Aaaaaand I'm done!

Woot woot, just wrapped up my NaNo novel. What a fun month--fast too. I can't believe the thirty days are over, it felt like I just started.

My novel took a few strange twists and turns, and I didn't get as much put into it as I would have liked, I had expected it to be twice as long and imagined slapping a 'the end' somewhere into the middle but I ran out of story way too soon and now I'm puzzeling over what I left out.

Oh well, plenty of time to fix that later, the point is, I'm done, I won, and I bought the shirt to prove it.

Like promised I will be sticking it in a dark corner of my computer to percolate until such a time as my typed word becomes the printed word. Time to spruce up my first book and get it published! The new writing club a few fellow NaNo'ers and I have started will be helpful in keeping the fire lit under my butt on that I hope.

Finish line in sight

Last night I made the most progress in my NaNo novel so far. I came in just short of 4k words. With the end in sight things are starting to get pretty interesting in my story and I couldn't stop. Admittedly I had to dry my eyes a couple times as I killed off one of my favorite characters, but I always knew his time was short. Luckily he'll live on in memories :)

Only 8k to go, and I'm so close to the end I'm not sure where I'll put all those words. Last night I started dreaming up new scenes to add some character depth into the novel so that's always an option. I'd guess today I'll get to the end of the story and start working my way back from the start, adding in things here and there.

When I hit 50k this project gets shevled until I sell my first book. Hopefully I will revist and polish it up and it can join it's predessor on a shelf in a book store one day. I've really enjoyed my very first NaNo and can't wait till next year.

Blew through the first half.

Woot over 25k now and still going strong. I've been hitting my daily quota regularly (okay, I admit, I did miss one day) and thanks to some good advice (Thanks Judith http://judithgraves.com/) found a whole new avenue to explore within my book from a second character POV.

I'm getting pretty close to sending out my queries for my first book THE STONE SLEEPERS. Now that I've been tweaking the story line to make things work for the second book, there's some work to go back and fix to keep things linear.

Anyways, enough procrastinating for today (Seriously, my living room didn't need dusting, vacuuming and rearanging...well, probably the dusting, and fine the rearanging too--just bought an X-Box Kinect and those suckers need some open floor space)

Things are starting to pick up now!

I forgot how hard it is to write the beginning of a book. My last one ended up with a total of seven starts. With NaNo I don't have time to rewrite yet so I'm just plowing ahead.

12k plus words. I'm getting into my groove and making some good progress. I'm excited to sit down and see what happens next. I've learnt alot about my characters and the big picture of what this series will end up being.

I think today was a record. I got to my word goal by 10:30 am, instead of staying up late into the night to make sure I didn't fall behind! I have the rest of the day to sit down and write when I want to, rather then having to.

My fav threads in the forums so far are
-Adopt a tag line for a villan (can't stop saying 'I'll kill you right in the face' lol)
-Free words (I wrote down most of them and am crossing them off as I sneak them into my work)
and last but not least
-I didn't know that about my character (so of course I had to write up Declan, my bog snorkeling, Irish distant relation to my FMC that literaly popped up from nowhere and decided he was sticking around)

3 days in!

So NaNo is finally here and instead of going with my well thought out and planned novel--seriously I have each scene written out and filed in a recipe box--I've jumped the smooth sailing ship and am headed up pants mountain along with most everyone else.

I'm still hard at work on my YA novel THE STONE SLEEPER'S and didn't want to get into writing the sequal until it was completely done. Until I could read it start to finish without making the slightest tweak. After realizing that day would never come I said to hell with it, maybe I'll get to know my characters better through the sequal and it can only improve my first novel.

My NaNo project has turned into Book Two of the Stone Sleeper's series and I'm having a blast. The course has been rocky these first few days and I'm desperatly walking around the house gong "I need an action scene, maybe____can happen?"

The forums are a fun place to hang out waiting for inspiration to strike. Already I can't wait to do it again next year!

