Describe this lantern. Why is it crooked. Why would someone hang it this way? Describe that person.
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Stories and Adventure
Yesterday was one of those beautifully warm spring days, so I took the kids out for a mini-adventure. It reminded me that as a writer, how important it is to never stop experiencing, even if the experience—or maybe especially if—the experience is just around the corner. I put on my white mukluks, and off we went to the gutted truck I’d been seeing from the road for months.
Not far from my house, the city is in the process of building a new dog park, which meant that in the fall they stripped out some of the natural woods to make a few walking paths. We used to go adventuring in the woods, when they were a bigger, more mysterious tangle, and never came up on the truck cab that was revealed during construction.
Adventures come in all shapes and sizes and I’ve done a lot of traveling and a lot of adventuring. Some of these adventures have made it into my writing, and others are waiting to be spun into tales, and some are just journal entries in my photo books. But there are so many adventures I’ve had that just make me who I am, that make my characters who they are, and that just make me love life. So, we had a little adventure, I love it, I covered my boots in mud, and we came home and had a snack.
Yesterday was a great day, not just because of the adventure but because I bought myself that reward I discussed in my previous post for making it to the halfway point in my writing 365,000 words in a year goal. I bought myself a copy of Carve the Mark, by Veronica Roth, which happened to be on sale at Costco. Yay, cheap books! And a sweater. Just don’t tell my husband. Wait, my husband reads this blog… too late! So, I have a new book on my shelf, which I likely won’t get around to reading for a while. It has a nice cover, but and even nicer cover if you take the wrapping off. If you haven’t done that and check it out, do. I won’t ruin the surprise by posting a picture here.
I’m just going to look at it and smile.
JEH
365K in Year Update #18
Well, this past week was horrible for writing. In part because I went on a mini-vacation to a friends farm where we went ice fishing. It was a great time but I really let my word count slide. 
As you can see, as off a couple days ago I am 6K behind my goal. This means I have some busy days ahead. I’m not going to list all of my excuses here, because they are just excuses. Even though I’m busy and stressed and life is crazy, writing 1K a day takes me around 30 minutes and makes me feel better. I should be doing it, but sometimes I just don’t. But I’m going to do better, because this goal means a lot to me. Last night I sat down with my notebook and wrote 1K, the day before I managed around 500 words. I’m going to keep pushing on this, and I’m really enjoying the return to writing by hand. There is just something indescribable about the hand-mind-creative connection when writing with pen and paper. Writing is not the same on the computer, at least not for me. It isn’t near as immersive, and I find my worlds aren’t as richly detailed.
Below are a few amazing pictures from my ice fishing trip. I caught two fish and they tasted amazing! It was nice to do something fun in the winter, other than just sitting inside and reading that is. I was a guest at my wonderful friends farm, which you can read more about on her blog, North Chick Farm Shop. It was a great weekend. What did you get up to?
The
JEH
Weekly Writing Prompt
Your character is a guest at this destination wedding. Are they early or late? Are they part of the bridal party or a wedding crasher? Set the scene and write for five minutes, and then as long as you want, on whatever you want.
Happy Valentine’s Day
I hope everyone is finding a bit of love today! I’m planning to squeeze in time with the people and things I love today. Especially my books! Reading a romance that’s fitting for the season. Moonlight Over Paris. I’ll have a review later this week.
JEH
Weekly Writing Prompt
Who is this woman? When is she living? What does she do every day? What does she eat for breakfast? What does she dream about? What is her deepest secret? Write for five minutes on paper.
Coffees, Words, and Update #16
Where to start? I’ve been so busy with writing events this week that I haven’t had much time left to blog, especially when trying to fit in my 1,000 words a day of drafting and some rewriting. I’m currently running right on target and I’m going to have to try to fit in a marathon day sometime soon to get my cushion up again. I like having a cushion. It keeps me comfortable. I attended multiple readings this week and a small seminar put on by the Saskatchewan Writer’s Guild, called Writing North. This years theme was Mutations, and it was interesting to hear so much discussion about change.
As a writer busy with rewrites, things are constantly changing for me. A word here, a sentence there, a whole chapters. Characters, colours, sounds. Everything changes during a rewrite. Nothing is sacred, everything is on the line. I have to say that I’m enjoying rewriting at the moment. When life is busy, or higher stress, I find rewriting easier than drafting because the pressure is off. Though sometimes I just have to draft to get some of the stress out. But mostly I like rewriting. This past week was pull of coffee and tea and all kinds of words. Here are a couple of my favourite pictures for the week, including the muffins I made tonight:
This week I’m going to announce more about my rewriting project. I’m so excited. It’s something that’s been sitting around my desk forever so it’s so fun to prepare it for the world!
I just tried to touch my laptop screen to autocorrect a word like I do on my tablet. I’m taking that as a sign that I’m too tired to continue tonight. You should see a bit more of me this week, as there aren’t any writing events. Talk later!
JEH
365K Words In a Year Update #14
Well, soon I will be sitting on a hot beach reading and writing away. I’m looking forward to my vacation, and will be taking a short break from blogging to enjoy myself. Don’t worry, I’ll be back for the second half of a January, and I’ll report on my word count then. So far, I’m still 12,000 words ahead of my goal.
Have a great week!
JEH
What I’m Reading: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Ruthfoss
I’ve decided to branch out a bit. I read a lot, and I read quite a bit of stuff that is not Young Adult. I’ve decided to blog more about books I read that I enjoy, though these won’t be included on my Young Adult Fiction Book review page.
To that end, I’ve spent the past month devouring The Name of the Wind by Patrick Ruthfoss. I LOVED this book. Yes, I love a lot of fantasy, it is probably my favourite genre, but there was just something so immersive about The Name of the Wind. This was the kind of book that I would read past my bed time, only to put it down and then dream about it. It had it’s own kind of plot-style as a story, within a story, and a central mystery which very little is revealed in the first book. Ruthfoss is a beautiful writer and I cannot wait to read the next book. In face, I bought book two as Christmas present for my husband, even though he hadn’t read the first one yet. So yeah, I really bought it for myself.
5/5 Stars.
JE
Happy New Year!
J. E. H U N T E R 