Sunday, February 19, 2012

Check In: 19 Feb, 2012

One of the best things about doing A Round of Words has been he fact that it has forced me to work on growing as a writer in so many ways.  I've spent a lot of time building my blog into a more professional enterprise, started writing more regularly, and had the great blessing of getting integrated into various writing communities.

This past Friday my wife and I went out to take some pictures for my blog.  Unfortunately we got out a little late and they didn't turn out as well as we were hoping for, but these are some of the best ones.  These are made with the idea of urban fantasy in mind.

For some reason I see men in suits and fedoras with chainmail underneath their clothing.  And they would be toting both guns and swords, for different reasons.  Perhaps it is just my imagination running away from me, or I've read way too much of the Dresden Files.

The end of this week has been a great success especially considering the dry spell which preceded it.  Between the pictures and other great news I couldn't ask for things to be better.  Here's how the goals for the week went.

1. Finishing a Scene of "Crimes of the Umbramancer" each day.
     I have finished a scene a day since Wednesday and now I have actually hit the point in my story where it begins to take off.  But the ground work has been laid I believe to tell a very compelling story. I am either at the half way point or the one third point.  And all signs are looking towards finishing the draft at the end of April.
2. Comment on ten blogs in ROW80:
     Done!  Commented on way more than that, but I see no reason to up the goal.  I have enough other things going on in my life.  Weeks where I will only get through my ten are coming I feel it.
3. No more than twelve hours of video games per week.
     Earlier this week I said no more Zelda.  That was before I realized it was a long weekend.  So I put only a few more hours into it and now I have beaten Zelda: Skyward Sword.  Which means I have no more distractions.  I'll be able to make more progress on my fiction each week hopefully.
4. Bedtime between 11PM and Midnight each day so I can be up at six or seven to take advantage of the early hours to write.
     I'm scrapping this goal.  I fail at it repeatedly.  And I'm going to change my focus to writing at night when I am at my best.  Hopefully I'll find folks to do wordmongering with me then too.
5. Walking at least a mile five times a week.
     Still no progress.  However my wife and I purchased a new awesome blender this last night and will hopefully be living more healthy lives in the near future.
6. Finding a new job in the upcoming month.
    On Friday I was given two job offers instead of one!  My wife and I went out to dinner to celebrate.  It was a wonderful evening.
7. Building a new blog for my diversity issue.
   I've done work with at-risk children, served overseas in Iraq twice, lived in Hawaii for two years, been in the Utah Army National Guard for almost twelve years, and been in an interracial marriage for nearly five years.  I can't claim to have read a lot of multicultural novels in my day, but I know about diversity.  Which is why I'm reading The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms this month.  I know from experience what diversity is, and I want to be able to show you in literature how this is best executed.

I'm excited for this upcoming week.  I expect to keep my goals and finally get to a regular schedule at last, which will give me a better routine in which I can accomplish writing my fiction each day.  I'm even hoping that I can get my walking done.  Here's to a grand new week.

*As a reminder I wanted to mention that to share my gratitude with my readers for commenting on my blog, I am offering three lucky people a copy book I am currently reading: "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms" by N.K. Jemisin.  It is a great book that I'm really enjoying.  Think of it as my way of saying thank you for conversing with me.

My name is Jayrod Garrett and I'm the First OG.  Don't make him angry, he likes to stab folks.  Here's some other ROW80 folks who don't have swords.

*Oops sorry I forgot this earlier!  Thank goodness for wonderful wives who catch mistakes!  I love you, Jenny!


14 comments:

  1. I'm yet to play my Skyward Sword... I got the special edition and was saddened to find none of the ocarina songs on the CD... then Skyrim keep calling me... and calling...

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    1. The CD is still amazing though! I actually listen to it frequently while writing. I know a lot of folks who got caught up in the Skyrim bug. I just prefer more party driven RP so I haven't really touched it. Zelda is the exception not the rule. Thanks for commenting!

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  2. Good goals and an interesting life! I hope you make excellent progress!

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  3. This is the first time I've gotten around to your blog, I think. There are so many ROW80ers, it's hard to see everyone. But I really enjoyed your post. It sounds like you're doing great on some goals, and need to work on others. You know, kind of like the rest of us. :) Congrats on two job offers!

    It sounds like your life has been full of diversity. That probably makes you an extremely interesting person. :)

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    1. There are a lot of us! I've never gotten around to everyone. But that is part of what makes a community, you are all there together, not that you all know one another, but you are all driven by the same purpose.

      I'm hoping that my diversity is enough to enable folks to trust me as an authority on how to do it in speculative fiction. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for visiting.

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    2. How very interesting. I'm totally with you re your history of diversity - mines all walks of backgrounds and professions. Specifically mental health, criminality with men, women and children.

      Good for you on the jobs front too - brilliant news indeed in these unfortunate times. Well done.

      I do have a suggestion (its only that, feel free to ignore it) I find it difficult to read your post because its blue on black. Black on white would be much more readers friendly - I used did something similar with my first blog design and got so many complaints I redesigned it - I also had a blog evaluation last year and was told that blogs with black on white background were more read and better received than those with any colour on black) . Again, feel free to ignore this advise, I just wanted to share with you something I have learned. :)

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    3. Always good to see someone else who might get what I am saying here. And thank you for your praise on the job front. Now as for that recommendation. Well I took it. It is good advice and anytime I can get that I'll snatch it up in a heartbeat. I'm still new at this so I expect to make all sorts of newbie mistakes, thanks for being willing to point out a flaw. You rock!

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  4. Nice to finally see your blog! I have enjoyed our interactions on Twitter and I apologize for not being very available on #wordmongering lately. I have been rather busy lately and I have been trying to figure out what schedule works best for me. I very well may be working more at night since it tends to be quieter around here. I often lay awake for a couple of hours trying to go to sleep and then when I wake up later in the morning I wish I had written the night before.

    Congratulations on working your goals!

    Peace,
    Morgan

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    1. Morgan, don't worry about it. I understand how you feel entirely. Get your schedule down and I'll look forward to seeing you soon. And thanks for commenting!

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  5. You know, you talk about diversity in fiction... or that's how I read it... what a fascinating thought.

    I call myself and equality activist... I like to think I am color blind... choosing to see underneath ethnicity yet honoring each individual (does that make sense?) and with my son having autism, in education I see a whole different layer of diversity and equality is necessary.

    I know of one novelist who incorporates characters on the spectrum a lot, but it is usually one character. I can't even think of an ethnically diverse novel or a novel with both gay and straight characters. I never thought of it until now.

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    1. You probably are color blind Julie. :D You want to see the world a certain way and so you seek it out in your everyday life. But honestly I want to write fiction that forces people to recognize new cultures and ideas other than their own. That is a huge part of the novel I am currently working on.
      To be honest I'm not ready to do both gay and straight characters in my opinion simply because I don't know enough about their culture yet, but I'm learning. I don't think as a writer my place is to take sides politically in issues, but to explore the ramifications of actions for both sides and allow people to see what their choices really do to others.

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  6. I get tied up with my writing and my own blog..LOOK AT what I missed!!! THE PICS ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!
    2 job offers..I'm so happy for you both :-))

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    1. Hey, I had some great teachers Natasha. I've seen a lot of good blogs, I just stole– I mean studied what others had done and tried to create quality.

      Update on the job... it was only one offer and I took it! Now to figure out how to get 10 more hours.

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