Reading Challenge

Have you participated in the Goodreads Reading Challenge before? It's currently in its fifth year, and I've set my biggest goal ever.

500 books.

 

 

I know, it sounds crazy. But it's totally doable.

Two weeks ago we signed our littlest one (3 years old) up for the 1000 books before Kindergarten reading program at our local library. It challenges the parents and the children to read a range of books, completing 1000 books before the child begins kindergarten.

We have roughly two years until that happens.

And so I set my goal for 2015 to read 500 books. That's half (and they get a prize when they get halfway, which is awesome and she's really excited about it!).

We're two weeks in and already at 74 books.

I know, I know, the widget says (as of May 10, 2015) that I'm only at 73.

Guess what? If your kid really likes a book and you read it more than once, it counts each time!

BONUS!!

We've only re-read 2 books. So far, so good.

The best part of it is that it's exposing me to children's books I never knew about, or reminding me of some of my favorites from childhood I'd forgotten. And the 3yo is finding some favorites of her own.

Our reading stack from the last 3 nights.

She's OBSESSED with the Curious George series.

And she LOVES Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type. She whispered "Click clack moo" as she fell asleep tonight. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

The Fancy Nancy and Madeline series are also looking to become new favorites. I grew up on the Madeline books, so it makes me happy she loves them as much as I did. Fancy Nancy is new to both of us, but darling.

Every night she asks for "Just one more book?" And every night, I oblige.

I checked 32 books out from the library on Saturday. We've already read half of them!

I think my favorite part of this whole experience - so far - is that reading has always been a big part of my life, and she is starting to love it as much as I did. I was the kid who snuck into the hall and read by the light coming from downstairs because I had to know what happened next in my Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys/Bobbsey Twins books (and ruined - RUINED!!! - my eyes in the process).

My son loves reading, but on his own terms. He hates that it's required 30 minutes daily for school. I think if he could just read whenever and whatever, he'd be happier. The library is seriously becoming one of his favorite places, and I couldn't be more proud. And now his sister is joining in the family tradition.

So, what do you read with your kids? Do you have a reading goal? It's not too late to join the challenge! Sure, we're about halfway through the year (almost) but that doesn't mean you can't still get in 1, 2, or even 10 books.

Read. Read to gain knowledge. Read for fun. Read to your kids.

Whatever you do, just READ.

(Oh, yeah, and read my books, because they are seriously great!) haha ;)

XOXO,

JP

Goodbye Camp!

April is over.

It's sad. I didn't make it to my goal. 50,000 words is a lot to write, though, when real life is crazy busy.

Up side: I did write over 23,000 words (23.084 to be exact), so that's good. It's kind of like its own mini-win. I'm that many words closer to being finished with this sequel that has been hanging over my head, tormenting me for a few years now. And this time around, it's actually pretty good (if I do say so myself!).

Will I try again in July? 

Probably.

Will my goal be 50,000?

Probably not.

Maybe more like 25,000. I almost hit 25K. I probably could've hit it if I'd been able to write on the night of the 30th (instead, I was taking care of my sick littlest one. Not fun, people. Not fun.)

Will I do NaNoWriMo in November?

Maybe. We'll see how real life and my other "real" jobs (  <= Yes, there are multiple real jobs! I'm crazy, I know!) are going. Some years it's doable, some years it isn't. 

What about NaBloPoMo? (What is NaBloPoMo, you ask? It's National Blog Post Month. And it's in November, too.)

We'll see. I've thought about it seriously this year. Not making any commitments just yet, though. November is a long way away.

In the meantime, I appreciate all the encouragement I've been getting on my Facebook page. It's really helped!

Until next time!

XOXO,

JP

So Behind

I am so behind! I'm only at about 18,000 words at the present, and there are 4 days until the end of the month. Yippee! I don't think I'll hit 50K, and it kind of makes me sad.

But, on the positive, at least I'm writing again, right? I am still thinking about the novel, even if I'm not writing on it every day. It seriously has been haunting my thoughts. How am I going to get to the awesome ending I have planned for it? What are my characters going to do to change the pre-conceived plot I have?

The bonus is that I'm just over halfway to what I wrote last April, so I figure as long as I beat my 2014 numbers, I'll be okay. And, if I don't make it to 50K, I can always try again in July.

Maybe.

Life has been pretty crazy.

So we'll see.

Until then, wish me luck! Send me all the good writing vibes you can.

XOXO,

JP

How?

How?

How do you come up with your ideas of what to write?


I get asked that a lot, and my answer might actually surprise you.

I dream novel.

Yeah, you read that right. I dream most of my books. I know, it's totally weird. I don't dream very often, but when I do, I dream so vividly. I can see the characters, I can hear their voices so clearly.

Don't believe me?

I had a dream when I was in high school. It festered in my brain for years. Now? It's the main plot of Escaped.

True Story.

About six years ago, I had another dream. It was totally crazy and full of all these really weird sci-fi elements. Totally not my normal thing. But, with a little tweaking, it turned into The Sector.

I have countless other unfinished projects that all started out the same way: in a dream. Some of them might get written. Some of them are just scenes, glimpses into a moment between characters that have stuck with me for years, and need a ton of work to actually make a good story. Some of them will just be jotted down as an outline on paper, left behind for me to smile at and remember (like the one where that one guy who plays Superman - yeah, the hot one - moves in next door to high school me and wants to be my BF. Yep, that one is staying. haha). And then there are some dreams that no matter how hard I try, they just aren't good novel material.

