ROW80 Round-Up!

Won a Bronze Medal in a Jinglebell 5K...

Dear Readers... It's been much too long since my last ROW80 update, and this one finds us practically at the end of the Round... Since my last post, I've had a Marine die under tragically idiotic circumstances and led my remaining 116 Marines through a visit by an assortment of Generals and Admirals that resulted in kudos all around.

The ROW in Review - overall I scored about a 36 percent success rate, which is pretty terrible... (You can see my nerdy scoresheet below!)

So, on the writing front, which is sort of a big thing for a writer, I didn't really do too well - was touch and go with my blogging, my novel-in-progress, and my short stories. On the plus side, I wrote and finished another totally new and unexpected short story In a Yellow Wood (which came about as a result of the social/dating goals) and also finished The Warrior Ethos: One Marine Officer's Critique and Counterpoint. I also started blogging for the professional journal of the U.S. Marine Corps, The Marine Corps Gazette, and published a serious non-fiction article there.

Published a Short Story...

I got one short story published, and am getting close to releasing my first book (The Warrior Ethos) but have so far failed to get the Parasol Publishing imprint off the ground. I got about half as much yoga done as I had planned, but again, I feel I made up for that by completing an 8-week "mind-body medicine" class, where I learned meditation skills and worked through a number of self-awareness exercises. I also got a medal for 3rd place in my age group in a Jinglebell 5K!

I didn't get any language teaching done, but I attained Level 6 in the Duolingo French curriculum, passed my Indonesian language test with good enough grades to get paid at the second-highest tier, and got a third of the way through a Russian language course in the Air War College curriculum. I also registered to volunteer developing the Indonesian-English syllabus on Duolingo, so we'll see what happens there!

Dabbling with dating has been, well, interesting - and got to race NASCARs around a short track, so that can be knocked off the bucket list.... Networking and "New Economy" goals fell a bit short, but perhaps in the next Round...

Here's the breakdown, as promised...

WRITING

- Chapters of The Perfidious Mister Wickham written and posted - 4 of 11

- ROW80 updates posted - 6 of 11

- Posts on my GypsyDangerously blog - 6 of 11

- Finish The Artillerists (short story) - Fail!

- Finish Ho B-52 (short story) - Win!

- Finish Merry Christmas, Mister Washington (short story) - Fail!

PUBLISHING

- Publish Ho B-52 (short story) - Win!

- Start the Parasol Books imprint - Fail!

FITNESS

- Run two 5K races - 1 of 2

- One yoga class per week (flexibility) - 4 of 11

LANGUAGE

- Teach French for 2 hours per week - Fail!

- Teach Indonesian for 2 hours per week - Fail!

SOCIAL

- Begin dating - a bit of a beautiful disaster / work in progress...

- Go on 5 “bucket list” adventures - 1 of 5

NETWORKING

- Spend 5 hours per week on Social Media (Twitter, FB, blogs, etc...) - Fail!

- Join Lowcountry RWA - Halfway there! Joined the national organization...

NEW ECONOMIC

- Join Air B&B - Win!

- Reduce my personal carbon footprint - Fail!


So, that's it for this week... Hope you are all reaching a successful conclusion to your Round of Words, and best wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Warm regards,
Edward

#ROW80 Update from a #Warzone!

Everyone smile for the camera! 
Oh, wait, Marines don't smile...

A quiet week in some ways here, a very busy one in others!

Writing awards and orders, finishing up one International Relations class, and preparing to teach another, and taking a 3-day-a-week French class via online video-linked classroom (thanks, Special Operations Command!) so as is often the case, I’m struggling to make time to write, let alone publish or promote!

That said, I have gotten a little bit more done on Steven Pressfield’s “The Warrior Ethos”: One Marine Officer’s Critique & Counterpoint. Shooting for publication before the end of the month, so lots to do with that! And I have to finish the final proofs for my interview in Laurence Raw and Robert G. Dryden’s upcoming book Global Jane Austen: Pleasure, Passion, and Possessiveness in the Jane Austen Community.

So, I trust you’ll pardon the very brief goals update:

WRITING

- Posted Chapter 29 of The Perfidious Mister Wickham…

- Wrote 1500 words on my critique of Pressfield’s The Warrior Ethos.

PUBLISHING
- Put out the 16th issue of the Squadron newsletter – Mother’s Day edition!

FITNESS
- Added 10 lbs to my Bench Press…

- Bodyfat down to 13.4% - next stop, 12%

- Scored 284 (out of 300) on my latest Physical Fitness Test!

LANGUAGE
- Got in 5 solid hours of French study this week, 4 of those in a class taught all in French… Je suis un bien eleve!

NETWORKING
- Found a couple of people interested in my Core Group! Still looking for more, though – anyone joins will get free books and advance copies of new material in exchange for reviews and critique… Are you interested? If so, leave a note here, or drop me a line directly to ehcarpenter@gmail.com

So, that’s it for my goals! How did you do with yours?

I hope everyone has had a great weekend, and is all set for another productive week!

A la prochaine! 
Edward

#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.

#ROW80 Update!

Finally, a ROW80 update post, but unfortunately, there’s not a lot new to report.

On the writing front, I’ve been so busy with work and family of late that it’s been about all I can manage to crank out my weekly chapter of The Perfidious Mister Wickham – and I’m enjoying working in the serial format because it keeps me honest about getting a minimum amount of writing and editing done every week. Looking forward to getting back into my short stories (and sketching out the world and plot of a new novel) as soon as the pace of work slows down a bit.

Fitness and French goals are coming along – I’ve been pretty consistent about logging half an hour of French practice Monday through Friday, which means I’m making about half my required study hours. I’ll look forward to reporting better progress in my language studies in the weeks to come.

I’m 2 weeks into a 3-week cleansing fast, which has reduced my overall weight as my various workout programs have been making me stronger, and while I am looking forward to the end of this rigorous program, it has given me a renewed appreciation for both the pleasures of eating, and the importance of a very healthy diet.

One of my other non-writing goals for this ROW was to re-design this website, and I’ve managed to get that done this week as well... Would love to hear your thoughts on the new look!

I’m getting ready to head to Europe for a 3-week seminar class focused on politics and security in Eurasia, which will be a great learning opportunity and also a nice change of pace from my daily duties here in South Carolina.

It also seems be a most appropriate opportunity for me to release Und Wenn Sie Nicht Gestorben Sind..., the German translation of Happily Ever After. That will complete the publishing goals for this round, and leave me with just social networking and writing to focus on (but not necessarily in that order!) 

Well, that’s where I’m at this week – not a terribly thrilling update, I’m afraid, but it is what it is.

Wishing everyone a happy and productive week to come,

Best,
Edward