Hazel Marie Rossini

So, it’s Wednesday. That’s code for “Work-in-progress Wednesday”, aka What I’m Working on Now…

Truth me told, not much. It’s like I’m still reeling from school, and I’ve no idea what’s going on or where I’m going.

I have a character, as the blog title would suggest. Born 21 February, 1897, she is the fictional depiction of my maternal grandmother , who was also born in 1897. Because I am from a 2nd marriage, my grandmother was almost 80 when I was born, and I didn’t know her too well. By the time I came around, she was old and frail – and she had just lost a husband and already buried her daughter. I don’t want to say she was bitter, but that’s what I remember.

And now that my father is gone, I feel as though there is no connection there any longer – there is no one with whom I can discuss my grandparents. (Which is not true as I have an older half-brother and half-sister who could totes fill me in, were we close.)

But this is still something that bothers me.

So what does any nominally sane person do? Why, they fictionalize their Grandmother, of course. So, there you have it.

Now, characters have backgrounds, and Hazel is still revealing herself, although she is totes going to settle down with an Alfred at some point. I do know she’s hiding something BIG when she comes to town because she calls herself Ellis Bell, but she has not yet revealed the specifics.

Have I mentioned yet where my series will take place? Here. Right here in Springfield, Illinois. I am going to have so much fun digging into the history of my hometown 🙂 Let me be frank  – I am not sure where/how to start researching so TIPS ARE APPRECIATED. But, I suppose the first thing to do is save up the $80 and invest in a library card… I get a half day at work every other Friday in June, July, and August. Guess that’s what I’ll be doing with my time until my husband is off work 🙂

So, that’s what I am working on. I don’t have anything to share about it, though. No words, at least.

What I can also share is that I am still digging my Bullet Journal. I’m 3 weeks and 3 layouts in, and I think I’ve been too fancy pancy about it. I create with words, not doodles and fancy lettering. So when I start August, I am going back to a more minimal approach. As I become more comfortable, I will share pics.

Have I told you what the Bullet Journal is? Well, let me just share these links instead. They give you the best rundown.

Here is the original site. This is Kara, and she might be a genius. Shh. I didn’t tell you that. There are a ton of other sites. Most of them are full of beautiful lettering and doodles and color and… all the things I am not. And it’s spawned a bit of bullet journal envy in me, which is immature and petty, and just so… beneath me. So, I sat my ass down today (I mean, I was at work, so…) and listed why I want the bullet journal:

1. productivity *
2. efficiency *
3. timely assignment completion for school
4. budget free time
5. writing goals

* These are also my buzzwords for the year at work. I’m doing pretty good, I think. I hope. oh, now I’m concerned.

Anyway…

I then asked, what do I want to track?

1. blog posts – when, what, etc… I mean, I am FAILING you guys, and I need to be more productive.
2. writing goals – will I track chapters or words, though? Not sure yet.
3. weight loss
4. habit tracker (this is amazing and helfpul) – here is Kara again, this time guest posting on Bulletjournal.com.
5. savings goals
6. daily water consumption
7. gratitude
8. No Spend months (although this could just be part of the habit tracker, come to think of it…)
9. goals – daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, etc…
10. class assignments
11. positive quotes (because I’m trying to be more positive and not such a Negative Nancy)
12. Bills – I have them on a monthly calendar right now.

So, I’m in love with this because I get to customize it 100% to what I want. And it requires some inner reflection – what works, what doesn’t. What should I keep, what can I do differently.

And frankly, I highly recommend it.

Oh, and I’m now on Instagram. @LauraMichaela_Author. So far, it’s BulletJournal and nature photos. #sorrynotsorry

Also! I had this question – do we, as authors, owe it to ourselves to read the stuff that is getting totally slammed in reviews? Is that part of being a better writer – the reading of the bad to see what NOT to do? I would love your opinions…

New Computers

Ugh. I had to buy a new desktop the other day. Since I do almost all of my writing on my delicious little Lenovo laptop – no, all of the actual writing, to be honest – anyway, the desktop is for research, iTunes, photos, school work, etc… You know, basic shit that doesn’t require a lot. So, I bought some cheapo Acer Aspire tower for $250 from Walmart.

