That Time of Year

It's that time of year again...NaNoWriMo! There are just about 20 days until November 1st. This year's story came to me this summer so I have some planning already under my belt. Character Profiles and setting info and all that. Right now I am working on some plot ideas. I finally figured out the big idea of my novel. It's about an alien princess, Syphora, who was kidnapped from her home planet and is now stuck on Earth. With the help of the Department of Alien and Supernatural Affairs she will learn that she can be more than she was born to be. So basically it's a science fiction finding yourself kind of story, possible with some romance. That's basically all I have so far. There is time to figure it out. Everything else will just come as I write just like last year. Stay tuned!

Reverb 2010 Day 6

Today's Prompt:

Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?


I am pretty sure that the last thing I made was a banner for a baby shower that said congratulations...backwards, made with paper and yarn. I did not know that it was backwards until we put it up. It was hilarious.

I am currenty crocheting a tree skirt with this pretty red yarn and a Christmas gift with green yarn.

I have a few projects that I want to make for my apartment including a couple of rugs. I also make myself a new winter accessory set every year. This year will be dark purple. It is so pretty.

I think I will be busy for a while.

Reverb 2010 Day 3

Today's Prompt:

Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors).


I wish I could tell you that this year I did something exciting. Went sky diving, or rock climbing, or...something, but I did not. In fact the most exciting thing that happened to me was finally moving out of my parents home and getting a place of my own.  I would not say that it has made me feel more alive than anything else, but it has helped me to live more abundantly.
 
For two months I searched and searched for the perfect apartment, preferably one that accepted cats. It was a nerve wracking and stressful two month, but then, at the end of August I found it. A small one bedroom apartment, with a (small) kitchen area, that accepted cats. It was a dream come true. The weeks that followed was a flurry of activity and excitement. Packing, moving, then unpacking. The apartment slowly transformed into my home, my place of refuge.
 
The wide green and white stairwell descends into a blue and white room with greenish blue carpet with multi-color specks. Along the back wall is the kitchen area with a small laminate floor, complete with stove. Next to the stove is a door that leads to the small bathroom.
 
There is also a room to the right that is gray with the same ugly carpet. This is my bedroom and office. I am not sure what takes up more room, my bed or my gigantic oak L-shaped oak desk with hutch.
 
It might not be much but it is mine.

Reverb 2010

One of the many blogs that I read is taking part in Reverb 2010 and I thought it sounded really cool and a great way to keep writing. (As if I needed another reason to write.) It started yesterday, so I am jumping in with today's prompt:

Writing: What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it?


My cat. I know it is not something that I do, but it is something that gets in the way of my writing. It seems that whenever I want to sit down to write there she is, wanting attention. There is nothing that I can do to eliminate this. She is here to stay (unfortunately!)

Television. I have a bad habit of turning on the television as soon as I get home, even if I have no intentions of actually watching it, but because it is on it sucks me in. Much has been left undone because of this. I would love to be able to cut down on my TV viewing time by only having it on when I am watching one of my shows or taking the time to watch a movie.

Internet. This is another blackhole of time. Once I get on the internet I can spend hours doing absolutely nothing. This is another thing that I could cut down on by going on only to do what I need to do then get off when I am done instead of hanging around.
 
Those are the three biggest things in my life that take time away from writing and other more important things like reading my bible and praying, exercising, and blogging.

NaNoWriMo Recap

I am sorry that I have not updated you these past three week, but I was writing.  I just squeaked past the finish line with an official word count of 50,018. Not to bad for my first time out. Of course I already know there are chunks that are going to get chopped. It needs to run through the spell checker and needs a lot of polishing. The ending is a little…schizophrenic—it has no idea what it wants to do.

I have neglected so much this month. In no particular order:

1. my diet went out the window

2. my treadmill collected dust

3. my nails were bitten and my cuticles chewed

4. my finances were disorganized and I over spent

5. my spiritual life went down the tubes because I never had time to read the bible or pray because I was writing.

6. my dishes piled up

7. my (clean) laundry did not get put away

8. and my apartment in general became very cluttered.

9. my e-mails went unread

10. my blog reader has 946 unread blogs

I am sure that there is more but I cannot think of them at the moment.

It will be nice when life gets back to normal.

NaNoWriMo Day 5

Daily Word Count: 2166
Total Word Count: 11700

I could have knocked out 300 more words but I was getting so tired but my mind was shutting down. It was a struggle to write when I got home from work. I was so tired, I had a couple cups of Vanilla Cafe to wake up enough to knock out the thousand words I wanted to write to reach my two thousand word goal.

My main characters finally found out about each other and can start being themselves but now they have to find out who has been killing all the criminals that Emerald has gone up against since coming to town.  Today I learned that Emerald, along with her sister Ebony, was manipulated to kill her own father when they were seven years old.

Am going to bed now. Need sleep.

NaNoWriMo Day 4

Day Four Word Count: 2656
Total Word Count: 9,534

The words were coming easy today. In fact, my word count would have been higher but I lead a small group and it met tonight. I almost two days ahead, which is great. I hope to be to 12,000 words by tomorrow night. Getting ahead is helpful for the days when I will not be able to write as much.

I am just happy to know that my day dreaming is good for something. In school, first or second grade, my teacher had my mom make me stand in a corner for 15 minutes a day. I guess it was supposed to help me pay attention better or something. Which is silly, since all I did while standing in the corner was day dream. Really, she shouldn't have sat me next to the window anyways. My mom learned to tell my teachers to keep me away from the window after that.

I am excited for tomorrow's writing. I am getting to the point where the female lead tells the male lead all about her past. It is going to be a lot of exposition, but hey I have a goal to achieve.

Favorite bit from today:

She found the gang hiding in the park waiting for another victim. They had not learned their lesson. Deciding to have a little fun she manipulates the knife that the leader had in his possession to come to life and dance around them. She laughed as they ran. Finally, she projected the knife forward, causing it to stab each one in the heart, saving the leader for last. He had ran quite the distance but he was no match for her. He grunts as the knife enters his chest and falls forward, causing the knife to go in deeper. She walks away satisfied.
(takes place after the two main character tussle with this gang in the park.)