I am a winner!

I'm not exactly putting the icing on the cake yet, but I have passed the required number of words needed to claim NaNoWriMo success. My own goal is to write a whole novel, which for me is more in the 90-100k range, but I do not take reaching 50k in 17 days lightly. It is the single greatest word count I have ever achieved. And I am so pleased with the story. That's better than just achieving a word count.

Along with my 50k achievement comes the rain! And the return of the ducks to the pond in the apartment complex! They've both been gone these many months. I don't know why ducks wouldn't want to hang out in California during the summer. It hasn't been too hot, and heaven knows, our winters are freezing cold and rainy. I even caught a little duck-love going on. Poor little female was so small, the mallard nearly drowned her gettin' his groove on.

Birds and bees aside, I really think my new environs have helped my writing. I have a large window and a huge sliding screen door. The back of my apartment faces the pond, a willow tree, and general beautifulness. I keep the blinds open ALL THE TIME! I think the sunshine is a big part of my increased productivity and the disappearance of my insomnia. In the other apartment, I had to keep the blinds shut at all times, or I felt too exposed. I lived in a dark box. I never saw sunshine. I certainly never saw ducks. Or sleepily swaying willow fronds. 

So I'm about halfway done, and things are going downhill from here! Not personally or creatively, but for the poor characters. Things are just going to be so uncomfortable.... good times. Good times.

Bloggery

Greetings all. I have had a very bad word count week. Week 2 blahs, you are a travesty! But ahead of me is a 4 day weekend of wackiness... I have Friday and Monday off, and a writing I shall go. I will try and blog every day, thus preserving for all mankind the goals and achievements, or failures and ennui I encounter. I woke today at 8:15 am, cleaned all the dishes in the kitchen, made coffee and then wrote 3000 words, to bring my NaNoWriMo WIP to 44,998 words.

With that paragraph written, I warn you: this post is about blogging. The point of this whole thing is to follow my journey as an unpublished writer with a full time job. Sometimes I fear it's just a waste of cyberspace - considering the posts can be "This is how I feel about my work in progress, which you may never read." I don't do "This is how you should do it" posts, because I'm unpublished, and what the hell do I know, anyway? I don't even have the added consideration of children or a husband to work around - I've just got a cat with a bad attitude.

I guess I hope I'm of use to other people like me, who are just out here, doing their thing, bouncing around the fringes of the online writer-sphere (Not to brag, but the QueryShark and Chuck Wendig replied to my tweets this week.) I haven't gotten anywhere, not so much as a story sold, and though I lack experience with publishing, I do have a lot of experience writing. I think I have something to say about creativity and its joys... as well as the occasional horrors. It's frustrations I know inside and out. And I thank those of you who have come along for the ride. Please keep your arms and legs inside the unicorn, and I promise that clicking on my blog will never lead you to pop ups with Russian girls that want to do dirty things to you. If you're into that kind of thing, I apologize, but this is the internet. I'm sure you know how to Google.

I been tagged for a blog hop, ya'll!

I have been tagged to be in a blog hot! @Kitiandra and @CobraMisfit tagged me! And there are rules! You have to answer these questions: so I will...Here are the rules: Answer these ten questions about your current WIP (Work In Progress) on your blog. Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.

1. What is the working title of your book?

Nocturnelle. I stole it from a Paperblanks Journal. It's a reproduction of a very old poetry book from the early 1800's - the Poetical Works of Thomas Moore. It's gorgeous. 

2. What genre does the book fall under?

Gothic Romance.

3. Which actors would you choose to play your characters for the movie rendition?

OH! I love this kind of thing. Tom Hiddleston, yes that is my current man crush, to play the male lead, and I have no shame. I have a girl picked out for lead character, but I don't think I can post the picture. I found a gorgeous wallpaper with a very pretty blond girl, and she was also the cover model for another author's book. She's stunningly pretty. Blond hair. Blue eyes. Perky nose. Everything I hated about my sister.

4. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

I don't believe in one sentence synopsisisis. I hate you for this question. But here goes.

After her uncle speculates away her fortune, Tallulah Winwood is sent to try and inherit the estate of Nocturnelle by staying there for six consecutive months, unless the shades of the past and the curse hanging over the house drive her from it.

*gasp* *pant* *gasp*

5. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I do hope to find an agent. But I hope by the time this one is in the bag, I will have found one with my other gothic romance.

6. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Wait. I'm not done yet. It's mah NaNo - I am 33k into it and project it will be 90k. I hope to be done this month.

7. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

uhh... uhh... all of them... Pretty heiress. Scheming uncle/guardian. Remote house with a ghost. BUT it's the way you mix them in the blender!! Also, I add a dash of the paranormal, what with a vampire as the hero. Ok, seriously, this is sort of like Udolpho or mindful of Mary Stewart. I hope. 

8. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My love of old houses with rambling scenery. And all things English and Victorian. And good ol' fashioned horror. And how much Bela Lugosi made me go all shivery with just a look and Robert Pattinson makes me wanna barf... I apologize to the RPatz fans.

9. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I think this is the kind of thing you like to read if you like the ol' gothic romance of yore, or if you wish your paranormal romance had carriages and horses. And Tom Hiddleston. And a plucky heroine that you might have to learn to love just a little bit.

Question #10: Tag, you’re it!

And, you know what? It is really late in the day, and everyone has been tagged already. I mean, I was tagged twice. And so were others. So I'm logging to the twitter posts, and you can just follow the links to the blogs, mmmkay? also, it's been a long week and I am super tired. Leave your hate in teh comments.

Tag one

Tag Two

Week One of NaNoWriMo

Week one of NaNoWriMo has been most victorious. I only took one day off. I've met 99.9 percent of my own personal goals. I am at 31,328 words. That's 1/3 of the projected 90k. I'm really enjoying my story. I do worry the hero is coming in too late, but there's enough going on that I think it's ok. I feel bad for my completely clueless character, who has no idea she is living in a murder-death-kill house. Shhhh! Don't tell her.

I'm starting to stress myself because I still haven't written queries for the 3 novels I am hoping to start subbing come first of the year. So yeah. There's that.

Now - to keep the fire stoked and the course plotted! This next week has its challenges as I have some romance to sprinkle in. And I haven't tied in how the romance dips and valleys while the haunting and the shenaniganry heat up. Romance is always a tricky thing. But one thing is for sure. It doesn't write itself.

Onward.

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.