ROW80 | Jennette Marie Powell

by Jennette, April 17, 2013

I read an interesting post yesterday by Kristen Lamb about Twitter, and how auto-scheduled tweets bit Kim Kardashian in the tush on Monday afternoon. My blog automatically tweets when a new post goes up, and this just revealed another landmine in social media.

And the more I thought about it, the more I realized I really, really, don’t like Twitter.

For those not in the know (yes, I have some blog readers who might have heard of Twitter, but don’t know much about it), Twitter is a way to say something online in 140-character-or less bits to whoever’s chosen to follow you, or has a search on a word in your tweet. It’s supposed to be a great way to meet people online, but the fact is, it just hasn’t worked that way for me. I mean, anyone who’s read my books – or even this blog – knows that brevity is not my strong point.

When I do get on Twitter, I tend to hang out with people I already know from other places, just like I do in real life. That is, if anyone’s online by the time I get there. Twitter seems to be a busier place earlier in the day, while I’m at work. While I can access Twitter to some extent at the office, I’m supposed to be, you know, doing work.

And the other thing is Twitter is sort of like a cocktail party – not one of my favorite activities, either. You just jump in and talk to someone – something I am also really not good at.

That’s what’s funny about social media. Facebook, Twitter, et al are supposed to be a big boon for introverted people in that we don’t have to be face-to-face in a big, energy-draining sea of people. And some introverts really shine on social media. But I’ve found that I’m the same person online as I am in real life, and I tend to stay on the sidelines. I prefer to listen (or lurk) rather than talk.

Because of this, I do schedule tweets – or I used to. I write most of my blog posts when I have time, usually the night before they post, but sometimes a few days before. My blog is set up to automatically tweet when I have a new post up. This might have been OK when I was trying to use Twitter more and chat with people, but I just haven’t been doing that lately. So now that there’s one more reason not to be on it at all, it’s too tempting to just ditch it altogether. I probably won’t, but I’m really not sure how much use Twitter is to me in any case.

ROW80 is going better, fortunately. I’ve gone back and forth on whether I need to hem the prom dress first, or make the petticoat first. My daughter decided for me: hem first. That is DONE, and it was no small task, as big around as that skirt is–and it’s in two layers! All that remains is the petticoat. And yes, there will be pictures. 😀 I also wrote 700 words on my short story – not much out of 2500, but I tend to do the bulk of my writing in the later half of the week. Got one workout in too.

What about you – do you feel you’re the same online as in real life? If you use Twitter, are you having second thoughts about it? Do you ever schedule tweets, and now feel kind of iffy about it? Have trouble finding something worth saying that will fit into 140 characters? Please tell me I’m not alone – or tell me why I’m wrong (respectfully, please!) and how to get over my growing aversion to Twitter! And if you’re doing ROW80 (or even if you’re not), how are you doing with your goals so far this week? I’d love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

by Jennette, April 14, 2013

This is not quite the same as “set the bar low,” although that is one way we can make it easier on ourselves. What I’m talking about is expecting more of yourself than is necessary.

I finished my ROW80 goals early yesterday afternoon, and I was ready to write this post, yet I kept putting it off. Why? Because I thought I needed something more, something pithy or intriguing, or at least more interesting that just a recap of my ROW80 goals and how I did.

But I didn’t know what to write. Yes, I have my blog ideas file, but nothing on there really ties in to a quick bit of something extra for a ROW80 post.

Then I realized I’m just making things harder than they need to be. Sometimes, I have something more to say, something a little bit clever that ties into my goals over the past week. This week I don’t, so it’s just the goals.

Oh, and this brief little bit about why make things harder than we have to?

And that brings me to my ROW80 update. Keeping the bar low for my writing worked again. Here’s how last week went:

Dress: sew underskirt and hem – I didn’t hem it, because I realized it should be tried on with the petticoat, which isn’t done yet. But I’m going to consider this goal DONE.
Web design: post placeholder home page — Actually, I went ahead and designed the real site. The client loved it, and it’s up! DONE.
Writing: 1,500 more words on short story — DONE!
Fitness: 3 short workouts – DONE!

