BuNoWriMo 2: Status: DONE

No reason. They just amuse me.

So FIRST, I need to apologize for how little I've gotten around to blogs this week. We are between Admins, so in some ways I'm doing two jobs, and in others, I'm catching up with stuff I should have had my butt in gear and done earlier. I am running up against deadlines and just am having to solidly WORK at work...



Then at HOME I am trying to get the rest of my Cozy typed (along with blogging). The former though, is on a schedule, so I don't have much browsing time...



And TODAY, I am at Burrowers, Books and Balderdash sharing a little (read: a fair bit) about my day job. (goes up at noon GMT)





Okay... Now to the Topic

The Second Annual BuNoWriMo is done



It officially wound up at midnight. There was the disappointment this year in how Facebook changed its group function—there are no longer discussion pages, which we will need to resolve... if not for BuNoWriMo, then definitely for ABNA. I didn't like having to scroll pages to look for topics... oh, sure FB notifies you if someone replies on something you commented on, but WHO IS NOT TIRED OF THAT!? For Pete's sake Mark Zuckerman, enough already.. The OLD group system was superior... I will check on my OWN darned group if I feel compelled. Do not TELL me every time somebody says something.



*cough* But that is Facebooks fault.





As for the people participating in BuNoWriMo, THEY were rock stars! The support level was incredibly high, whether people were doing their own thing or following traditional paths--answering questions... succeeding, failing... There were 121 of us signed up by the end (though I know some half dozen of us who are there twice, and another two dozen who are there to support, but didn't plan to write.



I know a BUNCH of people who 'won' traditionally, and a bunch more who wrote a lot more of than they might otherwise. I think the biggest successes are people trying to establish a writing habit that managed to write most days... going from writing irregularly to writing almost daily is a habit we need to make if we want long-term success—and by that I don't necessarily mean PUBLISHING success, though that is tied in. But I think our brains, imaginations, and all that habituate through daily use... we get stronger, faster, more efficient. I know after a break to edit, I have to work for a bit to get back into writing... think how much HARDER that would be if I'd been away from the craft entirely.  Writing when inspired... probably not going to get us there... But if we write daily, soon we at least end up inspired regularly.  Stephen King may be freaky, but he is very wise in his quote:  if you show up daily, eventually your muse will too. (or something like that)



So THANK YOU everyone who participated or supported this process! Have a great weekend!!!

Birthday Week Kick-Off

So at the risk of losing my reputation as Mopy McMopypants, I thought maybe we'd have a little fun today... celebrate some fun stuff, and you can give me some ADVICE!

First, I should probably explain what I mean by birthday week. It's my birthday this week! *cough* But it's more than that. Why, you ask?



Because I'm not the ONLY birthday this week, so we are just going to have a week long party around here.



When I was growing up, I didn't know ANYBODY with a near birthday—there was a girl in my class who was the 26th, but she was a year older and pretty fundamentally different from me... okay... she picked on me (one of very few who ever did—she did in without too much meanness but I sure wasn't ready for it). I think there is something though to just the couple days including and immediately after the summer solstice... the formal Gemini CUSP of Cancer... A kindred thing...



I will detail it a bit more at the Burrow tomorrow, but for TODAY, I want to talk about a present I already got!!!

My Mom Sent Me a KINDLE!!! (I need recommendations!



I'm so excited. I've had a few beta partners who've wanted to do exchanges that way, and I love the idea of checking out a few chapters before buying... I see myself MOSTLY using it for travel and such, but maybe not... I will have to see how user friendly it is. I haven't dug in, as I suspect I will have a learning curve and I've been too busy to just devote a few hours.



BUT, it came with a gift card, so I wanted to ask all of YOU:



What are the best current reads you've read in YA, mystery or suspense. I have a very low tolerance for 'sweet' and prefer to limit romance to a subplot. I really DO though, need to familiarize myself with the edgy YA market... Not CREATURE paranormal, but I like dead (not zombie), ghost, psychic power paranormal. I LOVE dystopia, mostly... What do YOU recommend?







In Other News





Days OFF



I am going to try to take Thursday and Friday off work to make up for NOT getting my Mondays this month. My boss is giving me a massage, and my daughter gave me a gift card for a pedicure for mother's day, so Thursday, my actual birthday, I am going to pamper myself.

What Ales Me

is 83% complete







41732 / 50000 words written

Writing



So I'm at 41.7K on my WriMo. Just over 8000 left to goal, though probably 18K to DONE. (first draftly speaking anyway) I want to hit the WriMo goal this week, as I want to actually finish the BOOK this month...



So there we have it, not much substance, but how many parties do you know that start off immediately... it's got to build slowly!!!

Bodacious Beginnings

Once upon a time...

It was a dark and stormy night...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

Call me Ishmail...

Long ago and far away...

Okay, so those are only first phrases... by the way, my current WiP begins:



Lunch had buried us with its usual lack of consideration for my life,

I guess part of this salami is missing

But what I am here to talk about is the WHOLE SALAMI...



I can't believe we are to the 8th of the month and it's my first chance to write about the BEGINNING of a BOOK.



Now let me just clarify here... I am not talking about the beginning that makes it into the final product... I am talking about the WRITING of the beginning... the first draft of the first part... the place you fall in love with your book. The place you build your momentum and drive for the rest of the story...



Man, what a rush. I would be a serial beginner if I could get away with it. It's like you meet a hot stranger for a really wild week in Mexico and explore every nook and cranny... wait... maybe it's only a little like that... drunken, experimental, probing...

Boucher's Back Story found here

When I write beginnings I get to explore BACK STORY which I dig—get at the motivation of the main characters. I get to meet a bunch of new people and probe their brains and motivations and perhaps best of all the interactions between the characters. I get to design my little world while picking out some groovy details from the real place. I get to set a nefarious plan into motion... BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!





Now with a WriMo, I am forced to get to the main plot, which is a good thing... and I can't START until the 1st, so much of my back story that isn't meant to make the story CAN be written in my back-up file. It makes it SO EASY though, to write when I have all this fun exploration to do.



So because this is so easy, I write fast (I had 4 days last week I hit close to 4000 words). In fact I expect by the end of last night (which is really tonight when I'm writing), I should have hit 20,000 words.... in one week! Gads, that's a pace that means a whole FULL length novel in a month, not just a WriMo length...



But there comes a point when it slows... I reach a point in the action that it just isn't spilling like that anymore... sadly, like a new affair, there comes a time you realize he farts and scratches just like everybody else. Or worse, the point where he sees you are soft in the middle and too fond of rum. Yes... we all have to check into reality at some point.



