RoW80 Update: RoWing into Wednesday.

It’s been an odd couple of days for me, though not necessarily in a bad way. I did some much-needed rearranging in the bedroom for my rare Monday off, though I didn’t get a lot of writing work done. I’m oddly at peace with that, mostly because I’m finally getting a good grip on the importance of balance between the writing world and the actual world. My morning sessions have been pretty productive, too, though that’s usually the only writing time I manage to squeeze in. I’ve been doing a lot with it, though, and that’s the important part. All in all, things are going well.

Let’s break it down:

Goal One: Promotion. Besides a thread on /r/writing, I haven’t been doing too much promotion. I feel like I’m running out of places to really throw out a line, so maybe it’s run its course. I need to get these packages of books to the post office soon so I can focus on more snail-mail marketing and free book offers again. That’s definitely on the agenda for the day.

Goal Two: Short Stories. The yarn about the mysterious masked woman is almost finished, and I really like it. It’s in the vein of a lot of horror I like to read but rarely write. I’m distracted slightly as I’m considering maybe entering Harliquin’s So You Think You Can Write contest, although Romance is way out of my wheelhouse. It’s important to challenge yourself, though, and I’ve got two ideas brewing in my head, one stronger than the other of a bartending vampire and the paranormal hunter sent in to investigate some seedy activity in Chicago. The other is not as well formed, but focuses on veganism, because I thought it could be an interesting topic for a romantic heroine. As soon as the masked woman story is finished, I’m digging up “A Song for the Underworld,” a modern Orpheus retelling, and trying to find a home for that one. I also need to figure out/recall where I sent “Moon Night”and what it’s current status is. I lost my notebook where I kept track of all of that in the move. Argh.

Goal Three: Madeline. Coming along nicely. Not too much to report, other than the next chapter is going to be a lot of fun to write. I would say more, but I really want to surprise people with this one, though anyone who has researched the subject matter might get what I’m doing with this. Those who haven’t will just be in for a really crazy ride, though it’s all inspired by actual events. I will, however, include a little sample from page 3, since it’s Wednesday:

     I fought the urge to hold such imaginary soirees for myself; it would be easy to make friends with all the shadows lurking in the House of Usher. I didn’t want to fall into the same mad traps of my fragile mother, but the temptation was strong. I finally convinced Roderick to throw old sheets over all the horrific portraits lining the halls, keeping watching over our sitting rooms, gazing down with their dead eyes and dusty finery. I was too quick to want to converse with them, tell them about my day or have them tell me of theirs,or perhaps offer some fairy story or song. We covered them all, except for the ones Roderick had done of us recently, even the one of us when we were children, standing stoically in front of our parents, just as stoic, almost scared. I would never forget the grip Father had on Roderick’s shoulder that day, so tight he said he had bruises there for months, until after our father had died.

Finally, I’ll conclude with another cool image I found from reddit to inspired Heartless….how’s this for an attempt to protect against zombies, huh? (Clearly, it didn’t work).

How’s everyone else doing? Have you checked in with other RoWers here yet? Hard to believe we’re almost done with this round!

Happy writing!