Since I no longer have a major web design project hanging over me, I’m going to bump up the writing a bit, and add one workout. Here’s the plan:

Dress: make the petticoat. Bonus: Hem and finish the dress.
Writing: 2,500 more words on short story
Fitness: 4 short workouts

What about you? Do you make things harder than they need to be? Whether or not you’re doing ROW80, did you accomplish your goals last week, and what are your plans for this week? Let me know – I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, April 7, 2013

Last week, I decided to take it easy getting back into goals for ROW80 Round 2. I knew I had a lot of other commitments that would take a lot of time, and for once, remembered those and planned accordingly. I even got a couple things accomplished for the week that I didn’t include in my ROW80 goals.

This part’s done except for the hem!

It worked! Here’s how it went:

Dress: rework for fit and complete overdress portion – Done!
Web design: simple placeholder home page design – Done!
Writing: 1,500 words on short story – Done!

I can’t remember the last time I saw that! Maybe because I’ve never limited my ROW80 goals to as few as three things, and keeping them simple. I put many hours into the dress, and my daughter is thrilled. It now fits perfectly! I haven’t heard back from the family member who the web design is for, but I just did that and sent it out today. I like how it looks, so I hope he does, too. If not, reworking it will be next week’s goal.

And the writing: 1,500 words isn’t much, considering I was doing that in one evening for NaNoWriMo, but it’s a lot with this other stuff going on. I’m using what I learned in the writing workshop I took last month, and as our instructor likes to say, it’s “great fun.”

The giveaway has ended. Thanks for your interest!

Since this worked well, and I still have a lot to do on the dress and website, I’m going to stick with this pattern for now. I’m going to start back into some fitness routines too, now that I’m feeling better and less tired than a week ago. So here’s the plan:

Dress: sew underskirt and hem. That will complete the dress itself, leaving only the petticoat.
Web design: post placeholder home page (depending on approval and extent of any rework needed)
Writing: 1,500 more words on short story
Fitness: 3 short workouts

Have you ever set the bar low to give yourself a better chance of meeting your goals? What do you do when you’ve consistently not met your goals? Whether or not you’re participating in ROW80, I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, April 1, 2013

Time to post new goals! The second quarter of the year begins today (no fooling!), and with it, Round 2 of ROW80.

First of all, I’d like to thank those who’ve offered encouragement over the past few weeks! It means a lot to me, and really did help me keep going in what small measures I did. That is one of the best things about ROW80, is that there’s always someone to cheer us on when we’re doing well, and someone to commiserate when the going gets tough. I’m not a sponsor this round, but I do plan to visit plenty of ROW80 folks and give that all-important encouragement!

My writing goals kind of fizzled last round. I spend most of March sick and/or in a drugged stupor, and did well to get anything done at my day job (which I did). By the time I got home, no energy, mental or otherwise, for writing, workouts, or much of anything else.

2013-03-31_21-27-28_462 I did get a lot of progress made on the prom dress. Unfortunately, we were not able to really determine fit until I got this far, and we discovered that it’s too big. Most of this is the length of the bodice; my daughter’s short like me. This is a vintage 1950s pattern, and those didn’t have the easy places to lengthen/shorten like modern patterns do. So there’s some taking apart and redoing coming up this week. My daughter’s prom is the last weekend in April (and the following weekend too – her boyfriend goes to a different school), so I need to really get cracking on this. I also have a website design for a family member’s startup business that’s been put off due to me being sick. Therefore, I’m going to start with small writing goals, but mostly focus on the dress and website design.

Writing goals for this round are going to focus on new words. For the overall challenge, I’d like to work up to 5,000/week. I’ve done 12k/week for NaNoWriMo, so this should be easily doable for me-except for the other priorities I have going. But that’s later. For this week, let’s start simple:

The giveaway has ended. Thanks for your interest!
Dress: rework for fit and complete overdress portion (it has an underskirt and petticoats as well)
Web design: simple placeholder home page design
Writing: 1,500 words on short story

The best thing about ROW80 is we can change our goals as circumstances change, so that’s what I’ll be doing if need be. Here’s hoping I don’t have any of the kind of setbacks last month was, and hoping for the same for you! Whether or not you’re doing ROW80, what goals do you have for the next three months – or heck, for this week? I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, March 24, 2013

I did not accomplish any of my goals this week, although I came close on the dress.

