Monday journal – 10 April 2017

Hello everybody and here we are at the start of another week. It is time for my Monday journal so that you can all stay up-to-date with what I am doing when it comes to my writing.

Well, you will be pleased to know that my work in progress (Dreamweaver) is going very well and I am quite pleased with the progress I have made so far. I am absolutely adoring this Beacon that I am using to check in with the days that I have been working. I am also using the android app called write – o – metre so that I can keep track of my word count. I am really enjoying the progress I am making and I wish that I had started writing it from Jordan’s point of view a long time ago. I suppose it doesn’t actually make sense that I am writing it from a man’s point of view but, somehow, it doesn’t feel strange.

I have also been enjoying the writing challenges that I do on a day-to-day basis.

I have done quite a lot of reading recently and have a good few reviews to catch up on. It is not that I am a fast reader, but more like the books I have been choosing recently have been very very short! That is the only problem with ordering on the Kindle is that you cannot see how long a book is until you start it!

This week may prove to be a little bit too hectic with appointments coming up all over the place… That, and of course Easter is looming. I hope everybody has got themselves well prepared for what has become National chocolate day!

Wishing you all a Merry Easter (or happy egg day if you want to be politically correct!). Until next week have lots of fun 🙂

SPF: The haul

© A Mixed Bag

The leader’s eyes scanned the horizon as he contemplated his next move. He turned around and noticed that his crew were standing ready by the oars simply waiting for his instructions. Everybody was satisfied with their latest haul.

He nodded to them. He just needed to check with the figurehead of his boat to find out what was next. The Dragon spoke only to him and that is why he was in command.

Walking up to the front of the boat he put his arms round the Dragon to plant his face at the side. The smell of the polished wood appeased him. The Dragon head spoke within his mind in the usual gravelly manner. Their next task had been set and a smile crept over his features.

“My crew, the Dragon has blessed us with our next task and it is one that you are all going to enjoy. Except maybe Bobby over there!”

Everybody giggled before standing up in unison. They all knew what was coming.

“That’s right everybody, it is tea time and we all need to go home! Tomorrow we enjoy the golden Easter eggs we found today. Good job!”

The kids filed off the boat.

Written for Sunday photo fiction

Book review: Relentless – Karen Lynch

This is a book that is about a girl called Sara Grey. Her mother left her at a very early age and her father is dead, so she is living with her uncle. She has always suspected that her father was murdered by vampires but has never been able to prove that fact. It may seem strange that a young girl would know all about what she calls the people (trolls, goblins, imps et cetera) but you find out quite early on that she has the power to heal animals and the people. Her powers do not work on human beings.

The book is all about her discovering who she is and it goes through various twists and turns as everything begins to fall into place. Everything she had thought was true was, in fact, a lie, as she has to come to terms with many of the facts.

There is, of course, the love interest, Nicholas. What I really like about this is that she is not instantly in love because he is very hot. In fact, she spends a lot of her time trying to avoid him because she is not sure what side he is on. It is not until right at the end of the book that she accepts him as some kind of protective being, but even then she is not the hopeless girl in love.

It is a very interesting read that makes everything abnormal seem completely normal and it is actually quite believable. There are so many twists that you keep reading simply out of interest. It is definitely a page turner.

The other thing I really liked about this book was that it is the first one in a series but it is able to work as a stand-alone. I am not sure if this is true for the rest of the series, but I am likely to read them just because the characters stood out to me so much.

The quality of writing is very high. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in the paranormal as it has a very high quantity of that. I gave this five out of five stars because, as far as I was concerned, it was flawless.

Six word story: Awakening

The moment your nightmare becomes reality.

Written for sometimes stellar storyteller

Writing Wednesday – 5 April 2017

Hello everybody and welcome to another Writing Wednesday. The idea of this is I am going to write about whatever subject has inspired me this week.

Everybody is welcome to join in, of course, and you can do that by either writing something in the comments or giving me a pingback to your work. (It goes without saying that you should feel free to share your work if you get the urge to do so!)

What am I going to use as my inspiration this week?

The word… Time.

Never enough

Time is something that was always running out for me. I was always late. It became something that I was known for but it was never out of choice.

I always planned to be on time. Everything down to the last detail was all planned out. You know, which days I was going to work on an essay, how long it would take me to get to a place for a meeting, what clothes I was going to wear… Everything.

Things just never quite went to plan. Somebody would ring me up that would delay me leaving, traffic could be filling the road, the clothes I wanted would mysteriously disappear, my computer would forget to save a project, there would be a power cut… Anything.

It was almost like the world was conspiring against me. There was just never enough time for me to be on time or even early.

FFfAW: Out here

This week’s photo prompt is provided by Yarnspinner. Thank you Yarnspinner!

The mist began to settle around the moor and I leant back against the tree to watch the end of yet another day. It felt like I had been out here forever. Everything looked familiar to me now when it had started off by looking spooky. It was funny how things changed over time.

I looked around me as the noises changed and the night-time creatures started to sing. I should have been cold, but that had ended a long time ago. Right now, there were no sensations in my skin.

I wondered if anyone would ever find my body.

Written for flash fiction for aspiring writers

Monday journal – 3 April 2017

Well, here we are at the start of yet another week. Is it just me, or is the year flying past quicker than normal? Whatever the case is, it is time for my Monday journal.

So, how is everything going with Dreamweaver? Well, the new program I am using (Beacon) has changed the way it works and replaced their weekly targets with daily check-ins so you can see any streaks or other patterns that needed attention. For example, certain days where you do not get any work done on your novel whatsoever. I actually really like this change because I think it will be a lot easier to see your own progress as it happens. I did not make the target last week anyway, as it was incredibly hectic. Hopefully, this week will be a lot quieter so I get things done. Now all I need is motivation! (Actually, I am hoping the daily check-ins will provide that.)

As it is April I would normally be talking about CampNaNoWriMo that I have decided not to sign up for it this year. This is simply because I have a good few appointments taking place over the month of April which I know would stop everything from making any progress. Maybe July?

That is about it from me. I know, there is not much news to share 🙂

Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope you will continue to enjoy what I post up here. Until next week.