A Conspiracy Theory

This week has been crazy,
as I attempt to juggle a bunch of things.

Beyond that I was hoping to have my whole book edited by the end of January,
I'm averaging at about 5 chapters a week,
which is wonderful,
but not enough.

I'm about half way through my manuscript,
and I wanted to enter a contest at the end of March,
(giving myself a month away from my WIP to let it simmer in its own juices),
so I do have some buffer.
Drinking my Jolt Cola now...lol.

Here is a ROW80 run down of my week so far.

1. Doing well in this regard. Not surfing the net nearly as often. :)
2. Yup, recording my writing hours pretty much faithfully.
3. Yup, 500 words at least a day.

1. Signing in for ROW80 for the first time.
2. No blogs visited yet this week...but the week is still young. :)
3. Hope to get my extra blog post in at the end of this week.

Hope to get out visiting more this week. It's been crazy with all my appliances in my house conspiring to break down at the same time. :(
...I can hear them whispering...

I hope to get out and visit other blogs and see how you're making out in your ROW80 goals. Is anything in your life conspiring against you (an oven or a fridge perhaps)? Let me know...it might make me feel better...lol.

A Good Week - ROW80 Check-in

Just a quick check in as I want to get back to my writing...
such a wonderful feeling to say that. :)
But it's so true!
ROW80 has really worked to help me commit to my writing goals.
I am very happy with the progress I am making.

1. I still find myself struggling once in awhile but my attention span for my writing has gotten much better!
2. Recording my writing times. Sometimes I forget but I'm trying to remember to do it every day.
3. Yup, got my 500 words a day.

1. Signed in for ROW80 both days.
2. I was able to visit eight blogs so I was only two short.
3. Did not manage to get to my extra blog post this week. Perhaps I will do one tonight.

All in all a good week, especially considering I am using some of my "spare time" (ha ha) to help my dear husband (who is awesome) to finish an extra bedroom in the basement. Always busy. :D

How are your goals going? Are you managing to put pen to paper (or fingers to keys) everyday? Drop me a line and I will take a chance to drop by your blog to check out your progress. Happy writing. :)

A Stumble and a Save

Had a rough chapter that took me a couple days of stewing before I got through it.
I just had to think it through a bit so I did:
over dishes, while driving the kids around, before falling asleep at night.
Until I found the right thread to pull to release the knot. :)
Yesterday, however, I recovered and was able to edit a chapter and rewrite two more.
I'm rolling right along in my writing. :)

So here it goes:
1. I'm getting better at focusing and not going to the social media. Not even tempted anymore. Definitely worth doing! It has paid me back with interest.
2. Faithfully recorded all my writing hours.
3. Yup, got in my 500 words a day.

1. Signing in for ROW80 today. :)
2. Visited two blogs so far. Hope to visit some more tonight.
3. Will do my extra blog post on Saturday.

How are my fellow writers doing? What gets you stuck and unstuck in your writing? Leave me a comment and let me know!

ROW80 check in: On a Roll. :)

I had a wonderful week!!
After a long time of short stints in my writing,
I am finally making some substantial headway!
And man, does it feel good. :)

So here it goes:
1. I don't know that I got three consecutive hours some nights but I have been able to avoid the social media during my writing time. I managed to get one chapter edited an evening during the week this way. Yesterday I was able to edit four chapters, help my husband with some work on the house and clean up the house a bit. Man, being productive never felt soooo good. :)
2.I kept a record of my writing this week for pretty much each day. I love doing this as I find that I'm more productive because I have to be accountable for the time I'm using. Very nice!
3.Yes, I did get at least 500 words in. Much more once I got started.

1. This is my second sign in for ROW80 this week. :)
2. I visited six blogs which is up from before but still not the ten I want to get to. Oh well, a new week is coming up. :)
3. I was able to do an extra book review blog post yesterday.

This week went very smoothly for me thanks to some productivity tricks and some good old fashion elbow grease. It makes going into the next week even more exciting!!

How's it going with the rest of my fellow ROW80ers? Each one of you that have visited my blog have successfully encouraged me closer to my goal. Thank you!! I hope you are also taking baby steps towards your goals. Drop me a line to let me know how it's going--I'd love to hear!!

The Dopple Ganger Chronicles: The Secret Escape

 

The First Escape & The Secret of the Indigo Moon - by G.P. Taylor (Book 1 & 2 in The Dopple Ganger Chronicles).

Artwork by Daniel Boultwood, Joseph Sapulich, and Tony Lee.

Graphic Novel or Illustranovella

278 and 291 pages

Back cover of The First Escape: At Isambard Dunstan's School for Wayward Children, life is trouble for fourteen-year-old identical twins Sadie and Saskia Dopple and their friend, former thief Erik Morrissey Ganger. But what starts out as a perfectly normal day of food fights, rioting classmates, and (yawn) threats of expulsion goes suddenly and horribly wrong when a mysterious, wealthy woman appears at the school and adopts Saskia...without her sister.

So begins the adventures of Sadie, Saskia and Erik. Touted by the Heaven and Earth show on the BBC as "The new C.S. Lewis" I was a little disappointed after finishing the first book. Not to be deterred I decided to read the second book before doing my review. Here are my findings.

As a Writer...when I saw these books on the shelf I was immediately intrigued. Still being a kid at heart I loved the mixture of writing and pictures that Taylor had done. His writing has many tangible phrases in it which draw the reader into the book. The art work is fantastic and really draws you into the story. This is a wonderful hybrid for kids and adults as well to read.

As a Christian...I was excited to see something so innovative and new on the shelves for Christians. That being said, the story line is a little dark. It paints evil as well, evil. Although not gory or over explicit it does put the main characters in scary situations. I was a little disappointed after reading the first book as it seemed to have very little Christian themes in it. Not to be deterred I decided to give the second book a chance. I am glad that I did! In the first book there is very little to like about the mischievous protagonists, Sadie and Saskia. They go beyond the boundary of being merely naughty children. But the second book has exciting character development. Not to mention it contains much more of the Christian theme. So, if you are a brave reader looking for something new you may want to take a look. My only warning is not to stop at the first book. There are many more redeeming qualities in the second book.

As a Mother... I barely got through the first book before it was taken by my oldest child! I would recommend these books for older children due to frightening scenes. These books would appeal to those children who struggle to read as the excitement and artwork help them to make it through the books. Probably why the London Times calls it "Hotter than Potter."

I give this book   .

You can check out the Dopple Ganger Chronicles website here. 

G.P. Taylor's website is here.

I hope to read the final book shortly,

and I will review it on the blog as well.