Howdy? How’s your readathon going? I needed to get up and move around and get my brain awake! I just cracked open my second pepsi of the day. It’s been a long time since I’ve sat down and read this much all at once! I’m half way through my second book and it’s great so far!
I finished my first book of the day and was settling into the second when the Fedex man show up. He brought my new AC! Thought I was gonna kill myself getting it into my bedroom, but I survived! lol
Now to cool down (I needed the AC!) and then get back to reading. I’ll probably have lunch first, though. It’s almost time! This was a welcomed interuption!
There’s half an hour until I dive in nose first to a book! I’ve gathered most of my supplies. I’ve left most of my snacks in the kitchen – fruit and prepreped meals. I didn’t want to let this fun reading party knock me off my healthy eating stride! It’s about the books not the food! But… If I run out later I’ll likely grab some chips! lol I’m only human yet to evolve into a unicorn who can read all day without chips!
Books: I’ve added more since I made my TBR list. Also, my kindle is charging and the Christopher Rice series I listed on my TBR post are e-books! I’m not sure how many I’ll get through today, but I will post updates as the day goes on and a recap when the readathon ends.
Treats for the Pup: Treats and a raw hide for the pup today! He won’t be missing out on his morning walk (already done!) but he’ll likely lose out on some playtime. Hopefully, the raw hide will keep him busy (he likes to toss it in the air and chase it around when it falls.) and make him forget I technically ignoring him to play with a dead tree with symbols on it.
Pepsi and Tea: I promised myself today I wouldn’t go hog wild on the soda! So, I have extra tea instead! One’s even caffiene free! Don’t worry, this isn’t much more than I normally cosume in a day.
Nicotine Gum and Hard Candy: My normal quit smoking supplies within arm’s reach! I’m 82 days quit. Yeah, I’m still working on cutting down on the gum, but that’s a topic for another day!
My Go-to Slytherin Mug: I bought this mug as a gift for myself after publishing Omega Magic. It’s been my go-to ever since!
Notebook and Pen: I’m a writer! I never know when an idea will smack me upside the head! It’s also useful for tracking the time I actually read too. lol
Little Sticky Page Markers: Just in case I misplace a bookmark!
Well, just 20 minutes to go now! Are you ready to read? If not put your pajamas back on and grab a book!
Good morning! It’s about 5:30AM at the time of writing this. So, just a little less than 3 hours until the readathon starts. I won’t be trying for the full 24 hours this year. Camp Nano is in full swing and I don’t want to beat up my sleeping schedule too much. I figure I’ll go to bed at my normal time and if I wake up early enough tomorrow I’ll squeeze in some more before the end.
I’m up watching Golden Girl’s reruns and wondering if I’m turning in Sophia before my time.
That and ensuring I can read uninterrupted for the most part. Though, if tracking is right Fedex will be delivering my new air conditioner today. Which is quicker than I expected since I only ordered it yesterday! Though, if it arrives I’ll take the interuption and beat the heat and help my allergies all at once!
Due to starting the O.W.L.’s Magical Readathon I’ve switched up plans a little bit, but I’ll give a full recap of my reading experience after Deweys ends.
Who’s reading with me today? What’s your first book this morning?
Seriously! I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of this readathon before today! (Well, likely yesterday by the time you read this!) Seriously! I’m psyched! As some of my readers may or may not know I’m a huge Harry Potter nerd! J.K. Rowling and Anne Rice were the first series writers I read and fell in love with! I’ve been a proud Slytherin for many years now! So, I really can’t believe it took me this long to discover this readathon!
For the full details watch this video by BookRoast. She’s an awesome person and since this is her brain child she’s the best one to explain in detail! Also, all of the important links are in the description below her video if you just want to skip to reading the details I don’t mention in this blog.
The basic details of the readathon is that it is a two parter hosted in April and August. April is for O.W.L.s and August is for N.E.W.T.s this year they’ve added the addition of career paths. Both of these tests are set to measure magical accuracy and are set up to be particularly challenging.
Basically each subject has a prompt correlated to the subject and to achieve each ‘career’ you must complete those prompts. You can always be an overachiever and complete more, but you may be more like Fred and George.
I’ve read the Wizarding Career Guidebook (2019 Addition) cover to cover and have decided this year I best make sure my career can translate when I move to the Wizarding World. So, I will be pursuing the Writer/Journalist career path.
So I will be focusing on the following 3 requirements so I can keep up writing if I ever find my way into the Wizarding World:
History of Magic : Read a work published at least 10 years ago
Muggle Studies : Read a contemporary book
1 Other Subject of my Choice: I’m going with Charms which is performing the age line spell (Reading an adult work of fiction.)
Of course, I’m a classic overachiever so if Camp NanoWrimo leaves me with time I’ll be aiming to fulfill some more of the requirements for other exams as well. I’ll post updates as I pass exams. Tomorrow, I’m reading a book that meets my Charms requirement!
Are you taking the O.W.L.’s this month? Let me know how you’re doing!