But I am wondering... is my love affair with beginnings abnormal? I've seen people grumble about having trouble getting going... are there differences between planners and pantsers? What about you? Do you love or dread beginnings? How much planning do you do? How long do you wait between getting an idea and writing? (I'm thinking my stewing time might be why I love beginnings so much)





PS:  HA!  Made it and then some...

Microbrew Mystery
is 43% complete





021652 / 50000 words written

Book Conception

You heard me... We are having book sex today. But probably I should esplain... I thought doing a WriMo was a really nice opportunity to examine the book in parts (or writing thereof)... so I will talk generals, and where appropriate, give an example or two from the WiP...

I still plan on blogging most days, BTW, but it's possible I will miss one here and there... maybe count on 4 days a week. Probably they won't be the formal, well-researched things I usually do *shifty* (if you are new here, you may not have recognized that as sarcasm... I am periodically informative, but most of what you will learn from me is how to get into trouble... though I do get bonus points for my attitude and work-ethic most days... unless you are a figure of authority, whereby you have your work cut out for you because I don't like to be told what to do <*/digression>



ANYWAY...



The book-writing theme will maybe be 2 days a week (maybe more initially—I have three planned this week), and it's possible the other days I will be silly... I know. SHOCKING.





BOOK SEX



Which should NOT be confused with sex in books, which is neither here nor there, in my opinion, if it goes with the story, YAY, if not *rolls eyes*, but it is NOT what I am talking about...



I'm talking about WHERE DO BOOKS COME FROM? You know... the birds and the bees of the books...

*   Dreams (I have had a lot of book elements come from dreams)

*   Observations. Sometimes this is just a matter of opening your eyes to the everyday... listening to conversations (don't let anyone tell you it's rude—It's RESEARCH!), looking at settings for set-ups,

*   Reading. They SAY there is no new tale, just a new telling...

*   Songs. Anyone else out there get serious book inspiration from a song, whether lyrics, music, or... history of a song?

*   Movies/TV...

*   What you KNOW.



I'm sure I'm missing oodles, but these are all sources I've taken ideas, snippets or details from each of these sources at different times. It's like they are the nice ova... but the thing IS, unlike mammal sex, books really get better results if you have a collection from at least a few sources. And then they need (for me) the fertilizer of some mind games... how would this idea fit with that OTHER completely unrelated idea... and then it needs to GESTATE a good long time.





My WiP

The idea for my BuNoWriMo novel was originally born when I read Kerry Greenwood's Earthly Delights. It had all of the FUN of Cozy Mystery, but included a drug overdose theme, a sex shop run by a person the MC doesn't know the gender of, a witch, the need to dress as a dominatrix... it was like a Cozy, but Tarted up!!! Now it had a baking theme... I don't really DO domestic skills, even run as a business... plus... I just don't KNOW anything about that stuff... but I DO have a vast knowledge of a certain craft... that would be clever and FUN for a woman to be an entrepreneur... Microbrews... (so we have a BOOK and a WHAT you KNOW). I've done some OBSERVING of the types of neighboring shops that would fit and be fun—plus there is my knowledge of Portland... I even plan to do a little research, though that may come after I write the book.



I first had this idea about a year ago... I considered it for NaNoWriMo, but it hadn't fermented enough, yet. And a micro, to taste proper, needs its time to ferment...







What about YOU? Where do books come from in YOUR world?

Deadline for the Win!!!

Okay, so first... sorry I didn't blog yesterday... I intended to, but I had something BIGGER that had to get done first... maybe I should tell you about it.

You all know how I start BuNoWriMo tomorrow, yeah? (you SHOULD know, hopefully oodles of YOU will join us!)



Well I had my looming Cozy Mystery that I was DETERMINED to finish before that. So I committed to a mad writing weekend...



Now Friday my husband also started a new job. It's been a while since he worked—he's been taking classes for a couple years... but besides that... last time he worked he was a lunch lady. That meant he worked about 4 hour shifts cooking, serving, cleaning... respectable work, but rarely respected... I mean seriously, how many of your kids say... say... I'd really like to be a lunch lady when I grow up...

So the lunch service at the schools privatized in 2007, and they kept him on another year because Chartwells is made up of deceitful bastards... and then they laid off ALL employees who'd worked in the kitchens when the employees were school employees... no offer of, 'look, if you're willing to take a pay cut we can keep you...' just GONE. ALL of them. (see, I told you they were bastards)



So HWMNBMOTI decided he wanted to go to school for some actual training... he's been doing nursing pre-requisites. And as part of it, he took a course (and a state certification test) to be a certified nurses assistant. He finished his pre-reqs earlier in the month, and since the waiting list might be as long as two years, he decided to work USING that CNA. He got a job as a home health aid.



So Friday was his first day... and darned it if he didn't want to TALK about his day... there I was (naked, of course... in the tub... my writing time) trying to write, and he kept coming in and sharing something else... and it was too cute to say 'stop it!' but I think I only got 100-200 words written Friday. [note: HWMNBMOTI is not normally effusive and so honestly, I love it when he wants to talk... but that story isn't as amusing]



So on Saturday I asked my FB crew to double dog dare me to finish by Sunday... I looked at where I was and made a calculation... I figured I had about 4000 words left.

Note: I don't wear hats. My head is big.

Whereby I Prove I am Delusional



I managed to write 2500 words on Saturday... felt pretty good—that is about a thousand past normal in my world. I was pleased... but I could also see I was NOT 1500 from the end. My estimate had been off. So Sunday I got up rearing to write right off the bat... I wrote a little... I went next door and sat by my neighbor's pool and wrote a little more (I have the world's BEST neighbor)... I came home, I wrote some more... I got in the tub and wrote some more.... 4000 words on Sunday... AND I STILL WASN'T FREAKING DONE! *sigh*



BUT, I figured I had also written 2500 words more than I planned, so it wasn't like I'd been slacking. I decided to be a LITTLE gentle and just extend my deadline by a bit (well not a BIT... but... you get what I mean).



And so I DID IT! About one yesterday afternoon I looked and thought... I need a tiny wind down and the press release (done later in the evening), but this BOOK it DONE...



That was book #9!  YAY!]

And Now to the Discussion Portion of this Blog



Is it me, or do I seem to take longer and longer to get to the point? Call me brain fried. No, call me DESERVEDLY Brain Fried...



