November IWSG and NaNoWriMo

 

It's the first Wednesday in November so it's time for another IWSG post!

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting!--from IWSG website

Find us on Twitter at @TheIWSG #IWSG

This month's co-hosts are: Diedre Knight, Douglas Thomas Greening, Nick Wilford, and Diane Burton!

The optional question of the month is: November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not?

I did participate several years ago in NaNoWriMo. The daily word count target motivated me to make sure that I sat down and wrote a little bit every day and usually I ended up writing more than the goal! But by the time it got to be the week before Thanksgiving and I was about to have sixteen people at my house I began to panic about the clutter covering my counters and the fact that I hadn't figured out what I would be serving besides turkey and mashed potatoes. For a couple days I dove into cleaning and meal planning and cooking anything I could in advance. I would have to write just before bed. Unfortunately, by that time I was too tired and fell asleep after typing only a few hundred words. 

When relatives started showing up on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I decided to stop trying. Not because I had given up but because I wanted to enjoy everyone's company and not feel guilty for either not writing or for running off to a quiet corner to get a few words in. 

Even though I didn't officially complete NaNo, I still felt it was a success and a great experience! I had spent several days in a row getting into the habit of writing and I had a great start to a novel! All in all I would recommend trying it if you've never done it before.

This year, I'm going about it a little bit differently. I'm still having a bunch of people over for Thanksgiving but I already have a completed novel that I need to edit. I've decided I will try to edit 3,300 words per day and maybe do a few more at the beginning of the month.

Good luck to all of you who participate this year!

And have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! 

Kathy 

Book Review and More

Book Review

Game On by Kyra Lennon

I just finished reading Kyra's charming story about feisty Leah Walker who moves from England to America where she works with a top U.S. soccer team.  Her life seems to be going well until Radleigh McCoy, a hunky womanizing player who thinks he's the greatest thing on the planet, takes notice of her.  His unwanted attentions not only irritate Leah but could also cost her her job.  Has she met her match?

This was a really a fun read.  I loved the antics between Leah and Radleigh and I couldn't wait to see which one of them would come out on top.  Right from the beginning this was a tough book to put down.

It's available on Amazon in paperback or ebook.    

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NaNoWriMo?

Only 3 days until November, which means NaNoWriMo is right around the corner.  I had a lot of fun last year participating and I did get quite a lot of my MS written.  I thought about doing it again and starting a new story, but I'm not ready to leave my now completed first draft behind.  I feel like I need to complete the edits before I can start on a new project.

So instead of doing NaNo, I've decided I'm going to do NaNoEditMo (that's what I'm calling it anyway.)  Since my first draft is about 80,000 words, my goal for November is to edit just over 2600 words, or about 8-9 pages each day.  That would get me close to finishing the second draft.  So if you have been debating NaNoWriMo, and you have a MS you need to edit feel free to join me.

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Testing Day

I've mentioned a couple of times here that I'm working toward taking my last couple figure skating tests.  I've been practicing a couple times a week to try to get ready for my next one.

And today is the day!  Yikes!  I hope I'm ready.  There are 5 sets of different sequences that I have to skate in front of the judges.  It only takes about 12 minutes, but I'm always exhausted by the time I do them all.  I just hope I can keep my nerves from getting the better of me.  But it will be fun because Jess and Alyssa are going to be taking a couple of other skating tests as well.  So we'll all be cheering for each other.


Have a great week!
Kathy :)
  

Happy Winter!

I know December 1st is not officially the start of winter, but as Thanksgiving fades away and we look toward Christmas and New Year's Day, visions of snowy vistas dance in my head.  The quiet cleansing snow blankets Earth and my soul awakens to the playful dance of sunlight upon the bejeweled landscape....

Sorry I don't know where that came from!  That's what happens to me in my favorite season.  I can't help it, I get all poetic when the world is covered in ice.

Anyway, I hope you all had a great and productive November.  For the first time ever I entered NaNoWriMo and though I didn't complete 50,000 words, I am pleased to say I made quite a bit of progress.  I averaged about 1000 words a day.  It doesn't sound like much especially since I took almost 8 days off to prepare for our big Thanksgiving gathering, but I know now what needs to be done to finish it.  Best of all I forced myself to find at least a little time to work on it every day.  I've set a goal of finishing the first draft by Jan1st!  Yeah!

