Ann Benjamin's Blog, page 270

Day 15, Blogging Challenge: Where Will I Be in 5 Years

Celebrating the 5th anniversary of you asking me this question… RIP, Mitch.

In all seriousness, I don’t know where I will be geographically (could still be the GCC, but just as easily somewhere further east – Hong Kong, KL, Australia?), but I do know where I want to be professionally.  I want to be supporting myself through my writing.  Full stop.

Come back and ask me in 2020 how I’m doing.

Day 14, Blogging Challenge: 3 Healthy Habits

I am by no means an expert on the subject, but here’s what I’ve got so far:

Be accountable.  I recently reached the top side of my weight range over the summer.  I jumped back onto MyFitnessPal to start calculating exactly how many calories I was consuming a day.  Yes, you will think twice about office sweets or a second glass bottle of wine.
Mix it up.  In an ideal world, I would go to Kickboxing on Mondays, Zumba on Tuesdays and salsa dance the rest of the week.  Given none of that is particularly available at a time when I need it to be, I’ve tried something different for me and have been enjoying the Couch to 5K training.
Leave work at work.  Yes, this is a bit of mental health.  As my job is already back to completely stressing me out again, I’m glad I can (mostly) leave work at work.  Some things might keep me up at night, but for the most part – I walk out the door and make myself leave it all behind.  My employer already gets close to 45 hours a week from me, I think that’s more than enough.

What are your tips?

 

Day 13, Blogging Challenge: What’s in My Fridge

Have a look – I’m not a very good adult.  There is champagne in there, just because you never know what you might be celebrating.

 

An interview from Bucharest…

Kind of like HONY, there is a start up group in Romania called the Travelers of Bucharest, who I contacted before we arrived.  They were kind enough to do an interview with Elena and myself, and this picture was one of my favorites from the session.

And in case you missed it, here’s my tips on travel to the city.

Day 12, Blogging Challenge: Fave Childhood Book

Another topic I’ve already covered, but I will instead list the first ‘big’ (i.e. chapter) book I can remember reading, Charlotte’s Web.  Reading is still an activity I participate in daily and something I will always make time for.  After all, is there anything better than a cozy afternoon in bed with an amazing book?

Highly recommend.

Book Review: The Girl in the Steel Corset

Hurrah – another YA steampunk book I liked!  As research for the Queen of England sequel I’m currently working on and getting practically nowhere because of work, I ran into a string of very technical mysteries I couldn’t get through, so I was happy to find a new series with a lot of elements that I enjoyed.  Drawing heavily from gothic elements, the protagonist Finley Jayne (unfortunately, the name is sort of urk for me, but I do like the character) battles with a bit of a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde personality disorder.  Given this role is traditionally male, I liked how Ms. Cross changed it up, not to mention have a young lady who is physically tough is great to see.  Finley (still urk and not at all in a Victorian naming convention) is also a decent representation of being a teenage girl (what with hormones and all).

As I’m aiming for a diverse supporting cast, I liked each of the members in Finley’s adopted family.  While not as robust as Ms. Carriger’s cast, there is still a lot of good going on in ‘Corset.’  As for love interests, this book made me realize my own lack of structure and development.  While our leads (Griffin and Finley) seem to be headed towards an end game with each other, the other member of the second love triangle (yes, there are two – let’s not get into the Mary Sue elements that presents) is someone I’d be happy to take home.  Jack Dandy adds a much appreciated ‘bit of the rough’ (think Captain Hook from OUAT) which is a nice opposite against clean cut Griffin.  While I have characters that weren’t brought up polite society, I have yet to really capture their unique voices, so it was good to see Jack done quite well.  Additionally, my love triangle is kind of a weird piece of geometry, mostly because my young Queen is a bit more interested in her country than she is in dudes (and potentially another young lady).

Decent book, but fantastic cover!

Finally, I was surprised the first couple of reviews on Goodreads really chewed this novel up.  I’m not sure YA fiction deserves this level of animosity, however, there are a lot of great notes as the novel relates to being both young adult and steampunk.  If I am going to market my novels in this genre, my work is definitely cut out for me.  While I thought Ms. Cross did a decent job world building and putting her own twist on ‘steampunk,’ many of the reviews would have you believe otherwise – worth revisiting once I finally get around to editing.

I’ve downloaded the next book in the series and am very curious at how it turns out (reviews on Amazon seem decidedly mixed).

Day 11, Blogging Challenge: Top 10 Favorite Foods

(Life on the Wedge, would love to see your answers to this one!) So, when I’m not dining at Noma, I actually have a fairly pedestrian palate…witness below:

Salmon sashimi (I could literally live on it – I order sashimi/sushi a minimum of once a week).
Chicken biscuit, Chik-Fil-a (I am willing to look aside from their grievances against the gay community once or twice a year for breakfast).
My mom’s chicken and noodles.  (A classic from my childhood – straight outta the Crock Pot).
Garrett’s popcorn (you have to mix the cheese and caramel)
Grilled cheese sandwich (a must from The Grit, Athens, GA)
Krispy Kreme, original glazed (Another holdover from childhood – with Atlanta being a starting point for these amazing donuts, it’s a great day when you drive by and see the hot sign on).
Toasted bagel with cream cheese (I hate carbs, can’t you tell?)
Queso dip and chips (Wash it down with a margarita and call it a day!  A specialty that doesn’t exist outside the United States, I’ve just made myself sad by listing a food I won’t be able to have until next year at the earliest).
Guacamole (homemade, with LOADS of cilantro)
Papa John’s cheese sticks (with the fake cheese dip!)

I like cheese more than I thought.

I have a feeling this list would change dramatically if I wasn’t crazy stressed at work today.  Each of these reads as utter comfort food.  Opposite to this is of course, many of the fine meals I’ve enjoyed at Michelin rated restaurants!

Liz Lemon really is my spirit animal.

Day 10, Blogging Challenge: Best Trip of My Life

Feeling lazy at the start of the week, I’m linking because I’ve already written about this topic.  Additionally, our trip back to South Africa in 2012 was equally as fun and I’m not quite able to discount the trip this summer to Iceland as being among my top faves.

Where was your favorite trip? 

Day 9, Blogging Challenge: What’s in My Bag

…baby.  Sorry, I keep picturing the title of this post in the voice of Austin Powers.  Rather than explain and not because I was drinking prosecco until 2AM, I’ll just show you.  Sometimes there is a manuscript (which is how I usually base the size of my purse), but I’m not currently editing anything.

Day 8, Blogging Challenge: Current Goals

I’m glad to commit these to the universe.

Get at least 5 reviews on Life After Joe (so I can kick up other parts of marketing the book).
Continue my Couch to 5K training.  I’m currently on Week 4, Day 1.  While the semester hasn’t officially started yet, I can see this becoming an excuse and I don’t want to use it.
Explore employment opportunities in Dubai for 2016.
Hit 15-20K words on Queen 2.
Finish a rough draft of the pilot.

Optimism!

What about you?  What are you currently working on?