The boyfriend and I are visiting the UK to see old friends, see family and do some sight seeing. Posts about England will follow later this month. This post is about my yearly goals. As usual I didn’t accomplish everything I wanted to last year. I did not submit ten short stories and one novel. Though I did submit short stories. I did not read twenty-four books. I read five. The workshop goals I always manage to do. And the movie goal is easy to accomplish as well. I watched movie 100 in England.

Onto this year’s writing goals:

1. Write every day with an average of at least 1,000 words a day
2. Read twenty-four books
3. Watch 100 movies
4. Read twelve scripts
5. Critique more
6. Take at least two workshops
7. Give workshops
8. Submit ten short stories and one novel
9. Continue to grow the in person writing group
10. Update website

I’m taking Margie Lawson’s Defeat Self-Defeating Behaviors so I’m confident I will be able to accomplish everything on my list this year.

I hope 2012 is great for everyone. Do you have any 2012 goals?

Until next time…

Cindy

This year we went to the Haunted House of Horrors in Guelph. I have one word. AWESOME. This dude does an amazing job. The movie props were great. The actors did a fabulous job. Walking through the house made me feel like I was in a horror movie. Which made me want to get back to my script. Soon I’m going to have to stop fixing it, call it done and submit it. The house also gave me nuggets of ideas for stories. Check out the website (link above) and view the photo gallery.

The last night for the haunted house is tonight. But the attraction is open every year around Hallowe’en. If you’re in Guelph around October 31 you should go. Some of the proceeds go to the Guelph Humane Society.

Tonight I get to go with my niece trick-or-treating. Can’t wait for that. She’s so adorable. Then I must hide any candy we might have left. Or I can keep it handy for NaNoWriMo.

Did you do anything for Hallowe’en this year?

Until next time…

Cindy

So, this week and for the next few weeks I’ll be going on a cleaning rampage. My main objective in all this is to get my office finally set up. I miss having an office. All of my books and office supplies in one place. An actual desk to sit at. A place to put my printer. Being able to find my pens, envelopes, paperclips, post it notes. Sigh.

I also want to get the “library” started in the basement. All of the books in the house in one place. Well, most of them. The research and writing books will be in my office. I’d like to get a sofa or at least a love seat in the basement so people can actually watch TV down there. There’s a nice television down there we aren’t using at all. It would be nice to be able to go down there if the boyfriend is watching something I don’t care to watch or playing a video game when I want to watch television.

Right now I’m off to work. The rest of the cleaning will have to wait until I get back.

Until next time…

Cindy

I thought I would give an ebook a try because my friend Danielle Gavan has a few out. She’s a great writer with interesting takes on some of your favourite princesses from your favourite fairy tales. I’m reading Tarnished Tiaras right now, an ebook of short stories that answers the question – what happened to the fairy tale princesses that the fairy tales didn’t tell us? You’ll never look at fairy tale princesses the same way again. I’m liking the stories. I’ve always loved fairy tales. And I’m not minding reading it on my iPhone either. I can read in bed with the lights off while the boyfriend is sleeping. You can buy her book at Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Smashwords.

Until next time…

Cindy

Saturday the boyfriend and I went to a beer tasting in Waterloo. I drove so he could sample. The brewery was very nice and they had a good turn out. But lots of people drinking free/cheap beer has the conversation going all over the place. Some of it good, some of it not so good. Most of it though, had me more determined than ever to finish a few stories I have on the back burner.

Interesting word all. A lot of people use it without thinking about what they’re actually saying. All was thrown around quite a bit Saturday afternoon. If you’re going to use the word think about what you’re saying first. All women think men are jerks. No, they don’t. Plus, have you asked every single woman on the planet what they think of men? So how can you make that statement? All men think women should be barefoot and pregnant. Uh, no. At least not the men I know. And have you asked every single man on the planet? All religious people think non religious people are lazy. All non religious people think religious people are fanatics. Hmm. Did you talk to every religious and non religious person on the planet to come up with those conclusions?

You can say a lot of women who have been hurt by men think men are jerks. Or the women I talked to think men are jerks. You get the idea. FYI I do not think men are jerks. Some are sure. But most of the men I know are great people. I do not believe any of the all statements in the previous paragraph either.