I am still sick. What’s worse, I discovered I’m not really sick.

I started taking a new (to me) medication for my migraines a month ago. This was not without a bit of trepidation, because the list of potential side effects from this stuff is about three miles long. But I figured it was worth a try.

It’s worked great on my headaches; it’s even zapped my muscle-tension neck pain. I was feeling great until I came down with this nasty cold about two weeks ago. But I was looking up something about the medication the other day, and saw one side effect I hadn’t noticed before: “flu-like symptoms.”

Are you freakin’ kidding me? Hmm, what a choice: headaches, or being sick all the time??? Not to mention, I have plenty to do at the day job too, and my family has been more than patient at home. They are truly a blessing. But forget doing anything creative, like writing.

This medication is definitely not for me, so I am talking to the doctor about going off it (it’s one of those you can’t just stop taking). So I hope to be back in the game by the next round of ROW80.

What about you – have you had any unexpected slowdowns forced on you lately? If you’re doing ROW80, how did you do you your goals? Will you be back in April?

by Jennette, March 17, 2013

The giveaway has ended. Thanks for your interest!

More than once, my high-school age daughter has been stressing over a test, and I’ve told her about the time I thought I was totally unprepared for a final in college.

I was a freshman, and studying for a Political Science exam. It was late at night, I was drinking a wine cooler (because my roommate had thoughtfully obtained it for me, having a fake ID), and I was tired. I finished the wine cooler, realized I wasn’t retaining anything I was reading, and finally said heck with it, I’m going to bed.

When I went to take the exam the following morning, it wasn’t that hard.

When my grades arrived in the mail the following week, I had an A.

I gave a presentation on formatting ebooks to my RWA chapter yesterday. I didn’t put the slideshow together until the night before. Now I know some of you reading this are thinking, so? Well, that’s not my usual M.O. I do not wait until the last minute any more. For me, that way lies madness. But this past week, I’ve had a cold that’s been kicking my butt, and it’s been all I could do to go to work and finish my writing workshop exercises. So I completed the presentation Friday night, but I didn’t feel it was that good. I kept thinking I needed to add some material about print books, but I just couldn’t muster up the energy to do it.

On Saturday, I gave the presentation, and it went very well! I think I talked more than I coughed. Several people there coughed almost as much as I did, so the group was very understanding. My chapter mates asked some excellent questions, and the presentation took just the right amount of time. No need to fill in with the print stuff.

Sometimes our subconscious knows we’re prepared, even when we think we’re not.

In the case of ROW80, however, I didn’t need my subconscious to tell me how I fared. I know I missed one of my goals, but that’s OK. Here’s how it went:

Finish assignment for online writing workshop – Done!
Finish hand-sewing for prom dress in steps 1-8 – No.
List ten more things that could happen in the new book – Done!
Finish presentation plans and handouts for RWA chapter presentation, and PRESENT it on Saturday – Done!

Well, three out of four isn’t bad, especially being not 100% health-wise. The bad news there is, the ladies in my RWA chapter who’ve had what sounds like the same thing, say it took three weeks to really shake. So I’m going to not worry about workouts for now. I also need to really get working on the dress.

Review first half of writing workshop
Finish hand-sewing for prom dress, and work through step 16
Write another 1000 words on one story started in workshop

Getting that presentation out of the way is a big relief, but more importantly, giving it was FUN! What about you – What about you? Whether or not you’re doing the ROW, how are your plans going? And more importantly, are you having FUN with them?

by Jennette, March 13, 2013

smallsultry While I was away on blog holiday, my writing friends were busy! I have four releases to share this week. First up is one from my RWA chapter buddy, Macy Beckett, who also presented with me at the Dayton Metro Library a couple weeks ago! A Shot of Sultry is #2 in her Sultry Springs series, about West Coast filmmaker Bobbi Gallagher, for whom going back to Sultry Springs is a last resort. But with her career in tatters, a quick trip to her hometown might get Bobbi the footage she needs to salvage her reputation. She just can’t let anything distract her again. Not even the gorgeous contractor her brother asked to watch over her. Golden boy Trey Lewis is a leading man if Bobbi ever saw one. He’s strong and confident and–much to her delight–usually shirtless. But if he thinks keeping his best friend’s baby sister out of trouble will be easy, he has no idea of the trouble in store for him… Visit Macy’s website for more info and buy links.

