Lauralynn Elliott's Blog, page 58

ROW80 Check In 11/6/11

My goal is to write an average of 500 words per day. So I have a spreadsheet that goes through the whole round and it shows what my progress is. When I was on vacation, I didn't write for 8 days. When I left, I was 260 words ahead. So at the end of my vacation, I was behind by 3740 words. That seemed so overwhelming, and I wondered if I would ever get back on track. But, as of Saturday night, I was only 957 words behind. I've been making sure that I write more than the 500 words each day so I can gradually catch up. My lowest word count since vacation was 705 and the highest was 1466. So I'm really pleased with where I am right now. It looks like I should be about to get caught up completely in the next few days. Yay!

So how are the rest of you doing with your goals? Have you had to change your goals to make them more reasonable, or did you pick the right goals in the beginning? Is this your first round, or have you been with ROW80 for other rounds? I would love to hear from you.

ROW80 Check In 11/3/11

Ok, I'm a day late. And I also want to apologize for being such a bad sponsor these past couple of check ins. As most of you know, I was in Disney World, and I had no internet access without paying for it. Not only that, I didn't get in the hotel room until late every night, and I crashed immediately each time. What little I did get to do was from my phone waiting on rides, etc. But using the internet on a phone is a big PAIN. I hate it! Hopefully, I'll get a chance to check on a lot of you today or tonight.

Anyway, I'm back in the saddle. I'm still trying to catch up on my word count since I didn't write for eight days while I was gone. And I didn't write last night because my wrist was hurting from trying to open a jar of spaghetti sauce. That's what I get for not making it from scratch! LOL. I emailed my WIP to myself last night so I can work on it at lunch today to make up for not writing last night.

How are the rest of you doing?

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Beauty and the Beast

I can't tell you how much I love the story of Beauty and the Beast in all its different forms. It's my favorite animated Disney movie. I loved the original story. And I was crazy about the series starring Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton.

A few months ago, I started a short story with a similar theme, and I was going to offer it for free on Smashwords. Somehow I got sidetracked. But, when I was at Disney World, I saw a musical show based on the Disney version. And I cried, as usual. Seeing this renewed my love of this story, so maybe I'll get back to the short story I started. It will have to wait until I at least get caught up on my WIP, but it'll be there waiting for me when I'm ready.

What fairy tale inspires you to write?

ROW80 and Disney World

For my ROW80 check in…I haven't written a word in eight days. I took my computer to Disney World with me, thinking I would have time to write. I never opened my laptop. My feet have never hurt so bad in my life. I think my friends were trying to kill me. We were at the park until 1:00 am on Monday and midnight on Wednesday. And 9 and 10 the other days. But you have to add the time it takes to catch the bus back to the hotel. I had a great time, but I'm glad to be home.

For those of you just wanting a ROW80 update, you don't have to read further unless you want to. I want to talk about a couple of things and I don't want to do two posts. But you'll miss eye candy.

One thing I realized is how well behaved my friend's eight year old son is. Most of the kids there are apparently ignored by their parents while they are at Disney and aren't taught good manners. I don't know how many times I was hit, kicked, and bumped into while standing in line. No "excuse me" or "I'm sorry" from any of them but one or two. I wanted to hit their parents.

On a more INTERESTING note. This is my favorite attraction at Disney World. His name is Luca.

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Believe me when I tell you, these pictures do NOT do him justice. He was our waiter at the Italian restaurant, and he had the most amazing accent. And he was very sweet. But my husband wouldn't have appreciated me bringing him home as a souvenir. As an author, the first thing I thought of was how I would love to have him on a book cover. But he would have thought I was weird if I asked him what time he got off from work so I could take some pictures. LOL. I wish he wasn't smiling in both of these pics…it makes him look like a little boy, and that makes me seem…well…creepy. Hahahahahaha.

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Updates

I'm having a great times at Disney. I have no internet access and I just don't have time to do everything on my phone. So I apologize for not commenting on posts this week. I can barely catch up on comments on my Trick or Treat page. I'm blown away by the number of comments I'm getting! This was a great idea by Elizabeth Ann West.

I'm sure going to have a lot of catching up to do Monday!

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Trick or Treat Page

Check out my Trick or Treat page on the tab above. There's a free book to be had! Also, make sure you click on the link to the other participants in the Trick or Treat fun. You just might find some good treats!

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ROW80 QUICK Check In

I took off from writing Wednesday and Thursday due to coming in late at night. I'm still 260 words ahead of goal.

Now, if you will all excuse me, I'm getting ready to leave for Disney World! Squeeeee!

We're driving for about an hour and a half, stopping for church on the way, then off we go to the hotel, which will take several more hours! Then, tomorrow, we'll be in the park until about 1:00 AM (extend hours that day). Whew!