Now here are a few alls you can use. All men are people. All women are people. All thumbs are fingers. All horror movies are movies. You get the idea. Think about what you’re saying before you use all to make a statement about someone, something, a group of people. We’ll all be happier if you do.

Okay, off to work. Where all the work I have to get done will not be finished in one day.

Until next time…

Cindy

But it’s not just the works in progress that vie for my attention. There are my Excel spreadsheets to keep track of everything from the clues in my story to how many points I’ve eaten in a day. The websites I want to update or finish. A new software I bought to create WordPress templates. The books I should be reading. The movies and shows I should be watching. Yes, should because as a screenwriter I need to study movies and television. And of course family and friends time.

So, back to The Sims 3 as a reward for writing. I’ve set up my word count tracking spreadsheet to calculate how many minutes I’ve accumulated for Sims play. I must write enough words to accumulate an hour of time to play. It’s really not worth playing unless you have at least an hour. Every week the time I’ve accumulated resets. Since I need to write 12,000 words to be able to play for an hour I’m thinking The Sims is out for this weekend. Next weekend though my goal is to be able to play for at least an hour.

Right now I’m going to get some words done before I go to bed.

Until next time…

Cindy

So I was very pleased to learn that The Royal City of Guelph (a city close to my heart – the boyfriend lives there) was named the most romantic city in Ontario. See The Toronto Star article here.

All you romance writers and readers out there who read the article might have an issue with Seth. The author is quoted in the article and doesn’t have nice things to say about romance. Wonder if his wife knows how he really feels. I did a search and found his real name but I will refrain from commenting on his website (if he has one).

Now, I’m off to work. On the way I’ll think about what to do for Valentine’s Day. In the city of romance there’s bound to be something appropriate to celebrate the day.

Until next time…

Cindy

I’m determined to get through my two books a month. I’m about a quarter through one right now. I have to start reading at night while I watch TV if I want to accomplish that goal.

I will be resuming my regluar blog postings too. This one is a day late. Tomorrow’s should be one time. Fingers crossed. It’s busy at work and I’ve been bringing work home with me.

Speaking of…I have to log into work to get something done before I go to bed.

Until next time…

Cindy

I’ll be back next week with regular postings.

Have a great Christmas.

Until next time…

Cindy

So what did I learn? I learned that getting an E-ZPass is awesome! You can get them at some of the service areas. No waiting at the toll booths. Loved that part. Didn’t love having to pay the toll to begin with. What’s up with that anyway? I’m used to driving in Canada where we don’t have to pay to drive on our roads. Unless you want to take our only toll road in Ontario. Which I never do. I shouldn’t have to pay to drive. I already pay too much to drive with the gas, the insurance, wear and tear on the car.

I learned that while they have Tim Hortons in New York the coffee there still doesn’t taste quite as good as the Tim Hortons coffee in Canada. There’s no place like home.

I learned that, at least in the town/city we stayed, there are no street lights! What’s up with that? Not even the main road had street lights. Luckily the moon was really bright so we could sort of see as we walked to the restaurant.

I learned that it’s a beautiful drive through Pennsylvania. The scenery was amazing. But I also learned that there is A LOT more road kill there. In a nine hour drive to Montreal last year I saw maybe two or three road kill animals. And they would have been small animals. On the drive from Pennsylvania back to Ontario I saw at least seven deer, a fox, what we think was a coyote plus various small animals. I really didn’t like that part.

I learned that if you can’t do anything else while you’re there you should do one of those Double Decker bus tours and you HAVE to see the Liberty Bell. We ate at City Tavern after our tour. The food was great. The servers dress in period costume. I bought the cookbook just because.

I also learned that my cat allergies are really bad when there are two cats in the house. We stayed with a friend who owns two adorable cats. The allergies weren’t too bad Friday night but by Sunday my head was pounding, I was stuffed up and I felt like I had a cold. Of course that is not going to stop a true cat lover! We are getting a cat on Sunday! I’m so excited but I must remember to stock up on allergy medications.

Now, I’m off to get something done. Of course because we were away I didn’t get much written but I’m still ahead for NaNoWriMo!

Until next time…

Cindy