Moved everything I wanted to save to OneDrive… and it’s all updating. I might not be patient enough for this. At least I’m getting rid of all the crap, though 🙂

So, the second week of school is going strong. So far, I’m on schedule, if not sleeping much. I’ll get better at this but Wednesday’s likely won’t be my weekly update – I have work, gym, and school… looooong day!

I’ve decided Saturday is devoted almost exclusively to writing – I’m hoping for 3500 words, which is possible. With no distractions, and good notes throughout the week.

I’m working on Chapter One right now – and plan on having it done by Sunday evening to keep up with Bryn Donovan’s writing schedule. So far, I have two paragraphs. But, 3500 words is far more than I need for a chapter, so I’m good…

Yesterday, I introduced my version of Gaston on a friend’s blog for Work-in-Progress Wednesday. That, of course, isn’t all of the scene, but it’s what I shared.

So. That’s where we are. What are you doing with your writing right now?

30 Day Blog Challenge – Day Twenty-Two

Oh my, isn’t this over yet? No. Of course not. And no, we are not anywhere near our personal goal of being done before Thanksgiving. Nope. Not even close.

and that’s OK.

Ya know why? Because I am here today to talk about my worst habits.

And perhaps my biggest, worst habit is allowing myself to fall victim to my own self-doubt, allowing the fears to slip in until I cannot even fathom completing whatever it is I was working on.

But let me tell you – this story has potential to be really good, and I refuse to let me talk me out of it…

30 Day Blog Challenge – Day Sixteen

It’s like the blog challenge loves me today. 

Post a photo of yourself. 

Then I realized, I have over 500 photos on my phone, and very few of them are of me. And none of them are on my new laptop. 

So, I’ve moved to my phone for this post. 

Now, this photo is of me and my nephew, Andrew. It was taken just before the death of my father, and might possibly be the last photo taken of me. 

We smiled, but inside, we died. 

  
And then, here is one with me and my daddy. 

  

30 Day Blog Challenge, Day 14

Lord. I am at Hooters with people from work, for the Rousey match. People from my husband’s work, not mine. 

I gotta say, I don’t get paying for her fights. I mean, you’re plonking down how much money? And, for how many seconds?? No. 

My laptop died on me 😒. I wonder if I need to buy a second charge cord to keep at work? Although, I did sit at work and write for 2 hours, waiting for Chris to get off work. Maybe that’s what it was…

Ah well. Here is yesterday’s post. Enjoy!

And today, I will reveal 3 healthy habits… 

Listen folks, I am fat, lazy, and out of shape. But, let me try this… 

1. I get my eight hours of sleep. 
2. I do watch what I eat, limiting carbs, alcohol, and sugar. 
3. I quit smoking. 

I would love to add that I go to the gym, but I lost the habit when I lost my father, and something is just keeping me from it. But, I am getting so tired lately. Maybe it’s time for a change. 

What are three of your healthy habits? 

30 Day Blog Challenge – Day Ten

I’m going to skip the link to Channillo tonight. You can view any of my previous posts from the challenge for a link (please, do)… I’m just worn down today. And because of that, I’m aiming to keep this short and sweet

The best trip of my life? My 40th, the husband and I went to St Louis.

Two days, just he and I, driving the two-mile radius we ventured fro our hotel, finding local restaurants for lunch, enjoying cocktails together. It was beautiful.

And then we came home.

I’m sorry, it was a rough day for me. I’ll try to expand upon this tomorrow.
Edit dated 12 November, 2015: 

First, we stayed at The Cheshire, an exquisite boutique hotel in Forest Park. We splurged on a suite, although not one of the Specialty Suites. 

All of the rooms are named after either authors, or their books. We stayed in the Byron Suite. 

If you are in the area, it’s a stay I highly recommend. I’ve a few pictures in my Facebook that I shall attempt to share here. 😉

Challenge, Day Two – Facts

If you don’t follow me over on Channillo, you will have missed my announcement yesterday – National Novel Writing Month kicked off with a bang for me – 1857 words. I’ve set myself a daily goal of approximately 1700, so that was awesome.

But, I like challenges – I like to push myself. And to do this, I decided to also do a 30 day blog channel. But I’m not stupid enough to think I can do 1700 original words on my current novel (let’s not even talk about how I’m going to shut off my self-defeating internal editor who wants to write the same words over and over, ad nauseum) PLUS two blog posts a day.

