What's Up Wednesday :: 22 January 2014 Edition

So first things first.  It's been quite a while since I last posted anything here.  Which is just pathetic.  I could give a million and one excuses, but they don't really matter in the end.  All that matters is that I wasn't writing and should have been.  So let's just focus on moving forward from this point on, shall we?

It's What's Up Wednesday again!

What I'm Reading

People of the Owl -- This is actually a re-read, as I'm still slowly making my way through the entire series of books.

What I'm Writing

Mostly I'm doing a lot of RP over on Twitter again.

I've signed up for a few fannish challenges, which is nice to keep those muses happy.  But that won't get the money coming in for my writing, so I'm working on focusing a little more on the pro side of writing this year hopefully.

I started the 12-Day Plan of Simple Writing Exercises today, which should end on 2nd February, which just happens to be Imbolc.  In other words, the creativity sabbat that I celebrate.  Hopefully these exercises will niggle something loose for me to work on in the original fiction arena.

What Else I've Been Up To

This past weekend, I went clamming up by the Hood Canal Bridge.  We saw a pair of bald eagles there, as well as a couple of harbor seals while crossing the bridge.  And I ate a raw oyster right there on the beach after Otter shucked it for me.  [I'm still a wimp when it comes to shucking them.]  If all goes well, we'll be going back up this coming weekend for another round of clamming.  Freshly steamed clams are even tastier when you've dug them up yourself.

What Inspires Me Right Now

Hope and renewal are really big for me right now.

Abbey of the Arts did their Give Me a Word 2014: Fifth Annual Abbey Giveaway this past December. I happened across this concept when perusing one of the newsletters I get from the site, so thought I'd give this a shot for 2014.  I did the work and wasn't sure what my word would be.  And then it hit me.  This is what I wrote on their blog for the giveaway [which I didn't win].

"My word, apparently, is REVITALIZE.  I'd been down to renew, revitalize, and forgive, though creativity was bandied about for a bit, too.  But then I realized that renew, forgive, and even creativity all linked back to revitalize in ways that fit me.  I've fallen into several ruts over recent years -- emotionally, physically, creatively, and spiritually -- so it's time to revitalize everything."

And that whole idea of revitalizing is something I'm working on.  I'm in the process of making some changes now, but the big "push" toward this idea will be starting on Imbolc, when I begin a few other major projects, but more on those in a later post as we get closer to the date.

What’s up with you today?