARTS THIS WEEK, so I wanted to make sure I got this sucker out before it got completely shoved out of my brain. And as I look back on…
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January 2018 Fly-By Status Report – I joined a writer’s group!
Greetings, readers! Nice to see you on the other end of Christmas & New Years! Finally. Dang, I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to put my thoughts and hopes for this year in blog post form yet, til now, when January is ALMOST OVER! (I’m curious, who actually reads these updates, or are they pretty much just for me? If you do, leave a comment and say hi!) Right now I’m typing to the dulcet sounds of workmen trimming the giant tree in my front yard (buzz saws and thuds on my roof), and now that I finally got WordPress to upload images again (ugghh), it’s time for my January…
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September 2017 Fly-By Status Report – I have con crud, but summer was great!
Good day and well-met! I’m feeling geeky, I just got back from Dragon Con and bought a whole USB of the Brobdingnagian Bards’ music, so that’s what I’ll be listening to, and eating pumpkin chili while we get our roof replaced as I fight off a cold and make millions of phone calls ? (“Oh, is that all?” I can hear you saying through the computer.) SO, how was the last three months? Busy, yet surprisingly chill! One gigantic highlight was seeing the total solar eclipse, which I made a vlog of, and you should totally watch it! As for writing, I’ve had a lot of success breaking things down into smaller…
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May 2017 Fly-By Status Report – Just Keep Swimming!
It’s time for another Fly-By Status report! And I’m up to my waist in MomoCon directing duties. But omg, we’re already a third into 2017! Dang, where does the time go? And I feel like I have very few brain cells to even process this blog post with everything going on right now. However, one of my part-time jobs just ended, so I have more time to do everything else I’ve been too busy to work on (in theory). SO, did I achieve my goals for the past 4 months? Long Term Doing some hardcore outlining and rewriting the style of my YA fantasy novel Sign of the Redwing in preparation for an…
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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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Sept. 2016 Fly-By Status Report – Super-Charged Summer
*careens into blog, hair flying, adjusting glasses* Whew! Hey guys! How was your summer? Mine was great, and relentlessly busy, including 4 trips in 4 months, getting an additional part-time job, and being in a play! Which, in addition to regular life stuff, means I had no extra mental space for blogging! I know it’s the last day of September, and I want to get my tri-annual update in to keep myself honest. So let’s see how much I got done that I wanted to do. Here’s my Summer Agenda 2016 plans from my home page. If it’s crossed out, it means it’s finished, or I’ve edited the original plan,…
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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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Dear Awkward August
Dear August, Do you know how freaking awkward you are? Especially this year, you just feel really, really awkward. I have nothing against you, August, at all. Some of my favorite people have birthdays this month! But being the planner that I am, I sometimes find myself impatient for the next thing: the next big holiday or event, the next trip, or the next phase of a project. This isn’t necessarily a good thing, it’s just how my mind naturally tends to process, but as a result I’ve really been trying to make myself stop and enjoy the time I’m in at the moment. It’s a very intentional thing and isn’t always easy. So,…
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Puelladocta & the Search for More Money
Alas, my dear readers, I regret to tell you that I am taking a novel writing hiatus, in favor of that most persistent of goals, The Search for More Money. Unfortunately, though I’ve been looking for consistent full-time and part-time employment in the graphic design field, I’ve been neglecting my design and programming skills, in favor of writing. Which seems counter-intuitive now that I think about it. That and my portfolio site needs a serious overhaul. Plus, I want to sharpen my dulled artistic strengths, and I have other interests I want to investigate, like technical and article writing. But to develop those things, I must take a break from…
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BACK UP YOUR WORK, a lament {UPDATED}
Come all my dear computer lovers And take a warning how you work If you don’t save your efforts elsewhere It will be there, and then it’s gone. I wish I’d known before I’d lost it Time I had left, my files to move For when it died, without a warning It left me here in grief to moan. Inspired by Jim Moray’s “Fair and Tender Lovers.” On Valentine’s Day, I opened my laptop, signed in, the screen was on for a few seconds, and no sooner had I plugged in my headphones, it completely turned off. No blue screen, no pop up error warnings, just black. With a whirr…
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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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NaNoWriMo, Thankful, and Christmas AdvenTea
I update you on my most recent things, go over some of the biggest things I’m thankful for, and announce an excited string of Christmas videos, and it involves tea! Thanks to an awesome present from my father-in-law, I’m doing a tea advent calendar on my Youtube Channel. I’m posting them in a playlist, which you’ll find below. Enjoy!
