WIP – Tamara Nikolai

Writing Accountability May Recap and June Goals

I reached my May writing goal!!!

I am super excited that I managed to accomplish this feat, and as I promised myself, I’m rewarding myself with a new pair of shoes and a candle making kit.

Ok, the last part was a new edition.

I do have two more days of writing, but I thought I would celebrate now. A girl has to take her wins, whenever she can.

The only time I like spreadsheets, it was really interesting to track my word count during the month. My aim was to write every day a minimum of 670 words. Spreadhsheet courtesy of Sarah Brabazon.

New goals:

My June goals include, writing ‘The end’ of my first draft of my current WIP and I plan on editing my contemporary romance novel – turning it into a fully-fledged draft 2.

Trying to fit everything into a 24 hour time period is starting to become increasingly difficult, but where there is a will, there is a way. Or sleep depravation. Maybe more sleep depravation then I would have liked.

Did you reach your May goal?

Have you decided what your June goals are?

Accountability Post: May

During the month of May, I will write 20 000 words. Yes, you did read that correctly. 20 000 words.

I have stated it in a public forum, so I must persevere, through the blood, sweat and tears. Ok, maybe through the hours of staring at a blank screen, the allure of cleaning (because the urge to clean when I’m writing a tough scene, chapter is real) and binge watching TV.

If When, I reach my goal, I will be that much closer to the end of my first draft and I will be able to buy the pair of heels, I have been eyeing off. I am a rewards based person, and I know I am more likely to reach my goals if I get something materialistic out of it. Call me shallow, but it works.

Do you have a writing goal for May? Do you reward yourself for reaching the goal?

The halfway point…

After a busy Easter of relaxing and eating copious amount of chocolate and hot cross buns, I have started to get some headway with the WIP. I am happy to report I have approached the halfway mark of Draft 0.5!!!

To be honest, there are lots of ‘INSERT DESCRIPTION XXXX’ and ‘NEEDS MORE RESEARCH!!’ throughout the work, but there are words on the page. And I can edit words on the page. And there will be lots of editing, but that my friends, is a future Tamara problem.

To celebrate I am going to introduce my girls in CHIBI form…. I think they are super cute and you can defintely see some of the attitude they have been giving me… cough Reika and Khalida.

Reika Singh – My MC and Bio archaeologist extraordinaire

Kahlida Kogami … do not annoy her, she has a thing for knives

Anneke Schoorl… some things are better kept secret

Seriously, how cute are they???

I’m back…I think

I’ve been kinda distracted for the last six weeks. Going away for work will do that to a person, unfortunately I barely had enough time to sleep let alone write. But I’m ok with that (well maybe without the sleep depravation), I think I needed the time away.

The pockets of spare moments I had allowed me to focus on my characters and what was going to happen next. And, now I’m super excited!

And I can’t wait to introduce you to some of the other voices in my head… Khalida has quickly become one of my favs.

Meet the voices in my head…

Meet the voices in my head aka the characters I have been chasing for the past few months.

My current WIP is a rollicking adventure set in the not so distant future. I thought I will share some of the inspiration for my main characters and where their search for the ancient artifact leads them. Answer – around the globe…hehehe

Anyone else use Pinterest to look for inspiration ? I love scrolling down my feed and having an AH-HA moment as the vision in my head becomes reality. And I have found I love creating a board for the story, even if it has taken me down many a rabbit hole.

For some fun, I thought I would introduce my main characters.

Name: Dr. Reika Singh.

Status: Citizen (Ex-military)

Current Occupation: Bio Archaeologist

Eye color: Amber

Hair color: Dark Brown with green tips.

Tattoos: She has a sleeve (left arm)

Fact 1: Is a trained Crypto-linguist – specialty is obscure dialects and ancient languages

Fact 2: Can shoot better than Dante

***

Name: Dante Delacroix

Status: Citizen (Elite)

Current Occupation: CEO Security Firm

Eye color: Green

Hair color: Black

Tattoos: Nil

Fact 1: Reika was attached to his unit when he was in the Military.

Fact 2: Has a twin sister, Beatrix, she is set to inherit the family matriarchal business.

***

Just a quick snapshot of some of the voices in my head.

Is there anything else you would like to know?

Welcome to my little corner of the world.

Hi… I promise I don’t bite.

I have decided to do a getting to know me blog post.

During the day I work in an open plan office dreaming of other worlds and by night I listen to the voices in my head as they let me write their stories.

I live in Australia – hence the weird spelling variations.
I enjoy going on hikes and scuba diving.
I love reading, I devour the classics, science fiction, horror and romance and everything in-between.
Romance books have always held a special place in my heart… generally, I look for kickass heroines and to die for heroes with lots of action.
I watch anime and collect comics – sometimes I think I am trapped in the body of a fifteen-year-old boy.
I have always dreamed about being a writer – unfortunately, I spent most of my life being told it’s not a career and to wait until my retirement.
I once wrote to one of my favourite Romance authors (Sherrilyn Kenyon) and told her she was my writing idol (this was during dial-up days and pre Dark Hunter days) and she told me to keep working on my dream. And I am finally getting to meet her in March 2019.
I once stalked Nalini Singh at a writing conference ( Genrecon 2017) then preceded to tell her how awesome all her books were.
Growing up my favourite fictional couples were Rogue/Gambit (Marvel) and Sailor Moon/Tuxedo Mask (Sailor Moon) – this may explain a few things about me.
My favourite Romance movie is ‘The Crow’ (It’s a tragic love story if you haven’t seen it with a killer soundtrack) and the ‘Proposal’ (Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock, need I say more?).
I have a collection of short stories and a manuscript from when I was in my late teens – those characters still come and say hi but I am not at a stage where I am ready to write about them again. But one day I will have the experience and the skill to do them justice.
I have a dog, he is an Australian Kelpie named Rowdy and is very cute but super needy.
I am a writer.

Rowdy

Meet Rowdy – super ball focused.

Desk

Where the magic happens…ok I spend a lot of time staring at the wall and its usually not this clean.

What about you? Do you have anything to share?

Celebrating the small wins!

It has been a whirlwind week.

Last week of work before I go on annual leave (sooo much excitement!!!). I still have an essay to write and family arrived a day early….oops.

The words have been flowing and I have embraced trying to write everyday, but more importantly to not beat myself up if I am too tired too or if life sometimes gets in the way. There is always tomorrow.

This week I am celebrating the small wins and the achievement of my small goals. Each tiny step brings me closer to the end. And it’s the journey that counts, right?

Have you had any wins this week?