I seem to be able to push myself so much harder with a deadline looming. This 'has to be done before I start the next thing' FINALLY kicked me into gear. This book has been the slowest write I've had in ages—more than a year, anyway... I think I've only averaged... lets see... I think it took 15 weeks to write 68,000 words. That is less than 650 words a day. NORMAL for me when I am writing is about 1500. [that average goes down quite a lot when you take out the 8000 in the last three days]



Funny, I don't think this book ended up any worse for being so hard to write... We'll see after it has it's sitting time, but it feels okay at the moment. I'm SURE I didn't make the mistake I made last time of having the killer too obvious, as I changed killers about three times in the end.



So any of you have some made deadline drives recently? Do you work better with a deadline? Do anything fun when you meet one? (for instance I cleaned the bathroom and sorted my writing piles *shifty*)

Going and Coming

[Drat, forgot to schedule... this is Wednesday's post]





ABNA BeDone

It is not shocking surprising or unexpected that I didn't make the finalist list for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. After all, had I MADE it, they would have contacted me last week: I now see why... All the finalists have lovely pictures of themselves posted... not a single person chose to display him or herself as a llama. Contracts are probably formally signed... flight and hotel reservations made (cheaper 30 days out, after all),



The books all look pretty good. Here, see for yourselves. I was a little shocked at the YA entries as TWO of them involve MCs who can talk to the dead, and that is a primary plotline for my planned BuNo project (BuNoWriMo explainer below). Funny how some themes make it into the collective conscious. I am confident mine is different enough, but it was jarring when I saw the first, and BAFFLING when I saw the second... I was thinking, HOLY COW, how does this HAPPEN?! That said, they both look like GREAT reads (very different tones from mine—far lighter, I think—you KNOW how dark and mysterious I am *shifty*) (do you think if I say that often enough, people will start to believe me?) The third YA looks great, too—I'm not sure if it classifies as sci-fi or dystopia, but the premise is unique and appealing. I'd totally read ANY of these books.



The adult ones look pretty good too. I haven't read ANY of the excerpts yet, but plan to... you should, too... There is now VOTING involved, and to vote fairly, you really need to read all of them in a category, wouldn't you say? I am not saying I've never voted for my friend when I knew someone pitted against multiple others, but I generally at least get a FEEL, and if I have time, I read them all (I confess I probably end up biased anyway, but there you have it). Anyway, I don't know ANY of these folks. They are not board regulars, unless they use other names. They certainly aren't Mansers (my home thread there), as I was the 'only horse left in the race' who was regular there.



I guess the BIG point though, is that ALL these books are publishable... ALL of these people have made a FABULOUS accomplishment. I wish them the VERY best.



Many people knocked out are ALSO publishable... but maybe in an iteration or two down the road... So congrats to us, too...





As for that next book...

BuNoWriMo is Coming, 

BuNoWriMo is Coming!



One week, my friends, until the Burrow's version of NaNoWriMo... 50,000 words in 30 days... that is 1667 per day for you math geeks. *looks in mirror* And we Burrowers aren't too picky... if you want to keep going on something ELSE... okay... if you want to write 50K worth of short stories, have atter. If you want to set some alternative goal... start or end on a different day... We are EASY PEASY (or I am, anyway, but you knew that). This is about writing as a group, grabbing some of the contagious enthusiasm, encouraging each other, and giving in to the SPEED. Permission to write crap... just WRITE. It will all have to be changed in the rewrite ANYWAY... best just get the story out!



I know not everyone likes to or wants to write fast, but I find a great many of us, if we give in to it, and address the clean up in the rewrite, do really well with it. Personally, I have a cleaner story as there is no time for tangents (my most pernicious temptation). So we would LOVE it if you would join us!



As for me... I have about 7,000 words to write to wind up my first draft on my 2nd Cozy between now and then... I will be about 10K short of 'done' but it is better filled in on the rewrite anyway (like I've been saying). I've got a bunch of spots already that say 'a scene that does this'... I can make it, but I am cutting it close...



If you want to join us for BuNoWriMo, we are on Facebook, here. The group is open!



And Happy Hing Day!!!

Confuzzlegasted Tart

If you're not clear on the meaning of confuzzlegasted, I suggest you look here, though to me it is one of those words that seems to give off its meaning just by looking at it. How am I confuzzlegasted? I'm losing days again... or rather refusing to lose them, no matter how hard I try.

I have a guest author the 15th, and was ALL SET to post her blog today... you know... the 15th... it's probably good I haven't received it yet, or here it would be. But you know what TODAY ISN'T the 15th!



You know, last time this happened seemed SO SIMILAR... I don't know if it is weekends, or guest authors, or months with 30 days... but whatever the case I think I've finally got it straightened out. Any of you lose days or steal days or anything like that? Is this evidence of descending into author madness?

In Other News...



The main plot of the Cozy is outlined. Now you REAL outliners would look at what passes for me as an outline and call me a poser—it isn't super detailed, more of a TIMELINE really... In fact... TIMELINE is just what I outa call it. Then I won't feel nearly so much like a rule-follower. So the timeline is done for the MAIN PLOT (which in a murder mystery would be the murder investigation *cough*). But I need to overlay two additional timelines... there is the action they are SUPPOSED to be doing (photography and interviews for a magazine feature) and the timeline of relationship tensions (because I can't let everybody be HAPPY while they solve this, can I? BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!)



I am going to try something new on this book. Terry Odell wrote one recently where she created a storyboard with post it notes for things she WAS going to stick in and things she might... clues, red herrings... all that stuff. I think the nice thing about it, is it makes it so easy to rearrange things a little big—just move the post-it, easy peasy. I should note that I have no plans to DRAW anything... It might be amusing, but I'd never be able to re-decipher what it was I meant... I don't have any visual art skills to speak of.



So I've got a poster board and a couple colors of post it notes and think I'm going to give it a shot...





BuNoWriMo progress

On THIS front, I'm GLAD we haven't gotten to the halfway mark in the week. I'm really pleased with how the story is shaping up but I can feel it has gotten to the hard part. There is just a place in a book that it gets much harder to write and I've arrived. My plan at this point is a little vague



So if anybody is wondering, it is June 14th--my cousin's birthday, now that I put that in writing... *note to self:  tell Chris Happy Birthday*  Have a great week!  (last week of school for my childings...)

Cozy Contract!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Most of you know I have been going through this PROCESS, and PROCESSES take TIME... But yesterday afternoon I got the call! I can actually talk about this now, can't I? It's so strange, the story has been a half share teasing thing I've done with all of you because I didn't want to jinx it... but here we have it...