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Keeping my writing alive, even though I’m busy!
I lament at the lack of writing and editing I've done recently, but I share in 3 steps how I plan to change that, and how you can too. I again sing the praises of National Novel Writing Month, and share my list of editing plans. Click the blog header to read more.
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Confessions of an Insecure Author* (Post #200!)
*I know, pretty much all you authors out there are. 😛 So, come commiserate with me. So, Labor Day weekend was a roller coaster for my writing emotions. For the first part of the weekend, we spent some time with friends at a beautiful farm house inn. I went to sleep to the sounds of thunder storms or barking farm dogs (kept there to chase off coyotes) and woke up to the misty mornings of sweet, quiet open space, punctuated by rooster calls. We ate breakfast in the common room with the other guests, and I met a fellow tea lover and tea pot collector at the hot drink bar, who told me she’s…
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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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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 #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 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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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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Editing! See? I’m productive!
Hubs and I sitting down to do some intensive editing. Continuity is still a problem 😛
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Writer Dreams Writing Dreams
BOOK Y U NO EDIT URSELF?! I HAS JOBS TO DO!No wait come back I miss you 🙁
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The Book Editing Blues
*bluesy strum* Did my novel wrong before, but now it’s done me wrong too *harmonica* And I’m tryin’ hard to figure out just what I gotta do. I got the book editing blues, oh yeah…
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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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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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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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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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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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Dawn Treader Party (and Editor Update)
I went to an amazing party in honor of The Dawn Treader coming out in theatres! I geek out, and give a quick update on how my editor is coming with my manuscript. Check out other amazing stuff my mom-in-law has done: http://eventsbyemily.tumblr.com/ { Previously geeking about this house’s epic nerdiness on Facebook }
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Halloween Approacheth! And HIATUS!
“And a ship, a black freighter with the skull on its masthead…” Hallo, all! It’s already the second week of October, and already the air is filled with ghost stories and candy bowls are filled with candy! And my life is full of events and busy things which are really dragging on my ability to write good posts, so I’m definitely thinking a hiatus is in order. I’m planning at least one vlog, so I won’t be totally silent, but no blog entries until closer to Halloween. Thanks for understanding, guys. I love autumn, and I’ve been collecting–at my own mental peril–crazy murder & mayhem stories and ghost stories about…
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*emerging from my locked writing office*
This quote epitomizes my life right now, as I endeavor to tie up loose ends and just get this story out of me. You have to allow yourself the liberty of writing poorly. You have to get the bulk of it done, and then you start to refine it. You have to put down less than marvelous material just to keep going to whatever you think the end is going to be — which may be something else altogether by the time you get there. ~LARRY GELBART There will be many edits to come, but right now I just have to whip this beast into submission!
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All within me cries out
I officially have the crucial details for the rest of the book, aka the last 3-5 chapters. So let it be written, so let it be done! *clap clap*
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Just a few more miles to go
I had a chance to talk with one of my local writing friends today, and she read Ch. 19 to give me feedback. Oh my gosh, she said she loved it! She said it was so intense and gripping and she couldn’t wait to see what would happen next! *squee!* I’ve realized that this is the closest I’ve ever come to finishing a book that I haven’t really rushed. I’ve consistently written from the deepest part of my gut, and I’m actually really proud of all of it so far. Sure, there will still be editing and critiques to figure in, but I am absolutely elated. I am already three…
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So this is what the end feels like…
Juggling writing with freelance work now, so I have more time. I’m getting to a very exciting part of the story, where things get worse before they get better. Believe it or not, I am making a valiant DO (there is no try) to finish the entire thing before Aug. 14th. So I will definitely be hauling tail the next week or so. I’m really excited!
