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Friday, November 22, 2013

NaNo Week Three Update

As of the writing of this post I'm waaaaayy behind on my NaNoWriMo word count. However, I do have today off of work, so I'm hoping to catch up a bit.

NaNo always happens at the worst time of year. With the Thanksgiving holiday comes a lot of responsibilities for me as a mom to four students. There are band events, school plays, book fairs, meetings, fall festivals, and so much more. I've had a lot of running around to do. Still, If I were to be completely honest with myself, I'd admit my word count would be higher if Facebook didn't exist. Of course, then I'd just find a different site to play around on.

Anyway, my current word count as of the end of today should be 36,673. I'm sitting at 14,670. Yeah. Over 22,000 words need to be written in the next twelve hours. My best is usually 2,000 per hour if I really go at it hard. So, the 22k isn't happening today. But I am hoping to hit 40,007 by the end of Sunday. That's about 8,445 words per day over the next three days. It could happen.

Want a little taste of what I'm working on? Here ya go:
(unedited excerpt from Crossing Death)

None of the men so much as blinked until another man walked up behind them. He wore black cargo pants and a black t-shirt that looked ready to pop from his bulging muscles. The blond hair on his head was cut military short. He came to an abrupt halt behind the armed men and used two fingers to give Rex a quick salute. ‘T-Rex. I see you got your package here safe and sound.”


“You doubted me, Mad Max?” Rex asked with obvious amusement.


Max didn’t even crack a smile. “Never, brother. Never.”


With that he spun on his heel and the other men lowered their weapons. Rex chuckled and motioned for Jana to follow Max. Doubts assailed her as to whether that was a good idea, but it did beat the alternative. She was safely tucked away underground behind a brick wall, chain-link fence, and amongst heavily armed men. Yeah, she’d go where Rex told her to go.


Max led them into what looked like the control room. Television screens lined one wall and appeared to show the entire perimeter of the prison. One view was from a guard tower. It was high enough to make her dizzy so she quickly looked away. Fluorescent bulbs that had long ago been outlawed in WH lit the room with a yellow tint. Max settled into a chair at a long, rectangular table. Rex sat in one of the other nine chairs and she sat beside him.


“So,” Max began. “What brings you to my neck of the woods, T-Rex? You only stop on your way to the big D if you run into trouble.” He blatantly eyed Jana up and down. “Have you?”


He was a good looking guy but something about him gave her the creeps. She fought the urge to move her chair closer to Rex. He cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair, throwing his arm over the back of hers. “In a way. Jana was ejected from WH but we don’t know why. I was hoping you could help us figure it out.”


She fought the urge to look at him, though she wondered about his lie. They knew exactly why she’d been ejected, even if he swore it wasn’t the truth.


Max rubbed his chin and looked her over again. “Payment?”


“The usual.”


He shook his head. “I don’t need ammunition right now, my friend. In fact, I’m craving something…a little more delicate.”


Rex’s hand settled on her shoulder and he pulled her close to his side. She didn’t fight him. He shook his head. “I don’t think so. You know I don’t like to share.”


Max tensed and beneath the table Jana barely made out Rex slipping a pistol from his waistband. He settled it in his lap. She still gripped his knife in her hand and prayed she wouldn’t need to use it. Finally Max smiled and his shoulders dropped the slightest bit.

 “Yeah, you bastard, I remember.”

Friday, November 15, 2013

NaNo Week Two Update

Today marks week two of NaNoWriMo. My word count should be sitting somwhere around 25,004 by the end of the day. I'm too embarrassed to admit exactly what it is, but will say it's only a fraction of that count. Life, as usual, has gotten in the way of my writing. I'll admit I could be doing better with my time management skills. Hopefully the second half of the month will run more smoothly. We shall see.

And you? Are you writing like crazy this month too? If so, I wish you the best of luck with your word count.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Readers n'Ritas 2013

I'm not exactly an avid convention or conference attendee. To be honest, leaving home for more than twenty-four hours takes months of planning and logistical skills any engineer would be proud of. So, when something close to home pops up for a weekend and the hubby is okay with letting me loose, I run as fast as I can to get there.

This event is a small, intimate reader's convention with a cap of about 200 people. That means all weekend readers get to rub elbows with authors and spend some one-on-one time with many of them at different events. 
This year one of my all-time favorite authors attended, Sherrilyn Kenyon. I've met her before but she is always awesome. I simply couldn't resist going to see her.

Sherrilyn wasn't the only draw. I've also gotten to know some wonderful readers the past two times I attended and was very happy to see them again. Of course, the costume contest, pajama party, and bachelor auction were definite incentives as well.

  
Those were just a few things keeping me busy this past weekend. I met a lot of new, friendly faces and generally had a blast. I'm hoping to attend next year as well since by then I'll have three new releases. 

After all, where else can you find Ms. Frizzle doing the cupid shuffle? Or books by three of the most marvelous authors made out of cake?




Then there were all the great costumes at the masquerade ball. I didn't dress up this year. I wouldn't have been able to compare to the ones who did.
  
 








  

Friday, November 1, 2013

It's NaNo Time Again!

What time is it? It's NaNoWriMo time!!

What the hell am I talking about? Well, November is officially National Novel Writing Month. So, every year lots of crazies like me spend the entire month attempting to write a 50,000 word novel. There's a lot of inspiration, caffeine, frustrated tears, and social media hysterics along the way, but many of us accomplish the feat. Last year I missed it by two days. This is my year. I can feel it!

Will you attempt NaNo this year? Don't worry, anyone can do it. You don't have to be published or even think of yourself as a writer. Just commit to a certain word count every single day. Mine is 2,000 but to hit the goal you really only need to do 1,667 (aprox.). Every day you can add your word count to the tracker on the website and it will show how far you are from the goal. You can even add buddies to see how they're doing on their goals. Nothing like healthy competition to get the creative juices flowing. I've already written at least one novel during NaNo that eventually got published. There's no reason you can't too.

One thing to remember is November is just for WRITING. The editing happens in December, or whenever you can stand to look at your manuscript again. It's okay if it sits in a file for a couple of months. Just GET IT WRITTEN in November and you've won NaNo! I'll be posting updates to Twitter at least weekly, but hopefully more often than that. With my new work schedule this year's going to be a little tricky, but I'm determined. So, will you join me? There's really no good reason not to. Good luck!!