Voice Identification



Here we go on record as the freaky exception to the rule... I am apparently one of the exceptions to the rule that 'most people get in through the agent/query' path, and am joining the 1% (I made that number up) who are spotted by their BLOG... But I was SPOTTED by a fellow author, who said, “You have a perfect voice for cozy mystery.” So ELIZABETH, THANK YOU for suggesting I give it a shot! (and letting me read YOUR audition that got you YOUR gig with Penguin, so I had some clue of pace and such)

The audition opportunity came up in February... I have been working through Ellen Pepus of Signature Literary Agency, who agreed to work with me and facilitate the audition...



I wrote my 50 pages (okay, it was 54) and then sent it out to a few of my fellow Burrowers for feedback [huge THANK YOU, Leanne, Chary, Natasha, Tara and Jen! Plus Stefanie--another friend]... polished... asked Elizabeth for a peek as she WRITES the stuff [THANK YOU!]... got HER feedback... then sent to Ellen... got HER feedback... (making revisions at each step).



Somewhere in there I quizzed the people I could find who lived in Virginia (Marie, Dave, Tracy--THANK YOU!)

 Then Ellen sent it on to the editor at Berkeley Prime Crime, whose assessment (after about 4 weeks) was that she liked my voice, but could I make changes along the line of X, Y and Z? (boiled down to slowing introduction of characters and spreading out the necessary back story so it flowed more naturally—or so I took it)



So then we went through the process AGAIN... and sent it back to her... four weeks ago Tuesday... This Monday I emailed Ellen to see if she knew when we might hear (because I was being clever and figuring if she HAD HEARD she would have emailed... *cough*). So yesterday at work, I got the call... “This is Ellen, how are you?” “Good.” “I think you're about to be better.” “SQUEEEEEEEEE!” Actually I think I managed to hold off the LITERAL SQUEEEEEEEEE until I hung up, but I DID make very excited noises and words, and I'm sure I sounded very smart... Right.



It is a THREE BOOK CONTRACT (all around the same characters and this gardening theme—first one due December 31). We talked about deadlines, how the contract worked, how the payments worked (erm... I'm not getting rich, but I HAVE MY FREAKING FOOT IN THE DOOR!) I figure the 'published' credentials are worth an awful lot, as is having a relationship with a real live agent—proving I'm a responsive professional, easy to work with (Oh, I hear you all, rolling your eyes... I know I am DRAWN like a diva, but I swear I can do this piece—I have practice from my day job). It seems to me SOME of the other stuff I write fits among her clients and goals pretty well, and other stuff less so, but I should at LEAST be able to get honest feedback and a recommendation if something ISN'T something she wants to handle.



All in all, I am just so excited I can hardly stand it!







VOTING HERE!  NAME A TART!!!!!



And so... I need a pen name... and my FIRST choice was to use my kid's names.... Nat Samms was the original suggestion I had, but Joris assures me it is unattractive to LOOK at, no matter the font, never mind it is adapted from what I named my children... now I am leaning toward my grandmothers... (I had the best grandmothers anybody ever had)



So the names I have to work with are:



Alyse Olsen (pronounced Alice)

Sylvia Carlson (WENT BY Syd—so renditions on Sydney are also allowed)



I am LEANING toward Alyse Carlson—to include both grandmas (Alyse was the one I was closest too, and I like the idea of GOING BY Ally)



But I am happy to take suggestions/opinions on various names including these four, OR variations of Natalie and Samuel (Talia Samuels is pretty good, though decidedly dressed)



I don't need the one you LIKE best, I need what you think FITS Cozy mystery that is sassy and tartish...







An Obstacle



This does mean I need to figure out the BuNoWriMo thing... I'm SURE I can still win, but do I want to do my 50K FIRST then switch projects? Do one by computer and the other by hand (leaning toward this)? Reconfigure my daily goals so I can do... say the WriMo on weekdays and the cozy on weekends? Become a REBEL and meet the 50K but on two separate works? (while this sounds really appealing, I am thinking I want to be more careful with the cozy—have a cleaner first draft, than to write WriMo pace).



I worked out a Cozy timeline—with my fellow Burrowers helping me, I REALLY hope to have my first draft done mid-August, as a few of my (read: all but one) promised readers have school-related commitments... if I could do 3 chapters a week (which I think I can) that means 6 weeks tops to finish it... at THAT rate, I could start July 1... BUT, I'd like to also have a week to clean up the obvious typos before I send it... so maybe I try to do ONE chapter a week in June, then I only need 5 weeks, then I have a week to polish!



Okay, so I am giving away that I am a harem scarem planner and make things up as I go along... still, it could work, right? I think that is the plan I will go with... One chapter a week means TWO NIGHTS of my bathtub time are COZY... the rest, I can work on the other... we'll see how that goes... whether I can really switch works so easily, but I used to do it all the time, back in my fan fiction lifetime.







Other Weirdness



In my REAL LIFE, it seems like there is a lot of turbulence... people going through crummy crap... I hate my friends to go through crummy crap... and it is HARD to have something GOOD HAPPEN and feel sort of guilty about it. The people I've told have been GREAT, but... you know what I mean, yeah? It's like survivor's guilt or something... I've got big freaking fabulous news but I don't want to seem like an unsympathetic schmo...

Mostly though, I am a giddy fool... I am good at compartmentalizing, and can be honestly sad for someone else in dire straights, then switch gears. Oh, I know... sounds like split personality, but I WAS born on the cusp of Gemini...



Speaking of which... 13 days until my BIRTHDAY and 2 days until the Tartiversary! Y'all should probably just get naked now...

Belligerent Burrower

Yeah, me. What of it? Sometimes when I fly by the seat of my pantslessness, which I pretty much always do, I forget stuff. I don't mean to... my intentions are good... but the fruit gets rotten, or the email doesn't get responded to, or... you got it... I forget to tell all of YOU something cool is going on!

Now hopefully this month you will forgive me as TWO somethings cool are going on, and I got the word out pretty darned well about BuNoWriMo... Pretty much everybody who's anybody who didn't have a conflict is participating, knowwhatImean? We have 110 participants! And THAT is a flipping success. I just don't think you could call it anything else.

(and I am at 20,503 words=41%!) Now if you are pretty sure you are SOMEBODY, and you don't have a CONFLICT it is not to late to join us... the daily word count is creeping up, but thus far I've managed better than 2500 words a day, so I figure you could join as late as the 10th and STILL do it. Come on... All the Cool kids are doing it! *cough*



Along with that... can I tell y'all a secret? You won't tell, right? The Burrow, with the wind up of this WriMo, is launching an author blog with ALL of us... I'm really excited, partly because I love my Burrowers so much and it's fun to do something together—we have a synergy as a group, I think that is... well, if not magical, at least somewhat insane... but insane in a good way.



Wait... but I was going to tell you what I forgot to say! Right.



In JUNE, The Burrow website, where we've been doing projects together for about a year and a half... in fact a year and a half this month! Well, we have a FUN FEATURE... See... a few months ago, you'll remember Lee at arleebird's Tossing It Out, hosting a 'Blogging A to Z' yeah? The Burrow decided this month we would DRABBLE A to Z, and some of these drabbles are PRETTY DARNED AMAZING!



What's a Drabble, you ask? A Drabble is a short work of fiction: exactly 100 words (no more, no less) that is a fun exercise in both brevity and word play. The term is a Monty Python one, and since the majority of us practice Digression as religion, the Python Cast are minor deities.



Normally, we write Drabbles to images... something originating in the Steinbeck Cafe, an online literary cafe (now, sadly, out of business) where most of us first connected as writers... THERE we would choose a work of art and all write short stories, but at the website, because of... you know... the attention span of most people (not EVERYBODY can read something... say... as long as my blog *shifty* and keep following... but we felt the drabbles gave us maximum opportunity to show our breadth (we are a very varied group) without anyone (and nobody called me out by name) hogging all the attention.



Anyway (is that the point, I see just ahead?) THIS month, we've all taken letters—randomly assigned, though I haven't examined the random letter generator... I suspect there was also an effort to spread us out, as I got C, J and W... but each day a new letter is revealed... We even have our first guest Drabbler (we plan to have some more as time goes) this month—Marjorie is joining us... though I forget her letter...



So go over and check us out! A new letter is revealed daily—making today, what—I—wait... no... Sundays don't get letters and we've had 2... so G? (I particularly recommend D. Jason would lead you to believe he is a blushing wallflower, but he is among the cleverest, funniest people I know) So hopefully peeking NOW, when you can see several, will be incentive to also go back later in the month when a few more letters are up... or that is the goal...





In other news...





In keeping with the B Theme. (did you notice there is a B theme?) I have a big thanks for one friend B and a hysterical image from another friend B to share with you today...





Naked World Domination Tour gets Sound Track!

You got it! Heard it here first! About a week ago, B. Miller gave prizes on her Pay It Forward deal—one to the fabulous Karen Gowan for all her fine work advancing the cause, and one (randomly selected) to yours truly—My prize—a copy of the Literary Mag with B.'s latest published short story—and can I just say it is FABULOUS—B. Has incredible skill with words—a gift.



Some of you may have seen posts recently on description—Elizabeth had one yesterday and Charmaine maybe Thursday... the CONSENSUS is it is harder than snot to do right, but you know what—B. has it DOWN. Reading, you can actually see and feel and taste where you are (in the story I mean... it would be weird if you couldn't sense where you REALLY are)... it is SO VIVID, but done with a touch where it is all just brushed on in passing—you barely notice noticing... none of that heavy handed narrator telling... all just the observations a character makes, told in beautiful prose. And the contrast between the beautiful prose and the main character, who you learn is in the middle of doing something REALLY DASTARDLY! Powerful stuff. I recommend all of you go over to her blog and follow the couple links to things available ONLINE, and it will prove you may want to order one of these hard copy versions too—this one is a journal called Fissure...



But that wasn't the songs part... the OTHER prize was a Mixed tape of Songs B. picked just for ME! There were silly songs, artisty songs, and Tarty songs, and it is PERFECT for the Naked World Domination tour. Most of it I hadn't heard, though a few favorites (maybe 7 of the 23) I had, and a few had familiar components (like I have heard a few Vampire Weekend songs (love Oxford Comma—what writer geek wouldn't?) but hadn't heard Horchata, the one included (and I can say this proves I like the band more broadly than just their couple geeky songs).



So for all of you on board with the Naked World Domination Tour... We are WIRED FOR SOUND!





And then the biggest laugh I've had in a long time, courtesy of another B. friend... hopefully he won't mind me sharing with my 200 best friends, as anyone FRIENDS with him, saw on Facebook, and nobody else will have a clue who he is...



Y'all know I'm from Idaho, right? Redneck country? I'm a bleeding heart and never fit in there much, but I know a few really fabulous people that fall into all of the stereotypes, though in this case, in a much more humorous, good-natured way than those stereotypes might allow. (he has a very quick laugh, and I love that)



What helps with the mental image here though, is this guy is about 6'3” with a FULL beard... does some of his poses with his guns and his game (like a good Idaho boy)... This was his Sunday status:



Wide awake @5? Have I said I was shameless? Let the dogs out,walk down stairs, hear (dogname) howl, run upstairs, they have the 11yr old paper girl surrounded!! I open the door and yell, they come running, then back to her wagging and licking. Instead of tossing the paper she brings it to me... I've been hiding behind the door in my bikini cut man panties and racy blue sling...think my face may have been red....



MAN I wish I had a real picture... I love that mantie look on a really big guy *snicker*

Mixed Progress

Whoever thought shouting 'Go!' and jumping into the writing arena would also let loose the motivation to eat right is a MORON! *shifty* Seriously, folks, why did nobody remind me what a selfish bastard Xavier could be? I finally let him fly and it is all ME ME ME ME ME! So I guess it is a good news bad news kind of week, and because I am feeling sadistic, having just applied electroshock to one of my characters and all, I am starting with the good news and then will leave you dangling with the bad, so there!

BuNoWriMo



I love this cute little graph Jason made... more of the image displayed as I make progress. Jason is a fellow Burrower, and the one who seems to have the most computer smarts. He can be a little shy, but he's sure handy! Anyway, you can see my progress creeping across there, but that doesn't really put into perspective where I SHOULD be at this point, so here is my OWN handy creation (in the ugly Open Office Data somethingsomething--I forget what they call it).

You saw this in the planning stages... the red is how much progress I need to make in order to get to the goal on time, and the blue is the progress I've actually made. I am on page 45 (10,928 words) and counting. Not bad at all! And I like the story so far. I've noticed one thing that I will need to put in later, so made a note about it, but mostly I think it's not going too badly.



This is the first time I've ever written something BOTH on the laptop AND by hand, and I think it is actually working pretty well. I do better on emotional stuff by hand—last night when I had to apply electroshock... yeah... that was a hand job *cough*. I have a primary PoV from a ghost, and then two other PoVs that I am allowing periodically. I will stick with these three—I don't like books as well that jump all over, but the two minor ones are a LIVING student and a teacher. I feel like they help fill in what Helen doesn't understand.



