Status Update

...or trying to! I have not been blogging as much, but man am I writing. I've cracked 25K on the NaNoWriMo. It's going really well. I think the secret is to have an idea where I'm going each day. I have the roughest of outlines. I really find that I come up with my best stuff when I'm in the act of writing. But I do have an idea of what the high points of the story are going to be and I'm aiming at them. I think tomorrow I introduce my hero.

I meant to do an update every Sunday, but I have missed the last few. It's like my brain is all wore out with plottin and so on! I have no words. I have just random things to say. I'm watching the BBC Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. Really enjoying it. I am waiting for some tea made of mint, black tea and dark chocolate chips. I had a crazy dream about Loki from Thor/Avengers living in a senior citizens trailer park and hanging out in their society - he had a score of scams he was running, between keeping several mistresses going, living off their generosity, and robbing senior citizens blind at the casino, he was keeping his mind very nimble. And he was dressed like Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. There were other younger men there sort of doing the same thing - Chris Angel types, low grade magicians.

I'd like to apologize for this blog post, but at last, it is made. Thank you for reading.

Day One And A Half

Day One of NaNoWriMo started for me at 12 am November 1st. I had come home from work and took a nap so I could stay up! Even so, I got pretty tired by the time 2 am came. But I got my first 3000 words - make that THIRTY-FIVE-HUNDRED! :) And they were good! Then I had two more writing sessions (during the daylight hours) and brought my total up to 9,353 words total for the first day. As of this time, I've had one writing session today and I'm at 12,393. I am quite pleased.

This is my second time writing a gothic romance. And yes, the second time there will be a vampire. It's not exactly a sequel, but the imaginary Vampire land of the other book exists in this one as well, but it takes place in England. There will be romance, but again, the gothic part of the story is more evident and important than the "romance" part. Even so, the romance should be pretty delicious. ;) It's a haunted house story at its core. I'm basing it on a real place again this time, but I found an actual plan of the lower portion of the house, so I am using that. It will be a more realistic portrayal. 

I'm not exactly pantsing and not exactly outlining. I do know a lot of the story, I know the great-big-main-turning point scene wherein the villain is revealed. I know a little more about the past than what happens in this particular story but I think that will help. Before I sit down to right, I try and now exactly what I'm going to be writing about, so that I sit there and WRITE, not stare at the walls. 

It's good to be writing again. It feels a little weird, and not as comfortable as it could, since I've spent 9 months editing. And I still haven't written queries. I need to do that. Like, soon....

ERHMAGERD! MERCHEANDERS!

In less than 24 hours.... NaNoWriMo begins.

I have a few things to update ya'll on. First: I did indeed achieve my personal goal of editing all the books I intended to edit this year: acknowledging that I did not finish Endways of the Gods in it's entire... it did get at least 2 editing passes done on it, but I ended up dumping the idea of finishing it. The three books I have edited are books that I believe I can sell. Two I hope are agent-worthy, one could find a home at a quality small press, in my humble little opinion. I have no idea how to "sell" Endways at this time. 

Second: I will be doing NaNoWriMo, 30 days and 50k of writing madness, but here at the casa, we are going hardcore. I want to really-and-for-true write a whole novel this month, not half of one. That means 3k a day so I get 90k written this month. It is a glorious goal. It is a do-able goal. But for now, it is a goal. The proof will be in the pudding, as they say. We will see how it goes.

Third: I have finally purchased a piece of NaNoWriMo merch! Every year, I say I'm going to buy something, and this year, I did. I got a wrist bracelet that includes a handy dandy 2gig usb flash drive! And the fabulous people of The Office of Letters and Light got me that bad boy a day after I ordered it. 

Fourth: The people of the East coast are in my thoughts, as Sandy continues to pound the seashore. I hope all my friends are safe and well. It's gonna be a hell of a clean up. But America is always at her best in times of crisis. For all the scumbags tragi-crafting on Etsy, there will be many more good people donating time, money, and supplies. Prayers are probably needed as well. 

Finally, have a Happy Halloween, stay safe, and Merry NaNoWriMo. 

God bless Iron Man. God bless America.

OMG! BADGES!

It's almost time! The most magical time of the year! NaNoWriMo time! You don't know what this is? Are you kidding me? Are you the new kid on the writing block? Has no one yet pulled down your sweat pants, paddled your bottom and thrown you in the wastebasket?! 

Well, I'm not going to do any of that, because I'm not down with the bullying. Instead, let me tell you about it. It's a month of madness! The time: November. The length of time: 30 days. The goal: To write at least 50 thousand words (that's only 1667 words a day) and drink as much coffee and Diet Coke as humanly possible without winding up in the hospital. Well, those last two are optional. 

