What Shall I Read?

I’ve always been a reader, since I was a very small kid, but in recent years I’ve found myself reading less and less. Part of this is because I’m busy writing my own stories rather than reading stories written by others. Part of it is because I like quiet when I’m reading a good story, and it’s hard to get quiet in a house with a 4-year-old present. Part of it is that when I do get free time I’m usually more in the mood for a game or a TV show. However, part of it is just that I fail to force myself to sit down with a book, and that’s sad, because when I actually do sit down with a good book I usually end up engrossed and happier for having read it.

So, although I’m not making it an official goal or anything, I plan to try to read more in 2015. But the question then becomes, what do I start with?

There are a few obvious choices. For instance, I’ve been about halfway through “A Dance With Dragons” by George R.R. Martin for almost a year now. It’s not that it’s a bad book or anything (quite the opposite), but it’s HUGE, and I have this enormous hardcover version that isn’t exactly portable. Also, just a couple of months ago I read the first installment in “The Strain” trilogy, and rather enjoyed it, so it makes sense to continue on with the other two books.

But there’s also a slew of other books I have just waiting to be read. I got Stephen King’s “Revival” for Christmas, plus a couple more volumes of the “Complete Deadpool Collection” which, while actually comics rather than literary fiction, are really fun reads. Then there’s the most recent two additions to the “House of Night” series (which is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine), and I’ve got a number of other horror novels that I never got around to reading when I picked them up at various garage sales and flea markets. Or I could always be a complete goon and choose to curl up with the “How to Survive a Sharknado” guide.

You’ve got to admit, it looks like pure gold.

With so many available options, I leave the decision up to you folks. Which book should I start 2015 off with? Should I finish “A Dance With Dragons”, or the “Strain” trilogy? Should I rip open one of the new books? One of the comics? Guilty pleasure? Any other suggestions? Let me know what you think!

Accountability Tuesdays – Week 26

Two things to mention before I get to the heart of the matter today. First of all, it’s week number 26! That means I’m halfway through the year! And while I’m nowhere near where I would need to be to be on track with my million word goal, I’ve written more in the past six months than in the previous 2 years combined! But more on that later.

The other thing I want to mention is that as you are reading this I am packing up my last couple of bits and bobbles from the control room at work, chucking it all in a backpack, and awaiting the bus that will return me to camp where I’ll giddily await my plane home. My last plane home. That’s not to say that I won’t end up back out in Alberta for work in a few months or so, but for now I’m heading home with nothing on the horizon except spending quality time with my family and maybe enjoying a number of alcoholic beverages from the comfort of my back deck. Look upon me and be in awe, for I am officially ON VACATION!

Okay, that’s enough of that. 🙂

Health and Body Image Goal

I’ve been a bit on the ins and outs with this goal, unfortunately, but I’m still not doing too badly. As I mentioned last week I did, in fact, drag myself to the gym and try running on the treadmill. It wasn’t ideal, but acceptable. I figured that’s what I’d do until my stomach felt better. But then my stomach felt worse. I don’t know if it’s the actual physical exertion that’s bothering me, or if it’s the camp food (which, thank god, I won’t be enjoying any more of any time soon), or if I’ve been suffering from some as-yet-diagnosed condition inherited from my sickly parents (love you guys, really :P), but I’ve hardly been able to stand leaving my room in the morning and suffering through the bus ride to work, never mind exercising on top of that. Luckily, about two days ago, my symptoms seemed to subside and I’ve felt halfway decent since then, so here’s hoping all will be well when I get home and try to run around my neighborhood again.

All that said, I’ve still been managing to eat pretty well. I’ve had a cookie here, some pop there, but for the most part I’ve been eating decent food (or as decent as it gets on camp) and not too much of it. I haven’t weighed or measured myself recently because I doubt I’ve lost anything during my refusal-to-exercise days, but I’ve recently had an unusual number of coworkers tell me that I look like I’ve lost weight, so I’m just going to go ahead and say, “Woohoo! I look like I’ve lost weight!”

Editing Goal

I have a stupid, STUPID confession to make. I did try to get some editing done this week, I swear, I really did. But when I finally took out my tablet and opened up the files I transferred there for editing purposes, I discovered something idiotic. Of the four different word-processor-ish apps I have on my tablet, none of them open rtf files. Guess what format all my files are in? After two days of searching for an Android program that DOES open rtf files (for free, because screw that, I’m not paying for an app that I only need for a week) I gave up and admitted defeat. Apparently the world of tablets and smartphones does not believe in the existence of rtf files. So the editing will have to wait for this coming week. Grr.

1,000,000 Word Goal

I have been writing like a maniac this week, mostly due to my rediscovery of 750Words.com. I don’t know what it is, but I love just typing and typing and typing and watching the word counter go up. It’s addictive. Over the course of the week I’ve written blog posts, typed out a few scenes for Returning Hope, did a couple of writing exercises, and did a little bit of free-writing (i.e. writing whatever came to my head as it came to my head). Through all of this combined I managed to once again beat my best week score with a total word count of 16556. In addition to that, I’m happy to announce that I’ve reached a yearly total so far of over 165,000. Again, it’s nowhere near where I need to be for my goal, but it’s a heck of a lot more than I normally would have written, so I’m proud. Revel in my pride! Only six months to go to try and boost that total up as high as I can!

And with that said, I plan to spend the next several hours in the lounge at camp, with my feet up, reading A Dance With Dragons, and waiting for my final flight home. See you soon, Cape Breton!