#ROW80 - Starting Round 2 in Afghanistan!

Hello, fellow ROW'ers...

It's been a while (8 months, to be precise!) since my last ROW80 post - back then, I was in Germany, finishing up a 2-week long course in the Bavarian mountain town of Garmisch - now I'm writing from my latest home-away-from home at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan's Helmand Province.

That's life when your full-time job is as an officer of Marines, and writing is something you squeeze in where you can! Suffice to say that I've been very busy standing up a new unit and deploying with them half-way around the world - on top of that, I'm teaching a college class and a French class out here to help my fellow Marines and Soldiers advance their careers - so, why ROW80 on top of all that?

Simple! I really do need to get back to writing, and I've found that nothing is as good for maintaining accountability and progress on the literary front as weekly ROW80 check-ins!

So, here are my initial goals for this Round of Words...

WRITING
- Post one Chapter of The Perfidious Mister Wickham each week.
- Write one Chapter of my Learning Indonesian book each week.
- Finish The Artillerists (short story)
- Finish Merry Christmas, Mister Washington (short story)

- Finish Ho B-52 (short story)

PUBLISHING
- Publish a book of short stories
- Start the Parasol Books imprint

FITNESS
- Add 5 lbs per week to my Bench Press
- Drop 1/2 percent bodyfat each week

LANGUAGE
- Five hours of studying French per week

NETWORKING
- Work on establishing a better social media presence.
- Add 2 people to my "Core Group" each week.

A key difference in this round as opposed to previous iterations is that I have tried to tie the majority of my goals to weekly progress - rather than say, "I'm going to write 10 chapters" I've said "a chapter a week" - that gives me something to focus on and it's progress that can't be "put off" more than a few days. We shall see if that results in a more productive Round of Words this time.

Well, that's that! I wish you all a wonderful and productive Round Two, and look forward to popping in to your blogs to check out your progress as the Round progresses!

Best regards,
Edward

p.s. If you are a Jane Austen fan, I cordially invite you to take a peek at the prologue to The Perfidious Mister Wickham - not a continuation, nor an adaptation, this unique work looks at Mister Darcy, the Bennet family, and a wide array of late Georgian and early Regency historical and literary figures through the eyes of the eponymous scoundrel! See what wickedness Wickham was up to before he arrived in Meryton, how he seduced (or was seduced by) Lydia Bennet in Brighton, and what became of their scandalously patched-up marriage after their carriage rolled away from Longbourn.

Trains, Junks, and #ROW80 Updates!

Some of the islands in Ha Long Bay

Greetings and Salutations from Hanoi, the latest stop on my trip through Asia.

I'm posting this update from a coffee shop, where I'm getting caught up after about a week off of WiFi - having spent most of it on night trains, an old junk sailing through Ha Long Bay, and an assortment of bicycles and motor scooters weaving through the traffic of Hoi An and Hanoi...

Writing, publishing, etc?

I've knocked out another few thousand words on The Perfidious Mister Wickham, and written a few essays on the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly and still colloquially known as Saigon) and on the experience of traveling by rail in Vietnam.

Better, I've found the amazing, true inspiration for a new short story in a recurring genre of mine; the absurdity of war. Would you believe that in the middle of Hanoi, there is a busy little residential district, with a pretty little pond - out of which is sticking the wreckage of a B-52 bomber? Indeed.

I've also gotten a pair of tailored suits made, complete with shirts, tie, and cuff-links (a necessity forced on me by a pending visit with a General in Beijing) eaten numerous bowls of delicious pho, visited museums, a couple more UNESCO World Heritage sites, seen water buffalo and ducks, played with a friendly puppy, caught up with a wonderful friend, and found a translator for a French edition of Lethargica.Put away a sufficient quantity of wine, gin, and cigarettes to make Hemingway proud.

So, although not a productive week from some perspectives, a rather amazing week otherwise.I'm sure that after this current trip concludes, I'll be able to get back to the grind of writing, publishing, promoting... But until then, I'll just be enjoying the ride!

Hoping this update finds you happy and well.