July Resolution

Normally, we post a structured resolutions post, inspired by She Learns as She Goes. (Her July Resolutions post can be found here.) However, this month we are doing something a bit different.

See, Holli and I are making one huge commitment/goal for the month of July.

Drum roll, please!

We are finishing our books. End. Of. Story. 

If you saw our Monthly Resolutions: June Report Card post then you might be a little wary of our ability to complete such huge tasks, but it's because of our books that last month got hectic! We've been planning, plotting, writing, and getting ready for July for the past few months. 

Why did we decide July was the it month? Well, because of Camp NaNoWriMo! We signed up so that Camp can help get our butts into writing gear. You should too! 

This month our personal goals as well as Almost There's goals are being combined into one giant goal: Finish the first draft of our books.

However, since we have a wonderful steady stream of readers, we will still post here! They won't all be Holli Anne and Tyler Anne but we have some wonderful guest bloggers stepping up to the plate to help us out.

So, be patient with us and send some good writing mojo feelings our way.

If you'd like to be bunk mates or just follow along, our Camp links are bellow. If you want us to follow you put your link in the comments!

Holli Anne

Tyler Anne

Monthly Report Card: June Resolutions

Let's be real here, not every month's resolutions are going to be met with the diligence they deserve. Life gets busy, priorities shift, and not everything goal gets addressed in full.

It's fine.

Last month's resolutions post can be found here. As always, we are joining She Learns as She Goes in doing a monthly report card. Her report card can be found here.

Holli Anne's Report Card:

1. Write every morning! D

You know how people usually set goals and then get all gung-ho about them at first? Total opposite this month. I woke up and wrote in the mornings probably three times this month. However, I DID write at other times and make some great progress on outlining/character development for CampNaNoWriMo (where I will be writing the first draft of my book this month)! Just not in the mornings, most likely…

2. Keep up my running schedule A-

I definitely have kept running up. I haven't really gotten much faster on my times or anything, but I've been exercising regularly, which is the most important thing for me at this point.

3. Continue down the healthy eating track B+

I'm pretty happy with our household eating habits these days! We aren't like totally off the sugar/junk food, but we have cut back A LOT! The gluten-free diet wasn't really improving my husband's skin condition, so we've decided it's not for us, but we are still going to keep many of the healthy habits we've developed and go easy on the carbs/bread.

4. Read my heart out! B-

My goal was to finish all my unfinished books that I've started. There were five. I read 3.5…so progress?

5. Paint my house! FFFFF

Just hit me in the face if you ever see me in person.

Tyler Anne's Report Card:

1. Have a successful first part of TV Inspiration: Lost! D-

The ONLY reason I gave myself a D- instead a flat out F is because I loved the one TV Inspiration post I did (here). Why haven't I done more? Well, life happened and I couldn't watch enough Lost every night to be able to write true to what I originally wanted to do with TV Inspiration. Now, I'm not giving up on this series, I just didn't stay true to my "every week" thing. Whoops!

2. Keep true to my "diet" B

I'm pretty proud of my whole counting calories "diet." It's made me shun most of the sugar I craze and I'm at a better weight for my height now. I just have to be a little bit stronger with what I take in during the weekends. I have a tendency to smudge the numbers then!

3. Write 8 pages (or more!) everyday C

Wow, I was certainly ambitious last month with this goal! I've been writing everyday, but definitely not 8 pages per day. Stay tuned to July's resolutions to see how this ambitious goal gets amplified to straight up ridiculous! 

4. Read all the unread books currently on my Nook F

Okay, I had 8 unread books. I read one and a half. SO SUE ME!

Almost There's Report Card:

1. Be more active on our Facebook page C

Remember, we have both been social media managers for others as a part of our past/current jobs. So, when it comes to doing the Facebook dance for the blog, we aren't all up in it because we get social media tired. We are getting better at it though, slowly! Go see for yourself.

2. Stick to our blogging schedule B

No, we aren't counting our blogging series. It's fine. Everything else we are proud about!