Mystery author KB Owen released her debut novel a couple weeks ago. Dangerous and Unseemly: A Concordia Wells Mystery, is an unseemly lesson in murder. The year is 1896, and Professor Concordia Wells has her hands full: teaching classes, acting as live-in chaperone to a cottage of lively female students, and directing the student play, Macbeth.

But mystery and murder are not confined to the stage. Malicious pranks, arson, money troubles, and the apparent suicide of a college official create turmoil at the women’s college. For Concordia, it becomes personal when a family member dies of a mysterious illness, and her best friend is attacked and left for dead.

With her friend still in danger and her beloved school facing certain ruin, Concordia knows that she must act. But uncovering secrets is a dangerous business, and there are some who do not appreciate the unseemly inquiries and bold actions of the young lady professor. Can she discover the ones responsible…before she becomes the next target? Visit KB’s website for more info and buy links.

Last week also saw a YA debut from Coleen Patrick, with Come Back to Me. In this contemporary story, Whitney Denison can’t wait to start over. She thought she had everything under control, that her future would always include her best friend Katie… Until everything changed. Now her life in Bloom is one big morning after hangover, filled with regret, grief, and tiny pinpricks of reminders that she was once happy. A happy she ruined. A happy she can’t fix. So, she is counting down the days until she leaves home for Colson University, cramming her summer with busywork she didn’t finish her senior year, and taking on new hobbies that involve glue and glitter, and dodging anyone who reminds her of her old life.

When she runs into the stranger who drove her home on graduation night, after she’d passed out next to a ditch, she feels herself sinking again. The key to surviving the summer in Bloom is unraveling whatever good memories she can from that night. But in searching for answers, she’ll have to ask for help and that means turning to Evan, the stranger, and Kyle, Katie’s ex-boyfriend. Suddenly, life flips again, and Whitney finds herself on not only the precipice of happy but love, too, causing her to question whether she can trust her feelings, or if she is falling into her old patterns of extremes. As she uncovers the truth about her memories, Whitney sees that life isn’t all or nothing, and that happy isn’t something to wait for, that instead, happy might just be a choice. Visit Coleen’s website for more info and buy links.

purple SF/Fantasy author and editor Marcy Kennedy also gave us an unexpected treat and is offering a free e-copy of her short story “Purple” to anyone who signs up for her mailing list on her newly-revamped website. “Purple” is a thriller, and won the Writers Digest Popular Fiction Competition in 2008. It’s not a new release, but I haven’t read it, and if Marcy’s blog content is anything to go by, it’ll be a great read for sure. It’s free, so what do you have to lose? Head over to her website and sign up!

The giveaway has ended. Thanks for your interest!

Quick ROW80 Update: Yes, those are back too, even though I don’t have much to report in this area. I’ve done part of my writing workshop assignment, and have some notes made for the workshop I’m presenting on Saturday. I normally don’t get much done in the early part of the week anyway, and this week I’m still fighting this cold, AND dealing with the time change – UGH.

What about you? Are you up for some mystery or a bit of romance? Have you grabbed “Purple” yet? Who besides me thinks it’s time we just dispense with this nonsense, and either stick with standard or daylight time year ’round? I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, March 10, 2013

There’s a lot to be said for asking the right question. As I discussed last week, “How bad do you want it” might be motivating to some, but only served to make me feel like I was never doing enough, and that perhaps a better question was “Am I having fun?”

The giveaway has ended. Thanks for your interest!

I really think that we put too much pressure on ourselves, and that those expectations come from no one else. I’m going to talk about this more tomorrow, so come back. I am not someone who has fun working under pressure. But if there’s not so much pressure, it can be fun.