At 9:46 AM this morning I felt like I was chronically running behind schedule from a much needed lie in this morning. I was up and eager to get plotting. My first step to finalizing and tweaking my plot was to read through what I’d already written. I knew any of my official word count today would come from this and I had to walk to the fine line of only fleshing out what was necessary to connect the beginning to the plot that was to come.
What I accomplished today:
What I learned from Bane and Lee is that quitting smoking changed the way I write and plot. I now divide my plots into 3 sections. (Yep. The 3 Act Formula). Today I finalized the plot for the first 3rd of the book. This means there will be more days of plotting in my future, but I think overall it saves me time on tweaking a million times throughout the process.
Snags Along the Way:
My biggest snag was that I was breaking my normal schedule of writing and rest. I usually write for 3 or 4 days and then take a day off. It was day 5 of working straight and my brain was ready for a day of reading and just not thinking about the book. In the spirit of camp and with the promise of Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon tomorrow (Well, today by the time you read this and if you’re reading this why not participate? Reading is a great way to spend a Saturday!)
The other snag was simply having too many ideas of how to take Blake and Jonah from point A to point B. Before I ever sit down to write a book I know two things: Where my characters start and where I want them to end up. The middle is a riddle until the first few chapters are written and I finalize a plot. I also had this problem with Bane and Lee in Healer’s Oath.
Bane and Lee taught me a few things, though. There are many roads to travel and as a writer plotting I should take the most direct path that also has the most interesting sights to see. Yesterday I wrote a scene where Bane interacts with Blake and Jonah and I missed him so much. He was one of my favorite Alphas to write. Maybe I need to read this blog post again myself. As evidenced below of what I caught myself typing. It was meant to be Blake, but I typed Lee. lol
How today went:
Starting Word Count: 11,053
Total Words Written: 143
Ending Word Count: 11186
After thoughts:
I’m enjoying camp so far, but I am so ready for the break tomorrow brings! I’m ready to shove my nose in the book and refill my fingers with some words!
Happy writing fellow campers!
I’m only beginning to recover from my post-publishing slump . Most of my time since publishing Healer’s Oath has been spent sleeping, reconnecting with friends, and just vegging out watching Netflix and Hulu. Recently, I started working on book 5 of the Hemlock Wolf Pack Saga and am happily moving towards Blake’s HEA, but I’m 7 books behind my reading goal for the year and it’s only April! Good thing I decided to participate Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon tomorrow. If you plan to participate be sure to sign up.
Since I’m not planning to read for the whole 24 hours (My pillow would miss me!) I likely won’t make it through every book on my list, but I like to be prepared for all possibilities. I’m currently working through the Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay it’ll be my go to book to start the day. It’s rather long and I’m only about 10% through it. It’s really interesting so far. I just haven’t had much time to read recently. The others are combinations of short novels, stories, and just some books that have lived on my TBR list for a long time.
I know I won’t read all of these in one day, but they’re what I’ve set aside for the day. Chances are I’ll finish the first one and read some of the short stories from Only the Animals. After that, I’ll likely be read out.
What’s on your TBR list for Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon?
At 7 AM this morning I felt better than I have all week. I slept like the dead last night and woke up with Blake and Jonah on my mind. No, Blake didn’t steal all of my avocados this time 😛 I sent off a few quick e-mails to a friend who’s also participating in camp and then it was time to get down to work. I love starting the day on a new chapter that I haven’t worked on. Most of the time my flow stops in the middle of a scene or chapter, but yesterday’s stopping place left me ready to start chapter 5.
Karsyn @ KaKiJoKoJa Hope you had a great writing day too! You guys should go check her out! She’s participating in Camp for the first time and recording her experience on her blog! Go say hi, show some love, and let her know I sent you!
What I accomplished today:
Today was my best word count day of camp so far! I’m halfway through chapter 6 and tomorrow will be the day I sit down and finalize the plot for book 5. I’m so excited! That will put me coming back after the readathon ready to get down to business. I’ll also have a rough idea of how long the book will be. I originally thought Healer’s Oath would be about 80k words and it ended up being just over 93k at publication. So, I’m a bad guesser. lol *shrugs* What can I say a man like Bane Hemlock demands a lengthy book.
Snags Along the Way:
My biggest distraction today was chatting with other campers. I love hearing/reading about everyone’s camp experience and the progress they’re making on their current projects. Though, eventually I did pull myself out of the social media/blog world to work on my book.
I have a secret project in the works to release later this month. It’s taking a little bit of my time every day, but not much.
Today was the first day I spent a lot of time referencing my Hemlock Wolf Pack Series notes and making more notes for future books I have planned in the series and the Hemlock Mpreg Universe books. I’m getting a chance to introduce a new ‘family’ that I’ve only hinted at before. They’re still mostly hinted at in this book, but they’re super important for future books. That’s one of the things I both love and hate about writing a series. I love layering things together, but all the fact checking can be tedious.
The only other snag I’ve ran into is I don’t have a tentative title for this book. I spent some time staring into space thinking about it. Then I got back to the keyboard, because a book that’s not written has no need of a title.