-The Annes

June Resolutions

We updated you on our May report card earlier today, so it seemed like a good time to go ahead and spell out our goals for June. Once again, we're joining She Learns as She Goes in awesome monthly goal-setting (see her monthly goals here)!

Tyler Anne's Resolutions:

1. Have a successful first part of TV Inspiration: Lost! (What? Go here.)
If you didn't check this post then you need to get on that! Every week I should have a post up that has some kind of Lost-related content, whether that be a fun DIY that I tie in with the show or a post just about the show's writing. Either way, I want to make sure I do it every week and not get distracted!

2. Keep true to my "diet"
Lately I've been doing the whole counting calories business and trying to cut down my sugar intake. So far, doing both of those things has helped me to lose almost 10 pounds in the past month and a half. I feel great and I hope I keep it up until I hit my goal weight. (Which should be by the end of the month!)

3. Write 8 pages (or more!) everyday 
I've been chugging along with writing and I don't want to lose steam! Eight pages EVERYDAY is my goal! Holli mentioned that someone told her that Stephen King writes at least eight everyday. That may or may not be true but I figure it's a good a goal as any.

4. Read all the unread books currently on my Nook
I'll have to check later for the exact number but I'm pretty sure I have eight books on my Nookina that I have yet to read or finish. Now is the time! I hope to have them done-zo by the end of the month! A very fun goal, in my opinion.

Holli Anne's Resolutions:

1. Write every morning!

I go back and forth on the whole needing a consistent writing schedule to actually write. Maybe not everyone does, but for now, I do. I am committing to at least an hour every morning before I begin the day. It's not nearly enough time, but it's a reasonable goal to start with for now!

2. Keep up my running schedule

I made it to my 5K status, but now my goal is to improve at them. That means at minimum running three miles at least three times a week (and hopefully some extra on the "off" days). I also have been supplementing my off days with yoga, Pilates or some Insanity workouts to strengthen my legs, so I'll put keeping that up here.

3. Continue down the healthy eating track

My husband's doctor told him to quit eating gluten, so we've been pretty health conscious around here as a result. Lots of fruits and veggies and lean meat and less and less carbs and crap food. Our energy levels are definitely up! I've also been counting calories and hoping to keep those at my daily goals. It's mostly just a way to have some accountablity for what I am eating. 

4. Read my heart out!

This is sorta copying Tyler, but her goal reminded me—I, too, have a lot of unfinished books to read! I think I've started about four…maybe five…so I'm going to wrap those up this month.

5. Paint my house!

I'll give myself one more chance to accomplish this in June. I mean, it's HALF of one room. So ridiculous! 

Almost There Resolutions:

1. Be more active on our Facebook page

We love Facebook, but sometimes while we are managing other people's we neglect our own. This month we will get back in the groove of being Facebook awesome! Wanna join us? (here)

2. Stick to our blogging schedule

We're attempting this being organized thing again this month. We have our own personal blogging schedules we set every week and this month we want to meet that EVERYDAY. This includes our summer TV-inspired series on Lost and Parks and Recreation.

-The Annes

Monthly Report Card: May Resolutions

For our May Resolutions post go here. 
For Kelli's May Resolutions (the inspiration) go here.


Holli Anne's Report Card:

1. Run that 5K: A-

I actually ran the 5K today, which is June 2, BUT since that's only two days difference, I think it still counts. I also missed some training time because of some hardcore pollen issues, so I'm proud to report this one. I'm also so glad to report I'm injury free!

2. Write daily on my book: C

Yeah, this one needs some major work. I had a week of just major creative block, not exclusive to my book. I've finally gotten back in a groove, but even that needs improving. This will be my TOP goal for June.

3. Finish painting my house! F

On Friday when I remembered this was a goal, I considered manically finishing the paint job, but I didn't. Anyway, it will probably take me an hour tops, but something about having to move furniture is just getting me down. 

4. No boxes in my house: A+

I am OH, so proud of this! There are absolutely no unpacked boxes in my house, and for the most part, things are where they need to go. There is still some major organization to be done, but I'm happy with the progress and finally feel like our house is "normal."

