The Last Few Weeks & Writing Goals this Week

For everyone who sees this through Facebook, I know you are aware that some family crap kept me offline for a bit.  I not only have little filter between thoughts and mouth, sometimes I write whatever is on my mind too.  But that isn't good or appropriate for everything we face in our lives.  So I took myself away from the internet.

As the troubles died down, and I handled what I could, I focused not on writing, but on reading.

Ages ago I was an obsessive reader.  When a good book had me there was little else I could do.  I would forget what time it was, forget to eat.  Everything paled in importance to the book in my hands.

I've been very frank on this  blog as to where I am mentally right now, and where I have been since graduation. so it should be obvious that this level of obsessive reading has been very difficult to rekindle.  It has been hard to set aside my daily concerns enough to focus on fun stuff.  Fun stuff would make me feel guilty.  But I think I've already been there on this blog.

Returning to reading, in order to deal with stuff and give myself a bit of a mental break from stress was exactly what I needed. More, I think it is a big landmark for myself because it means that while much of my life is far from where I want it to be, despite my best efforts, I am finally learning to accept it rather than stress, rail, and feel otherwise angry/disconcerted/frustrated over my circumstances.

I read obsessively for a whole week.  I finished the Stormlord series by Glenda Larke, which depression had given me trouble actually getting into for awhile.  But I made up my mind to finish book one as soon as we moved.

The book was so good, I read the sequel in a day and a half, and summoned my meager resources to scour Sacramento for the third book.  That means, of course, that we found it at Barnes & Noble (though I *did* try the local independent store, Avid Reader, first). It was glorious, locking out the world and sinking into a brilliant series.

I followed the epic trilogy by reading Fair Game, by Patricia Briggs, and read that one eagerly. I completed it in a day.  The day after, I made my guy read it so we could discuss the ending since we are both fans of the Mercy/Anna world.

So while I had little internet involvement, I quite happily started reclaiming myself.

Next step, of course, is writing.

This week I want to write 5 chapters: ( Chs: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) of Silver Mask.

Rather than setting daily goals and getting pissed at myself when I fall short, I'm going to try setting a weekly goal with a little flex.  So if I have a slow day, well, that's okay.

I think I'll also say it's okay if I complete chapter 10 on Saturday, though I'll aim for having everything done on Friday.  Being kind to myself is certainly *not* an easy thing for me.

So, once again, what are you reading right now and is it something you would recommend or will you get halfway through before setting it aside?