Review of It’s a Purl Thing

(It’s a Purl Thing) by Elizabeth Lenhard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was given to me by a writer friend, because she knew that I enjoyed knitting (I also crochet). I have to say… when I first started reading it, I wasn’t sure I’d like the story. However, once I got into the story and started meeting the rest of the characters, that all changed. I found myself drawn along with the characters – happy when they were happy, sad when they were sad, etc.

It has the feel of a teenager sort of book. The main characters are all in high school. They’re just getting their first crushes, etc. They also have… drama! When things start to go a little sideways, Scottie feels like her whole world is unravelling. That might annoy some people, but… I found it to be very realistic. It made the characters more relatable, perhaps because the author didn’t drag it out for too long.

All in all, I’m really glad that I read this book. I may even try to find the next one in the series. I’m looking forward to trying the free patterns that are included in the end of the book.

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Migraines – More than just a headache…

June is Migraine Awareness Month. When I learned that, I decided to write a little about my experiences with them.

When I first began suffering from migraines, I didn’t even realize what was happening. My earliest memories of them come from when I was about twelve years old. My head would begin to ache and light hurt my eyes. Most of the time, I would just muddle through the rest of the day, feeling tired and having difficulty focusing. A few times, I went down to the nurse’s office to lie down for a while. I wasn’t the sort of kid who liked going home from school – no matter the reason – so when she’d ask if I wanted my parents called, I would say no, take a nap and then return to classes.

That was my life through the end of high school – getting headaches and seldom complaining about them, merely muddling through. I started noticing that certain things caused them: hormones, getting too much sun, changes in the weather, extreme heat… I began wearing sunglasses and ballcaps to shade my face when I was outside. That helped tremendously. I stayed in air conditioning as much as I could. That also helped, but I still didn’t know that I was suffering from migraines.

By the time I stated college, I was beginning to suspect that I was getting migraines. My mother had them, so it wasn’t inconceivable. However, mine weren’t like hers… I never had the nausea that I’d always heard being a symptom. (My mother nearly always does with hers.) However, I did research and I saw other symptoms that I did have: a dull ache in my head that would throb, sensitivity to light and sound, being tired and having difficulty focusing, visual disturbances… It fit, but I didn’t get it officially diagnosed. What I did do was begin taking OTC pain killers when I felt the headache coming or saw my little flashing star (which is my aura).

Around this time, I also found a new trigger: Red 40. It was, very likely, less of a new trigger and more something that I’d finally recognized as having been a trigger after many years. Once I cut Red 40 out of my diet, the number of days that I suffered dropped dramatically.

There came a day one winter when I slipped and fell on ice. I hit my head and ended up in the emergency room with a mild concussion. They let me go home that day and I had a follow-up where I was shown to be fine. However, for a few years after that, I had a new symptom that scared me enough to send me to the doctor: I’d get vertigo and numbness on the roof of my mouth preceding a migraine. At this point, I finally described my symptoms – most of which I’d been suffering from for just over fifteen years by that point – to a doctor and got my diagnosis. (I also had a brain scan just to make sure there was nothing more serious going on.)

That was nearly a dozen years ago now. It’s been a journey to figure out exactly what triggers my migraines and the best way to deal with those things. Some things, like food triggers or dehydration, I can avoid simply by watching what I eat and drink. Other things, like hormones or weather changes, I can’t do very much about. However, I can track them and have warning ahead that I’m primed for a migraine.

One thing I’ve had to deal with, particularly since becoming an adult and joining the workforce, is the idea that migraines are severe headaches. In reality, they are so much more than that. My OTC medicine takes care of the pain, but it doesn’t take care of certain other symptoms. I’m still tired when I’ve had a migraine – long after the pain has stopped. I still have trouble focusing in the hours after I’ve had a migraine. Those things go away, with time. However, getting people to understand that it’s not just the pain isn’t always easy. The other thing that’s difficult at times is the assumption by some that, since I’ve taken medicine the pain will automatically go away. While that’s often the case (thank God), it’s not always so. Sometimes, it’s as if I took the medicine too late and I just have to wait – take another dose or two – and relax.

