It's Wednesday Again... Did We Forget?

We didn't.

LOL!

So, since it's Wednesday, and since we didn't forget that means we've got some hopping to do!!

Do you want to join in on the Writer's Wednesday Blog Hop?  Would you like to meet some other writers and authors, both new and established, and find out what they're busy with, thinking about, writing about and blogging about right now? 

Then it's simple.  Really.

Go to The World of My Imagination and add your link to the blog hop roll.  It's fun and totally worth it if you're looking to network your talents, your work, your blog and if you're interested in finding other people who are looking for the same thing.

And before I even get going I want to thank Nicole (The World of My Imagination) for coming up with the idea, hosting and getting the ball rolling again this week.

50K in 30 Days

It is definitely that time of year again.

And amazingly I can almost hear the “Whaa?”

No idea what I’m talking about? No guesses? Come on!

Hhhmm…..

That’s right! It’s NaNo time again!!!

Now for those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, and have apparently been living under a rock for the past 12 years…

NaNoWriMo = National Novel Writing Month = November

What does that mean?

Simple.  From November 1^st – November 30^th you write your heart out.  Your goal is 50,000 words in 30 days, or 1667 words per day.  Now, those 50,000 words should make up a pretty good start for a novel.  Realistically 50k words, all by themselves only makes up a novella length story, but really – is that something to complain about?  Can you really hear yourself saying on December 1^st “But it’s only 50k… That’s only a novella.”  BIG NO!

If you finish your 50k by midnight on November 30^th you pass into the glorious annals of history (of NaNo) as a winner, and you’ve got a 50,000 word manuscript sitting on your hard drive that can be added to, edited, revised and polished into a full length novel and you got there in 30 days!

That’s not chump change, my friends.

So the big question on everyone’s mind (well everyone who knew what I was talking about in the first place) is whether or not they are going to NaNo this year…

Last year I started with big plans.  Yes, I actually planned last year, thank you very much.  I had the idea for The Gifted percolating in my head and it wanted out.  Take a look at the side of this page, see the progress meters for the stories?  See the one for The Gifted?  See how it’s just over 5000 words? 

That’s me and my spectacular NaNoWriMo 2010 writing fail.

So will I be doing it again?

Hhhmmm….

Probably.  Okay, yes I’m going to do it… but ssshhhh – keep reading.

I’m not really sure that this year’s progress, or accomplishment, will be much better than last year.  Honestly, I’m just as busy, if not more so than I was last year and this year I’m also working part time too. (I’ll tell you all a bit about that next time maybe. It’s something new.  Sort of.)  But this year I’m also going to cheat.  A bit.  Slightly.  Sort of.

I actually got the idea to cheat from another writer who, like me, has a lot on the go right now and doesn’t want to ‘lose momentum’ on the projects that their already working on.  For me, it’s not so much about losing momentum as it is about actually getting something done.  I’ll be shifting back to The Gifted again for NaNo this year.  And the just more than 5000 words that I’ve already written?  I’m not tossing them.  When the story is “completely finished and ready to be published” those words and the beginning that I managed to write last year, will be there.  BUT I have the story to a point right now where it’s almost time for a ‘time jump.’

No, not time-travel, but that beautifully crafted jump in our stories where months pass in the blink of an eye.  Or with the turn of a page, as the case may be.  So November 1^st I’ll be starting immediately after the time jump.  Hello word count = 0! 

Will November 30^th find me at 50,000 words?  I really hope so. Mostly because I’d like to be able to come back and say “Yes, I finished!” but also because then I’d be 50,000 words closer to finishing that story. And remember how I said that while the idea had been percolating, that the story really wanted to be told.  Uh huh, now the characters are nearly as loud and obnoxious as my kids with their demands that their stories be told.  Really, NaNo this year may be my only hope for sanity.

And okay… LOL.  I think I’d better stop now, while you don’t think I’m completely off my rocker, and maybe, I don’t know… Go write something.  But not The Gifted, I’m saving that for NaNo. 

I think I’ll go to Greece.

You're Going to Want to Read This!

Please bare with me while I shamelessly plug my own work...
 

This here is just a little cross promotion of my writing that is posted on Becoming Dawn, the other writing blog that I run where I am Dawn McGlenn and writing fiction that is “here and now,” with none of the paranormal, fantasy or science-fiction bents that I live for when writing as LD Ferris.  (If you’re new and have no idea what I’m talking about then check out this post, where I discussed the stories that I’m currently working on as LDF or this post where I try to explain the Dawn vs. LD split personality.)

Image via WikipediaFor Halloween this year I wanted to write a themed story but when I finally managed to come up with an idea, it wasn’t a paranormal!  It was just a nice, if not slightly funny story about a group of teenagers excited about celebrating their last Halloween together before they 1) graduate high school, 2) go to college or university, and 3) have to grow up.  They’ve been friends since they were toddlers, and over the years Halloween has become the one ‘holiday’ that they’ve always spent together, no matter what.  So what happens when one of them, the ‘leader of the pack’ actually, makes plans to go away with her boyfriend and leave the rest of the group to their own devices, thus breaking tradition?  Is it a sign of what’s to come as their lives change after high school, or is it all…

Actually that might just give away something of the plot.  But I promise, even it’s not the most amazing, unique, and wonderfully written story that I ever publish, it’s still worth a read.  So… Check it out.