Last week, I did indeed have fun, and I met most of my ROW80 goals, too! Here’s how it went:

Continue keeping up with writing workshop – Done!
Some kind of physical activity 3x – even if just for five minutes! – Done! Actually, I did four workouts, for 15-20 minutes each. Would have done a fifth, but came down with a cold toward the end of the week.
Begin sewing dress through Step 8 of instructions – mostly done. There turned out to be more hand sewing than I thought, and that is time-consuming, so didn’t quite get it all.
List ten things that could happen in the new book – they don’t have to be good ideas, just something! – Done! And it was fun. 🙂

This week, I’m going to continue taking it easy on fitness, since I’m still fighting off this cold. If I get some workouts in, I’ll consider them a bonus. I’m also going to continue taking it easy on the new book, since I am presenting a workshop on ebook formatting at my local RWA chapter this Saturday, and I need to finish the handout materials and plan the presentation for that. I’ve already watched the videos and done part of this week’s assignment for the online writing workshop, so that helps. So here are this week’s goals:

Finish assignment for online writing workshop.
Finish hand-sewing for prom dress in steps 1-8.
List ten more things that could happen in the new book.
Finish presentation plans and handouts for RWA chapter presentation, and PRESENT it on Saturday!

What about you? Whether or not you’re doing the ROW, how are your plans going? Have you had to change plans recently? And more importantly, are you having FUN with them?

by Jennette, February 24, 2013

This has been a tough week for me, writing-wise. I’ve been beating on this story that I’ve been sure was the next thing I wanted to write, for over a month now, and it just won’t gel. I put in all of fifteen minutes on it last week, going through the motions of doing a couple exercises in Holly Lisle’s Create a Plot Clinic. Even that was difficult. I just don’t want to do it, and it’s time I admitted that.

Trouble is, I’m not sure why I don’t want to work on this story. Maybe I was never excited enough about it to begin with. Or maybe there’s a problem in the story itself, that I haven’t chosen the right main character, I’m too focused on theme (a first for me), or some other story problem I haven’t yet figured out. But I was encouraged and gratified to find the following post on women’s fiction author Anna DeStefano’s blog today:

Today, Sunday, is a blog about the very hard work of resting. As exhausting as it is to put on a show the rest of the week, a Sunday of rest can be just as challenging.

Top priorities (for writers and readers and livers of life of all variations) include discovering core truths for our resting selves such as the following:

If you were the only one in your life, what would spend your Sunday doing?

If you could do only one thing today, and there were days left to do anything else, what things would disappear off your to-do list forever?

If you couldn’t speak or spend time with another person today, what one thing would bring you the most joy and satisfaction?

If you had all the money or resources or whatever else you needed to make whatever your dream for this day of rest come true, what dream would you leave all the rest behind to achieve?

If you were free of all other expectations, if there were no consequences on your horizon tomorrow, what would you want most to have achieved by the end of this Sunday?

No matter how big or how small or how taxing your own private, personal, inner dream for this day might be, pursue it. That’s the work that the best rests are made of. It’ s a start at least, telling yourself you can have what feeds you most, no matter the nurturing everyone else in your life needs. We have to feed the inner beast every now and then, so she’s ready to take on all those outward needs I eliminated in the list above, because they’re about everyone else and not the us resting days should be about protecting.

via The Soul of the Matter: Sunday, Sunday…Rest with me, won’t you? « Anna DeStefano’s Blog.

I think this is what I need to do. Thank you, Anna, for giving me permission to step back, regroup, and relax.

As for ROW80, I still managed to make some progress:

Two plot exercises for my next book – made a half-assed attempt at one, but not much.
Fitness activity 5x – got 4 activities in
Send out press release for Time’s Enemy – Done!
Assignment for writing workshop, week 2 – Done!
Re-dye the lace for prom dress, and cut one of the four fabrics in it – Done!

This week, I’m going to step back, reevaluate, and relax. I’m also dealing with switching my migraine medications, which might make it tough to do much physical activity. I’ll still look to do my workouts, but if I’m not feeling well, I’ll give myself a break. So here are the plans:

Assignment for writing workshop, week 3 (having fun with this, so no problems there)
Cut the rest of the fabric for the prom dress
BONUS – activity and/or any progress on the new book, decisions made, etc.