Tyler Anne's Report Card:

1. Get to that 75 percent marker of my book: C-
I didn't make it to 75 percent but I did manage to push a little closer. HOWEVER, I may or may not have written MORE on another project...that now is in the lead. So, sure I didn't make it to that 75 percent marker but I did almost make it to the halfway marker of the other book. That, I feel, compensates just a little?

2. Finish and distribute my super secret project for Almost There: A+
My super secret project (that wasn't that secret) was a writing prompt book! I indeed finished it and put it on Almost There's Etsy shop. However, I wanted to take it a step further and decided to try my hand at Amazon's self publishing. So, if you want to purchase my eBook (The Dark Side of Writing: 35 Writing Prompts) go here!

3. Walk/jog for an hour everyday: D
I was good at this for a week. Then I digressed. However, I did start swimming so that's cool too?

4. Find a place to put all of my books!!!!!: F
I failed this...again. Someone build me an awesome bookcase?

Almost There Resolutions:

1. Evolve the writer side of this blog: A

We are really happy about this one. We've been posting Writer Talk posts weekly (here, here and here) and our Writer Talk Facebook group is growing.

2. Keep posting new prompts/discussions daily at Writer Talk: A-
The beginning of the month we were banging on all cylinders with this goal. New posts, new scenes, tons of interaction. However, the world still manages to go on and the Writer Talk group collectively got busy so daily prompts weened down to weekly prompts. I don't view this as a failure, though. It was just a change that helped everyone out! We are still oh-so proud of this group! If you want to join go here.

3. Bring more interviews/guest blogs to the site: A

We had three really awesome guests on our blog last month, and we have plans to keep that going in June, too. We just love hearing from other creative people doing what they do best, and we hope you do as well! If you missed them, here are our interviews with Josh from Blimey Cow, Joe from Story Cartel and Edward from Edward Fieder Photography!

4. Work on our individual projects that we will put on Etsy: A+

Tyler rocked this by publishing her writing prompts book The Dark Side of Writing! We also put our blog consultations up, along with our ecourse on social media for your blog!

For Kelli's May Report Card (over at She Learns as She Goes) go here.


How did YOU do?

-The Annes

May Resolutions

We love Kelli's blog She Learns As She Goes and how she posts monthly resolutions, so we thought it would be a good idea for us to make some May goals for ourselves. What is easier and more tangible than a New Year's Resolution, after all? Monthly Resolutions, of course!

Holli Anne's Resolutions:

1. Run that 5K

I'll be finished with Couch to 5K at the end of the month, so I'm excited to be up to 3 mile status by June!

2. Write daily on my book

I'm the queen of procrastination. I will write and write, get stuck on something I need to research and then take my sweet time doing just that. No more! I have to write everyday this month. I'll tell you how many words I wrote at the end of the month, and by golly, it better be impressive!

3. Finish painting my house!

My goodness. It's just ridiculous that two months post marriage we still have one room left half-painted. Maybe if I put this goal here, it will get accomplished.

4. No boxes in my house

I want to do awesome things like decorate and make fun home decor, but most importantly, I need all the boxes out of my house!

Tyler Anne's Resolutions:

1. Get to that 75 percent marker of my book
As of right now I'm halfway done with the book I'm writing. Honestly, I'd love to completely finish the first draft by the end of May. Realistically, with all of my other work projects, I just don't see that happening. I'd be immensely pleased with myself if I could get to that 75 precent done marker!

2. Finish and distribute my super secret project for Almost There
Okay, so if you know me, this super secret project isn't that "secret." However, if you haven't recently talked to me and don't know what the heck is going on then I want to keep you in the dark a little while longer. All I can say is I think aspiring writers might just love it! I hope to have it finished and on Almost There's shop by the end of May!

3. Walk/jog for an hour everyday
Lately I've been getting into the habit of walking around the neighborhood for an hour during lunch. I want make this an everyday thing while transitioning from walking to jogging. My birthday was a few weeks ago and I'm pretty sure I ate my weight in sweets so I need to lose that weight pronto! Plus, it's wonderful time to brainstorm for Almost There and my book!

