*Crickets*

Happy NaNoWriMo!  I figured this would be a fun day to confirm I have not died nor have I been put into an sort of institution.

I won't be participating in NaNoWriMo this year, first off.

Secondly, while I have completely disappeared and not even read a single one of the blogs I follow since..... oh geez, May probably, I do want to continue to write and finish my novel from last year.  Have I kept up any sort of writing habit?  Hell no.  Reading?  Nope.  What have I been doing you ask?

Baking.
As in breads and cookies and carrot cake and pumpkin rolls with buttercream frosting.
That's my big news and what's been going on.  I've started my own bakery business.

Back in April for the A to Z Challenge, I did a post for P, and it was about my kick-ass great-grandmother (who's still with us).  Her actual first name is Florence.  She used to bake a ton.  Breads, cookies, carrot cake, oh god it was all so good.  It took me a few years but she finally began to share with me all her recipes.  Because when she's gone, we're going to want some god damn carrot cake.

I cannot cook to save my life.  I cook better with my character in World of Warcraft than I can in real life.  So you can imagine how shocked Adam and I were after I made said carrot cake and it was the best carrot cake we've ever had,  I knocked all her recipes out of the park.

With a little brainstorming, math, and a big, terrifying jump, I began the journey of Flo's Bakery, baking out of my home to pay my bills.  I left my old job at that car dealership mid-August and haven't looked back.  That position began sucking the life out of me where I'd be coming home either in a fit of rage or a ball of tears, so there was no desire at all to write.  Since then I've been caught up in the business.

Also, Adam and I did tie the knot in September.  We leave for our honeymoon next week, which is another reason why I'm not doing NaNoWriMo.  Blizzcon, Disneyland, and we even get to see Metallica.  BLAM!  Best trip ever!

So that's what's going on here in Michigan.  Dara the Writer isn't writing a whole lot, but Dara the Baker showed up out of nowhere.  After our trip I do want to get into a routine again and start writing again, getting back into that mess of a supposed novel and complete it somehow.

Place your bets for when I'll post here again.

I wrote stuff last night!

Don't get too excited for me, I'm not sharing any of it here.

I got in a good hour of brainstorming/writing last night.  Considering I work late Mondays and had a crummy day at work, I'm proud I got that much done.

I bounced ideas slash asked what I "should" be doing with Adam last week and determined I should first complete the WIP from where it's at.  Literally get to a THE END point.  That itself is a struggle as I haven't built up enough already written to get to an ending that makes sense.  So much is still in my head but I don't want to go back just yet to re-work everything.

Already I'm going over what needs to be re-worked.  The antagonist needs to be more of the main antagonist and not just a looming/empty threat.  My protagonist needs stronger motivation that fits with the plot.  Those are really the big things, those two characters.  If I can get the two of them nailed down, I'll be golden with the rest of the story and it'll all come together.

Channeling Chuck Wendig:
"Plot is like Soylent Green: it’s made of people."

A to Z Challenge aftermath

Well that was fun!

A formal welcome is due to any new followers.

Welcome!

..... I'm wearing a ballgown, you can't see it.  It's formal, I promise.

I own the fact that while I rocked out a post every day through April, I sucked at visiting other blogs.  I also sucked at reading any and all of the other blogs I follow.  I feel bad about it.

I alluded to two goals for myself during the recent challenge.  The first being some sort of blog schedule.  I have a habit sort of built in where I'm drawn to my Blogger dashboard and the need to schedule something for some point.  Score!

Decision: Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Let's make it fun.  THIRSTY Thursdays.  Oh!  Brilliant idea!!  Not only will I whine about writing, I'll also highlight a beverage of the day.... and by beverage, I mean beer.

This excites me.

On another note, I did myself in on April 26th by making a promise to myself that I would have a manuscript complete of my WIP, tentatively titled Life and Body Organs.  I sit here at our dining table on my ultrabook, much like I was in November, putting it off once again.

Hey, at least I'm writing.  :)

How about you people?  Will it be business as usual now that the A to Z Challenge is over?  Or have you made some big plans for yourself as well?

THIS should have been the insecure post...

So after the Sam's Club run and unload the car from the Sam's Club run and making my kick-ass, no bake, granola bars, I finally sat my butt down to get caught up on all my blogs I follow.

I got through 3 when I got inspired.

I got through 3 more when it left.

I got through another 3 when I got depressed and had to pull Adam away from our mini-bathroom renovation for a hug.

Much of my mood swings are self-inflicted in a way.  In this case, almost all of the blogs I follow are blogs of people who have been writing for quite some time.  They've published a few of their own stories in some way (traditional, indie, self, something).  They have a wealth of knowledge and experiences to share.  That's why I follow them and read them.

Why did I get to that oh-so-familiar Anxiety Girl today?  Something inside me, probably Anxiety Girl, said, "Wow, there is so much you can do!  And you know you'll have to get back to your WIP.  But when will you have the time to do all these things?  Read the books you want, get your foot into freelance somehow?  Remember, 10 hours every day is spent at and commuting to and from your job that doesn't allow you to do anything writing related."

It was around then my eyes welled up in some tears and I pulled Adam away from putty-ing the bathroom walls.