How today went:
Starting Word Count: 8585
Ending Word Count: 11,053
Total Words Written: 2,468
After thoughts:
Today was a great day writing wise. Going into camp I was concerned I was jumping into a new book too soon, but I think camp was the motivation I need to jump into book 5. I’m really looking forward to messing around with the plot tomorrow. I’m not sure if I’ll get any words on the book itself tomorrow, but I’ll do a recap update either way. 🙂
Happy writing fellow campers! What’s your biggest distraction this month?
This morning the universe conspired to keep me away from the keyboard or at least away from my Camp NaNoWriMo project! But alas, as a writer I have learned to laugh at the universe and jump over boulders. lol
But no really. If this morning happened during any other month (well maybe not Novemeber) I would have stayed away from my book for the day! But it’s April. It’s Camp NaNoWriMo! So, I carried on like a good like book zombie. After switching the weight of todays and tomorrows word count I only needed to write 900 words to stay on track. There was no way 900 words was going to stand between me and staying up to date!
What I accomplished today:
Today was all about chapter 3 and 4! Both of which are finished. I think tomorrow I’ll be ready to go ahead and work out the rest of the plot. If not tomorrow then definitely Friday which was my original plan. I sprinted past my word goal for the day and came in just at 2k words. I can feel myself settling into my main characters and really getting inside their heads.
Snags Along the Way:
Today errands sprung up out of nowhere and a reader messaged me to say Healer’s Oath isn’t showing up on Amazon.au! I’m so sorry if any of you reading this have been patiently waiting in Australia for Healer’s Oath! I’ve contacted Amazon to find out what the problem is. I’ve published four previous books without any problems and this morning I discover Amazon is hiding my book from a whole country!
How today went:
Starting Word Count: 6,578
Ending Word Count: 8585
Total Words Written: 2007
After thoughts:
I’m a little on the nervous side about figuring out just how many chapters book 5 will have. Once I do I’ll have a better idea of how long the book will be. If the chapter lengths so far tell me anything I think it’s going to be *slightly* longer than just 50k words.
Happy writing fellow campers!
If you haven’t heard of Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon it’s a readathon hosted two days a year (in April and October) when readers across the world come together to stick up their noses at adulting and spend the day reading. While many readers choose to read for most of the 24 hour period it’s not required to participate.
For the last few years my writing/publishing schedule has kept me away from readathons, but this year I’m determined to reach my goal of 75 books read and participating in a few readathons is just the fun motivation I need to catch up. Yep, I’m giving up a day of Camp Nano writing to read! *Laughs Manically* The lost writing day is a problem for the future me of April 7th to deal with.
Basic Information
When: April 6th, 2019
Where: Your favorite reading spot and the interwebs. Volunteers host mini-challenges throughout the day and you can update your social media with your progress too. There are a lot of fun bookish things going on when you need to take a break from reading.
How: Sign up here.
Now that you’ve signed up here are 4 ways to make the most of your readathon experience.
1.Pick a Reading Strategy
While there is no right or wrong way to participate in a readathon if you’re planning to read for most of the day you’ll want to ensure you have enough books and enough variety (and some back ups) to ensure you’re not bored or burnt out.
Strategy One: One of my closest friends always saves a really big novel she’s put off reading for Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon. It takes her all day to read it, but it’s become her twice yearly ritual.
Strategy Two: Other readers enjoy a variety of short or medium length books or graphic novels. This strategy is advantageous to those who don’t enjoy longer novels or just want a varied readathon experience.
Strategy Three: Decide on the fly. Some readers don’t enjoy planning ahead at all. They choose their books as they read and enjoy the excitement and freedom of choosing books as they go.
2.Balance Reading & Online Participation
Every reader has their own reasons for participating. Some enjoy a full day of relaxing reading, some want to beat their high record of pages or books, others want the shared experience, and some readers want a bit of everything. I tend to fall between enjoying a day of reading and sharing the experience with other readers. For the first few hours I just read until I reach the place I’d naturally take a break. After that, I set an alarm on my phone to check in every hour online to see what’s going on. Sometimes I check in sooner. Other times I’m so engrossed in my book that I turn off the alarm.
If this is your first readathon experience try out different reading stretches, but ensure you take breaks to move around and get your blood flowing. Little breaks like this ensure your brain stays working throughout the day and you won’t find yourself drifting off as the day wears on!
3. Figure Out How Much Time You Can Devote to Reading and Plan Accordingly
In a perfect world, everything would slow down and we’d all sit down and read for the day. Reality isn’t so perfect. So, plan ahead for how much time you can actually read. I’m hoping for 6-10 hours depending on my mood and what’s going on that day. I don’t have plans, but life pops up without notice. Some of that time will be devoted to participating in online discussion, posting, and maybe some mini challenges. Mostly, I’m just looking forward to reading without distraction.
4. Have Fun!
At the end of the day, Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon is about having fun and coming together to enjoy a day of reading. There are many ways to enjoy it and challenges along the way, but whatever way you participate make sure you’re enjoying yourself! If you’re not into a book or you’re bored. Switch books. Get up and walk around the block. Listen to an audio book or read some short stories! Don’t be afraid to mix it up!
Are you looking for books to read for the readathon? Check out my books from the Hemlock Mpreg Universe.
Have fun and I’ll see you at the readathon!
Maggie Hemlock Books 