Habit Tracking and Revision

I've recently discovered a thing called Bullet Journaling and it has almost overnight helped me improve certain things in my life. If you don't know what Bullet Journaling is it's a type of planning and organization that is highly addictive. Be warned, if you look up Bullet Journal you will go down a rabbit hole if you find that you are interested in it. It's all over YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. People have blogs and stores ad Etsy shops related to it. I speak from recent experience. You have been fairly warned.

Anyway, in planning out my weeks and days in an attempt to be more organized and productive I found that I wanted to track my water intake. I wasn't drinking nearly enough. Each day I made a grid of eight little boxes and colored in one for each eight ounce glass of water I drank. I found myself drinking my water because I wanted to color in thos boxes. I know, it sounds silly, but it works! Then I made a visual representation for a couple of other things that I wanted to achieve and it worked there, too.

I am so happy about these positive changes that I am going to begin tomorrow (May 1st) with a daily revision tracker. I need to do this because editing is my least favorite part of the writing process. And yet it is necessary. So, since I have seen the positive response I have to tracking my habits - and know that it works for me with writing - I'm going to do the same with revisions.

Coffee - A Good Idea

Wordless Wednesday: Airplanes

Teaser Tuesdays: The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Books and a Beat. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from page 26 of The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson:

"Perhaps surgery can be a Sunday hobby, but I assure you poetry is life and death for me, Hugh," said Daniel. "I simply must write. just as you must apparently peer into people's bleeding bodies on the operating table and pickle chicken heads in Aunt Agatha's largest jam jars."

Readathon Wrap-Up

I had a great time with yesterday's Read-a-Thon. I didn't manage the full twenty-four hours but I am all right with that. I started a couple of hours late then got so tired about midnight. So all together I participated for about fourteen to fifteen hours - with a lot of interruptions. Still, it was fantastic.

I did read one complete book which was Hold Me by Susan Mallery. I also read quite a bit out of the book my kids and I have been reading together. That one is Land of Stories - The Enchantress Returns by Chris Colfer. My kids loved the Read-a-Thon but definitely needed a lot of breaks and also playtime with their friends. I think they'll probably want to do it again with me in October but we'll see. I figure anytime we read together is a win, though.

Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now? I'm almost done with Hold Me by Susan Mallery.

2. How many books have you read so far? One

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson.

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? My kids are attempting to do the readathon with me. So of course I've had a lot of interruptions. I don't mind, though. Taking care of their needs gives me the opportunity to get up, stretch and rest my eyes for a little bit before getting back to reading.

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I'm always pleasantly surprised by the level of participation. 

It's Here!

It's Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-Thon day! It happens twice per year (once in Spring and once in Autumn) and it always feels like a holiday! I mean, what's not to like when the day is all about reading?

My start time was five this morning. I didn't make that. I just couldn't do it. It's Saturday, people. Five in the morning was not happening - not even for the joy of reading. I started at 7:45. That's still early for Saturday but much more tolerable. I am currently reading Hold Me by Susan Mallery. I'm a quarter of the way through and enjoying it quite a bit.

My kids are currently watching Cinderella but will be joining in on the reading once it is over. They both have Dork Diary books they want to read. Oh, and we are also enjoying donuts that my husband picked up from the bakery for us. And coffee. Of course I have a coffee sitting next to me, as well. Okay, I'm back to my book now! I hope everyone participating in the Read-a-Thon is off to a great start!

Reading choices for Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon

This is my pile of books (along with my Nook - and many more book choices on top) for Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon tomorrow. I'm also reading Susan Mallery's Hold Me right now which will probably be the book I start out with tomorrow. My kids and I are so excited for the Readathon. We really love participating in this twice per year. I'll ask them if I can take a picture and show their choices. We  went to the library after school today so we could all get some books for tomorrow. 

Wordless Wednesday: The first radish picked from our container garden

Teaser Tuesdays: The Obsession by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Books and a Beat. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from page 236 of The Obsession by Nora Roberts:

"It's a wall of stories. Take out any one, go anywhere. It's Storyland."

Teaser Tuesdays: The Obsession by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Books and a Beat. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from page 17 of The Obsession by Nora Roberts:

"It was her father who did this to me. It was Thomas David Bowes who did this. And it was Naomi who saved me."

The Reading Brain in the Digital Age

I found an incredible article called The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: the Science of Paper versus Screens. If you're interested in reading it go here. 

Write

 

 

Wordless Wednesday: Mandala Madness so far

Teaser Tuesdays: The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Books and a Beat. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from page 29 of The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George:

"Books are more than doctors, of course. Some novels are loving, lifelong companions; some give you a clip around the ear; others are friends who wrap you in warm towels when you've got those autumn blues."

Neil Gaiman on libraries

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/17/neil-gaiman-libraries-are-cultural-seed-corn

Book recommendation

I am reading a delightful book called The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George. It is so wonderful! I think anyone that is a fan of books and a bit of mysticism would like it. There are so many fabulous quotes in here and references to books that I find myself writing down to check out for myself. I am thoroughly enjoying this book! I checked it out from the library. If it stays as good as it has been so far I will probably buy a copy of my own.

Writing Inspiration