A to do list I stole from Melinda

Melinda's a friend of mine and a great author. Yes, I'm name dropping, but that's okay isn't it?

Here it is. I bolded the ones that I've done.

Have you ever:
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (briefly. I did the bongos)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower (lots, good times)
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis (lots)
10. Sang a solo (still don't know what the heck I was thinking)
11. Bungee jumped (It'll happen)
12. Been to the top of a lighthouse
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (writing is an art)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning (more times than is fair)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (uh, that's a long walk... take the elevator!)
18. Grown your own vegetables (lots!)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France (way more hype than it's worth)
20. Slept on an overnight train (can't confirm this)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (fun, actually got my first ride from my mother)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping (sorry for the offensive image)
27. Ran a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (it was infield.. and it counts, I don't want to hear it)
32. Been on a cruise (a day cruise)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person (briefly. It's a bunch of water falling.)
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (England, Scotland, France... sure)
35. Seen an Amish community (lived in Pennsylvania)
36. Taught yourself a new language (doing Italian)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David (saw a replica somewhere)
41. Sung karaoke (lots, good times)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (it was drawn, but that counts)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (It'll happen)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving (awesome. top ten event)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Eaten New England clam chowder in New England
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (Until they took it away.... jerks)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London (waited for it, took too long, we left)
77. Broken a bone (here's the list: nose three times, arm in two places, foot, tooth, probably a cracked rib once)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (good times)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (It'll happen)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (lived in small town Kanab, anything is newsworthy there)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (Lots of fish.)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (not singlehandedly, but as a team)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (want a list? Here it is (semi-famous): Margot Kidder, Max Casella, Jake Busey, Russell Means, Jason Wiles, Tim LaHaye, Senator Ted Stevens...)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (my wife's given birth to five... that counts right)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee (hundreds of times)

Some changes and links

Hello all
I've added a couple features to my blog. Now you can subscribe to this blog, and I've also got a blog roll going.

Here are a couple links I wanted to share:

http://www.helium.com/marketplace?placement=CL45690

The first here is one that I've shared before. It'll take you to Helium.com's marketplace, where you can find some article titles posted by actual publishers who need work done. May the best article win!

And here's a link to the company I'm working at. This will actually take you to my portal:

http://jaredgarrett.wexlfinancial.com/

Check it out. Let me know what you think of these folks. I'm pretty much blown away.

And that's all for now. I will report on writing later tonight or early tomorrow.

carpe somnium!

You have to check it out!

Hey there all.

I'm the featured writer on www.helium.com today
If you want to see, just click on that link and you will see my ugly mug on the page.

Spread the word.

Reporting and updating

Today I haven't had the time to work on my ImGoToWrANoMo work, due to a variety of reasons, including sleep deficiency, FHE (Family Home Evening for the uninitiated) in which we did the Christmas tree and decorations thing, applying to two jobs--one of which I really should get, and needing to freaking go to bed!

Last week I got in a major hole for sleep. My word count goal for this week is 15,000 and I WILL get it. I will.

Just wait.

I've pretty much finished world-building for my new novel, which has no working title yet. It can wait. I also have some major climaxes put together. I still need at least one support character and a resolution, but I'm going to write the story this week and see where that takes me. Gotta keep it organic and all. Whatever that means.

Stay tuned, or tune in later. I'm going to get this done, although the book might be longer than initially anticipated.

I'm going to bed now. I can't let bedtime slide anymore.

ImGoToWrANoMo report on Friday, December 5.

Okay, I didn't do the 2500 to 3000 words. I did my important world-building, character development, including some peripherals and created my magic system. I also came up with good challenges for Roh.

I'm really tired, very sleepy. I'm intending to write some tomorrow. The outline is almost ready. Then rock and roll.

So about 1300 words in outline done today.

ImGoToWrANoMo report for Thursday, December 4.

Okay then. I had to do a bunch of stuff this evening, not the least of which being make bread and do a big cleaning project.

So I ended up with less time than I wanted. I had about two hours for this.

I wrote an outline of about 1600 words tonight. It's not done, but the shape is coming together nicely. I've really learned a lot about character, conflict and stakes over the last year.

This should be a pretty fun book to write. High stakes, lots of action, and... drum roll please... I'm writing it in first person. Did I say that before? I don't know, but I'm usually very averse to first person.

But it's a fun experiment. I'm liking the possibilities.

I'll go ahead and make sure I write 3000 words tomorrow and all next week so that I can make up the novel word count I lost today.

This is the fifth night in a row that I'm up til 2 am. I gotta stop this and do my writing in the AM. I have a plan to help me do this starting next week. For now, it's bed time and I'm going to go catch some z's.

carpe somnium!

ImGoToWrANoMo Report for Wednesday, December 3, 2008.

Okay. Last night I decided to see what I could do with a book idea I had about four years ago. I wrote the first chapter, loved the kernel of the story but was unhappy with the tone and style, and put it away, thinking of it often.

So it's about a kid named Roger Hollacher, or Roh, and some magical and terrifying things that happen to him. He's exceedingly overweight, surprisingly fast, a good cook, likes to count to seven and sees patterns of seven in lots of things, and may actually not be entirely human.

We'll see.

I wrote... 3570 words today. I keep having to turn off my mental editor. This is going to be good practice, even if the book itself sucks.

I have the first chapter, with some nice character stuff, some conflict and motivation, and at least one inciting event. It ends with a nice image.

Tomorrow I might not shoot for the goal, although I'll probably hit it in a different way. I need to outline this story somewhat. I need to know in general where it is going. If I do this, I will feel more comfortable with letting Roh as a character have his way. I won't make a terribly detailed outline, but it will have the general arc, highlight moments, and very likely a resolution, although all of that's flexible.

It's good to be writing. This was hard. I kept getting up to get a drink and wanting to check my e-mail.

Tomorrow another report. Until then...

carpe somnium

What's December without a little extra?

Okay, here's the deal.

I'm calling December my

ImGoToWrANoMo (pronounced however you choose).

I'm Going To Write A Novel Month is what that all means.

And it's true. I'm going to write from 2500-3000 words each day of this month, not including Sundays and perhaps including Saturdays, but not very likely. This means that I have three days this week, five the next, five the next, five the next and three the last week. That gives me 21 days of writing.

Meaning my 1st Draft of the novel will be about 50,000 words to 63,000 words.

I'm not ruling out doing more than my goal on any given day, but I will. not. do. less.

This is an experiment and a demonstration of my commitment.

It will take me about two to three hours each day to hit my goal. That means I will need to set aside some time for it. That time will be early in the morning, right after I exercise, and I will make up any additional time in the evening.

I will report daily. Possibly twice daily. Stay tuned.

Oh, and I'm really not sure what the novel's going to be about. That's what I'm going to decide tonight.

I'm out for now.

carpe somnium

By the way, check out http://www.helium.com/marketplace?placement=CL45690 to see some great writing opportunities that can actually make you a bit of cash.