November
2019 Blog
Today is
the first day of the rest of my writing life, again.
Write Away: A Haiku
NaNoWriMo
reigns
Supreme,
demands I fulfill
Declared
prophesy.
by
Ann Wilmer-Lasky
Today
is November 1, 2019 – the first day of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month
– https://nanowrimo.org) for this year and their 20th Anniversary, I
have been participating for most of those years, if not all. It seems their
records only go back to 2011. I have penned at least 50,000 words each of those
years.
50,000
words are not enough for a full-length novel, so I always tried to finish in
December with NaNoFiMo (National Novel Finishing Month), but I’m not sure they
still exist. Haven't seen a NaNoEdMo (National Novel Editing Month) for a while
either.
This
year will be no different, except I’ll do my 1,667-2,000 words with more
determination this year, since I really need to complete all my projects. One
never knows when one won’t be able to do it anymore.
Once
again, I’ll try to finish by November 28th, which is my birthday – a
lovely little present to myself.
It
still takes about 2 ½ hours a day to accomplish the writing goal. Haven’t
figured out a way yet to write any faster, and it’s about the fastest my little
fingers can fly. I still write with pen and paper and my dear husband still
types everything into the computer for me. I am so lucky.
Hopefully,
I will be able to sit out in my backyard and write (my absolute favorite place
to avoid the distractions of the world).
However, the weather is finally turning bitter cold after a long, hot,
hot summer, so I may have to retreat inside and take to my bed with classical
music playing in the background and only my puppies to sit on my lap and help
me. I can’t tolerate hearing words or lyrics to songs, as it breaks my train of
thought and prevents my characters from talking to me and telling me where they
think they should go. Sometimes we argue about it. Sometimes I say no. But usually we agree that they know best what
they are doing. Probably the only time when I allow that the little voices in
my head exist.
This
year I’m again working on The Chronicles of Acqueria series and should have a
new book ready to publish the first of the year. I’ll also be publishing a new
edition of the first book, “Blood Moon Treachery” so all my prequels and
sequels will match up. Noticed some definite conflicts with hair color and
family trees have cropped up, so I will be solving them.
As
always, I look forward to NaNoWriMo and NaNoFiMo more than I do Thanksgiving
and Christmas, but I’m just strange that way. After all, I am a writer. (That
explains a lot.)
As
I head into 2020, I hope my new-found momentum gathers speed. I plan on
accomplishing a lot this next year. Who knows how many more years I will be
able to. I’m getting the feeling I’m definitely pushing the envelope. I surely
don’t want to have to stop with so many of my stories untold, so many of my
heroes (literary) unsung.
I
will be posting daily results on Twitter and Facebook this year – maybe even
post a tantalizing excerpt or two. That will be along with my daily Haiku. I
can’t give that up. It’s part of my daily routine.
My
computer is bearing up well, so I shouldn’t
have any technical problems this year. And I will endeavor to back
everything up. I also always print a hard copy of my files, so if anything
catastrophic happens, we can always retype it into the computer. Thankfully,
that has not happened too often.
I’m
resurrecting my “Rhimo” for the month. Got his picture framed and hung. If nothing else, he will keep me motivated.
This month, in honor of
NaNoWriMo, I’m featuring “The
Chronicles of Acqueria: Blood Moon Treachery” so my faithful readers can get involved in
Sentia’s story before you learn of its origins. It is available from Amazon at https://tinyurl.com/y96zzp9u.
Also in honor of
NaNoWriMo, my featured poetry for October is the second of my two Haiku chapbooks, celebrating the #WritingCommunity: “Life’s Lemons and Lemonade: A Collection
of Haiku, Volume Two: The Write Life”, now available in print from Amazon at: https://tinyurl.com/ycqtq3mt
Until next time, keep
the faith. Keep writing and keep reading. Enjoy what makes you happy. There is
far too little happiness in this world these days.
As always, I welcome
your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my
readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care
to share your thoughts with me there:
As all of my books are
available on Amazon, I’m also including a link to my Amazon Author’s page. Feel
free to visit me there also:
