NANOWRIMO - Day 2

Current Listen:  "A Thousand Years" sang beautifully by Christina Perri

Signed off last night with 1,886 words, an edge above the required 1,667 needed to complete 50,000 in 30 days. Tonight, my final word count came in at 4,585 so far. "Banking" words ahead of time. The weekends always surprise me, and with turkey day preparations, my wedding anniversary, and the premier of "Breaking Dawn" I have tickets for, my word bank will be drained as fast as my savings.

The characters have already started changing the story, beginning with setting. Believe it or not, Sweet Home, Oregon exists, and Grant High School is now Sweet Home High, home of the Huskies, and school colors proudly waving in gold and green. Yep, that's where my head is so if you know of details related to this small town, pass them along to me.

Today's descriptive challenge: the smell of the inside of a school bus. Distinctive. Kind of like the subways of New York City, they have their own "scent." I came up with:  "Antiseptic and adolescent sweat, laced with the putrid odor of ancient vomit that seeped beneath the floor boards and no one found."

Wander through your childhood memories and share your description of the smell of the inside of a school bus with me. Did I miss something you could add? My hubby drives school bus parttime, so I gave him a cameo part. We'll see if he recognizes himself when he beta reads for me later. 

'Nite all. Got some cough medicine with codeine from the doc today, so I'm heading for the coma. Tomorrow is another day. I look forward to your descriptions. Thanks!

NANOWRIMO - Let the writing begin.....

Day one:  "Some Boys" courtesy of Death Cab for Cutie

Well, it's here. November 1st....
Twenty days to my wedding anniversary; twenty-three days until Thanksgiving and consequently twenty-four days preceding "Black Friday." It is also the beginning of NaNoWrimo - the exciting, wonderful, hellish month for which those authors who have signed on for the gruelling task, have until midnight November 30th, to download their project into the database to see if they have met the 50,000 word marker required to win NaNoWrimo for 2011.  Last year I clocked in at 6:00 pm with 53,700 words and two-thirds of my now completed manuscript, Riley's Pond.

Last night I downloaded my playlist onto my iPod, researched my "buddies" to follow and compete against, and mentally plotted the story I would conceive. Last year I tried plotting, and it wouldn't allow my mind to flow freely. Once I chucked the plot because the characters had a different story they wanted to tell, Riley's Pond took off. So this year, no paper plot. Just an idea and so far, only four characters. Others will jump on stage when their time to shine appears.

I also decided this year I would do a daily blog of my accomplishments, frustrations, and yes, failures. I have become addicted to social networking, which has proven, unfortunately, a huge drain on my creative time. It mostly serves as an avoidance tactic to my never ending edits. However, I am a person who needs "checks and balances" in place to keep me on track. Therefore, I will blog daily - short snippets to keep myself on task. Those faithful followers who are not up to my daily rant, you are excused. For those who hang on, I applaud you and wish I was filthy rich to adorn you in expensive thank you gifts. All I can do is offer you a glimpse into my daily escape into my new manuscript and perhaps a giggle or two. You know how my life plays out.

WACKY WEDNESDAY has been suspended a couple of weeks due to a cold and "pee your pants" cough that refuses to leave, despite my efforts to share my germs with unsuspecting passersby, but if I can squeeze one in somewhere I will. Do note that I promised my author friend, Calisa Rhose I'd do a guest WACKY WEDNESDAY on November 8th on her site, and I'll give you more details when the date gets closer.

Okay, epitaph closing now. I'm on to NaNo - ended at 7:00 this morning with 1,325 words and the beginnings of "Saving Grace" or "Fatal Serendipity." Haven't decided on the title. I'll give you little excerpts along the way (remember they are in such rough draft form you could get "cut") but at the end of the month, I'd like your opinion on which title .... or if you've come up with a better one, I should use. Credit will be given if I choose yours, I promise...BECAUSE I WILL BE PUBLISHED!!

Now, here's my blurb to the working title "Saving Grace"...

Living in the Witness Protection Program has its perks. No one knows your past, only the life you custom create. When seventeen-year-old Zoe Adams walks through the front doors of Grant High School, she leaves Grace Harrison and the life belonging to her, behind.  Immediately catching the eye of hunky heartthrob Branson Jacobs, Zoe starts spinning her web of lies. But when Devon Richards unexpectedly  transfers cross county with his family and enrolls in Grant High, he finds his missing girlfriend locked in the arms of another boy, pretending to be someone she's not. Devon threatens to expose Zoe for who she really is, unless she dumps Branson and returns to him. A choice that could prove deadly for her. Devon's uncle is the one responsible for Grace's identity crisis and when he discovers she is still alive and capable of fingering him in her father's murder, "Saving Grace" becomes a race both Branson and Devon find themselves running together, hoping they'll cross the finish line in time.

