It’s been a bit of a rocky week, with vestiges of that yucky migraine lingering until Thursday night and lots of work to get out of the way. However, I think I’ve cleared a major hurdle (for the moment), so I’ve been celebrating with a bit of downtime.
The Successes:
- I read books 3, 4, and 5 of Karen Marie Moning’s FEVER series between Thursday and Friday night, which is probably a record reading binge for me. A huge thank you to everyone who recommended the series, because wow. It is epic and wonderful and amazing, and I am so glad I read it. Now I am going to sit on pins and needles like the rest of Moning’s fans to see what the upcoming films are going to look like. If they mess up Barrons, I am going to pitch a major fit.
- I had a movie marathon last night. I was planning on doing some writing and stuff, but instead I curled up on the couch and watched a couple of old favorites. I started with The Inheritance, a made-for-TV movie based on an early Louisa May Alcott novel, followed it up with The Princess Bride (so. darn. awesome), and then finished with Love’s Kitchen, which I hadn’t heard of until Netflix pushed it on my radar. It has a shockingly low rating on imdb, but I really, really loved it. The film involves food and cooking and people falling in love (three of my favorite things), and stars real-life married couple Dougray Scott (who I have had a huge crush on since he did Ever After) and Claire Forlani. It was definitely the feel-good movie that I needed.
- Outlining my NaNo project is coming along. I’ve started using the corkboard function in Scrivener, where I can lay out 3×5 cards to organize my ideas. I’m not exactly working in a linear fashion, so I have Act 2 laid out, with short summaries for each scene, but little else decided beyond that. Over the next two weeks I’ll be brainstorming so that I can hopefully be ready to roll by November 1st.
- I finally finished the draft of the latest chapter of my MA thesis. It’s rough, and there are holes in it that will need to be filled in, but the hardest work (I think) has been done. I didn’t realize until I emailed it to my advisor exactly how stressed out finishing this chapter has made me feel, but I do feel like I have had a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. I can’t slack off too badly — I have lots more edits to tackle, along with a couple shorter sections to write — but I am going to step away from the project for the next few days and catch up on my writing.
Places to Pick Up the Slack:
- I only worked out 3 days this past week, instead of 4 like I had hoped, so I’ll need to make up for it in the days to come.
Fun Stuff to Check Out:
- As I’ve mentioned before, Em and I both decided to tackle NaNoWriMo this year. For an extra bit of fun, and because there seem to be quite a few first time WriMos out there, we decided to create a support blog of sorts, where everyone can pop in once a week and share the challenges and successes that they’re facing during November. We should be launching sometime this week, so keep your eyes peeled!
- The photo contest finalists from our ROW80 twitter party have been posted over at Jenny Hansen’s blog. Swing by and cast your vote — there are some awesome shots.
All in all, it’s been a pretty good week. How’s everyone else doing, mid-way through October? Don’t forget to visit the other ROWers checking in today!
October 16, 2011 at 10:54 am
For a girl with a migraine, you ROCKED it Lena. And those FEVER books are brilliant. You see why I told you to read them all. At the end of Book 3, I thought I was gonna pass out. And then Barrons…OMG. Barrons. I’ll be mad if they mess him up too.
You keep trucking. My migraine is finally gone too, so there are writing sprints in our future. 🙂
October 16, 2011 at 10:55 am
p.s. Early votes have your Big Hair picture still in the top 3…have you voted??
October 16, 2011 at 3:51 pm
Yay, so glad to hear that your migraine’s gone away. I’ll cross my fingers that it stays that way, because I’m excited to get started with writing sprints!
Seriously, I am SOSOSO glad that you recommended the FEVER books. It’s so funny — I was a little skeptical of Barrons through the first book, but by the end… yeah. I am now a happy convert. 😉
Just cast my vote! Thanks again to you and Nicole for pulling the photo contest together. So much fun!
October 16, 2011 at 11:54 am
Lena, I absolutely love that big hair picture! Reminds me of my suuuper-fabulous-80’s-hair…lol. My sisters still refer to my hair (when not straightened) as my ‘Diana Ross’ hair…you know, her ’70’s hair? That big and beautiful mass of large-ness? Yeah, that’s my hair in it’s natural state….
I’m anxious to see your support group for NaNo, as I’m working to get a good outline ready so that I can join in this year. I’ve never done NaNo before…so I’m sweating bullets. Ha! (Oddly, sweating bullets is sort of a good time to me…sick, I know.) Anyway, I’ll probably need some serious support! Ha.
Hope that migrane is gone for good. Have a knock-up week!
