Category Archives: Rachel Barnard

All About the Donuts: Local Donut Shop Review – General Porpoise Doughnuts in Seattle

by in Foodie Fridays, For the Love of Donuts, Local Eats, Rachel Barnard and tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

General Porpoise Doughnuts

Seattle, WA

My Live Video Review on Youtube is HERE

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1020 E. UNION ST., SEATTLE WA 98122

206 – 900 – 8770

gpdoughnuts.com

 

Review criteria:

Most popular donut at the shop: “Vanilla”
Signature shop donut:NA
Most popular US donut: glazed (not available)
2nd most popular US donut: Boston Creme (not available)
Donut Hole: Not Available

 

What I tried:

Vanilla, Chocolate Marshmallow, Lemon, Apple Quince Jam

$3.85/each or $18.41 for 4 including tax

 

What to expect:

This small donut shop is very much like Seattle: hip and young. If you’re looking for one type of donut, then this is your place. They only make the cream filled sugar topped donuts that are very fresh and most are very delicious. I thought some the cream fillings weren’t that great, but the donut itself was very good. They also didn’t put that much cream into the donuts.

 

My favorite:

The vanilla! It tasted like vanilla mousse, light and creamy.

2016 in Blogging review

by in author platform, Rachel Barnard and tagged ,

Blogging of 2015!

Site stats focusing on 2015

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Site stats focusing on 2016

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Top ten viewed pages/posts of the year:

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Popular search terms to find my page/posts

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More on reading stats…. How much I spent on Indie books in 2016: $137.44

Money spent on Indie books in 2015: $305.07

Author Goals and Accomplishments from 2016 and Future Goals for 2017

by in For the Love of Donuts, Local Authors, Local Events, Miscellaneous Mondays, Rachel Barnard and tagged , ,

Goals list of 2014

Goals list of 2015

 

Goals list of 2016:

  1. At One’s Beast available in King County Libraries
    1. I didn’t submit this book to the library becuase I decided to revise and republish version 2!
  2. Donuts in an Empty Field (For the Love of Donuts Book 1) published
    1. Yes!!! Check it out HERE
  3. Start my retirement fund
    1. Yes! I started an IRA and put money in it!
  4. Create a food/board game
    1. No, totally forgot about this one….
  5. Watch a roller derby
    1. Yess!! I even got to dress up, see it here
  6. Finish Flora’s Last Chance for Magic and submit to publishers
    1. Yes and no. I finished writing, editing, proofing, and getting a cover, but I’ve only submitted the book to one agent
  7. Re-revise My Dad the Prepper and send it out to new publishers
    1. Yes! I revised this book and sent it out to new publishers and I’ve already received several rejections (I’m up to 11 so far on this project)
  8. Make a box set case for upcoming series For the Love of Donuts using this website
    1. Forgot about this one too because I only have one book so far in the series!
  9. Publish the anthology “Stories from Seattle” with all proceeds to go to my favorite goat rescue PSGR
    1. Tabled this because nobody knew about submissions, but I did submit to a Hot MC biker chick anthology 😉
  10. Finish my brother’s recipe book so he can publish it
    1. Tabled this one as he lost interest in completing this project
  11. Publish Cafe Connections (Aster & Tilde book 1) on 10/31/16
    1. HA ha ha. I have so far to go on editing for this! I want Aster & Tilde books 1 and 2 (editing and rewrites) to be my project for Nano 2017
  12. Get professional author photos
    1. Nope. I have enough amateur photos for now…
  13. Learn a special dance or solo
    1. Sigh. Tabled. But I did choose the perfect song to learn once I get around to it!
  14. Bask in a sea of donuts
    1. No. Tabled this one as well because I haven’t sourced these donuts yet.

2017 Goals!!! Writing and Beyond:

Writing:

  • Publish Seize the Donut (for the Love of Donuts Book 2) on National Donut Day – June 2nd, 2017
  • Edit my short stories – Celebrity Dreamscapes, Smart Fraud, The Man Who Never Slept
  • Send out my short stories for publication!
  • Version 2 of At One’s Beast (edit, revise, re-release)
  • Find an agent for Flora’s Last Chance for Magic
  • Find a publisher or artist for my children’s picture book
  • Write and art for children’s picture book about pole dance
  • Write a children’s picture book about dad catch phrases or dad puns
  • Revise Aster & Tilde
  • Write Aster & Tilde book 2 and plan out the series
  • Review 1 Indie book a week
  • Go to Emerald City Writer’s Conference again
  • Start editing Dollars to Donuts (for the Love of Donuts book 3)
  • Publish Nichole’s Book of Awesome Things (for the Love of Donuts accompaniment 2) for release with Seize the Donut
  • Create a coloring book of donuts (for the Love of Donuts accompaniment 3) for release in the winter
  • Create an audio book of my poetry book
  • YouTube video 1x/month
  • Get 500 Instagram followers
  • Reach 250 Facebook likes on author page
  • Reach 250 Facebook friends
  • Reach 250 Twitter followers
  • Get to 2000 newsletter subscribers

Physical:

  • Mile in 10 minutes
  • 50 push-ups in one go
  • Inversions other side solid
  • Shoulder mount
  • Level up inversions at Divine
  • Dance performance
  • 200 pole classes lifetime
  • 10 pull ups

 

 

2016 Physical Activity – Dance/Volleyball/Running/Bootcamp

by in Rachel Barnard and tagged , , , , ,

2015 Physical Activity Blog Post Breakdown

How do you work out?