One of the tricky things I've been working with is wording. Helen, having died in 1962, doesn't have a CLUE about some things... computers, cell phones... and she makes some assumptions about other things... a student is given a shot to sedate her and Helen thinks it will work like ether... that the girl will wake up totally out of it with a pounding headache... doesn't work that way. But the trickiest part is race names. Helen is from a time where the words Indian and Negro were used instead of American Indian and Black (and in between we had Native American and African American)--it is a confusing history... this is a YA book... do I ADDRESS THAT? I've kept Helen authentic to her time period so far, but I do feel obliged to explain at some point so young readers know it is an ERA thing, not an ignorant author.



Maybe because of my day job I am touchy on that front. I read recently a description that said, “Hispanic or Native American, not Caucasian” OHMYFREAKINGGAWD are you kidding me? For one, Hispanic SHOULD be Latino—a man I know, when called Hispanic, says (typically with scolding good humor), “I'm not from Espaňa.” (yes, I know that is the wrong n, but I can't find how to make an enye).  But the IMPORTANT point, is Latino is an ethnicity that does NOT rule OUT Caucasian—ethnicity and race are SEPARATE issues, and American Indians ARE Caucasian. Okay. Rant over.



Anyway—my STORY is going really well. So there.









The EATING on the Other Hand...



Man! For some reason I am feeling entitled to eat what I want when I want. Add to that a pesky tummy ache part of the week that seemed exacerbated by hunger... The scale is in the same place, or thereabouts... I am at that 40 pounds down spot that I have only been below by half a pound one time... so HOLDING, but I'm frankly shocked it didn't inch up with my bad behavior this week...



So maybe it is time to dance naked under the moon and hope THAT brings me under control.

On a lighter Note:



The countdown begins! One week until my Tartiversary of blogging! Oh, yeah... and it falls on a SATURDAY so I want to have a PAH-TAY! Wahoo! Being me, I will probably include a sappy sentimental journey and a couple lovely man-butts. You are definitely ALL invited—Mark it on your calendar—June 12... I may even have to see if I can think of some prizes... I'm poor, so they will probably be more in the form of services than stuff, but I think I can come up with something...



So I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Pacing Myself

Most of my June blogs will (probably understandably) be process blogs... I am writing a novel in 30 days—or at least the bulk of one, so it seems understandable that that is ABOUT all I can hold in my noggin at a time. The first issue, when LOOKING at the writing, but not actually STARTING is... how fast do I really need to go? Yes, I need to average 1667 words a day all month, but there are some things I know about myself and my schedule, that... were I a THINKING person (debatable, yes.) I would take into account. See... I am not a sprinter. Honestly, I don't even WANT to be... My Freshman roommate (college) could be a daily party girl then cram... not me. I was a daily party girl, sure... but I had to spend a few hours EVERY DAY keeping up on reading and homework. Work hard/play hard... SAME DAY. So I have to consider that... NOT capable of cramming... no all-nighters for me... And what else?





The Evil Day Job



Monday through Friday from seven to five, I am COMMITTED. Oh, I hear you... I check in here... I read a couple blogs... but that is the stuff of BREAKS. The reality of it is THAT is a time unavailable for a WriMo. I need to be able to commit it to doing the job that pays.



Additionally, I am ALSO committed to blogging daily. I have some guest bloggers scheduled, but that STILL takes time to coordinate. So I think I will call my early morning, PRE-work, SHOT. That is my blog time.





What's left to write?

About two hours between work and bath on my COMPUTER (provided the blog is under control) and maybe 90 minutes in the tub. (see, I'm not the only one) PLENTY of time. But I should chop that tub time in half for PLOTTING—all that planning stuff that has to happen if I am going to have a coherent thing when I get done... So about 2.75 hours for writing on any given weekday. There WILL be exceptions (the water polo banquet the 8th for instance) but hopefully THAT day, I can plan not to plan... or something...



Weekends I have more time (though not a ton more—nobody in my family has, as yet, volunteered to do laundry or bathrooms just because I want to write all month *hmph* but ideally I will at LEAST get another hour in.

And then there is NOVEL stuff...



I also know for a fact that I go faster at first. Set up is EASY. Early character interactions are EASY. It is all about laying out the facts. Mid-novel things get MUCH harder. So I should PLAN for things getting harder, yes? See how smart I am? *cough *



Seriously though-- the 50% - 75% part of the book are particularly hard for me... always HAVE been (except LEGACY, but that was build up to the next book) So I need to plan the SLOW DOWN... when each word costs more effort (and time)

With all that in mind I have plotted my word count goals... in spite of being able to do MORE on the weekends, I am doing a 1667 goal for weekdays for the first 2 weeks, with a 2500 per day on the weekends added on. My REASON, is after the halfway mark, I allow to slow that pace a little... I also am planning for my neighborhood picnic, on which I will write a little in the morning, but will have consumed too much BEER for the afternoon to be worth much (this the 18th)... but my last week, weekdays, I am only expecting 1000 words a day from myself. This pads both for DIFFICULTY and... finishing the darned thing if it will be significantly longer than 50K words (which surely it will)



So that is the plan... and that's my story and I'm sticking with it!



And so I will end, not with the mojo, intended to inspire writers, but with my GRAPH--you heard me--the GRAPH is the finale!  HA!

Needs some work on resolution, but you should be able to see that weekends bump on what I am expecting, and the whole darned thing slows down at the end.  I will try to make it clearer before I post it with progress... how's that?

Home Alone

Woot Woot! This NEVER happens. At least not for a solid several hours. See, at MY house, I'm the one who disappears to work for 40 hours a week (compounded by my hour each direction walk—or nearly that). The hubster is usually here, other than treks to the grocery store, hardware store or walks with the dog, none of which lasts more than about 90 minutes. Then evenings and weekends, the kids are usually here.



Not today. Hubby is at his class... which yesterday I informed you was a CNA class and it was annoyingly auto-corrected to a 'can' class—whatever the hell THAT implies *rolls eyes*.



So what am I going to do home alone? DUH? PAH-TAY!



Okay, so maybe not so much. I do have a couple things in mind though.





MY MUSIC



Anyone with teens understands that I don't get to choose what is played very often. At the moment, (because it is 9am) I have REM playing—an old CD that I like, but honestly, one even I don't usually pick because when it's my choice I've put in something loud like Jane's Addiction. But for blogging (as opposed to bathroom cleaning) I don't actually need Jane's adrenaline. 10,000 Maniacs is next in the pile... the stuff I used to listen to when I was being mellow that sort of feels like old friend music.