A Teen Halloween (part 1)

On an unrelated but also important issue, I want to thank Nicole from The World of My Imagination for starting the WritersWednesday Blog Hop.  As I mentioned last time, I participated this week (I wish I could say that I will do it each week, but life has a way of intruding sometimes…) and I really enjoyed checking out all the other blogs and sites that were part of the Hop.  It was a lot of fun and I started following a bunch of blogs that are witty, well written, informational and creative.  To everyone that I “met” during this weeks WWBH, this is just another shout out to you all – “You’re awesome!” – and to everyone from the Hop that stopped by here and figured that I was interesting enough to persuade you to follow me… I can only say this:

“Thank you.  I hope you’ll keep stopping by to see what I’m doing.  And I hope that I don’t bore you silly.”

And that’s it for today.  Now I’m going to go do some thing else…

Following the Hop!

I'm blog hopping today!  

The new "Writer Wednesday Blog Hop" is being hosted by Nicole on The World of My Imagination.  If you're a writer with a blog and would like to join in, or just someone who wants to check out what new, aspiring and established writers are blogging about, jump on over to Nicole's blog (just click that link), register your blog (if you've got one) and start hopping!  She's got all of the "rules" you'll need to know, right there.  Go Now... I know you want to!

Have an awesome Wednesday and I'll see you on the Hop!!

The "Where's" of My Writing

When I’m writing I tend to get lost in my head sometimes.  I become absorbed, and even obsessed, with the worlds that I’m creating there, describing on the page, and in the landscapes of the story itself.  While the plot and the characters of any story are what the whole thing revolves around, something else that can be just as important are the settings: where those characters are, and where the story takes place. 

For today’s update I decided to take you some of the places where my stories take place.  Enjoy.

The Immortals - though the story begins in the USA and has several other parts there as well, the bulk of the story is set in Greece.... 

The Chosen - this story takes place in northeast USA, primarily the New England areas around Yale University and New Haven, CT; in Westford, MA and Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA...

The Gifted - taking place in the environs and the sights that I can see anytime with just a short drive, this story is set mostly in Southern Alberta...

I take no credit for the photo's used in these collages... They were collected over the course of months, and even years, from public archives, blogs, and other sites found online by using Google searches. I tried to make sure that I wasn't using anyone's copyrighted photos but if I missed one, or if you were the photographer of one of the photos used and would like credit for your work, please just let me know and I will do my best to accommodate you.  No infringement of photo rights is meant by the use of these photos. - Lacey

Mad-ly Writing

I’m feeling slightly more crazy than normal right now… why?  I just haven’t had a lot of time for writing lately, what with the Husband being home for the first time in 6+ weeks and him wanting to do things nearly all the time.  And then getting sick enough that I couldn’t sit without becoming, er, sick.  (I think you can use your own imagination for that!)

So that’s why, not only am I late for updating, but I don’t really have much to say either.  I am however feeling much, much better today than I was feeling yesterday, and the Husband’s gone again for a few weeks (back to work) and I’m back at the computer and trying to get back on schedule. 

With any luck I’ll be able to purge my mind over the next few days, quiet some of the loudest voices that are demanding attention, and be able to feel slightly more sane than I do right now.  ;-)

For something to new to see - check out what's happening over on my review and discussion blog, or my other writing blog.

Taking the Paranormal in to the Everyday

           You wake up in the morning and it feels like you have balls of cotton shoved in your ears – you can hear, some sounds even seem amplified, but everything has that muffled quality that you’d hear through a door or wall.  When you pry your eyelids open the light is blinding to you, even as the gritt in your eyes rubs like sandpaper on the sensitive tissue.  You swallow and the burn is like a shot of potent alcohol.  You gasp, hoping to cool the burn but the cool air only cuts at your throat like a thousand tiny blades.  Realization hits you…

            You’re sick.

Image by Ivars Krutainis via Flickr

            Of course you are, but therein lies the amazing possibilities and wonderous range of what could be the cause of your pain and discomfort when (or if) you factor in a fantasy or paranormal angle to your story.  Maybe you’re waking up after being attacked by vampires.  Maybe you’re a witch who is experiencing the effects of a “magic hangover” after an overuse of power.  Or maybe you were the unfortunate victim of a Fright Demon (you know one of those terror inducing demons who literally live on the power of your fear, and particularly enjoy the sounds of your screams…)

            You add paranormal twists or a fantasy bent to your story and you create a world for yourself that literally (no pun intended) holds unending, limitless, fluidly imaginative possibilities.  You can go anywhere, be (or become) anyone, do nearly anything, and all because you’ve taken your character out of the ‘real’ world and placed them into a world of your own making.

            So where would you go, if you could go anywhere?  And where would you go, if you could go there in the blink of an eye?  Who would you be, or become, if you could take any identity you wanted with merely a wish?  If you could do anything, what would it be?  And through it all, would be acting for the good of your self, for the good of all, or to destroy everything in good in the world?  Would you be good or evil?