(4485 and counting)

Prep work

I've been trying to get the house in tip top shape so when November rolls around I can let things slide. That way the house will still be semi-intact at the end of NaNo.
Plus it gives me somthing to do to keep my fingers off my keyboard.
Now that I've got the story brewing in my mind it wants out!

NaNoWriMo

I contemplated doing NaNo last year but was in the midst of a really intense round of edits on my book in progress and decided jumping into a new project wasn't a great idea.

This year however I managed to talk not only myself into it, but my sister as well. Since we live so far away from each other I thought this could be a great thing to bond over.

After signing up I had a minor panic attack...what was I going to write about? I've been so focused on THE STONE SLEEPERS for the past couple years that I haven't begun to think what other projects I could begin developing.

I remembered a few great instructions from my writing class this spring.
First develop your characters, learn about your protagonist, what do they want? Make sure it's not something easily obtainable. We should know what the conflict is by the end of the third chapter. Find ways to keep them from getting what they want.

It was surprisingly easy to come up with a rough idea of a potential novel and start sketching an outline for it. Last night I dreamed up a whole new cast of characters and I can't wait to start writing about them.

Have any thoughts on NaNoWriMo?

Making time to write.

My usual writing time is in the afternoon as my kids nap, something that has to change now. As they have recently been staying up until ten or even eleven at night they need to be weaned off the napping.

Since my computer desk sits in the middle of a very high traffic area of our house I don't get much done duing normal 'business' hours, -the kids run around momming me every five minutes.
Nor do I get any writing time in the evenings when my oldest daughter gets home from school and husband from work. Admittedly I get distracted quite easy. The sound of the television in the next room, the dog barking outside, my husband typing away on his keyboard next to me all fight to keep me in the present, instead of letting my imagination wander into my story. No wonder it takes so long to finish a novel.

Two more years till the little guys are off to school...I can't wait!

Where do your character names come from?

I took some time this morning to browse through other writers blogs. One thing I noticed were story ideas with (unnamed character) inserted. Of course the majority of these were fantasy/science fiction/paranormal types, but it made me think back to how easy it was for me to name all my characters -even those in books yet to come.

My main character and her little sister borrowed their names from my daughters middle names, but practically everyone else in the story came from the World of Warcraft. Yes, secretly I am an online gamer *gasp*

Some of my 'guildies' lent their fictional names to a whole new type of fiction, imagine that.

Something in the water?

A while ago my friend Chris told me something about an author in our area doing a book signing. I have to admit that I had no idea that we had any published authors in our middle of nowhere corner of Albera. So imagine my surprise when I went looking for her yesterday and learned that not only do we have location in common we also share a passion for YA paranormal.
Of course I ordered her book 'Under my skin' right away and am anxiously awaiting it's arrival.
Her website is http://judithgraves.com/ with all kinds of interesting tidbits about the book and her current book tour.
It's inspiring to know that authors from Canada don't have to be from Toronto to get some edgy fiction published. So congrats and thanks to Judith Graves.

Almost ready to query!

With the help of a very supportive and helpful mother I've managed to get enough kid free time to finish off the most difficult round of editing so far. After sitting on my story for so long I knew all the things I needed to change for my book to make (the most) sense. Which meant tedious rewritting. Many, many, many trips back and forth through my manuscript and I'm done with those last important details.
Now it's a matter of re-reading and slight tweaking and I should be ready to query. I've been working on my query letter for over a year, knowing that it's by far the most important 250 works related to this book.
I'm hoping to test the waters by the end of the month.

So many ideas, so little time.

I don't know if it's just me or if everyone who enjoys writing has a hundred stories developing inside their heads constantly. I roughly plotted three novels in the shower this morning. Not to mention all the 'fixes' that I think reworking in my novel in progress every night as I try to fall asleep. Sadly I usually forget half of them by morning.
My problem is, I need quiet, uninterupted time to sit and write. An hour a day slowly chips away at the monstrous task of editing, but it feels like I'm barely inching along. While the kids are having their naps I grab myself some water, put on some 'writing' music and have at 'er. Sadly in what feels like five minutes I hear the dreaded call from down the hall...'Can we get up now?' /sigh...my time is up.