I have heard of some people being unable to function with migraines or having difficulty maintaining a job, because of frequent absences. I thank God that’s not my story. My pain is, generally, manageable. However, migraines are so much more than just a throbbing pain in my head. They really are something that effects my entire body and, as a result, can influence every aspect of my life.

A Month of Editing

Since March is when we edit at WriYe, the Blog Circle topic relates to that as well.

What’s your plan for editing? What’s the hardest thing for you in the editing process?

Generally, editing is the part of the writing process that I hate the most. I will put it off by doing everything else I can, other than edit. However, it’s also a very important part of the writing process. In recent years, I’ve tried to get better about following through on editing things. I’ve met with mixed success…

Generally, my plan for editing is to begin by reading through the entire piece, fixing the minor things – like typos and the like. I also will make an outline – showing what happened in each chapter, so that I know if there is anything missing or if things seem to occur out of order (which happens more than you’d think is possible).

After that, I read the whole piece again, to see what it reads like as a whole. Then, I send it off to either my sister or my mother, so that they can read through it as well. When they get back to me, I look through their suggestions for edits and follow through with that.

For me, the hardest part of the editing process is actually getting started. Once I begin editing a piece, I can do pretty well getting through it to the end. However, each time I have to start a new step… it’s a chance for me to put it off, in favor of doing something else.

Bonus:

What advice would you give follow writers?

My advice would be: If you are having trouble editing, give yourself a deadline. When I am working to a deadline – even an artificial one that I’ve given myself – I’m more likely to actually start the process. I would also tell other writers not to be too hard on yourself. We’re always our own worst critics. Your story – even the first draft – isn’t nearly as horrible as you think it is.

From Goal to Reality

I often hear that everyone should read the Bible at least once in their life. I’m familiar with most of the stories contained in it. After all, I went to Sunday School from the time I was in kindergarten until I was in tenth grade. Then, I began teaching Sunday School. However… reading it from cover to cover? Yeah… no! That hasn’t happened yet.

I’ve seen several Bible reading plans over the years. Most of them try to get you to finish the whole Bible in a year. Others give you an overview – skipping the most boring parts. I tried one that was in the back of one of my Bibles (I have four different versions), but… it was too intense. It also had me read some from the Old Testament and some from the New Testament each day. I fell behind and… I couldn’t get caught back up, so I gave up entirely. At the time, I intended to try again the next year, but… that just never happened.

Now, years later, I’ve found a new Bible reading plan. This one spreads the task out over two years. I’m reading the books in order (starting with Genesis and ending with Revelations) and I’m only reading about two chapters each day (give or take). It’s slow-going. However, I’m having far less trouble keeping up with it. Better: when I do miss a day, it’s easy for me to catch up again. That means it’s far less discouraging. This time… I may just make it!

So far, I’ve read through the book of Genesis and I’m part way through Exodus. I’m learning things that I never knew, partly because they were always skipped over and partly because… the readings are so short that I can really digest what I’m reading each day.

So… are there any tasks that you’ve always wanted to try? What can you do to make that goal a reality?

Where’s the Love?

Blog Circle Post…

Romance

How do you handle romance in your writing? Do you actively avoid it? Do you specialize in it? Is it something that happens but isn’t the focus of the story?

Romance is almost never the focus of any story I might write. However, I don’t actively avoid it either. Instead, it generally happens as a facet of the plot.

That said, I’ve written a few stories in the genre. I always see it as a real challenge to make two characters come together in a natural way. Sometimes, they seem to move far too quickly – going from virtual strangers to love interests within moments of meeting each other. It’s something I’ve struggled with for years and that I’m finally starting to get a handle on.

A big reason for my difficulty with pacing is, I think, simply my inexperience with such relationships in my own life. I’ve never been in a romantic relationship myself. I’ve always been the outsider, watching two people move from friends to something more or, as with many couples I know, well after the parties are established in their love.