October 16, 2011 at 3:53 pm
Omg, Nadja, I love that I am not the only one that has crazy big hair. There is actually a picture of me somewhere that was taken at a sleepover in 8th grade, where my friends decided to tease my hair extra big. They dubbed it my “Diana Ross” hair and it was, in a word, epic. 😉
I’m so glad that you’re excited about the NaNo support group. It’s going to be quite simple — just a place for people to share their progress, etc, in the comments, with a list of resources and stuff for planning/plotting. I can’t wait till our big ‘reveal’.
Have a wonderful week!
October 16, 2011 at 11:58 am
Yeah, they mess with Barrows and A LOT of fans are gonna be mad, LOL. Actually, KMM has been holding a vote on Facebook for the fans’ dream team, we can only hope the studio will listen.
You rocked your week, especially having a migraine. And that sounds like my kinda of movie night 🙂
Good luck with the upcoming week Lena!
October 16, 2011 at 4:16 pm
Oh man, I am loving the Facebook polls — so many fun ideas that fans have been throwing out there. I can only imagine the hoards of angry women who will protest should Dreamworks mess things up.
Have a lovely week yourself!
October 16, 2011 at 11:59 am
3 out of 4 workout days isn’t bad. 😉 Sounds like things are going well, despite the migraine. I can sympathize there; I’ve had one 4 days this week.
October 16, 2011 at 3:59 pm
You poor thing! Seriously, the on-going migraines are the absolute worse. Take care of yourself!
October 16, 2011 at 12:14 pm
You are talking me into reading the Fever books just when I decided to do a buying ban. 🙂 Glad you are doing better and looking forward to the Nano support blog.
October 16, 2011 at 4:00 pm
Yes, yes, you must read them! I’m also in the midst of a buying ban, but I managed to get the whole series from the library. I’m really glad I did, too; I’m not quite sure how anyone survived the massive cliffhangers KMM threw in at the end of each book.
Have a great week, Robin!
October 16, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Sounds like you had a very productive week. Congrats on getting draft 1 of your thesis done. That’s amazing. Now I’m going to have to check out the FEVER series. I also might drop in on the NaNa blog to see what’s happening even though I’m not participating.
October 16, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Nicole, thanks for swinging by. And yes, if you have the chance, check out the NaNo blog. We will all need people to cheer us on as we attempt the mad dash for 50K.
Have a lovely week!
October 16, 2011 at 12:48 pm
not only did you get a lot done, but you watched three movies! i’m envious!!
and three days of exercise is not shabby at all. i’m barely scraping in one… so off to walk in central park!
cheers,
gina
October 16, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Thanks for stopping by, Gina, and you’re right — I should be proud of those 3 days of exercising. Hope you had yourself a lovely walk!
October 16, 2011 at 1:25 pm
You definately had a great week especially considering you had a migraine, hate them!
So many things going on and demands on your time, you are wonder woman!
Here is to a productive and healthy week!
October 16, 2011 at 4:16 pm
Thanks, Em! And healthy is definitely the keyword for this coming week — crossing my fingers that I can get everything done. 😀
October 16, 2011 at 2:06 pm
So glad you finally got rid of the migraine – and the thesis chapter 🙂
It was nice to get a chance to vote for your big hair pic – I love that!
October 16, 2011 at 4:17 pm
Thanks so much, Sarah, and thanks for voting!
Have a wonderful week!
October 16, 2011 at 5:56 pm
I can’t wait for the NaNo support blog! I know I am so gonna need it! As I mentioned on Em’s blog, if y’all need any help, let me know! I loved your post by the way, because not only do I now have a new series of books to read, but I also have a new movie to watch! I just added Love’s Kitchen to my Netflix queue–I have loved Dougray Scott since Ever After as well. (I watch that movie over and over) I have never heard of the Inheritance, but will have to look into that one. And yeah, Princess Bride–best.movie.ever imho! One thing I love about ROW80–I get sooo many good ideas for books and movies to check out, so thanks! Great job on your goals and good luck this week!
October 16, 2011 at 8:10 pm
*Note to self: Read FEVER series*
I second the notion that you are Wonder Woman–thesis, migraines, reading an insane number of books. Sounds like you had a great week!
October 16, 2011 at 9:27 pm
ROWsista! Sorry to be so late to congratulate you on your progress. Great job on finishing the draft of the thesis chapter–I know what you mean about the weight off your shoulders. One spends so long with it gradually building, that it is only when it is gone that one notices the vast relief.
Migraines totally bite–I have them more often than I would like. I hope you’re free of them for a while.
Even if you didn’t hit each and every goal, you did great this week. And to get some fun reading in as well–you go, girl!