Welcome to Friday!!! Best Friday EVER!!!!! Why? Backstreet Boys released a new album today! It is SO AMAZING!!!!!
Yes, I bought a digital copy and my physical copy should be arriving TODAY! They are ALL OVER EVERYWHERE this morning (and last night). I'm like jumping up and down this morning! I've already watched the Jimmy Fallon bits. (Search "Backstreet Boys Jimmy Fallon" on YouTube.)
Just found the Good Morning America stuff. Link here.
The Live with Kelly and Ryan thing hasn't been posted yet, but check back. I'll find it eventually! Okay, so apparently they are on Live today! So that will post tomorrow. But hey, they did get a mention on the Today show: here
I also plan to participate in the following challenges:
WriDay (1,742/2,500 words) FAIL!
100 Word Consistency (23/23 days)
New Moon Challenge (941/900 words) WIN!
Genre Stretch -- Dystopian (started)
Full Moon Madness (1,288/1,000 words) WIN!
5k Weekend (0,000/2,500 words)
So yes, I did meet my monthly goal. I'm still trucking away on my NaNo novel. I can feel it is close to finishing. So I just want to keep going on it. I still need to outline it because there are a couple of plot holes or unresolved issues that need to be taken care of. I'm just finding myself having a difficult time writing right now. Not because of any one thing, but just because. So anyway, these are the goal updates as of yesterday because it should have been a WriYe Wednesday.
This week, I have a week full of Backstreet Boys and most of it was at work! And it's not even release week yet!
The first thing happened at a work training on Tuesday. We were all sitting there and our trainer, who also happens to be our CFO, made some comment about music and how his son listens to way different music than he did. Well, a co-worker, D, said, "What did you listen to, J, Backstreet Boys?" No one in the room knew I was a fan because I was the only one from my site. I just dropped the proverbial, "Don't go there!" It was just too funny in my mind.
The second thing happened on Wednesday. Supervisor J had already left for an appointment. We were down to one kid, a fourth-grade girl. One of the other staff members was cleaning in the corner, humming something. Fourth-grader said that guys couldn't sing. I teased her that she needed to hear my ring tone. So I played it for her. (It's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart".) She heard it and went, "I love this song! Who sings it?" BAM! It opened the door for me to pull up YouTube and show her it was the Backstreet Boys! I even caught her singing it a few minutes later. Converting the next generation!
Then, there was last night. I happened to check my phone to see if I needed to charge it and there was a note that the Backstreet Boys had posted a new video. So I check it out. The song is called "Breathe" and it's them acapella! *swoon* I guess that's one way to make sure your album doesn't get leaked: drop it yourself! One more week until this album comes out!
I also plan to participate in the following challenges:
WriDay (1,742/2,500 words) FAIL!
100 Word Consistency (15/15 days)
New Moon Challenge (941/900 words) WIN!
Genre Stretch -- Dystopian (started)
Full Moon Madness (0,000/1,000 words)
So the word count is actually pretty good for where I should be in the month. I'm actually pretty pleased and will likely have more than 10,000 words by the end of the month. Consistency wise, I've been doing okay, but the word goal is kinda low. I may up it to the next level in February. I'm hoping to finish a short story for the Genre Stretch, but I'm not sure about it now. It kinda has no plot. I'm almost done with a book. I just need to sit down and finish it! Well, that's the update for now. Hopefully, next week will be just as fruitful as the last two weeks have been!
I'm back to doing WriYe again this year. I don't know why. I think it's because I got back into writing in November with NaNoWriMo. (More on that later.) So I thought I would pick up the Blog Circle Prompt for January.
Theme: Goals
What is your WriYe Word Count Goal?
My goal is 120,000 words.
Why did you choose it?
I chose it because I figured I could do at least 10,000 words a month. Now, this isn't counting Camp NaNo in April and/or July or NaNoWriMo in November. I'm leaving those alone right now. I'm hoping that if I do write more in those months that it will serve as either a buffer or a catch up depending upon where my word count is at that point in the year.
What are your plans for the year?
Other than writing 120,000 words, I plan on reading 25 books. Anything beyond that, I really don't know. I'm just going where the wind takes me I guess.
What do you want to accomplish with your writing?
I think for me, it's just about getting back into it. I haven't really written in years. This was the first year I've taken NaNo seriously since about 2014 I think. And on top of that, I'm back into WriYe. I don't know if that's because I am craving interaction with other writers as I muddle my way through this novel of mine or what.
What are you most looking forward to in 2019?
Probably new beginnings. After the absolute disaster that was 2018, I don't think there's a whole lot left that can faze me.
So that's about it for this prompt. Can't wait for the next one!
I never would've thought an Instagram/Facebook post would trigger me. But it did. How? Ask me what "home looks like."
