War Post: March 29th Mashup and PreROW R2 Goals

I try to be up with my postings pretty much monday or tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, or Friday or Saturday so that leave Sundays for me to work on my own writing.  Lately I've been bouncing between days a little more than I like and I apologize for that, unfortunately life has been more hectic around the Garrett House and we are trying to figure out how to make everything work.  But you didn't really come here to listen to me complain about my life.  You came for the Mashup.  And here it is!

Jennifer Simonson tickles our funny bone with: "Lines from The Princess Bride that double as comments on Freshman Composition Papers."

Malcolm Gladwell upsets the balance by showing the little guy how to win in: "How David Beats Goliath."

Eric Zadawski opens up about the bigness of noveling in: "One Draft Contains Multitudes."

Laura Simms shares with us a tale about the abandonment of the root of all evil in: "quitting money: crazy?  or free?  or crazy free?"

Breeana Puttroff shares the mysteries of the little blue bird in: "Twitter Tuesdays: Lists."

Peder Hill points out how we can be better parents to our children in:"Four Things a Parent Must Never Do When Angry."

Donna Newton shares with us a plethora of awesome writing opportunities in: "Classes, Competitions, and Writing Opportunities Round Up #30."

Dan Blank of We Grow Media shares an opportunity for writers to learn about platform in: "Free Webinar: Author Platform Makeover."

Tracy Hickman, one of my heroes, shares some advice to writers about how to make it in the business in: "Writer vs. The World."

August McLaughlin gives us new insights into controversy in:"Controversial Blog Posts: How to Make Them Work."

David Murton shares some important tips about how to get more comments on your blog in: "9 Ways to Get People to Post Comments on Your Blog."

Kate Conner tells young women everywhere some of the most important advice ever in: "Ten Things I Want To Tell Teenage Girls."

Linda Yezak reminds us of the behind the scenes work of writing in: "Dancing with the Words."

Donna Weaver shares a really important idea about energy in: "Personalities: Introvert and Extrovert."

Kevin Hiatt reminds us that defeat, and surrender are not the attributes of writers in: "Who am I?"

Karen Sandler gives us a scoop on diversity writing in: "Why writing Multi-Culturally is so much fun."

Karen McFarland gets down to the fundamentals of writing a character in: "Guest Post by Bob Mayer."

M.C. Eging gets a friend, Charlie Holmberg, to post for us on one of my favorite topics: "World Building for Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels."



And for some fine music to let the soul breathe.
Now as I am preparing for the Second Round of ROW80 I'm really thinking about how I'm going to push myself further than I did in Round One and I've decided that I need to in order to make my goals for my writing.  I love blogging, it gives me such an opportunity to share my thoughts, but I really need to focus on my fiction now.  I've found myself back in worldbuilding mode and while it is a wonderful place to be, I'd much rather be writing because I learn more from that than from anything else.  As for what I want to do for the next round here are my goals:

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

     This will be a NaNoWriMo month.  I know where I am in this and I need to get through a draft.  No more playing around.  I know I can do this I just have to put my time into this rather than other hobbies for a month.  It means I won't a lot read next month, but seriously I don't think that is the most important thing for me at the moment.  But rather to finish this draft so I can figure out better how I will tie the culture I want into it.

2. Exercise five times a week.

     I'm actually doing much more in the way of exercise and I want this as an ongoing goal, because I just need to have it up here.  I've been getting in three to five times a week for a couple of weeks now and I think I can really focus on this for now.
3. Finishing up my school work from my last semester in College.
     I've been struggling with this because I just haven't felt really inspired to it.  So I thought I'd share this with our community and work my way through it with the wonderful energy you help me to develop.  I have to be done with this by mid April so I have a lot to get done, but I know that I'll be able to get through it with ya'lls help.
4. Get myself some stories ready to get published somewhere.
     This year really needs to be the one where I focus on getting myself published.  I think my writing is good enough, but I need to be validated by those who think I'm writing towards the audience I want to write for.  Editors and whatnot.  So I know during the next round I'll be looking for contests and opportunities to get my writing out there and get some publication things started.  Afterall I need enough rejection letters to say that I'm not good enough to justify the party I have one I get my first acceptance letter.

It is almost the end of our montly book giveaway of 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.

Next time we meet we'll be talking a little about Guns and Gun Control.  Until then, I'm Jayrod Garrett, the First OG asking you this: What goals do you need to make to achieve your dreams?