I have something to confess.  I like to think of myself as a rational human being when it comes to my online activities, and for the most part, I am. I can stare down any attempt to glean my email address, get me to create an account, or sell me a must-have product.  But there’s one thing that can make me lose my savvy.

Blame it on the adventurer in me, but I can never resist a challenge. The more impossible the odds, the better I like it, apparently. Here’s a little-known fact:

I wrote the first drafts of DawnSinger and Wayfarer, the first two novels in Tales of Faeraven, each in a month as part of National Novel Writing Month. Hovering between 75,000 and 80,000 words, these books rang in  higher than the 50,000-word requirement to “win” Nanowrimo (really a self-contest).  So did I sleep during those months?

Yes and no.

I caught even less shut-eye when I entered the 3-Day Novel Contest some years ago. This contest is judged. No, I did not win, but I managed to produce about 30,000 words in three days, a feat I hope never to repeat. That story is filed away, somewhere…

I have nothing against sleep, in case you were wondering.

From my history, you will of course understand why I have signed up for Speedbo 2016, a book-in-a-month challenge beginning March 1st. (For my Speedbo entry, which is also the new writing project announcement I promised last week, read the What I’m Writing Now section.)

I’ll keep you updated on my progress.

My weakness for a challenge goes beyond writing. This year I’ll be entering the North Olympic Discovery Marathon. For this, my first walking marathon, I am hoping to restrain my enthusiasm and complete 5K course rather than the 13.9-miler. I’m still recovering from a months-long illness, so common sense will probably prevail.

I’ll keep you post on this as well. The course is one of the most beautiful trails you could want, so I’ll also share pictures of the scenery.

Are you like me about challenges? I’d love to know what you are up to.

What I’m Writing Now

Book Projects

I am, yes, still editing Sojourner, Tales of Faeraven 3, with just 9 chapters left to review. I will make a push today (Friday) and Monday to finish, because Speedbo begins on Tuesday. My goal for Speedbo is to complete the first draft for Deceptive Tide, book 3 of the Islands of Intrigue — San Juans. This is a linked-fiction romantic suspense series I’m writing in cooperation with two other authors. Unrelenting Tide by Lynnette Bonner and Tide Will Tell by Lesley Ann McDaniel, the first two books in the series are available in the bookstore. 

Blogging

For Live Write Breathe, I continued the series on conflict in fiction with a piece on External and Internal Conflict in Fiction and released Readership Challenge #4 for subscribers. (I did mention I like challenges, right?)