This year I did volleyball, pole dancing classes, the Thriller Dance for the second year, stretch and flex classes, pole silks, hoop classes, acro yoga, Boudoir classes, a pilates class, and bootcamp.

Pole Dancing Stats:

  1. I took 109 classes this year at 7 different pole studios (some were during my writer retreat/vacation in St. Pete, FL)
  2. I spent $2252.25 on all my pole and flex classes for the year (that’s $20.66 per class!)
  3. I took 7 advanced spin classes
  4. I took 49 Inversions classes
  5. I took 30 stretch classes
  6. The classes ranged in price from $10-$32 each
  7. I spent 201 hours in all of the classes combined and 160 hours in pole-only classes

My favorite photos:

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Volleyball Stats:

  • I went to volleyball (outdoor in Bellevue Downtown Park) 8 times this year

Running Stats:

  • I ran 2.5 total miles
  • I ran a mile in 11:02 at the fastest

Boot-camp Stats:

  • I went to 10 Boot-camp classes, starting November and love the instructor and the other bootcampers!

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The Thriller!

  • I only had time to go to one workshop prior to the Flashmob!
  • Check out the Youtube video HERE

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Fitness stats:

  • I did 5 pull-ups/chin-ups
  • I can do 20 push-ups in a row
  • I ran a mile in 11:02
  • I can hand over hand climb to the top of the pole
  • I can touch my toes

All About the Donuts: Local Donut Shop Review – Mighty-O Donuts in Seattle

by in Foodie Fridays, For the Love of Donuts, Local Eats, Rachel Barnard and tagged , ,

Mighty-O Donuts

Seattle, WA

My Live Video Review on Youtube is HERE

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 1400 12th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122

(206) 547-0335

Mightyo.com

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Review criteria:

Most popular donut at the shop: “Maple Bar”
Signature shop donut: Perhaps the French Toast
Most popular US donut: glazed (cake donut)
2nd most popular US donut: Boston Creme (Not Available)
Donut Hole: Not Available

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What I tried:

Glazed, lemon poppy seed, maple bar, French toast, peppermint, chocolate raspberry

~$13.40

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What to expect:

This corner store is next to easy street parking and has high ceilings and a high counter. The donuts are displayed like a fancy catering event’s dessert table. All the donuts are beautifully frosted and not heavy in their cake filling.

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My favorite:

I liked the peppermint the best, but I think I would have liked any donut with their chocolate cake interior. The frosting is perfectly balanced with the amount of cake and isn’t overwhelmingly sweet, but fully flavored.

NaNo November 16: It’s Over, Did I Win?

by in For the Love of Donuts, NaNoWriMo, Rachel Barnard | 3 Comments

winner

A few final November statistics for you!

  • There are 19 business days in November which equals 152 total working hours in an average 9-5 job. I worked 213.5 hours in November between my two jobs (and that’s 26.2 8-hour days!)
  • I wrote 20 days out of the month
  • I read 3 books (Krampus audiobook, Beauty and the Bridesmaid eBook, and Vegan Teenage Zombie Huntress print book). I’m still in the middle of reading Ishmael print book, The Seeker’s Keys Ebook, and Second Glance audiobook)
  • I had 5 events, 4 were author-related sales events (Small Business Saturday with the Neverending Bookshop, Oddmall in Everett which was 2 days, Bard & Starlet with FreeValley Publishing, and a one day popup Oddmall show)
  • I went to 10 write-ins

Here is page one of the first draft!

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NaNo November 16: Week Three Update – Still Behind, Still Writing

by in For the Love of Donuts, NaNoWriMo, Rachel Barnard | 2 Comments

This time last year I was already a winner of NaNoWriMo. I had it together. I had time. I had plot. I had motivation. I had friends. I have a lot of those this year, but I lack some essentials: like time and good plot to work with. At this point in my novel (at 30,500) my characters are saying anything that comes to mind and they are meandering all over the place! I’m consistently 5k or more behind but I have hopes of finishing strong over the Holidays and my first weekend that isn’t jam-packed with events.

Carry on my writers! Whether win or lose, at least you will be focusing on writing!

I’m also attempting to revise a short story for an anthology, getting one to two short stories together for a December 1 deadline, and keeping the rest of my life together!

Happy Turkey day in advance!

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The Fun, the Weird, the Odd and Holiday Shopping – Oddmall

by in Free Valley Publishing, Local Authors, Local Events, Rachel Barnard and tagged , , | 2 Comments

Once again we were at Oddmall! Combination of NIWA and FVP table, this time around was shopping for holidays! Remember last June? This time the venue was larger, the parking was grander, and the surroundings were just a tad bit more red and green…

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My booth neighbor with her ‘sipping vinegar’ selling to the faeries.

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The view from the second floor!

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Requisite, this-is-my-booth photo!

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Different angle of our booth!

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Looking out from my space with my new book that I’m reading.

 

Upcoming Event Alert! WA – Everett – Oddmall Emporium of the Weird

by in Free Valley Publishing, Local Authors, Local Events, Rachel Barnard and tagged , | 1 Comment

FreeValley Publishing and NIWA will host a booth at the 2016 Holiday Odmall show in Everett from November 19-20, 2016. Come visit the FVP/NIWA booth (#151) and check out other really neat and perhaps wacky offerings.

More info

NEW LOCATION

The Everett Community College
Walt Price Student Fitness Center
2206 Tower Street
Everett, WA

Show Hours

Saturday, November 19 – Doors open at 10am – Close at 6pm

Sunday, November 20 – Doors open at 11am – Close at 5pm

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