4. Find a place to put all of my books!!!!!
I fail this resolution EVERY MONTH but maybe I'll get lucky this time. I have hundreds of books that, since my recent move, have been in boxes! I hate, hate, HATE that! I'm the kind of person that loves to see their books and I have been known to reread some from time to time. I need to either purchase a ballin' few bookcases OR create my own! (And links or suggestions on this front would be awesome!)

Almost There Resolutions:

1. Evolve the writer side of this blog

It seems obvious that since we are both writers and since we both like chasing our dreams, that this would be a place for us to talk about writing. We've been working on incorporating this side of us into the blog with Laundromat Fiction and Writer Talk and we want to continue that!

2. Keep posting new prompts/discussions daily at Writer Talk

Writer Talk is a series on our blog, but it is also a Facebook group we started for writers to join and share in daily discussions and weekly writing prompts. It's a great place of encouragement so far and it's only just begun!

3. Bring more interviews/guest blogs to the site

What better way to inspire ourselves creatively than to read about how other creative people are chasing their dreams (or even better, living them already!) We were so excited about this interview with Josh from Blimey Cow, and we have several others in the works for this month. 

4. Work on our individual projects that we will put on Etsy

We opened our Etsy shop just this week for our first ecourse on social media. Now, we are both working on some individual projects and fun handmade things to add to the shop, so hopefully by the end of the month we'll have more to update on this!

Do you have any May resolutions? 

TO MAY! —The Annes

Kelli's May Resolutions can be found here.
Picture can be found on Holli's Instagram.

Books Galore: Questionnaire!

Part of running a good blog is making sure you read other good blogs. If only for the inspiration they bring. One of my favorite blogs to stalk read is She Learns as She Goes. Today her post  inspired me to also fill out this little reading questionnaire. (If you do one too we'd love for you to comment with a link to it!)

I'm always yapping about how I am obsessed with reading so some of my answers may be a bit intense!

Do you snack while you read?
Normally, I never eat while reading. I'm too zoned in to realize I need food. However, there have been a few times where I refused to put a book down and had to eat supper around it. Usually though, I'm too focused to break it for something as silly as food.

What is your favorite drink while reading?
Just like eating, I rarely drink while reading. I have been known from time to time to drink some caffeine to help keep me awake and reading, though!

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
I went through a phase where I would underline or use brackets to section off a sentence that I thought was particularly inspiring or just plain awesome sauce. I had to stop this habit while reading Airborn by Kenneth Oppel...I liked all of the Matt and Kate scenes too much and was basically underlining entire pages.

Then I went through a studious phase in school where I'd annotate in my school books. It's a good practice when dealing with Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad),  Brave New World (Aldous Huxley), and...dare I say it...Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. (For my thoughts on THAT subject read this post.)

I had to buy another copy of Hamlet because the first was so annotated I could barely read it!

Now, though, I keep a pen and pad near me when I read just in case I NEED to remember something. I try to keep away from writing in books anymore.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? 
I may be weird about my eating and drinking habits while reading, but I'm just plain lazy when it comes to book marks. Usually I just use the receipt it came with or just a random bit of paper. Whatever it is though (and here comes the weird part) I keep with that book forever. Once I'm done reading I slip it under the front cover. So...yeah, all of my books have the original book mark in them. That's normal, right?

Are you the type of person who tends to read to the end of the chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I used to go until the end of a chapter then put it down. Now, I have a really hard time doing that because at the end of a chapter there is usually a cliffhanger or motivation for me to turn the page. So I'll read to the end of a chapter then HAVE to read the next page and then I tell myself I'll stop at the next chapter. This goes on and on until, finally, I just put the book down during a lull in the middle.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or onto the floor if the author irritates you?
I only throw a book if there's a spider. Even then I do it with care. If I threw a book every time I had an irritating author then at least 25 percent of my book collection would be damaged. I make it a point to read really awesome books...and really terrible ones. I've had authors do away with wonderful characters and completely crush great plots before. I've had authors tell me how I feel and spit in the face of plot opportunity. 