What’s the answer? Well, I post to each blog on alternate days, obviously. Yesterday, it was Channillo, today I bless WordPress with my words. Curse? Dunno. Anyway…

Yesterday, I explained the name of my journal page on Channillo – you should check it out over there. Today, it is 20 facts about myself –

1. I turned 40 on 28 October…
2. Despite the diabetes that I cannot seem to control, I still only feel about 23.
3. I love the grey/silver in my hair
4. I’m still not over the death of my father
5. I am terrified of failure
6. I was accepted to Southern Illinois University, and start back in January
7. I don’t like to talk about myself, so this is hard
8. I love my job – and the company I work for 🙂
9. I love my husband more each day.
10. I don’t think she knows it, but I love my mom very much
11. I don’t like zombies
12. I love to read
13. I am fairly certain my goals of writing are just pipe dreams
14. I like to sleep in, but I look forward to starting a new day
15. I am sick to death of people who say  we need to “get over” being offended by highly offensive things like rape culture, (making fun of) serious mental disorders, etc…
16. I have a thing about my phone displaying any little numbers by my email or my settings (indicating an update available)
17. Because of #16, the broken update for the Goodreads app might just send me over the edge.
18. I have never read some of the “classics”
19. I rarely watch movies. Name it, and it’s likely I’ve not seen it.
20. I am addicted to gum. Cannot stop chewing it – although, definitely not as bad as Violet Beauregarde 🙂

And, that’s it. Since you stuck out through this absolutely ridiculous list, let me share with you a few lines from my NaNo novel…

Dusk settled over London. The day had been long, arduous. Those inclined to athletic endeavors still grumbled and groused over a painful loss to Australia. The scientific-minded marveled over Edison’s feat at Pearl Street Station in New York. And cursed his ingenuity.

Happy Sunday

It’s been a lazy, lazy day here in Nopelandia. Either I am not sleeping enough, or the depression has its claws in deep. Right now, I cannot be sure. I’ve that foggy-headed thing going on. And yeah, it’s been like that pretty much since getting the call about my Dad.

Speaking of… It has been almost a month, and it still doesn’t feel real to me. When does i sink in that someone is really gone? When does the depression and anger and pain leave?

And don’t get me started on how this has affected my writing. Slowest writer in the world, right now.

But I’m doing it. Every day, I write at least 500 words. Crap words. Complete and utter crap. But write them I must, so I do.

I just installed the Blogger app on my new Samsung tablet. I had completely forgotten about my blog there. It’s my book review site, but I haven’t used it in 5 years. Oops. So, now I have to remember to do that, lol. No fears, readers  – if it is posted there, it is also going to be posted here. I love Wordpess.com 😉

So, there’s a bit of Catch Up with your favorite non-author. I do hope to be back to regular posting soon. Today has been a big do-nothing day, which means I’ll be up at dawn tomorrow to compensate.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Google

The Google. It is everywhere. At least, it is for me.

See, I’m the proud new owner of an iPhone 5s. I didn’t realize just how much I missed the iPhone until I had one again. (Except iTunes as we don’t get along.) the only problem with that? The majority of my work-in-progress is being created within Google Drive because I do a lot of my writing on my Chromebook.

So what am I supposed to do? We’ll, as they used to say: there’s an app for that. Yes. Seriously. A Google Drive app for my iPhone. I’m not sure how it works yet but I’m excited to figure it out.

Have I told You…

Ugh. Lack of motivation is, as my Husband would say, The Suck.

Also, I totally broke my phone and I had to replace it!

More importantly, the book has taken a completely different direction. Elixabeth is still hangin’ in there but her trials and tribulations are much more than we originally thought. Apparently, she didn’t like the story we were sharing, and she has demanded to be put back in control. So, look for New and Exciting in the future.

I’m so super thirsty.

I think I have a skitch of adult ADD. And I’m not trying to be funny there. I’ve always thought I had a crappy memory but it honestly seems to be more of an attention span issue. Perhaps we will explore that one day.

SHINY!

(I would really like to know enough about html to at least change my font.)

 

And with that, have a good day!