This will be my third NaNoWriMo. I won in 2009 and 2011, and to my shame, bailed after about a week in 2010. I don't know what it is about this time of the year... the nip in the air.. the patter of the dripping brew in the Mr. Coffee coffee machine... It's magical. It's not just starting any other book at any other time of the year. This is NaNo! Putting your shoulder to the wheel with (NaNoWriMo.org estimates) 300,000 other writers! There are funny videos on the NaNo site. There are emails from other famous and not-so famous writers for encouragement. Peptalks from the staff. There are regional people who try to lure you out of your cave of safety and protection and make you write in a coffee house or library, or some other place equally horrible and public... but you can ignore that if you wish, and just stay home with your cat and your dreams.... No one will judge you. And if you haven't showered or brushed your teeth in a few days because you've been sitting at your computer and pounding out your magical novel, no one probably wants to see you anyway. It's ok.

Your mom and dad still love you.

Unless you are Batman and they are dead.

So join us! Be one with the ravening hoard. Come to the Write Side! We have cookies! Delicious cookies. And you don't have to kill a bunch of younglings or get Natalie Portman pregnant.

Honestly, Shouldn't You Be Writing?

Such utter lack of bloggery! I should admit off the bat that this is being written in Pages, not directly in the Blogger dialog box. Why? Because the internet! That seductive whore. She is so irresistible. So enticing. So full of cats.... and Tumblrs dedicated to sexy Englishmen. I cannot control myself!

I got next to nothing done yesterday. I added flair to my wall. That is it. Flair I have been carefully collecting and typing and printing. My NaNo certificates, my Permission to Write Badly. Batman telling me to quit procrastinating! And work on my art! Loki judgmentally suggesting, no, telling me, Honestly...shouldn’t you be writing? The Avengers say the same thing. Art is never finished, it is only abandoned. Stephen King reminds me that we are all the hero in our own movie. M-o-o-n, that spells moon. WP Kinsella says there are, indeed, dark bargains struck, and Sylvia Plath is terrified of this dark thing that sleeps within me. You only fail if you quit writing. You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort. Do or do not, there is no try. A Writer is a peculiar organism capable of transforming caffeine into books. 

And of course: The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid. That’s from Northanger Abbey.

Blog posts are not novels, so I leave you with this very last, written on a note card and immediately above my computer, smack dab in the middle of my 50k certificates, and my Permission to write badly. Stephen King fans will know what it is. 

Ves’-Ka Gan. 

May the prim rise.

Warning: This Post May Lack Awesome

So, I haven't blogged. And I am so tired and currently so full of Chili Cheese Dog I don't know if this blog post will make any freaking sense, but it's been two weeks, dammit! Part of that wasn't my fault.... I was in internet jail. Let's not get into it, let's just acknowledge that I am a very irresponsible adult and leave it at  that.

Despite the lack of bloggery, my Fearless Readers, I have not been idle. I continued to tweak the last little bit of Vampire Baron, got it out to some people (still going to be approaching one or two people for beta) and I've started the edit on the last book I am required to edit before I can write for NaNo. Yays! *confetti* I am still so proud of The Vampire Baron. I'm sure that means it must be a complete crap fest.

Other than that, I'm feelin' pretty good this week. Besides of course, the tiredness. I had to fight my way through the lethargy and ennui of Walmart after work, so you understand if I'm dragging a bit. The place is a soul-sucker. But it did get me stuff to make chili dogs and a diet coke. I'm not aiming too high for my happiness these days. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm a simple creature.

Oh, and this makes up for the blogpost's lack of awesome:

Cranky writer is cranky. And Hot.

I am still trying to work... I really am. I'm getting a little editing done every day, but it's very slow going. It's been hotter than a you-know-what here, and my drive home have been long and miserable, so that is NOT helping. Nor is the napping. I have been napping a lot. Which doesn't help the going to bed early. The good thing is that I am still sleeping. I can't blame this on insomnia. I'm just napping, then staying up late with a movie or a book, and in general being a slug.

I hate the heat.

I am also having lots of fights with teh kitty. Verbal wars, you understand. She will NOT STOP scratching. The screen. The bedding. And don't tell me to buy her scratchy stuff, cuz the kitteh has every scratch-able thing currently available on the market (read: Walmart). She does not lack for scratchables, scritchables, toy mice or ball races. She could start her own black market mice nip trade if she wanted to.

Hopefully, the marine layer will be back in force, cooling us down, and this heat-pocolypse will go by the wayside. And me and kitty will make for better room-mates...