CONGRATS FELLOW NANOWRIMOS

Tonight's listen:  No More Cloudy Days, courtesy of "The Eagles"

November 30th came to close with the sound of thousands whizzing over the finish line with seconds to go before midnight, all rushing for the "claim to fame" of being able to write a book in a month of 50,000 or more words. Not an easy task!


You barrel out of the starting gates Week 1 with enthusiasm, unbridled energy and able to live on 2 hours sleep.


Then Week 2 hits. It's like the first week of January when the holidays are over and tax season looms. The wind is suddenly gone out of your sails and the edges of the story you've carefully laid the ground work on, start to fray. For some, its the week of "writers block" where hard as you try, nothing creative is coming forth. But you must write. (Taking a day off from writing on NaNoWrimo is hell to catch up on later. Trust me. I know.) So you plug away, maybe writing "aardvark" eighteen hundred times just to fill your daily word count quota, but you write something!


Week 3 knocks at the door and you gasp! One more week! And this particular week for we ladies raising our magic wands, or I should say "spoons" (thank you Loretta), proves even more challenging. There's "fowl play." Thanksgiving sneaks around the corner, along with several companions, most of which you only cook once, maybe twice  year. Not only are you responsible for creating the "memorable holiday," you still have your 1,800 words to type by midnight, as well. Personally, I don't remember tasting the turkey until the day after.


Week 4 just busts through the door, unannounced, and a panic attack ensues. Your word count is not where it should be. When you check your stats online, the diagonal bar is stretching far above your daily word count, visibly shaking you to realize that according to your "production output," reaching your 50,000 word requirement will fall way past November 30th's deadline.
Family ties are severed at this point. People approaching you carry long sticks and linger near exits for quick retreat. You're on the border of shapeshifting into some paranormal beast at this point, crazed and obsessed with meeting your 50,000 word count. You'll respond to your new nickname (hint: starts with a "B") faster than your own name.


Two days before the cut off date, I was looking at 43,000 on my word count. I think the sun rose and set, and I vaguely remember a migraine plaguing me, but I'm not clear if I ate anything besides my weight in chocolate, or drank anything that did not have thousands of milligrams of caffeine. On my lunch hour on "D" day, I took my laptop and memory stick holding my masterpiece, and sequestered myself in the public library where I wouldn't be disturbed, tucking into the 'Periodicals' section.


Let me take a moment to comment here. Old men do not bathe. It's a scientific fact, and they hang out in the 'Periodical' section of the library for entertainment. Holding my breath and typing a very intense scene of my story, I crossed the 50,000 word mark. I continued to sneak a word in here an there until around 6:00 pm. I opened my account, and downloaded what I had finished. I wanted to be safe, not part of the mad rush at 11:59 trying to crash the servers on the NaNoWrimo website by downloading my story.


"Riley's Pond" (formerly known as "Avoiding My Brother's Shadow"), while not quite completed, came in on NaNoWrimo at 52,075 words. When I shut down my computer at precisely midnight, my word count was 54,049, and I was in love with my new story. Still have a couple of chapters before penning "the end," but I patted myself on the back for a job well done. It's raw, full of colorful language, unsavory scenes, but has a happy ending. Kind of like "life."


Congratulations to my fellow "NaNoWrimos." Whether or not you reached the 50,000 word goal, you took on the challenge and trained yourself to be a disciplined writer. What a wonderful experience. What an amazing year so far!


Did I fail to mention that the week I was plucking feathers, I also submitted a partial of my manuscript to two agents, with a query letter and synopsis? A feat worth mentioning.


Goodbye November. You'll go down in my history as one of the "great ones." I'm putting on my new "stretchy pants" (thank you M&M's) and taking on the daunting task of making fixing my leaning Christmas Tree. However, if I tilt my head just a tiny bit, it's straight!


Happy writing my author comrades, and happy reading my friends. Now....let the holidays begin.


Thanks for visiting.  "Harley Brooks" (Joelene's evil twin)

Today's thought:  Never say "I can't," or you won't. Never say "I might," or you won't. Say "I can do anything," and you will.