I want this.  I want it so bad that it pisses me off I can't dedicate the time I want to towards it.  Literally, it pisses me off.  After I was done crying I spewed a flurry of "shits" and "fucks" because I'm so angry I can't do what I really want to.

Yet.

I'm aware there's "yet."  And you'll have to forgive the next part of my rant, as I often get like this around this time of the year, being a few weeks before my birthday.

I start over-analyzing myself and comparing myself to other people.  I'm soon-to-be 32 years old.  I should have this and this and have that be accomplished this and the other thing.  No, it's not a healthy thing to do.  I try so damn hard to not do that and I do it any way.  I catch myself doing it with Adam, too.  He knows I don't mean it harshly but I'll go off the deep end, "We have to get married this year.  We want kids and I don't want to be 70-years-old when they graduate high school."  Okay, exaggeration, but you know what I mean.

I have so much in my control as far as writing goes, yet I feel like I have none due to having a full-time job.  Which I do need to have as I pay half of most of the bills and without that we'd be back living with Adam's parents.

I need a beer.

Question for today's post:

Are you in a similar boat as I am and have a blog that needs following?  I would LOVE to add to my blog feeds other fellow writers struggling to get going!

So.... how 'bout those Bears? And where else I've been

Jay Cutler got signed for a 7-year contract.

Can you hear that?  That's the sound of me banging my head against the wall.

Moving on.....

For someone who completed NaNoWriMo, I committed the sin of not touching my novel since.  Sure, a couple days or a week off is allowed.

Yeah, haven't looked at it since November 28th when I reached those sexy 50,018 words.  Shame on me.  Really, I am bummed with myself.  And the cool part is that the couple close friends I shared a few snippets of my novel with are also annoyed.  One of them, a former marine, and threatened me with his utility knife to get back to it so he can read more.  In a loving way, of course.  His fiance, my BFF, has threatened to make me babysit her 4-year-old.  Adam hasn't threatened (yet), but he's certainly making his point.

"I see you're playing Age of Empires II again."

"I am."

"I see you're playing as the Spanish again."

"I am."

"You know where the Spanish are from?"

"... Spain?"

"Yes, and you know what else is in Spain?"

".... what."

"Maisie (my MC), BECAUSE YOU LEFT HER THERE!"

This isn't an exact conversation, but it's close, and happens often.

I have dozens of excuses.  Took a week off and then had to prepare the house and plan for our Christmas Party.  Then we had to plan Christmas Eve dinner that we host.  Then I got the surprise of my life when my awesome Mama flew up from Florida to surprise me Christmas Eve day and stayed here a couple days (THAT is a totally valid excuse, I don't see my Mama often so even if I had been writing, I still wouldn't have done a damn thing and still spent every waking moment with her, so suck it).  Then the last excuse was, "Hell with it, it's the 28th, may as well wait until the New Year and get a fresh start."

Happy January 4th, still haven't touched it.

BUT!  BUT BUT BUT!  I did download the magic that is Scrivener.  After updating my so-called blog I will be screwing around with it and begin to incorporate Life and Body Organs into it.  Oh, I never mentioned the title?  Well, there it is.  Not sure if that's official yet, but there you go.

My current plan for the blog is to post twice, maybe three times per week.  To help me stay on top of that is creating and scheduling posts in advance.  Yes, that means for the past.... *counts on fingers*... seven months I have been typing and posting immediately.  Which is why my post frequency has gone a bit downhill.  Between work, writing, and life, I feel two per week is feasible.  Three would be a bonus.

Also on my task list for the month is my participation in the Start The Year Off Write challenge.  There's another way to fill one of my goals (keep reading for more on that).  Those of you who write, whether you got it down and live it every second of the day, or you're like me and you love it but suck at trying to make the time because of other obligations to keep the utilities on at home, should definitely check this out.  Starts Sunday.

In the world of full disclosure, other goals, trends, and habits for me in 2014 are:

• Organize this blog more, regarding layout, tags/labels, and other things most bloggers use and I just haven't felt the need to use.
• Increase my social media presence by more use of Twitter and Google+.... which, by the way, you can follow me on those and Tumblr to the right.
• Both Adam and I are taking part in the Nerd Fitness Academy because it's not a New Year unless you've made some sort of fitness plan... only we won't give up on it in the first month.  I love the philosophy, definitely check it out for yourself.
• Write daily.  Between my WIP (do you have any idea how long it took me to realize WIP stands for work-in-progress?  Derp!), journaling, and here, I don't have a lack of sources.
• Read daily.  Specifically, beyond blogs.  I have several books I want to get through, numerous about writing, I'm working on George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, Mama gave me three awesome books for Christmas, and I have an ever growing list beyond that.

Lastly, one thing I have learned to connect with and build a blog audience is to ask questions and engage any readers I may still have lurking about.  Why do I want an audience?  Because I'm fucking awesome and hilarious and I need to share this glory that is Dara WITH THE WORLD!

Did you hear my ego grow?  Because it needs to.  It barely exists.

SO!  New Year "resolutions" aside, this question(s) for today's post mostly pertains to my followers who have a blog of their own.  And if you don't, answer anyway and pretend you have one.

How do you set your blogging schedule?  Do you sit, type, and post immediately, or do you plan ahead and schedule weeks in advance?  How do you determine the number of posts/updates you share in a week?  How do you determine the topics of your posts (personal vs. professional/writing)?