Books by Michelle Moran

This past week I've spent the majority of my time reading books by Michelle Moran. While I was desperatly trying to find out the possible release date of Justin Cronins next book I stumbled onto a book review website and got caught up with the descriptions of her novels and had to buy them.

I wouldn't neccesarily classify them as YA (the plots, character names, theme of the books etc, are for a more mature audience) but they are good crossovers. The characters in all three books are based on famous historical women, Mutnodjmet (Nefertiti), Nefertari (The Heretic Queen), and Kleopatra Selene (Cleopatra's Daughter)

Nefertiti has always been of interest to me and I really enjoyed the research and detail that Michelle Moran dedicated to this book. The main character in this novel is Nefertiti's sister and the relationship that develops between them is both realistic and disturbing.

The second novel The Heretic Queen was the one that pulled me in right from the start and had me sitting up until all hours of the night. Nefertari is a sympathetic character and one that remains easy to identify with regardless of the fact she's an egyptian princess.

Cleopatra's Daughter has been the hardest one for me to really get passionate about. The politics and overwhelming number of characters and their relationships to one another are almost impossible to follow. The story is engaging, but slower paced, sometimes getting lost in all the details about Rome.

Overall I really enjoy her writing style and the amount research that's evident in her novels. I will definately be picking up her newest novel Madame Tussaud when it comes out next spring.

Excerpt from: The Stone Sleepers

Come to me...
The velvety tone of the young man’s voice resonated through my body, compelling me to do as he commanded. “Where are you?” I asked. The comforting smell of fresh linen disappeared, replaced by the cool crispness of the outdoors. Another dream. Once more, I was in the forest. Filtered moonlight shot through the eerie mist hovering over the damp ground.
Come to me...
The voice was internal, but my head whipped to the left and my feet shot forward, instinctually following the source.
WHAM!
“Oh snap, sleepwalking fail.” The unnatural quiet of the forest was interrupted by Raines voice. The muted sounds of old school Green Day floated in, as I woke up.
I was laid out on the bleached hardwood floor of the guest house, staring up through skylights that hinted at early morning. Raine was at the stove in the kitchen, doubled over from laughter so far her ebony waves swept the ground.
“I can’t believe you let me walk into that wall, just so you could laugh at me,” I grumbled. “You are a bad friend.”
“Lies! I’m a great friend. Plus you’re stuck with me, since no one in your sticksville town gets you like I do. And in all fairness, I had no idea you were going to clobber yourself.”
“You probably live in the smallest town in Canada and you’re accusing me of being from sticksville?”
“Hey I never said I wasn’t, but at least I can stay with my dad in the city whenever I need some retail therapy.”
I tried steering the conversation back on track. “Did you try waking me up when I came out of the bedroom?”
Raine shook her head. “I didn’t know you were still sleeping, until you sprinted into the wall so hard you knocked yourself on your ass.” She started laughing again.
I picked myself off the floor, probing the goose-egg forming above my left eyebrow. I cursed. This was our sixth night in London, and the fourth night in a row I hadn’t woken up in my bed.
Raine managed to cut herself off mid-chuckle, to scramble something delicious smelling on the back burner. “Were you dreaming about your forest dude again?”
“Yeah, and it’s getting pretty intense,” I said. “First it was just the voice, but now I’m getting some major visuals, and I can smell the forest. It’s like, I need to find him.”
“I think you cracked your melon a little too hard this time.” She walked over, waving a hand spastically an inch from my face. “How many fingers do you see?”
Rolling my eyes, I brushed her hand away and headed to the bedroom to exchange loose fitting flannel pants and oversized t-shirt for some equally loose fitting cargo pants and a tank.
Reaching for my brush on the dresser, I paused, seeing the crumpled letter from my father –or as Raine liked to call him, the sperm donor. I refused to let the gift of this trip make up for the fact he hadn’t shown his face once, in the entirety of my life so far. Seriously, would it have hurt him to pick up the phone and say ‘hello’?
I swept aside the note, and set about ridding myself of a nasty case of bed-head. I was just securing my last braid when Dexter’s voice came through the door.
“Morgan, are you decent?”
“Mhmm,” I mumbled around a mouth full of hairpins, “come in.”
My newly acquired cousin opened the door, but didn’t cross the threshold. “Your mum called up to the main house, said she tried ringing you but couldn’t get through.” He ran a hand through his sandy blonde locks, shooting uncomfortable looks around the room.
I couldn’t blame him. It looked like a bomb had gone off. The entirety of Raines underwear collection dangled from a pedestal on her footboard, and clothes hung out of half closed drawers in both dressers. Makeup, hair products, and styling tools covered every square inch of counter space in the room, and a collection of multi color shoes sat in a pile by his feet. Blankets lay on the floor in a snowy heap of twisted linen, where I had dumped them before taking my header into the wall.
I hooked a toe under the strap on my backpack and pulled it over, while placing a pageboy cap over my strawberry blonde plaits. Digging around inside the pack I found my phone, wincing at the empty power bar. “My cell’s out of juice. I’ll charge it and give her a shout when we get back.” I threw my passport, lotion and a hoodie into my bag and zipped it back up, then plugged my phone into the charger.
Dex finally managed to drag his gaze away from the chaos of our room. His brows shot up as he noticed the welt on my forehead. “Sleepwalking again, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I sighed.