I game rage in my head, though!

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you look it up right away?
Normally I can use the context clues and keep going. When I read on my Nook I can just click the word and BAM there's my definition. If I can't grasp a word and the book is kicking ass, I'll write it down and come back later. If not knowing the word is altering my reading experience, I'll go look it up.

What are you currently reading?
I'm kind of bad about reading multiple books at once. If you are connected to me on my GoodReads account (here) then you probably have seen some of my recent ones.

Right now I'm reading: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline; Redshirts by John Scalzi; Fun & Games by Duane Swierczynski; The Collector by Victoria Scott; Aunt Dimity's Death by Nancy Atherton; High Five by Janet Evanvich; Better Read Than Dead by Victoria Laurie.

You're probably thinking that I'm a big bag of lies on this one, but I promise I'm reading all of those. Minus the first two, I'm about 75 to 85 percent finished reading them. When it comes to books, my memory is spot on. I can pick them back up and finish without rereading.

I told you I was addicted.

What is the last book you bought?
Elegantly Wasted by C. Elizabeth Vescio

Fun & Games by Duane Swierczynski

The Collector by Victoria Scott

Aunt Dimity's Death by Nancy Atherton

Do you have a favorite time/place to read?
I'll read anywhere at anytime. However, I like reading in a place where I can lean back and prop up my book so I usually find myself in bed with a punch of pillows behind me. For time, well I usually love reading late at night and early in the morning...when everyone else is asleep so I won't be bothered!

Do you prefer series books or stand alones?
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE series books. If it's a really good one I don't want it to stop. Sometimes I won't pick up a book unless I know it will have a sequel. However, some of my favorite books have been standalones so I can't exactly shy away from them all.

Is there a specific book you find yourself recommending over and over?
Recently I've been shouting Elegantly Wasted by C. Elizabeth Vescio off of roof tops. (See my post about that here.) It's a wild ride and I can't wait until the second one comes out.

There's only really be one other book that I recommend to everyone and their mothers and that's The Rook by Daniel O'Malley. 

Both are fantastic reads and I have read them both more than once.

How do you organize your books?
I want to say I have a library like the one in Beauty and the Beast but the sad fact is that I recently moved so all of my lovely books are in boxes. I will be building a huge bookcase soon so I can seem all of them daily! However, right now I do have three or four on my night stand and about a handful on my couch in my office. Plus, my Nook is always near me!

That concludes the reading questionnaire. I really like anything book-related because I'm so passionate about reading! Remember, if you do your own we'd love to have you link us to it in the comments!

Hope you enjoyed!

-Tyler Anne (aka Chick Tyler)

Top image found here.

Monthly Resolutions: October, Son!

If you look at my side bar you'll notice I have a list of people who inspire. Well, Kelli from She Learns as She Goes definitely inspires. Every month she makes a list of resolutions she wants to fulfill and at the end of the month she gives herself a report card. I love that idea and think more people should do this each month. 

So here's my shot at it. My October resolutions.

Make Website
I'll be honest--this isn't on the very top of my priorities list at the moment. Not because I think it's not important but because I'm currently surrounded by work. This blog has become a quick passion of mine and I'd like to dedicate more time to the website design instead of doing a rush job. However, I'd like to get it done before October ends!

Organize My Mac
Dear goodness my organization on my Mac is embarassing. If someone other than me needed to find something on here, they would get lost in the folder maze I have created. It's time I just sit down, go through everything and organize! Right now I'm a digital hoarder!

More Projects!
I have a very long list of DIY projects I've been so pumped to do. This month I want to cut that list down a little!

Take More Pictures
I'd like to find my own photography style for Almost There. I love my camera and I would really love to use it a lot more. Plus, I'm going to be knee-deep in DIY projects this month so having evidence would be nice! Pics or it didn't happen, you know?

To see Kelli's October Resolutions go here!

If you decide to also make some monthly resolutions, comment with a link to the post!

Happy October!

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