Happy NaNoWriMo!

Yes, today is the first day in November which means there are a great many people out there pounding the keys on their keyboards trying to maintain their word count quota for each day in hopes of writing a 50,000 word novel by the end of the month  I finally made it to my word count goal for the day, although I don't have much of a story at this point.  I'm more telling than showing, but I think eventually something will click and my story will sprout from there.  At least, that's what I'm hoping.  Did you make your word goal for the day?

It's Almost Here!

Despite all of the craziness with work and my personal life, I still decided to sign up for NanoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) again this year.  Yes, that means I'm going to attempt to write a novel in a month.  That's 50,000 words in one month.  Am I insane?
Last year I only made it to about 3500 words over the course of November, so I have much higher hopes for myself this year.  The problem is--I still don't have a storyline, which is the same problem I had last year. 

Joel C. Rosenberg came to our church this evening and was discussing scripture and how it relates to the End Times, in addition to telling us about his latest book The Twelfth Imam.  I've always found this topic fascinating and his enthusiasm for sharingGod's Word brought back my own thirst for knowledge.  He also mentioned how he came up with some of his topics, which I thought was pretty neat too.  I went ahead and signed up for his newsletter, so maybe something that comes across will spark ideas for my story's plot.

Did you sign up for NanoWriMo this year?  (It's not too late.)  If you did, let me know and I'll put you on my buddy list.  Maybe we can all succeed in our 50,000 word goal through the buddy system.  Good luck and happy writing!

Happy November!

If it's midnight, then it means the clock is furiously counting down on my deadline to write a novel in a month. What am I talking about?

Why NaNoWriMo of course!

Wish me luck as I attempt to pound my computer keys into creating a 50,000 word story over the next 30 days. Will I post it here--probably not, but then anything written in a month is probably garbage to begin with, so it actually might show up here--if only to make other wanna-be novelists feel better. Good luck to other newbies out there and happy novelizing! (Just think--a whole extra hour to write! Remember to turn your clocks back an hour.)

Fall Into Reading Challenge 2009

Can you believe that it's already Fall? I know that's what it says on the calendar, but aside from the much-needed rain, the temperatures have been relentless in Florida. It makes me pine for the cooler weather of when I lived in the northern states. But it lasts a short while when I start to remember my runny nose and the never-ending days of not being able to stay warm. Yuck!

The first day of Fall also means that it's the first day of the Fall Reading Challenge that's sponsored by Katrina at Callapidder Days. I must admit, I "failed miserably" in the Spring Challenge because I ended up missing the ending of the challenge and then not even posting a wrap-up of the books I did manage to finish reading. I had planned on posting a wrap-up over Summer, but time flew by and here we are already at the Fall Challenge--good grief! (Is anyone else experiencing this time warp too?)

While Fall is going to be especially busy with having to work Howl-O-Scream (HOS) again at Busch Gardens, participating in NanoWriMo for the first time, visiting New Orleans for the first time, and planning our school's Poetry Jam amidst all of the "other" school functions, I do plan on taking some time for myself to read a few books between today and December 22, when the Reading Challenge ends.

My list will probably change a bit--depending upon the books I choose to review and the books our teacher book club chooses, but here is my starter list:

Double Cross by James David Jordan--I read Forsaken last year and this is the sequel. I can't wait to find out what happens to Taylor next.

Perfect Piece by Rebeca Seitz--Book 4 in the Sister's Ink series. If you like scrapbooking or know someone who does--this is the series for them. I have my suspicions about what is going to happen in this book based on "incidents" in the other books, so this will be a fun read to find out if I'm right.

No Plot? No Problem! A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty--He's the founder of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), so I figure he's got to know what he's talking about, right? I was also hoping for some writing inspiration since the creativity fairy has moved on with her knapsack of playful ideas and 50,000 words is colossal! (I haven't written anything even remotely resembling a story since my creative writing class my first semester of college. Even then, the teacher "assigned" us topics, so it wasn't like I came up with the idea from scratch.) In any case, I'm hoping that this book will at least make me feel better about attempting to write something--even if Madison is the only one who ever reads it.


This is my list so far. If you're participating in the Reading Challenge, or even in NaNoWriMo, let me know! I always love to read book lists because there are always wonderful new books to discover and enjoy AND I could always use a writing buddy! Happy Reading!