Summer's over, time to get back to work.

This has been one of the busiest summers I can remember. We found out my father in law has terminal lung cancer, so have been spending as much time as possible out at the lake with him and my mother in law.
There have been so many visitors and so many trips over the last few months. It's been hard, but also great in a way, to have the time to spend together as a family. We started the summer with a postponed trip to Drumheller and instead stayed in town to welcome aunts, uncles and cousins. In a non stop procession we've had something, or someone on the agenda every weekend. We finally made it to Drumheller this past weekend (following weekends in Calgary, and Glendon,) and we all had a great time.
Now that summer is winding down I find myself drawn back to having some sort of schedule. Time to work off all the extra weight put on by the constant pr essence of 'comfort food'. I've been trying to find a new groove, getting up and feeding the kids, working out while they eat and watch their morning cartoons, then a dedicated hour to cleaning while they play outside. I'm glad they still take naps so I can sit down with my writing and put some work into that. It's something that I think about every day, and berate myself over not finding time for.
Today I set aside the quiet that nap time brings, and worked on my book for over an hour, realizing how much I missed it. Strangely enough not five minutes after I saved and closed out for the day, a friend from my writing class last spring got in touch through facebook. Seems like an interesting and fortunate coincidence.

Official first post

I came across a website with an 'are you ready to query' checklist. One of the things on that list was a blog. Something I never considered starting for myself. The main reason? I didn't think my life was interesting enough to write about. A quick update on facebook occasionaly is all well and good, but to actually sit down and write about what I do everyday didn't sound particularly thrilling.
Who cares about how many times I,
-stop the kids from killing each other.
-wipe a poopy butt.
-yell at the dog for barking at the neighbours.
...etc?
But after taking my writing workshop and getting some feedback from perfect strangers (who don't care if they hurt my feelings) I realized this might be a great place to post some of my work and get some critiques. In the end, anything that helps me refine my story is welcome.

On a side note, there is a reason I have an ungodly amount of books on my table right now. Half of them I used for a recent assignment (dealing with the first and last chapters of YA novels). As for the Kresley Cole books, I was out of new reads and heard I may enjoy devouring hers. After testing out the first one, I fell in love with the story line and bought (and read) the rest of them, they just haven't made it to a bookshelf yet because they are all triple packed, and I have no more room *sob*
Right now I'm working through Lynn Kurlands latest paperback, and even though I have Charlain Harris' new Sookie book on order, I broke down and bought the audiobook to listen to while I'm driving Saydee to puppy school on Wednesdays (six hour round trip, so a good audiobook come in handy). I still need to finish up the Pride and Predjudice and Zombies audiobook, but I'm near the end and it's starting to get a little stale.