FEBRUARY TARGETS UPDATE

Happy Valpot Month, fans. We hoped Blueberry enjoyed his, and wish Valpot lots of success during March.

Of much greater interest, of course, is the update of the February targets. Did the Nodpots do well? Did they reach all or most of their ambitions for the month? Or did they fail miserably, and want to curl up and hide in the corner, away from our questioning eyes?

Let's find out!

Blueberry, first as always - how did you get on last month?

Blueberry: My targets were:
1. Have Fun – Yes, certainly had a lot of fun in Feb. Played with Janna, which
was fun.
2. Take things easy – Had lots of lovely nights in.

I'm glad to hear you're playing with Janna - we did hear rumours that she sometimes invaded your space...

Inkpot, you always have great ambitions - an inspiration for the other Nodpots. What's the news?

Inkpot: My targets - and results - are as follows:
1. Write 50K words of Til the Moon Fails – No
2. Complete and submit assignments 4 and 5 for the writers bureau – no
3. Read 12 books – 10 and counting
4. Start rewriting The Mark of the wolf – No
5. Edit and submit zombie flash fiction Deadly – No

Well, you did amend your targets slightly during the month, didn't you? I mean, you decided to re-write Til The Moon Fails from scratch, didn't you? So that finished no. 1. Then I believe Valpot is holding you up with the WB assignments. And could it be that Mungo has hogged more than his share of pc-time?

Inkpot: No comment

Marvin, I'm sure you agree with me about Inkpot's achievements. But what of your own?

Marvin: Due to circumstances beyond my control -
1. Do at least one more page on the Nodpot website – regrettably no
2. Keep my blog up to date – Also, unfortunately, no

Alas, indeed! (Aside to readers - can you believe it? The Chairtoy of the DNs doesn't meet either of his self-imposed February targets!)

Mungo, you haven't let us down have you?

Mungo: My target was:
1. Finish Mango, the Unlucky Monkey – Well, I’m not quite finished my masterpiece.
Just putting the final polish on it.

That's good news - I'm really looking forward to reading it! As, I'm sure, are all your fans.

October & November, you were going to write out the first draft of your mystery blog. Did you?

October: In the words of our honourable Chairtoy - regrettably, no.

November: We were still caught up in our January target of resting a lot. But we did talk about the blog.

October: Once.

Parsley, did you too fall by the wayside?

Parsley: My target was:
1. Keep the accounts up to date – yes

Congratulations, Parsley, well done!

Sparkie, I'm glad to see you available to talk to me. I guess I shouldn't ask - should I?

Sparkie:
1. Get Marvin a gavel – yes, Mungo made good on his promise!

(Sounds of cheering break out in the immediate vicinity, and several fireworks go off).

Sparkie, I am so impressed! I know that has been your DN task for many many years! How did you get Mungo to do what you couldn't?

Sparkie: Well, he promised me the gavel if I did something for him. We both kept our promises.

Well done (I guess Curly will be very interested in the news!)

And finally Valpot. Is it true you always give yourself attainable targets and then not meet them?

Valpot: Maybe. This is what I hoped to get done - but my plans were slightly disrupted by starting a course with lots of assignments, assignments with deadlines too - not what I'm used to! Anyway:
1. Submit TLD for the full editing service. This may sound like a simple email job, but there was quite a bit of work to it. However, I am glad to report that the revised version was sent to the horse early in February, and she has already reverted on the first 6 chapters (sadly, another 17 to go!). I received a lot of help from Inkpot for the revision of the first few chapters, and I'd like to publicly thank her. (Applause from the crowd). She spent a lot of time on it. I got the book printed up once more and it reads an awful lot better.

So what happened with the WB?

Valpot: Ah yes.
2. Submit assignments 3 & 4 to the WB and plan assignment 5. Well, I would have
submitted them if I had written them...
3. I didn't submit my article either, as I am still waiting to hear back about permission
to use the image of St Albert (maybe I'll try somewhere else).
4. Write the first draft of Lottie - yes, I completed this. A little shorter than I intended -
about 25k or 26k - it is Darren Shan-tastic! However, it gave me lots of ideas for the
rewrite.
5. I didn't mention this last time, but I should have included my book pledge. Can't
remember how many I read in January, but I have now read 20/150.

Shouldn't you be at 25/150 by now? If you want to reach the target by December 31st?

Valpot: Your maths are excellent, DN. Yes, I should, but I'm doing a good steady pace, and I'm
not displeased.

So, if only you had submitted to the WB, you would have been quite successful for February. Better luck this month, Valpot.

Coming soon: The Nodpots March targets!!