Quite probably because of where my personal experience does lie, I find it much easier to write romance between the members of an established couple or to have it as something that occurs in the background, as a natural consequence of the interactions between the characters.

It was when I looked at romance in that manner that I began to be able to write stories in the genre. Now, I am able to write stories where the romance is the focus, but it seems to come about naturally, due to the circumstances in which I’ve placed the characters.

The Coming Year

A New Year, a new Blog Circle question:

What’s your WriYe Word Count goal for 2018? Why did you choose it?   What are your plans for the year? What do you want to accomplish with your writing?

I signed up to write only 225K words for the year. My actual goal is a little higher (227K) because I’m not writing the same amount each month. I chose this goal because, as I did last year, I’m trying to go for quality over quantity. I know that I can write huge amounts of words, but I’d like to split my time between writing and other creative endeavors (crocheting, knitting, drawing, color and world building). I’d also like to get some editing done and I’ve always had trouble counting words for stories that I’m editing.

My plans for this year…

I want to finish my stitch book. I have one more square to knit for it. Then, I want to embroider something small and simple on each square and combine them into a book.

I want to keep up my habit of writing every day.

I want to finish my Marauders Series. It’s definitely in the realm of an Alternate Universe and I’m fine with that. However, there were some things that didn’t fit together from one piece to another and I definitely lost momentum on it. I want to pull out the stories, read them over and edit them. Then, I can finish the last two.

I want edit my NaNo story from last November and get my World Bible all hammered out into something that makes sense and will work as a reference going forward in that world. It’s the result of combining three or four different story universes, so those details will trickle down into editing other pieces as well.

I also want to get Keenan’s story out to my sister and mother, so that they can read it. Of all my stories, that is one I would like to publish, but I know there are things that I’ll need to fix in order to get it ready.

What I hope to accomplish in my writing is progress. I want to finish things that I started last year. I want to build more on the world my sister and I are crafting. I want to edit all the things I’ve written, so that I can show them to people comfortably. I also want to explore my own personal writing voice more in the year to come, which may mean stepping outside the cozy box of spec fic where my stories typically fall.
Bonus:
What are you most looking forward to in 2018?

I think that, in 2018, I’m most looking forward to just really enjoying the craft of writing without the pressure to write huge amounts each day.

2017 In Review

The last Blog Circle question for 2017 (which I couldn’t get posted at the time):

The year is almost over. So, sum up your year of writing. Did you meet your goals? Are you satisfied with how your year went? Let us know!

So, I started last year with five “resolutions”. Some of them related to writing and others related to other things in my life. On my non-writing resolutions… I did reach my reading goal, at least with regards to quantity of books. I’m not sure whether or not I would consider them to be more complex or not. I also drew quite a bit more.

Now… my writing related goals:

I wanted to plan out my stories more. Although I didn’t manage to get my two Marauder WIPs plotted, I did spend a lot more time plotting my longer pieces. It was definitely a great help in getting those stories completed.

I wanted to stop second-guessing myself when it came to story ideas. I think I did great with that! I went out on a limb during November and wrote in a completely new genre. It was a challenge, but I had a lot of fun. I do still need to work on sharing my stories without fear, but I’m taking it one step at time.

The third writing goal was to blog more. I started off well! I was getting at least four posts on each blog most months. Then, I hit November – and NaNo sucked up a lot of time, so I didn’t blog at all. Starting in December I began having trouble getting to my blog to post anything, so I haven’t posted since the end of October. I’m hoping to figure out what is going on with my blogs and start posting to them again.

Overall, I’m fairly satisfied with how the year went. I made real progress on my goals – even if I didn’t complete them. I finished most of the stories I started. I was able to tie several story universes together into one big universe during July Camp NaNo. I’m looking forward to seeing what 2018 will bring.

Write a Novel in a Month?

Blog circle is here once again: This month’s topic: To NaNoWriMo or not to NaNoWriMo? Why or why not?  If you participate, what type of prep do you do before the start? Are you excited for this year?

NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month – is something that I first discovered about twelve years ago.  That first year, I didn’t participate.  However, the next year rolled around and I decided on October 31 that I would do it.  I signed up and never looked back.  I’ve been hooked ever since.

For me, it’s less of a challenge to write.  I’ve reached the point where I write every day (or nearly every day) even when NaNo isn’t going on.  However, the challenge is to focus on a single project for an entire month and finish that project during the month.  I’ve succeeded in that nearly every time (I’ve always reached the word goal, but there was one time when the story wasn’t finished by the end of the month).

Preparing for NaNo is one of those things where it’s very individual.  In my first year, I wrote out my outline on the last day before the event and… just started writing.  In other years, I’ve written detailed outlines, character outlines, world notes, and… just about everything you could imagine.  What I’ve found is that I need some kind of plan, but I can’t plan too much either.

This year, I have a few different short synopses, one pretty lengthy outline and character profiles for the six major characters (including pictures).  I’ve also got a short list of minor characters and settings, along with dares and dialogue prompts.  That’s all the preparation that I feel like I need.  As it is… I’ll probably deviate from my outline pretty soon after the month starts.

Excitement… comes and goes.  Sometimes, I wonder if my story will be worth reading when all is said and done.  However, whenever I start to tell someone about my story, I get excited all over again.  I’m just hoping that I’ll be able to make the story be half as much fun to read as it has been to dream up.

The Whole Thing?

I’ve been spending the last few months re-reading a series of books that I read in my mid-teen years: The Dark is Rising Sequence.  It’s a five-book contemporary fantasy series written for middle grades (the main characters are generally between ten and twelve years old).  None of the books is especially long (one count of the entire sequence puts it at just under 800 pages).  However, I keep seeing questions about reading just one book from the sequence.

The Dark is Rising was a Newbery Honor Book (runner up for the medal) and The Grey King won the Newbery Medal.  So… yeah, people just want to read these books, since they are clearly “the best” of the sequence.

On one hand, I can understand that someone might not wish to read a book that isn’t great.  However, just because a book didn’t win or get nominated for an award doesn’t mean it’s not well written or enjoyable.  I’ve read and really enjoyed books that never won awards and I’ve read books that did win awards that I didn’t care for.

Additionally, they were written as a series.  That tends to mean… things happen in one book that are important in the next book and, if you don’t read those previous books, then you don’t know what all is going on.  You are meant to read them in order and, in order to get the whole story, you’re meant to read all five books.

So… yeah, would you honestly skip books in a series just because they didn’t get an award?  If so, have you ever felt that you missed out by doing so or does it give you more time to read better-written books?

A Review of Bible Bits for Knit-Wits

Biblical Bits for Knit-Wits: Knitting the Story of God’s Love for You by Summer Mungle

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve been blogging about this book as I worked my way through the patterns. Technically, I still have one square left to make, before I stitch them all together and edge my blanket/lapghan. However, I’ve finished the reading portion of the project, so I feel like I can review the book now.

I really liked the format of the book. There is a short reading, interspersed with Bible verses. This is followed by questions designed to get you thinking. Then, at the end of the chapter, you have a knitted square that relates back to the lesson in some way.

I liked that some of the verses weren’t the ones you see all over the place. I also liked some of the lessons – which sometimes dealt with tough subjects, like the Trinity. It worked great to do on my own, but I could also see it being done as a group. All in all, I was able to finish each square within the week expected by the creators of the study. Even things like the honeycomb stitch (which requires a cable needle) is explained in terms that someone like me could follow.

Some critiques: a few of the patterns had errors in them – none were undo-able, even for someone like me (I’m an advanced beginner with knitting). However, it’s something to be aware of, if you want to do this Bible study. Sometimes, the reading comes across as… a bit judgmental. A couple times – out of the 12 lessons – I read something that rubbed me the wrong way.

At the same time – in spite of these critiques – I’m really glad that I undertook this challenge. I feel like I learned more about both the Bible and my own faith (which really is the point of any Bible Study).

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