War Post: March 22nd's Mashup and ROW80 R1 End

I chose deliberately to be a day late, because I thought that the most appropriate posting day would be the end of Round One for A Round of Words in Eighty Days.  So here in no particular order is all the great links I have found in the past week.

Chuck Wendig reminds us that we must kill self doubt, while using vulgar humor to make us chuckle in: "Writers Must Kill Self Doubt before Self Doubt Kills Them."

Chris Hedges reminds us that America speaks in the language of violence in: "Chris Hedges speaks on Osama Bin Ladin's death."

Justin Rosario lets me know that if I had been raised in Wisconsin, I would have been abused by being raised by a single Mom in: "Wisconsin GOP to Battered Women: Don't Get Divorced."

Marc and Angel give great advice in both: "20 Things to Stop Doing to Others" & "30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself."

Danyelle Leafty is trying to do something special for kids check it out at: "Kindles for Kids Short Story Contest."

Christine Slaughter reminds us government starts within ourselves in: "My Personal Bill of Rights."

Carl Duzett opens our eyes to what Inception is really about in: "Inception is About Storytelling."

Kirk Cunningham of Jollyfish Press gives us valuable tips in: "The 7 Laws of Successful Social Networking."

MaryAnn Pope made the list because she talked about Prince Zuko.  Enough said.  Check it out at: "Antagonists: Depths and Motives."

J.A. Bennett reminds us in the crazy blogging we do of the impact of reading upon our writing in: "The Impact of Reading."

Erin Shakespear recaps a writing conference in Utah where our authors came and showed us how to write better fiction this past weekend in: "Writing for Charity Highlights."

Morgan tells what you can do with those funny looking trash talking trolls that might frequent your page in: "Trolls in the Writing World ... They're There."

Asrai Devin, the Mavin of Mischief shares about her acts of self forgiveness: "Acts of Self Forgiveness."

Alice Dreger informs us about the reality of giving birth in our modern era in: "The most scientific birth is often the least technological birth."

Phil Plait makes a great argument for why Science is so important in: "This is why we invest in Science. This."




After all the serious topics above I thought, "Lets have a good belly laugh."

Kait's Future Beach House

For this First Round of ROW80 I've had great success.  I joined up with ROW80, because I wanted to blog regularly.  Guess what, I blog three times a week because of them now.  I also joined because I wanted to find other people who write like me.  And I got that too!  On their Facebook page I am thrilled to be a part of it because I've met so many wonderful people.  Last of all I joined because I wanted to finish my draft of "Crimes of the Umbramancer."  I didn't get nearly as far with this goal as I would have liked.  I played Skyward Sword, I had weeks of no writing but for blogging, and I've read several wonderful books.  But guess what?  I'm writing more now than I ever have at any time before in my life.  And I'm becoming comfortable with my own voice in writing because blogs forces you to write raw.  ROW80 has been one of the best things for my writing that I could have ever dreamed of.  Kait Nolan, the creator of ROW80, should be given a beach house in the bahamas for such a great idea.

Here are the ending goals of Round One.

1. Finishing Draft Two of "Crimes of the Umbramancer" by the 30th of April.

     I've started the rewrite here and it is going slowly.  But in this rewrite I'm learning concepts that I missed when I wrote the first time.  It is slow going, because I've picked up on a lot of reading.  I've read three books in the past month and before the month is over I want to be done with book four.  But April is crunch time for "Crimes" and I will be doing little reading that month.  Just working out the rewrites I need to do and finishing the draft.  (Yes next month will be a NaNo-like month.)

2. Comment on ten blogs in ROW80:

     This was an epic fail.  I visited the blogs of folks in ROW80, but I don't think I commented on a single ROW80 post.  This is totally unlike me.  As a Sponsor I'll do much better than this, because I know how much a single comment often meant to me when I was starting this.  Often Gene Lempp kept me going when I might have stopped early on.  I owe him a great deal.  Thanks Gene.

3. Walking at least a mile five three times a week.

     ACHIEVED!  By gearing it back I've actually done better than three times a week.  I actually hit four I do believe and it has been awesome.  Glad to be doing this.  Next round I'll be in the middle of a Juice Fast to reboot my body... yeah that's going to be fun.  But totally worth it!

4. Going back to my writing ritual.
   This one is still a struggle for me.  I need to find a time of day that works best for this, and hopefully I'll find it soon.  But I tend to always do scripture study before doing any work on "Crimes."  And that usually makes me quite happy.

I finished this round with so many awesome things happening to me.  I've been to two writing conventions, joined several writing communities, started my own writing group, networked with several professionals, written over 70,000 words, read several books, and improved my relationship with my wife.  She's my Muse and one of the best sources of my ideas.  I don't recognize her enough for her support of my writing and the ideas she gives me.  I am overjoyed with how many good things have happened this round.

I'm still giving away our books of the month: Tankborn by Karen Sandler and Dhalgren by Samuel Delany.  Both of these are excellent books and I'm giving them away this month to a lucky follower of the blog.  Cause I know that not everyone can follow my blog there are two ways to get entries.  One is to actually follow the blog this will get your name put into my hat three times, and the other is to leave a comment on the blog.  For each comment I receive on my blog during the month of March I'll put your name into the hat once.  I enjoy doing this because it gets me reading different books, supporting authors I love, and it allows me an opportunity to give back to you, my audience.

As I've come to the end of this Round of Words, I'm not sure what I want to write about next time.  I'll just have to think about it.  Until then, I'm Jayrod Garrett, the First OG.  PEACE... Oh wait question time: What topic would you like to hear from me on next?