I'm even going to make a REAL pot of coffee, instead of this decaf crap left by the OTHER adult. And I've brought my laptop out of the cave so I can even sit with some sunlight...

Mother Issues



Then it's time to address the letter my mother finally sent. I've been avoiding this. I sent her one about mother's day detailing how to get THERE from HERE, and it took a while for her to get back. See, the trouble is she doesn't deal in reality. Her version of events are delusional, and if I try to present reality she gets defensive and shuts down (that is what led to this whole thing—she cut me off because I insisted we had to TALK about it—can't have THAT!). My mother's day letter said basically, sometimes the only way PAST it, is THROUGH it.



So at least now I know what SHE thinks reality is. I have some time to conquer this letter BACK to her.





Spreadsheets!!!!



Yes, I actually put exclamation points after the word spreadsheets. I'm a geek that way. I am creating two of them, one to keep track of my characters for my BuNoWriMo novel—When I write long hand, I have a notebook with all this, but I am going to be writing both at the computer AND longhand (so there will surely be a notebook involved to go back and forth) but when I'm on the computer, the quickest way to find facts (most often keeping names of secondary characters straight) is just to open my handy doc.  Besides, next to my computer, the stacks of paper are substantial already.



The SECOND spreadsheet is my wordcount one. With working on both a long hand and Word Doc, I need a quick, handy way to COMBINE the two to figure out how many words I've written on a given day and what my cumulative is. I know my longhand is between 250 and 300 words a page, so I am counting those as 250—yes, when I type it up, it translates almost to the page in my one inch margin, double spaced typing.



But besides the spreadsheet, I am also making a couple graphs, which I'm sure you'll get a screenshot or two of.





Powerwalk



I do this every Sunday (and Saturday) but it IS on the agenda, so don't want to leave it off the list. Normally Sunday is my pancakes day, so that 'no cooking' thing gives me a little extra time—heading for the hill. (Yes, there is only one substantial hill in the entire state of Michigan). I would walk this route every time, but it is far enough that it is a 90-minute walk to include it.

RIP Dennis Hopper



Nobody did evil wack-job quite the way Dennis Hopper did evil wack-job. I only hope I can infuse my bad guys with half of what he did. This beer snob may even have to go buy a Pabst Blue Ribbon. Thank you for chilling me to the bones, Dennis; you'll be missed!





Loose Ends



And we're no longer talking about my butt... Tomorrow I have a guest author, so this is my last Blog before BuNoWriMo starts, so I thought I'd give my heads up. I think I have 6 or 7 guest authors blogging in June, which is very handy, timing-wise. I will continue to have a (mostly) daily blog, but they probably won't be as long most of the time. I will also probably not hit as many blogs per day reading—I will make a serious effort to spread them out, so I hit the ones I hit at least a couple times a week, but the writing is going to suck me under to some degree. PLEASE don't think I've abandoned you. I will come out the other side, go into editing mode, and need all of you more than ever!

Missing Motivation

I thought last week that I was good to go. I was wrong. I've been feeling motivated in other domains this week. There again, though, I think I'm wrong. Where has my motivation gone and what do I need to do to bring it back?

Motivational Imposter



First I think I'll take on this thing that I was THINKING was motivation, but I have not been able to tap... I have FELT like I had a ton of writing motivation and just wasn't able to apply it to the eating right thing (my exercise is going fine—usually does when the weather is nice, as I love to get out there and GO). But the eating (and drinking) within limits has been nearly impossible, so I THOUGHT maybe I had just rechanneled my motivation... you following?

You know about BuNoWriMo, ne? Well I am WAY motivated on that front... like SERIOUSLY. Adrenaline junkie mode is going strong. But her is the real deal... The PROBLEM, is that is more like filling up the motivation tank, but then keeping the switch flipped OFF—I am not firing up that engine yet. I am carb loading for a 30 day marathon in which I need to use all that stuff I have built, so right NOW it is sitting there unfired.



I've actually written VERY little this week-- a drabble for the Burrow's June Project (The Burrow A to Z—inspired by ARLeeBird at Tossing It Out and his Blogging A to Z). And I wrote a 'setting' and some character sketch stuff—but that is all more ORGANIZING. I haven't WRITTEN, really at all. I also have had a HECK of a time doing my daytime job—even on that front my motivation has been lacking... Nope... whatever this is is only POSING as motivation.





Plan to Tap It



But if I'm storing up, I have every reason to believe that come June 1, I ought to be able to FLY with it in all directions, yeah? And there is not really a reason that I can't write like the maniac I am, work at my day job like I'm supposed to, and FOLLOW THE BLASTED PLAN! In fact for this perfect temperatured 3-day weekend, I think I will up the exercise, but not worry as much on the eating (within reason), knowing on Tuesday I am going to SOAR.



Does that sound like excuses? Sort of it is, so probably it OUGHT to, but after all this time, I am pretty tuned in to the mind games I play with myself, so it oughta work...

In the Mean Time



I have a little gardening to do, a fair amount of homemaking (my husband is in a CNA class that is all day Saturday and Sunday through late June—leaving me with such distasteful tasks as making dinner—YUCK!), some chauffeuring childings, and some drinking rum next to my neighbor's pool if I manage to see her out there—handy to have a neighbor with a pool who works outside a lot and is fun to talk to (and likes a cocktail). Really the bonus of the weekend is just the extra day off, so I can rest up after the weekend chores, because the CHORES have to get done whether there is time to rest after them or not.







BuNoWriMo Update



We are at 70 and counting... Discussions are good. Camaraderie is good. We are STILL looking for a word count tracker that is compatible with facebook... Maria is on it though, and she is definitely more technically competent than I am. Though if any of you already HAS ONE, we would be EVER-SO-GRATEFUL if you'd share!



And you are of course STILL invited to join us! The top BuNoWriMo is 'about' and the one on this section is the Facebook link.



Okay, peeps, get out there and enjoy some sunshine! Hopefully it is warm enough that there is a lot of nudity where you are!

A Life of Its Own

So you KNOW two days ago I blogged about BuNoWriMo, yes? Well a couple fellow Burrowers, and a couple more friends ALSO blogged, and several of us invited Facebook friends... yadda yadda yadda... that is how these things go. In the first 24 hours we had 24 participants. WAHOO.



And then the unexpected happened...