What about you – do you ever need to just step back, regroup, and take it easy? What did you think of Anna DeStefano’s suggestions? If you’re participating in ROW80, how’s it going?

by Jennette, February 20, 2013

This week’s new releases look like good ones! My RWA-chapter buddy Sharon Cullen released her new historical romance last week, The Notorious Lady Anne. It’s the story of Nicholas Addison, celebrated captain of the Blackwell Shipping Fleet, who has agreed to take Mrs. Emmaline Sutherland aboard the Pride and ferry the raven-haired beauty across the Atlantic on what he imagines will be a routine trip. But when the ship is attacked by pirates, the seemingly innocent passenger is revealed to be none other than the infamous marauder Lady Anne, whose name strikes fear in the hearts of sailors everywhere—and whose seductive wiles commandeers Nicholas’s affections.

Lady Anne, a legend of the high seas, has spent the last eleven years plotting revenge against her father, the owner of Blackwell Shipping. She’s targeted the Pride in hopes of plundering its captain’s company secrets. But beneath her fierce courage and bitter determination, Anne has the delicate heart of a woman—a heart that cannot help falling for Nicholas. Now Anne must make a difficult choice: bring down Blackwell or surrender to love.

The Notorious Lady Anne was featured in USA Today last week too! For more information and buy links, visit her website.

5-minute Love Stories Looking for a bite-sized read? Check out Five-Minute Love Stories by the Los Angeles Romance Authors, which includes “Finding Julian” by Debra Kristi. In these busy and hectic times, sometimes you just need a few minutes to relax and escape the world, written by some of the shining stars and exciting new voices in Los Angeles.

This anthology of twenty-two short stories explores the many sides of love, featuring love in the traditional sense while several stories show love in broader terms, love of family, love of a pet, and even a super-spicy love story.

For more info, see Debra Kristi’s blog or Amazon.

TroopMonkesy Children’s author Julie Hedlund celebrates the release of her debut storybook app, A Troop is a Group of Monkeys. It’s an interactive book for kids that introduces some of the fun plural nouns for animal groups (like “a pride of lions”) in a musical, rhyming story. Written by Julie Hedlund and illustrated by Pamela Baron, the app features original music by Tim McCanna, whose ditty you won’t be able to stop humming until long after the book is closed.

Each of the animal groups—a troop of monkeys, a colony of bats—comes to life on the screen and invites young readers to enjoy interactive play while reinforcing the vocabulary words on each page. The crocodiles snap their jaws, and the lions lick their paws. What do you suppose the skunks will do? More information is on Julie’s website or on the Apple iTunes store.

a-harry-situation-cover-1 We have a new release in contemporary romance, too – A Harry Situation by Kristy K. James. In this book, Harry Saunders, the new employee for C & J Construction, turned out to be a woman, and the only thing Chris Parker wanted was to fire her. In his opinion, there was no place for females in this business. But labor laws meant that she stayed, making him nothing but miserable. Until he discovers a secret she’s been keeping from everyone. A secret that brings out every protective instinct he possesses. More info is available on Kristy’s website.

Quick ROW80 update: we’ve re-dyed the lace, and it’s now lavender! I’ve also completed part one of my writing workshop assignment, and put in an hour on prewriting for my next work. Fitness is also on-track so far, with two workouts in.

On another note, something exciting is happening on Friday, Feb. 22: The Beauty of a Woman Blogfest! Sponsored by thriller author August McLaughlin, this event features dozens of bloggers all writing about what the beauty of a woman truly is. I don’t normally post on Friday, but this week, I’ll be posting my BOAW contribution on a thoughtful and important topic. So be sure to check back here then, and stop by August’s blog for links to all other blogs AND a chance to win a Kindle Fire!

What about you – do you like historical romance? How about super short stories? Have you ever heard of storybook apps? If you’re participating in ROW80 (or heck, even if you’re not!), how are you doing on your goals so far this week? Are you participating in the Beauty of a Woman blogfest, or planning to stop by and read? I hope to see you there! Let me know – I’d love to hear from you!

Life and Love in Four Dimensions

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