Happy December to you all!

Kathy

 

Happy 11-11-11

Boy those geysers are smelly!

Happy 11-11-11!

Hope you are all having a great day to remember.  I'm sitting at home waiting for my internet to be upgraded! YEAH!  We are finally joining the future with high-speed internet.  

I'm moving along like the tortoise with my Nano project. Hopefully I will make it to the end slowly but surely.  

I thought I would leave you with a few of my favorite pictures from our journey westward and back.

  

Skating in Sun Valley Idaho :)

Last night in Seattle

Grand Teton National Park

Devil's Tower, Wyoming






Have a great day and enjoy your weekend!

Kathy

NaNo Day 9 and the Earth Really DoesTurn

Jess, my daughter over at Write Skate Dream, convinced me to take part in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).  I was a little apprehensive about trying to write 50,000 words in a month because my main focus has been writing picture books with around 500 words!  I figured my pacing would be too fast and I would come to the end of the novel by word 2,000.  But Jess really wanted me to join her in the challenge, so I took the plunge.

Today is Day 9 and I'm 5,122 words behind my daily word count but that's ok because I have written 8,211 words and there is still plenty of story to write!  I'm not worried about winning NaNo.  I'm simply enjoying the process.

Along the way I've learned a few things about my writing too, like I'm not so good at crafting interesting dialogue.  I caught myself too many times using short stiff answers like a simple "thank you" which didn't take the plot anywhere.

I've also learned to rely on what Jess calls a skeleton, which is really a glorified outline, to keep the story moving in the right direction.  The more detailed I make the skeleton, the easier it is to do the actual writing.

The most important lesson I'm trying to master by participating in NaNo is to carve out at least an hour each day to work on my writing projects, instead of running around crazy, trying to get everything else on my "to do" list done before I write.      


I'd love to hear how your projects are going whether you're doing NaNo or not.

Wikipedia photo by Luc Viatour at www.Lucnix.be

The Earth Really Does Turn

I know the Earth is always rotating, but other than the slowly setting sun I don't ever have the chance to see the evidence of its motion.  Last night I had that opportunity.

The evening was warm and we gazed through clear skies to look at the moon in our telescope.  It's dimpled face shone brightly through the lenses.  The craters seemed close enough to reach out and touch.  Captivated by it's beauty, I kept my eyes fixed.  Slowly the moon inched it's way across the eyepiece until it was no longer visible from that position.  I don't know how much time had elapsed, it seemed like only about 30seconds, but there it was in front of my eyes.  The rotation of the Earth.  AWESOME!    
   

Kathy

My Two Teenage Daughters

Warning: This post contains intense gushing over my children.  :)

Teenage Daughters- those two words can scare even the bravest parent.

When my girls were little I wondered what they would be like as teenagers.  Would they fall under some magical spell on their 13th birthdays transforming them into rebellious drama queens?  Could these adorable little princesses really transform into devils?

The spell was never cast on my girls.  That mystical night came and went and I now have two teenage daughters who remain best of friends and are still a joy to be around. We do everything together, from writing, to skating, to cooking.  I feel lucky that they continue to want me to join the fun. And they are always including their 7 year old brother in their crazy ideas.  Which usually ends in loud bursts of laughter.

I no longer have doubts on the kind of women they will become.  I'm already immensely proud of what they have accomplished and how they think of the world.  They both seem wise beyond their years.  Much more so than I was at that age.

My throat tightens when I think of Jessica leaving for college in 4 years and Alyssa following two years later. But I believe these teenage years which frighten so many, will be the most rewarding.  I am honored to be a part of their journey to becoming independent women.  

Kathy

p.s. sorry for the mushy post, but I saw that Fox Network is starting a new series, "I Hate My Teenage Daughter" and I was appalled.  I had to write about how great my girls are!


NANOWRIMO- I'm excited.  I've decided to participate this year.  I have my outline almost ready.  YEAH!  Are you participating?  and how do you prepare?