I ALSO Tweeted... which I do when I blog. Frankly, it is about the only time I Tweet... I am an incompetent twitterer, unable to find the hot conversation because... well... I don't have the attention span or something... (Honestly, it just moves to fast—I can't stay glued to a computer—I need a conversation I can come back to in an hour and see the answers. Some people spare ten minutes in a row and call it good. I spare a whole half hour, but over a six hour time span... see what I mean—Facebook is just far more my speed... or Blogging... Blogging is good—but I digress)



I Tweeted... and one of my mutual following friends (don't know how I found her or she found me... I am on a couple lists because almost all my tweets are about writing, so I am minimally annoying to fellow writer types, even if I am NOT particularly effective)--Debbie Omi of Inkygirl Retweeted me... but not only THAT, her blog that has more than 400 followers FEATURED US.



I had over 500 hits yesterday—that is about triple NORMAL. Bigger? 90% of those people (according to my tracker) had never BEEN here before and I had a much SMALLER 'view ratio'--meaning more than half the hits were single view visitors. Now that isn't great on the comment front—a commenter always counts as two viewers, but it IS great on the exposure front—almost 300 DIFFERENT people stopped in yesterday—HOLY CRAP! (I even have 4 new followers!)



It is BAFFLING what one effective person can do for us!And so unexpected!



In addition to my blog bump, we also now have 66 BuNoWriMo participants signed on—I'm willing to bet we can approach 100 before we actually set off the starting pistol on Tuesday. One of my friends asked yesterday how many we'd have. I counted the participants I'd noted and padded a little and guessed 30. But this is SO MUCH BIGGER! It's really exciting!



I'd love it if you'd all help me thank Inkygirl by following. It's a great resource for finding online writer events ANYWAY, and this just was FABULOUS!





And Howzitgoin?



FANTASTIC. In addition to HERE, and inviting Facebook friends broadly, I also sent some specific invites to some old Potterverse friends. It feels like having a big family reunion, only better. Why better? Well, for one thing, nobody is being rude to my husband.  *cough*  But there is more!  See, when we were back at the Wizard War thread on HPANA, we had a RULE... oh, I know... I'm not normally one to go in for rules, but see, it was an INCLUSIVENESS rule. Anyone who dropped in for the first time was GREETED, WELCOMED and asked to join in. It made for a super friendly atmosphere. We KNEW we were talking about stuff where people would disagree, but we also had a POLITENESS rule—okay to disagree, not okay to call the person making the statement a Dunderhead.



So even though there are a BUNCH of us at BuNoWriMo who KNOW each other, every time another person ventures in, they are embraced and included! I'm so proud of my HPANA peeps!

And then there's THIS



You've all seen this, yes? Well Joris made a couple alots for BuNoWriMo. They are FABULOUS!



So you are all STILL invited! Facebook: BuNoWriMo... I will approve you (or someone... handy thing about 10 moderators) quickly!



Happy Friday! And for those in the US, Happy Memorial Day! (I LOVE long weekends!)

BuNoWriMo

So it's done... committed... perhaps I should be committed... BuNoWriMo formed a Facebook Group for the execution of Writing a Novel in the Month of June. (and the Burrow officially thanks our GoToGraphics guy Joris Ammerlaan for his FABULOUS design.



ANYONE who wants to join us, PLEASE DO SO.



If you aren't SURE if you want to join us, but you MIGHT, PLEASE JOIN.



If you know you won't but want to offer immoral support (hey, I set it up--I can ask for whatever kind of support I want) PLEASE JOIN US!



We are under BuNoWriMo at Facebook. (there are 24 members already!  If I was supposed to invite you and forgot, FORGIVE ME!--Alex, you weren't forgotten, but I can't find you, are you on FB?)  We did it there because we figured no matter WHERE we did it, people would have to join SOMETHING, and people are mostly already THERE. If you DON'T really want a FACEBOOK account, sign on under a pen name and let us know... then you aren't stuck being friends with people you aren't really friends with.  The plan is to stay 'invite only' until right before (Maybe Saturday) and give people a chance to voice objections--if no objections, we will go public.  See, I'm a kindly, opinion seeking kind of ruler...

PREPARATION



So I have no clue yet whether I am getting this cozy gig, so I am writing one thing or another, ne?  Well if I write the ONE thing, I am four chapters in already, with some plot loops mapped out (if I can find them *shifty*).  If I write the OTHER, I have an IDEA... Oh it's a wonderful, terrible, awful idea... I'm REALLY excited about it...



So last night I drew the 'institution'--oh, before you go getting all impressed with my art skills, I used graph paper and mostly counted squares (four feet per square, what size would this type of room have to be).  I am no artiste, but I did always get As in mechanical drawing.  I've also written a list of characters (institutional staff and 'residents'), though I have yet to name people... names have always just sort of come to me, but I am feeling a little blocked...

MIND SET



I've got the adrenaline rush going that only a WriMo seems to build.  I am antsy with anticipation and excited to get going, and feeling a lot of love for my writer friends... It's a warm squishy sensation.  Some of my friends who couldn't do it last time are in, though sadly, a couple who did are out... guess that is the cyclical nature of this thing...  I think the real strength of WriMos is that such stamina is needed to finish a book, but stamina with an end in sight is SO MUCH easier than indefinite stamina.





Related... Sort of...



I had a couple friends who were AMAZING yesterday with their blogs... not that that doesn't happen all the time, but seriously... AMAZING.



The first two helped me think about my WRITING PREP (for the above)



Crazy Jane had a post about not getting complacent... making up your mind, and then following through at every level.  It was a great reminder.



And then Erica at Chapter by Chapter did this experiment... blindfolded herself for four hours... just to see what her other four senses noticed because she felt like her writing descriptions depended too much on visual cues... COOL, huh?   I love it when my writer friends are so smart!





And then finally... 



What Have Books Meant to You?



Everything, right? I mean... we're WRITERS, most of us. We would not be called to do what we do, if we didn't love BOOKS. As a young reader, I had little guidance. My mom was only 18 when I was born and frankly, was clueless. We HAD books, and when I was REALLY little, it was fine... and I remember a couple really GREAT books she read to me (Tom Sawyer, Little Women), but she didn't know how to find appropriate chapter books for me AT ALL (and I think assumed they'd help me at school--wrong). So I stumbled around... reading skill slightly lagging my interests... it took until 7th grade when I discovered 'paranormal' before I found things that fit interest and skill. I think I've done far better by my kids, but part of that is that in the meantime, I became a real reader (and lover) of YA... and there is the internet to find recommendations... and my friend Leanne who's read EVERYTHING. But imagine if you didn't have access to books...



My Thursday Twin Natasha has found an organization dedicated to getting books to kids who would otherwise not have them. PLEASE go check out her blog today and pass it on! Books Make a Difference.  



This is one of those feel good things that is EASY and HELPS... (love those).