Amazon Box

On a non-related note, I love the picture on the sides of the Amazon boxes. I think it's actually an arrow, but it looks like a smile and a dimple. I smile when I get boxes from Amazon! I got 3 of them today! No, not books, silly! A dehydrator!!

My other love is gardening; fruit and veggie stuff. When there's lots of produce, we eat, can, and freeze. Now I can dehydrate without borrowing a nice lady's machine! Mmmmm. I have some Bartlett Pears just waiting for me to start the process. Unless there's a major surplus, about half usually make it to the packaging stage. :) Dried pears, apples, and fruit rolls anyone?

Underdog Vs. Champion

I was talking to my sister earlier today about my New King story and another story I've just thought of, and she said,

"America seems to be osbsessed with the underdog, but there's something to be said for the champion" Oh, yes...she's brilliant. Here's her blog. http://casgrace.blogspot.com/

Well said, and I agree! We are referring to the underdog who seems to fall into just the right situation to conquer. Even so, they can be heart-warming, fun, and the journey to get from underdog to winner is exciting and makes a great story, but what about the champion? The character who trains for years or even decades, who is fully qualified, shouldn't he also win?

NaNoWriMo Prep

There's about one more week of NaNoWriMo preparation! I'm excited to get started, but I'm certainly glad to have a bit more time!!

I think I'm going to get my notes up on the wall where I'll be doing most of my writing. I'll hang my character bios, plots, settings, etc so that I will hopefully keep each character's voice and mannerisms unique. I think I'll hang up some key words too. Maybe I'll throw in a new vocabulary word. Yeeeees!

What are you doing to prepare?

Ready, Aim, Ugh!

The plan tonight was to put my kiddos in bed then write, write, write my plot and character worksheets for NaNoWriMo. Afterward, I would lie down in my bed for a restful nights sleep. It was a lovely plan! My kiddos thought differently.
Oh well, that's the beauty of working at home. I get to be with my angels at bedtime. I have a little time left tonight to figure out what worksheets are needed in order to be prepared to begin my NaNoWriMo novel on November 1. I'll begin/continue the actual worksheets tomorrow.

Lesson learned: Work during the day because the night runs out of room.

NaNoWriMo Plot Party!

I went to the NaNoWriMo plot party, and I'm so glad I went! There were about 16 people in attendance. They ranged from the older, experienced published novelist to young writers, quirky and loud. The gal who sat next to me was easy to talk to, and has published a novel already and is working on her next novel.

I planned on talking to more people, but the tables and chairs were set up so that I was only sitting near one person. Her name was Cheri Lasota. She had some great ideas and questions that helped me form my plot and characters. Thank you Cheri!

It's always great to meet good people. People who you can learn from, and people who you can relate to then think, if they can do it, then I think I can too. Hopefully I can pass that on.

During the plot party I concentrated on my New King story. I'm so excited about the characters that are being formed, and other characters who have transformed. The result is an almost completely changed story. The storyline has blossomed into a tale that could be a great novel! I'm so excited for the possibilities!

So for the next 15 days or so, I'll be preparing for NaNoWriMo! Filling out character worksheets, scene plotting worksheets, and doing a little math to figure out how many words I need to write each day in November minus Sundays to complete at least 50,000 words, 176 pages! Whew!

If you want to check out Cheri Lasota's book, check out http://www.spirehousebooks.com/ on Twitter she's @CheriLasota.

NaNoWriMo

Did you just say, "Eh?"

Yes, NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month! Hooray! At my last trip to my local library I read a poster about NaNoWriMo, suggesting to write a novel! Participants begin writing November 1 and finish a 175-page, (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30!

NaNoWriMo is "a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved." Hmmm. Sound familiar?

So if any of you fit that criteria, maybe you should check  your local library to see if they're playing along. Mine is having a plot party on October 13th. Apparently there will be fun and games to help me prepare and plan my novel. That way when November 1st comes around I'll be ready to start!! How about you?