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Do Your Vampires Sparkle?

Stephanie Meyer really set herself up for ridicule when she made her vampires sparkle when they got out in the sun. I've heard so many people make fun of her, especially fellow authors. And I'm sure she's crying laughing all the way to the bank. Yes, I do think sparkling vampires are a little silly. But she wanted to do something different, and she did.

Vampire lore has been around for a REALLY long time, and most of the older stories stuck to the same general ideas. Vampires couldn't go out in the daytime, and they slept in a coffin at night. They could be killed by a stake in the heart, sunlight, or fire. Oh, and beheading. They hated garlic, and could be burned by crosses and holy water. They couldn't eat food. How dare anyone deviate from that when writing about vampires???

The book I'm reading right now deviates from the old stories in several ways. Like Meyer's vamps, they never sleep. They can go out in sunlight without burning up, but it hurts. They can't be killed by a stake in the heart, only by fire. Buffy the Vampire Slayer had vampires that could eat real food. Kim Harrison has vampires that are dead and vampires that are not dead. We are seeing so many deviations from the old vampire lore.

I've written two stand alone vampire novellas, and two (working on third) in a series. One thing is common in all of them…my vampires can eat food! This is important because I'm a real foodie and life (or unlife) without being able to eat food is not worth living, in my opinion. I actually had a reader give me a low rating because I didn't stick to the no eating mythology. She complained because my vampires ate food, and that wasn't true. Hello? Vampires aren't real! The vampire in one of my novellas only took blood at a certain time interval. The rest of the time he ate like everyone else. The vampires in my current series can't go out in sunlight, and they lie dormant during the day and are cold and lifeless (but on a bed, not a coffin). When they feed upon rising, they are warm and they breathe. They can eat real food, INCLUDING garlic. So I use parts of the original stories, but I add my own twist, too. My vampires never sparkle. LOL

What about you? Do you like to see writers stick to the original stories that we've heard for years, or do you like to see a deviation? Do you actually get offended if an author's vampires do things differently? What do you think?

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ROW80 Check In 10/19

On the writing…even though I skipped those three days, I'm 563 words ahead of my goal. I sat down last night, not sure where I was going with the story, then suddenly over 1300 words burst out of me. LOL. I would really like to get ahead even more this week so I won't feel pressure about it while I'm in Disney World next week.

On the exercise…as I said in yesterday's post, I got up yesterday morning and walked 20 minutes on the treadmill. I woke up this morning, planning on doing it again today. However, I immediately realized why I woke up before the alarm went off. I had a horrible headache. So I had to go back to bed for awhile. I took something, but I'm still fighting the headache here at work. So I don't think I'll do a lot today.

I feel bad about something. Almost a week ago, L.S. Engler nominated me for a versatile blogger award. I feel bad that I'm just now acknowledging that. I've just been so busy, and very frustrated with my internet at home. So, anyway, here's what I have to do.

1. Thank the person who nominated you. Thank you so much, L.S.!

2. Pass this award along. I'm like L.S., I can't possibly pass it along to as many people as I would like. So I'll nominate Kait Nolan, Susan Bischoff, C.M. Cipriani, E. A. West, and Tiffany White. I know some of you are very, very busy, so I will not be in the least offended if you don't pass this along. I completely understand. I just wanted to let you guys know that I think you come up with some really cool posts.

3. List seven things about yourself. This is the hardest part, but here goes:

1) I'm a Christian

2) My favorite musical group is The Beatles

3) My favorite author is Stephen King

4) I'm very claustrophobic

5) My two favorite shows ever are Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Moonlight

6) I have two other businesses: an Etsy shop where I sell eggshell ornaments and jewelry; and I sell Mary Kay cosmetics.

7) I have a wonderful husband, and two great boys, ages 29 and 22.

Wow…I didn't realize how boring I was.

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Exercise, Susan Bischoff, Disneyworld

Yes, yes, this is a very eclectic mix of topics.

I got up this morning and walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes! Seriously, I did. If you knew how much I love my sleep, you would have surprised face right now. I hope I'll be able to make myself do this every morning, and also do some other kind of exercise in the evenings. We'll see.

Also, Susan Bischoff is running a contest on her website. Click HERE for details.

And, last, but in no possible way least, I'm going to Disney World on Sunday! I'm as excited as a little kid. I haven't been there in years, and they've added so much stuff. There wasn't an Animal Kingdom when I was there last. And I love rides, especially the roller coaster ones! The couple I'm going with (and their eight year old son) are afraid of roller coasters, so I'll be riding a few of those by myself. My friend won't ride anything scary, but her husband said he MIGHT ride a few of the scarier rides with me. I want to ride that cool coaster that has the Yeti that tries to get you! Okay, yes, I'm babbling. I TOLD you I was like a little kid.

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