Farewell 2010

2010 was kind of a bad year for me. It was like a tail spin of unmade decisions and loss. Great loss. I went through a tough time finding a job, couldn't make up my mind about which book to write, couldn't return to college this past fall, and just this past month, my beautiful siberian husky, Luke, passed away...



You may remember him from my post "Why I Should Join IPCA" when I entered the PARANORMALCY ARC contest. He was 9 years old. I don't want to get into the details because it makes me cry every time, but he was beloved. I picked Luke out on Halloween night when I was ten years old at Pet City. It was this cute little pet shop in the mall where we lived in Boise, Idaho at the time. He was just so adorable and so breathtakingly beautiful (er, I mean handsome. Guys prefer handsome, correct?) I just couldn't walk out of there without calling him my own. My dad caved. He'd always loved huskies. And ever since then, Luke had been more than a friend or a companion. He'd been family. It's amazing that he lasted so long. He was known for getting his stomach pumped at the vet's office. He'd tried to eat chocolate covered raisinets, batteries, and fireworks. Yes, people... fireworks. That dog was a wanna-be curious cat. And I loved him so much...

I don't want to make this blog post too depressing, and I want to TRY to keep my eyes dry if at all possible, so... I will carefully segue into a farewell to the past year.

Goodbye to:

Uncertainty.

Indecision.

Inconsistency.

Hello 2011...

This is the year that I will walk forward with sure steps.

Resolution

There's just something about starting fresh...

Seeing as I've been the new kid in school about a dozen times (nope, I'm not a military brat, by the way), it's a little unbelievable to say that I like change. I mean, after so many times you have to get sick of it, right?

Wrong.

Each and every time I moved to a new town, I always had this bubbling sense of enthusiasm. It's new. It's fresh. It's a chance to start over and reinvent yourself. Who doesn't want that? Sooo, of course with that attitude, it is correct to presume that I have made a few New Year's Resolutions. And here are some of them:

1. Get healthy. (Not that I'm sick or something, but the cliche resolution to lose weight and stay in shape. Annnnd try to reassert my will power. Wherever it went...) And with this resolution I've decided to take up running again. I used to love it. Why can't I love it again?

2. Seriously. Write. My. Book.

3. Read 75 books this year. Yes siree.

4. Transfer to a University.

5. Write at least once a week on both of my blogs. Hopefully my followers will like this one. Hee.

So, there's a few good ol' fashioned resolutions. If I didn't have a killer head ache right now and if I wasn't so tired (some of us had to work today. meh.), I would probably try to liven this up with a quippy joke or maybe an all too serious post about writing and time and writing resolutions... Alas, I can barely make my fingers hit the right keys. Tomorrow is a new day! Tomorrow is a new year!

Happy New Year everybody! I hope 2011 will be the year to beat! Be safe out there!

To Co-Write or Not to Co-Write... That IS the Question.

Hello, everyone! I hope you're having a wonderful holiday, and in case I forget to add this very joyous statement on at the end: Merry Christmas (and also in case I disappear again, Happy New Year!)!

So, NaNoWriMo was very interesting. I wrote. A lot. And read very little. But strangely enough, I have been writing even more in December. Why? Because I have taken on a new project. The adaption of a previous work that was written with a friend. We decided to adapt said project on November 26th, and since have written 129 pages of... awesomeness. That probably equates to anywhere between 60-80 pages on my part. It has been a whirlwind of words. I've found out about characters in more depth than I had ever thought possible-- all because I already had their basic personality down pat (including a few complexities already established in early stages of writing). I mean, it's even more exciting to write because I have someone on the other end that's both writing her own section of the book and pestering me to finish on my end. It's very motivating. How can it not be when you have someone that's just as enthusiastic and who is sharing the work?

The only drawback is... working on your individual book becomes what? That's right, ladies and gents. Almost nonexistent. I'm hoping I can get back on that gig soon, but I'm a little wrapped up in the adaption of this very exciting and very captivating book right now.

I'll check back in soon with an update or two.

Writing Until Your Fingers Fall Off

... is very interesting to say the least.

Technically, that's a lie though. Since all of my fingers are still intact. But still. It was a close call.

So, I figured it was time for a NaNo update of some sort. It IS, after all, my first year actually attempting all of this. Let's talk about what I've learned so far from this particular grueling month of novel writing:

1. Updating your word count every 50 or so words is NOT necessary, but it IS completely and totally fun.

2. Pep Talks from the staff of NaNoWriMo and/or amazingly accomplished authors can either be very helpful or very riddle-like.

