I’m hoping some of you are wondering if I made my goal of 50k words for NaNoWriMo. But before I tell you, I’d like to keep you suspense for a while so I’m going to change the subject.

It’s the Christmas season and I love sappy movies and where better to see a good quality sappy movie then the Hallmark Channel. Now if you think I’m putting them down, Au contraire, I would love to be mentioned in the same category as some of these writers.

As I’m sitting here watching the Hallmark Original Movie Channel at this very moment. (while I’m writing my blog,) Its channel 312 for me. Over the next few weeks they are previewing movies that have been made from books written by fellow authors; The Timepiece, by Richard Paul Evans, Mrs. Miracle, by Debbie Macomber, and several other authors. It would be a dream come true to have one of my novels become a Hallmark original.

Maybe it’s the one I’ve written in the month of November. Yes, I reached my 50k word goal this month. Is my novel done, not by a long shot, in fact I’m pretty sure I’ll need another month to finish. I think Dating Ms. Harvey will end up being a 70k to 75k novel when it’s finished. I did however learn a lot by writing a novel in a month like this. I learned that finding and taking advantage of little niblets of time to write still adds up to quite a few words in the end, and everything counts when you’re trying to achieve a goal.

So would I do it again? I think I would, however I think I would do some planning starting in October to start a plot outline. I’ve written both ways and I think I like some kind of chapter schedule and character development better.

Being grateful

Thanksgiving is almost here. This is the time of year that I LOVE most...the beginning of the Holiday season. It means eating a ton of great food, gaining about 5 pounds, hanging out with family and friends, seeing a newly released movie in the theater.(A tradition of ours.) It's a holiday that reminds us to count our many blessings, and be thankful for all we have. I'm grateful for so many things.

1-I’m grateful for a wonderful husband that supports me and my dreams. And for my three amazing children. Life is nothing if you don’t have family.

2-I'm grateful to live in a country where we can express ourselves and have freedom of religion.

3-Friends, I don't know what I'd do without the gift I've been given of good friends. They keep me going.

4- I’m grateful for my body. It may not be perfect, and yes, it has its problems, but I can walk, hop, skip and run if I want to. My hands can touch and feel, my eyes can see, my ears can hear, my mouth can speak, and confess those things that are close to my heart.
5- Life is wonderful and I probably could live without this next one, but I'm grateful I don't have to. I'm extremely grateful for modern connivances, such as running water, heat, flipping on a light switch and having light.

I'm not a quitter

In fact the word quitter is not even in my vocabulary. I can’t stand to let people down or myself, which leads me to do too many things in a small amount of time, and then I am over whelmed with all the things I need to do. Not only am I not a quitter I don’t know how to say no. I’m a yes person. Usually, yes people are yes people, because they don’t want people to hate them or think of them as unkind or lazy. Not me, I’m a yes person because I actually think I can do it all. And I usual can even though it may take me well into the night, make me ornery and use a few bad words. Oh, I get it done. It’s just sometime It’s not pleasant. But I am not a quitter.

Nano month has got me by the throat, but don’t worry I will accomplish my goal. I have had only six days to designate to my novel, which is hardly enough. I figure I’m down by 7000 words. To some that may be a lot, to others it could be an afternoon. To me it’s down 7000 words. But not for long, I have a plan. One I hope will lead me to the finish line on November 30 of having my 50K novel done.

The good news is, the book I’m writing is unfolding, and although I’m finding it more challenging to write, because I didn’t start out with a plot or a character outline. All in all though, I like it. Although I do have to keep reminding myself, it’s a rough draft and rough drafts are suppose to be rough. So I’m giving myself some room to grow. My title is Dating Ms. Harvey. It’s about a fourth grade class who tries to set up their teacher. I want to write something humorous and maybe a little slapstick. Humor is a hard thing to pull off in a book, if you don’t know what you’re doing. And there may be a question here if I do. I’d like to say yes, but it really is a wait and see. After I write a novel, I put it aside for a month or two to clear my head. After which I’ll let you know if I was able to pull it off or not.

Back to my original thought, Dating Ms. Harvey will be done by November 30, because, “Why,” that’s right, because I’m not a quitter.

Pretender

I don’t know how many of you have ever seen the show pretender. It was one of my favorites while it was on. The main character of the show was savant smart, and yet socially able to blend into any environment. The catch is, scientist’s wanted to study his brain and so he was on the run from them the entire time, living in new places, changing occupations as quickly as some people change clothes. Michael T. Wiess, the main character could be anything, a doctor, a lawyer, a pilot, an engineer, he could solve problem after problem. He could do anything, and be anything he wanted.

In kindergarten I wanted to be a nurse, because my friend’s mom at the time was a nurse. Then I wanted to be in the air force after watching the movie Top Gun, and then I wanted to be an accountant. (I’m so glad I changed my mind about that one.) I went to college and majored in Broadcast Journalism, with a couple of law classes.

But being a writer allows me to do all these things and more. I’ve written about architects, divesticators, (People who buy business’ and sell them off into smaller parts for profit.), an accountant, a school teacher. This truly intrigues me. I would love to be able to have the experience of these careers, and the knowledge that goes with them. The possibilities are endless. And while I’m writing my characters are a part of me, and so now I can be a surgeon with a scalpel in my hands extracting an organ or curing cancer or a painter whose painting hangs in the Metropolitan Museum.

I’m sure now you see why I love to write. I can create characters to be anything I want.

NaNoWriMo

Thru several of my writer friends, I have found out about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month.) I would have never thought this was possible, except I have two writer friends that assure me it is. They did it last year. My last novel took me over 7 months to write. However, it was also an 80K novel, with an extensive plot line and character development.

On November 2nd I will be starting my novel for NaNoWriMo. I’ve been thinking about a story in my head for the last few weeks and have decided to use it for my November novel. To accomplish my task I need to write for at least 21 days, and with a word count of 2381, to have a 50K novel by the end of the month.

I love a good challenge and although, I do realize this is going to be a lot of work and very hard for a mom of three. The idea is exhilarating, and yes, even a bit daunting to me, but I know I can do this. And the thought of being able to write a novel in one month kind of makes me a little giddy, like I said, I love a good challenge, and at the end of this one there will be something tangible I can hold in my hands and hopefully be proud of.

Here is some information and rules on NaNoWriMo.

Chris Baty started the project in July 1999 with 21 participants in the San Francisco Bay area. Since then, the event has been held in November "to more fully take advantage of the miserable weather,” he said. 2000 was also the year that many of NaNoWriMo's ground rules were laid out, such as disallowing works in progress or co-authored books. 140 participants attempted the challenge, and 21 wrote 50,000 words.

Participants' novels can be on any theme and in any genre, and in any language. Everything from fanfiction, which uses trademarked characters, to novels in poem format, and even metafiction is allowed; according to the website's FAQ. Starting at midnight November 1, novels must reach a minimum of 50,000 words before 11:59:59 PM on November 30, local time. Advance planning and extensive notes are permitted, but no earlier written material can go into the body of the novel, nor is one allowed to start early and then finish 30 days from that start point.

Information provided by Wikepedia and National Novel Writing, Website.