Walking, Reading & Writing - Decisions

I am still trying to walk as much as possible, but on these horribly cold days the room where the treadmill is located is just too cold for me to use it. That has hurt my mileage, but I'm still walking to Rivendell, even though I am very, very slow. I didn't post my December mileage, but I did almost 50 miles in Decenber and just shy of 42 in January (not great, but at least I'm still trying). As of midnight I was on my 4th day away from Weathertop on my way to the Last Bridge which I should be reaching in February sometime. It's a good thing Frodo is not depending on my speed to get to a healer, he would have been buried by the side of the road a long time ago. *sigh*

I've now read completely through Binky's Big Bang story and loved it - it's a crazy romp through early 1900's London and I'm having fun collecting pictures to base my artwork on. These are the times when I wish I was a digital artist - in so many ways it would make my life easier and the pictures faster, but...I'm not. I'm a traditional media artist. So it will take longer to produce what I need. But I can't lose sight of the fact that I also am trying to get a piece together for consideration to my publisher for another open call. Which leads into...writing.

Writing - I've received my elements for the LOTR Community Challenge for February with a February 14th deadline. I'm totally uninspired and may well let this one lie unwritten. Nothing has come to me at all and I have too many other things on my plate. I'm trying to write this new o-fic short story and I need to whip it into shape quickly so that I can rework it a few times before submitting it. I'm not sure it will actually meet their criteria, but as always, "nothing ventured, nothing gained", so I'm determined to at least try. I've also promised the publishers to get in touch with some reviewers, and they sent me some new artwork for Drangonthology, so I need to fulfill my contractual obligations. I'd rather work on my o-fic for a while, so I'm declaring February's LOTR Community story as a no-go. But...my Bechdel Challenge story was posted late on the 30th of January; my Slashy Valentine story was turned in a week or two ago, so I didn't disappoint there; and my LOTR Community Potluck story was also posted on time. All is not lost yet.

Sometimes my life seems like a revolving door...

So while I bundle up and try to stay warm, something that just won't happen today at all, I'll just look forward to Super Bowl Sunday (which I'll write about tomorrow) and concentrate on those projects that I am excited about. Sometimes that's the only thing I can do...