3. I now know why they say to start from scratch on your novel.

4. When participating in a massive, national self challenge like this, you'll find very little time to read (I'm very serious on this one. I finished a book in 10 days. Normally I would've finished three times as many).

5. When adding writing buddies and being shown each of their word count status thingies, you can become very competitive.

6. Week Two is cursed.

7. You will question yourself and your novel various times through-out the process. Supposedly this is normal.

8. John Green says that you are probably just writing a big folly, but that that's okay because follies can be turned into pretty darn good novels. Of course not in one month. More like three years. But still. <-- Helpful AND riddling!

9. The evil blinking cursor on word needs to lower it's expectations. Seriously.

10. And lastly, when you are behind on your word count it becomes difficult to complete any other task without thinking "I should probably be writing instead of this". Blog posting shouldn't count, right? Technically I AM writing. It just won't be added to that meticulous word count widget. Darn the world!

There you have it. Ten things so far that I have learned from NaNoWriMo-ing. It's really not all that different from trying to write a book every other month out of the year, except for the fact that you have a set deadline and if you win you get street cred. And a PDF winner's certificate. I was mistaken about the shirt. I thought I could win a shirt. *sad face*

What I like the most about it?
-It allows you to suck. Horribly. AND it forces you to write.

What I like least about it?
-The competitiveness. You either feel awesome because you're way ahead or totally low because all of your friends are ahead of YOU now. Go them! Boo you!

Now... Back to writing... orrr maybe imagining thyself inserted into the computer screen on Word and snapping that evil cursor in half. Eh... Probably both.

November is Approaching...

I apologize to everyone!

I know I've been out pretty much for the whole month annnd I'm sorry. I've had a lot on my plate lately with work and playing ping pong with my storylines and my cats being so darn adorable and entertaining. But all of this is no excuse really! Back to work and on probation, they say...

So the point is I have finally (with the help of immense chocolate candy bars and verbal slapping of a best friend) chosen which idea (path in some blog posts) to go with! Hooray! It's a miracle!

*clears throat*

And with this decision, comes sacrifice...

Has anyone ever tried NaNoWriMo? I've known about it since my junior year when I first took a creative writing class, but I've never entered... until this year. And already I'm starting off on a bad note. You see, the project I chose to do has already been started and I'm 40,000 words into this WIP (Work In Progress). One of the rules to doing NaNoWriMo and winning that famous purple badge that tells everyone you were committed for 30 days and ended up with 50,000 fabulous words is... you have to start from scratch. Blank page. Clean slate. No emotional attachments and slippery expectations, so to speak (or so I've been told). And I refuse!

You see, this would be awesome. It would be completely and totally cool to just say "Pah! Goodbye sticky story hanging over my head! Onto something new!"... BUT I've already done that. About 50,000 times (one for every word in this cool 30 day challenge). One thing I've learned is that it leaves me with... nothing, really. No finished novel. No feeling of accomplishment. Just another excuse to throw in the towel when the next shiny new idea comes prancing across my WIP, leaving it's muddy tracks on the reasons that I SHOULD stick with what I started. I really don't need any MORE reasons and/or temptation to ditch another novel after I've already come so far! After trying to explain/get feeback in the NaNoWriMo forums about this subject, I was told that my only other option was to join the Nano Rebels. My first time doing this and I'm already a rebel... Of course.

Anyway, if any of y'all writers are out there reading this, what are YOUR thoughts on NaNoWriMo? Are you starting with a clean slate? Are you a rebel like me? I'd love to hear your November plans!

Pssst! November's also my birthday month! Yay! Just a random fact...

Special Review

So, about a week ago I was asked to review this great book I've been anticipating for months now. INTRINSICAL by Lani Woodland debuted in late August and I am really quite flattered that I was asked to read and review this one. It turned out to be an amazing read and I would like to interrupt my special writing time, and blogging time, to ask you all to go check out said review on my other blog:

My Review of Intrinsical

If and whenever you get the chance, I suggest that you really give this story a chance! It's definitely worth the risk. Happy reading!

Wishy Washy

That is exactly what I am.

I can NEVER. EVER. NEVER EVER make up my mind.

For the past four years I have been jumping between two story ideas. One includes my personal therapy, and yet extensive religious research. The second one was a spontaneous reaction to what one of my "supposed" side characters would do in a certain unwanted situation. And I find that once I choose one, I constantly think about the other. It is a vicious conspiracy that works against me to make sure that I NEVER finish a single book. And I hate that it's working.

I suppose the smart choice would be to continue on with my second story idea, which so far has about eighty five pages done, and work on researching/outlining the first idea at the same time. Since neither will shut up for the other. But will this really work?

I guess we'll find out.

*insert dramatic closing sequence here*
To be continued...