But others? Others turn into a six-book-long series all partially written and waiting to be finished and sent off to the beta readers.

True Story.

Every author is different. No one will have the exact same answer to the "how" question. But we all have an answer.

So what's your how?

It doesn't have to be just about writing. It can be anything.

How did you come up with your awesome Lego creation?
How did you decide what subject to paint?

How did you come up with your creative idea, be it quilting, sewing, designing, architecture, painting, etc. Let me know in the comments!!

XOXO,

JP

The Why

WHY?

That's a question I get asked a lot. Second only to "How did you come up with this?" - but that's another post for another day.

To get back to my #2 question:

Why?

Why do you write?

Honestly? It's kind of a compulsion. Even if I'm not writing at all (like this past year - dark days, people, dark days), I'm constantly thinking about where the story is going or what my characters look like. Last week I even gave one of my main characters a drastic hair cut and color.

Yes, they are fictitious.

Yes, they really only live in my head - for now.

But when they are finally ready to meed the world, it'll be great.

Again, back to the "why?" and the compulsion to actually write a novel.

A) I love it! Seeing something I've dreamed up come to life on paper/my computer screen is amazing. There's this giant bundle of mixed emotions once I type the last words, but it's totally worth it.

B) Hearing people's reactions - even the bad ones - is awesome. At first it's totally scary.
What if they don't like it?
What if my book totally tanks?
What if I fail?
Don't listen to the what ifs!! I know, it's hard. That's why I took a year off: too many what ifs. But once you block them out and accept the good, the bad, and the "it was just okay" reviews, you're set. My philosophy? If they wrote a review - or even gave it some stars - you touched the reader enough to elicit a response.

And that's what's important.

So now, when people ask why, I respond:

"Because I love it."

It's as simple as that.

So what's your why? Tell me why you do what you do in the comments!

XOXO,

JP

Camping in April

So I'm writing for Camp Nano again. This time I think I'll finish. My goal is 50,000 words - a lot, I know - but I'm working on something I've been thinking about for a while. It's got a lot of mystery to it. It's going to be really interesting seeing how it all plays out in the end. I'm actually really excited about it.

I started off slow. Only a couple thousand words the first few days, then ending with just over 5000 last week. Well, when I logged into my server to get my file, it hadn't updated last week. Nope. I lost approximately 1000 words.

It was really hard on me.

But I got them back, and I think they're even better this time around. I honestly can't really remember what that other 1000 words was about, just that it was kind of boring. I might have been making my characters eat. I hate writing about eating. It's kind of obnoxious. Can't we just assume that book characters eat? Unless it's totally pivotal to the story, and then by all means, write the eating in. But, in most cases, it seems like it's just a filler. I have a friend writing a novel, and she said to me once that it felt like her main character was seriously eating every time she wrote a scene. So, whenever I write a food scene, I try to remember that conversation and then I pare down the eating. Because eating is BORING.

Anyway, I'm really digging the mystery that's suddenly popped up into this project. There are several characters I just started writing into the story, and they're really going to make a mess of things I think. Which is good. It keeps me on my toes. I mean, I know where this book needs to end up, but for the most part I haven't planned anything out.

I posted an excerpt over on the Facebook page, so head over there and let me know what you think! Seriously, I want it all: the good, the bad (but please keep it clean; it's a family-friendly page). Leave a comment. Or you could like it. You could even share the post if you wanted to. I'd totally let you. Whatever you do, keep in mind that it's a totally unedited piece of what I wrote tonight.

And with that, I'm going to call it a night. I'm only at just under 7500 words so I need to rest and let those creative juices flow so I can catch up on the ever-elusive word count goal.

50,000! What was I thinking?! (No, but seriously, what was I thinking?)

Thanks for following and for all your support!

XOXO,

J.P.

A case of the funks

I've been in a funk the last year or so. I blame my Real Day Job #1 (writing is what I get to do at night after my family goes to bed and I can blast my music loud and immerse myself in the computer). I had a couple of bad months, and it really affected me negatively. I got in this weird funk. I didn't even want to read anymore, guys!

It was bad.

And then November hit, and I thought "I can totally do this NaNoWriMo thing." But then real life got in the way and one of my kids had to have special testing done, and it was all so freaking stressful that I said "Screw it!" and put my laptop away.

Not that it helped keep me less stressed during the holidays. Real Day Job #1 compacted with Real Day Job #2 and being Mommy, and well - you get the picture. Let's just say I ate. a. lot. Which depressed me even more, because let me tell you, being fat is no picnic, especially when you have a lot of stairs in your house.

So there I was, stuck in this endless cycle of misery and depression and not wanting to do anything.

And then I was driving to Real Day Job #2 and a song came on Pandora and I thought, "Huh, that might work for one of my unfinished projects that needed to be finished like last year."

And then there was another song, and another, and another, and before I knew it, I was rewriting the plot in my head and wishing I had a tape recorder - and that my phone wasn't in use for something else - to record all these awesome ideas on.

So I went home and started writing again. Just 2200 words at first. And then I let it sit for a few weeks because, life. And Real Day Job #2 again.

But now things have calmed down a bit. Sure, life is always going to be stressful with doctor appointments, school, homework, work, real life crap I don't want to have to deal with. But I'm finally in a good place with this story and the plot and the way I want to take it, that I think I'll start working on it more.

And if I start working on it more, then that means more sneak peeks over on the Facebook page for you all! So, head on over there, like my page (make sure you set notifications to on!) and get ready for some excerpts.