Virtual Camping and Celebrating

Although I haven't been able to celebrate much when it comes to National Poetry Month, I have definitely been keeping up with the writing side of it. Along with the haiku that I post on Twitter in a somewhat regular basis, I've also been working on a variety of new poems. I've also been working on some surprise celebrations for the month, but those aren't quite ready yet. ;-)

Camping with my virtual cabin has also been a lot of fun, though I am behind on word count, as always. At this moment I've added exactly 3000 words to the novel. I really don't know how I ended up with an even number, but that number will change tonight when I get back to work on Camp Nano.

I've also been playing around with Photoshop and other online programs, so I thought I would share another haiku from Unfolding Life:

Have a great week!

Into the Second Phase

Life has slowed down a bit here. Actually, it's more like a standstill. There's the huge dump of snow that we got yesterday, but there's also a lack of work. I actually haven't had a single job 2014, though not for lack of trying. That's what I get for raising my standards. If I don't work for chump change, I apparently don't get to work.

For now, I'm still smiling. But by the end of the week, I may be in pre-launch for panic mode. Even though I'm snowed in, I'm probably staying afloat emotionally simply because I have big dreams. The dreams themselves won't get me anywhere, but if I find the right next step to take, the world's mine. Right??

But I'm not down and out completely yet. I still have my current writing project. I tried to drum up some mystery around it with last week's Instagram post, but I'm ready to reveal what it all means. These seemingly random numbers correspond to haiku. Lots of haiku. In fact, last's year's goal was to write one haiku each day for the year. I managed to write about 345 before my time was up. Out of all those, I narrowed it down to 100 to put into a manuscript.

These 100 (I deleted one so it may only be 99 now) are going to be published as a collection. I plan to self publish through Kindle Direct Publishing because I have never heard of a single publisher that buys haiku-only manuscripts. But if you exist, come talk to me. ;-) KDP also gives me a lot of publishing flexibility without any cost. Soon, it will be available through Amazon as an ebook. And remember, 'soon' is a relative term.

At this point, all of the poems are edited. I just need to complete the formatting, draw (or have someone else draw) a few of them to break up the monotony and then figure out what I want to do with the cover art. I'm a little nervous because I've tried to publish a poetry collection before, and cover art/artwork is where I got stuck last time. We'll see what I can do.

Challenges and Goals, NOT Resolutions

I don't do resolutions, but I do often try to create goals and challenges for myself that are attainable throughout the year, if even I slip every once in awhile. The big goal is still the same -- working and living in New York. But the smaller goal that goes along with the traveling theme is to get to D.C. in April for the cherry blossoms. That's been on my to-do list for the past three years or so. The shorter trip is much more attainable and will give me more travel experience, even on my pitiful earnings.

I have also challenged myself to do what I do best. I am currently challenging my self to take one photo each day, write one haiku each day and write a full poem (non-haiku) each day. The poem challenge might change to revising a poem each day once I run out of ideas, but its simple a way to keep me motivated. And if I'm in a hurry, these things can be completed in less than an hour at any place I may be. In fact, it may get me away from my computer more often, which I see as a plus.

So far, I'm ahead of the game on everything but the photos, because its seems like its cheating to take more than one photo per day that counts toward this goal. However, poetry is different. I'm two days ahead on the poems and the haiku simply because I have so many ideas I'm trying to frantically get out. Even notes aren't enough -- if too much time passes I usually can't read my handwriting.

Are you challenging yourself to do anything this year?

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