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I Set Fire to the Rain

August 21, 2011

Blog Mashup, Everything Else

This Sunday’s theme song is Adele’s Set Fire to the Rain.

Mon Voyage En France

We drove all the way to the south of France in one day, which was a 15 hour drive in our Mazda Miata convertible and it was excruciatingly hot. But it was worth it.

We had a great time! We went sight-seeing a little, here and there. We went to the beach once (it was an hour or so away), we went to swim in a river once (which was closer),  we spent some time at the pool at the house… And now I actually have a tan! It makes me feel really happy, like I made full use of my summer break.

It was also very inspiring, writing-wise.

The only down point? We didn’t make any pictures. Tim’s camera’s auto-focus broke :( . Too bad, because those huge professional(-ish) cameras cost a ton! And of course, having them repaired is outrageously priced.

This week’s ROW80

Things have been extremely slow due to my trips abroad. :( Because of this I’m behind a bit on the word count! But despair not – I’m planning on setting tighter daily schedules (from 9-5) so I can focus more on writing. We’ll see how that works out.

As for reading the books on writing, I’m about halfway through Plot & Structure and it’s surprisingly good! I’ve decided to work on these exercises instead of those offered in Larry Brooks’ Story Engineering. Although Story Engineering is good, I feel Plot & Structure captures more.

As for writing and publishing my blogs, I’m right on track, although because we were driving back last Friday I couldn’t write my Friday post.

The Blog Mashup

Fun & Interesting Stuff

Charred Eggplant and Tomatoes with Harissa and Mint @ Serious Eats – I’m going to try this soon!

Claiborne House–Jefferson, TX @ Catie Rhodes – I love Catie’s Freaky Friday posts! Very scary.

NASA has released the first complete map of Antarctic ice flows @ io9.com – this video on the other hand is extremely cool.

Space Shuttle Discovery 360 view @ 360vr.com – Look at all those BUTTONS! This will make you a little dizzy, though.

A Work in Progress @ Behance.net – A 8×5 feet piece of art in progress. I thought this was very inspiring.

Writing & related to writing

Do I Need an Agent? @ Bubblecow – an interesting post.

How I do It: Live Intentionally But With Breathing Space @ Jody Hedlund – how to not get buried beneath all the work of the writer’s life.

3 Tricks for Ratcheting Tension in One Day @ Victoria Mixon

Publishing on Kindle – A Tutorial @ The Blood-Red Pencil – always useful!

Are You Lying or Laying? @ The Blood-Red Pencil – I always confuse these two myself, so this was good to read.

That’s all for this week!

Coming up next week…

Monday: Criminology - Global Drug Trafficking: Cultivation

Tuesday: Weird Phenomenon – The Raonoke Colony

Wednesday: Writer’s Tools – Random Name Generator

Thursday: Top 10 Death Traps for Psychologists

Friday: #writepsych tweetchat between 12-2 PM GMT/UTC

Sunday: Another blog mashup!

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About Manon Eileen

Dutch 23-year-old SF/F YA writer, BSc in Psychology and soon MA in Global Criminology. She is creative, easily bored, and craves tea all the time. Also: "science isn't about why, it's about why not" - Cave Johnson.

View all posts by Manon Eileen →
  • http://genelempp.wordpress.com/ Gene Lempp

    Southern France sounds like a good time. I can see how that would interfere with the concentration level :)

    Have a great week Manon!

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      Thanks a lot, Gene, I appreciate it :D  
      All the best :)

  • http://www.catierhodes.com Catie Rhodes

    Thanks for mentioning me in your mash-up.  On ROW80, don’t sweat it.  If you don’t have a life outside writing, what do you have to write about.  I believe once we get the basics of story and character down, we are constantly writing…even when we aren’t actually typing new words.  

    The South of France….wow.  That’s something I’d love to see.  At least you got distracted over something worthwhile.  :D

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      You’re welcome, Catie! ^_^ 

      I do agree, actually. I’m most inspired by my travels – I am currently writing a novel set in Venice, after I shortly visited Venice. In one of the little villages we visited in France, I got another great story idea (for future use ;p). Also, a friend of mine and I had the idea to practice all the time – when you see something interesting, describe it in how you’d write it in your head. Great practice and there were loads of interesting things in France to describe!

      Southern France is truly very great. My only advice: go in spring or in autumn, because the heat is just staggering in summer. The last two times we went to Southern France, we went in summer… Although this time was better since we had a convertible.

      Thanks for stopping by :D

  • http://twitter.com/jamilajamison Jamila Sinlao

    Sounds like you had a wonderful trip.  No need to feel guilty about writing or word count; I’m sure you’ll catch up.  What matters is that you had a chance to enjoy yourself. :)

    Loving today’s theme song!  ”Set Fire to the Rain” might be my favorite song off of Adele’s new album.

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      Thank you, Jamila, I appreciate it! :D My travels are most inspiring to me so it’s worth a lot to me.

      I agree about Adele – I love this song! It’s great. She has such an amazing voice!

      Thanks for stopping by!