That post, which I initially found on the Backstreet Boys Instagram, sent me into a very weird spiral yesterday. Not sure why, but I'm pretty sure it's because I've been trying to figure out what "Home" is for the past two months.
See, home used to look like this:
But then November 8 happened. The Camp Fire came and destroyed it.
So I have been trying for a while now to figure out what exactly "Home" looks like, feels like, sounds like. After seven weeks we are finally in a new house. We have all new furniture, all new everything. And yet, I'm still not sure if it feels like home. It's getting there. Getting back into routines is helping. But I'm just not sure. I mean, how do you define home when everything was taken away?
I guess for me, the simplest thing to define home is this picture:
These two munchkins lounging on our new couch together. My mom and I worked so hard to try and find a home for them. We didn't want them to be in a trailer long term. We didn't want to rebuild because it's toxic up there.
I guess that is going to be part of the process of moving forward. Weird things are going to trigger the emotions. Never would've thought it would be something so simple.
So this morning I woke up to an onslaught of Instagram mini-videos. Apparently, the Backstreet Boys were releasing new music. Yeah, they teased it on Wednesday after their DNAuary video. But instead of releasing the video all at once, they decided to post a bazillion clips on their various social media accounts and then release the whole thing! I had just about pieced it together when Brian posted that it was finally up on YouTube. From the clips I had heard, I was fearing I was going to not be in the mood for the sap (just not feeling the whole lovey-dovey thing right now), but of course, these Boys always surprise me. Yes, I like it. Yes, I can't wait the three more weeks until the whole album is out. Yes, I will pre-order (once I get the PO Box situation figured out here soon, I hope).
So, yes, I am FanGirling this morning, hard! And yes, this post is out of color context. Sorry, their new album colors are black and red.
Apparently, my daughter does not like my music. So I am stuck using my "earbugs" (as she calls them) because otherwise, she starts singing "Baby Shark" at the top of her lungs. I have to put up with this in the car when we go anywhere. Now if the Backstreet Boys would sing "Baby Shark"... I wish I could order my mp3 player, but this again is another PO Box issue. I'm hoping to get the things I need here soon so I can get my PO Box set up in my tiny town with the big name. See, we don't get curbside delivery, so we get a free PO Box. Right now, our PO Box is in the town just up the road because I am waiting for the deed to the house to come to get things set up here. So it makes for delivering things really difficult. That is why I have not pre-ordered this album. I want it to come to ME, I just don't know where that is going to be at yet.
I am loving all the new things these Boys are putting out. Takes me back to years ago. Maybe that's what I need right now. Maybe we are starting over together.
A new season of The Orville started on Fox last Sunday. I can't wait! I watched all of season 1 on Hulu and have already streamed the first episode of season 2. I had to wait a whole year for this show!
It is the brainchild of Seth MacFarlane. Yes, the guy who came up with shows like Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, and American Dad! Because of the humor on said shows, you would think The Orville wouldn't be something I'd watch, but you're wrong.
Yes, there's adult humor, but not like his animated shows. And it is set in space, on a spaceship. Oh, and he picked the absolute best executive producer to help him out with a show like this: Brannon Braga! Braga goes all the way back to Star Trek: The Next Generation, where he started as an intern. He's since had his hand in a bunch of Star Trek creations. And also, MacFarlane brought in Jonathan Frakes (William Riker on TNG) and Robert Duncan McNiell (Tom Paris on Voyager) to direct in the first season. So, I mean, obviously, the guy is doing something right.
The show is cute, has enough sci-fi/space elements to keep it moving and deals with things with humor. And then there is the long-term plot they have that Captain Mercer and Commander Grayson are divorced and he still loves her.
I cannot wait for more episodes of this to air. It's actually going to give me something to kick the kids off the TV for.
These are the current works I have in progress as of right now. I'm sure there will be more as I dive into my online archives and see what I want to come back to. But as of now, this is what I have:
Untitled (NaNo 2018) -- Supernatural BSB FanFic LGBT Erotica
Starting WC: 51,595
Howie is the leader of a clan of Day Walkers, half-human, half-vampires who are tasked with enforcing vampire law in Las Vegas. His clan is composed of his adviser, Kevin; his tracker, Nick; his messenger, Alex; and Brian, his new pet. They've been together for twenty-five years and things are just now coming to light. Having taken Brian as his pet, Howie is beginning to realize just how broken he is. He also realizes that Brian needs to reclaim his power over his past. But there are demons in the way; demons that seem to be coming back to haunt them. As the lawbreakers, or Gentri, seem to be growing in numbers, the leader of the vampires, Carson, is growing impatient with his Day Walker clans. He orders more clans be brought in to help with the problem. One of the new clans, however, has ties to Brian that threatens to undo all the work Howie has done with him.
