Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween, also known as NaNoWriMo Eve. I'm pretty sure I'm not a logical person. I currently have two jobs and will spend the first three days of NaNoWriMo in Indianapolis, also known as away from my home, my family and my computer.
The first two I will miss a lot. The third one I can do without but it will make starting NaNoWriMo tricky and any hope of doing NaBloPoMo impossible. That's okay I wasn't really planning on the NaBloPoMo and as I mentioned before I'm not going into NaNoWriMo with the expectation that I will actually do 50,000 words but my hope is to get a really good start and to write more than I have been.
I really do wish that NaNoWriMo was in February or March. There is so much going on October-December that it's just not a good place for me. Maybe I'll do a NaNoWriMo in January. A while back I wrote a post about other months devoted to creative things. January would be after all the holidays and second jobs but before the wedding plans start getting into super serious mode.
Until then, despite all the madness, I will participate in NaNoWriMo and who knows, I might surprise myself.

Good luck to all those participating!

Time to write!

Happy November! I hope everyone had an amazing Halloween. My was a little downsized, I didn't do as much but I did get more kids than last year. I nearly ran out of candy since I didn't buy as much. In fact, I only had one piece left at the end of the night, which is probably best.

Anyway, sorry for the week long absence. I've spent most of it in Ann Arbor sitting in the U of M hospital. I did spend some of that time working on Going It Alone edits but mostly I was reading.
Never worry though, today is the start of NaBloPoMo as well as NaNoWriMo, so if all goes as planned by the end of the month I will have posted here every day and will have my novel finished.

When I went to register for NaBloPoMo I found that they have a whole new website this year where you get a profile instead of just a link on a list. Hopefully, they still have a blog randomizer so I can check out other blogs in no particular order.

I'll try to remember to get my NaBloPoMo and NaNoWriMo profiles posted in the sidebar until then just click on the links in this post.

Good luck to anyone who's participating in either and happy writing!

Happy Halloween!

Oh blimey! Guess who managed to get her Internet shut off the day before the start of NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo? If you said me, you're right. The bright side is that this should leave me with less time procrastinating while on the Internet and more time to write my novel.

Speaking of writing novels, Jenni can you hear me? Are you out there somewhere?

I have managed to commandeer my sister's lap top which was once my old lap top. Not only does it have a horribly slow dial-up connection and a broken disc drive but it's missing several keys (the letters have been replaced with alt, ctrl and such) but it has been dropped on the ground no less than three times.
Hopefully, it will function well enough to get me through a few days of blog posts and NaNoWriMo page updates.
I'll just say sorry in advance that I will miss out on a lot of blog posting. I don't have enough time and patience for it to load every one's every day and I'm not sure that I know more than a few address without my favorites list. I'll do my best and hopefully this won't last long.

Before I go I'll mention that I can't wait for 12:00 to come. I have such an awesome plan for my novel in my head and I keep going over it. I've been thinking about my first line and I know I can't write it down yet but I feel I have so much built up that I could write the whole book in one sitting once that clock turns 12:00!

Hope everyone has a very fun and imagination filled night. Halloween is one of the best days. It encourages so much imagination and creativity. I just love it.

Trick-or-treat alternative

In the comments for my last post I was encouraged by D.B.Echo to tell the world what it is that I give out for Halloween. At least that's what I got from the comment so if I'm wrong sorry. It actually has something to do with writing so I guess I will share it with everyone.

When kids come trick-or-treating to my door I give them candy but I also give them comic books. I spend a few days going around town finding cheap, kid friendly comic books and even steal a few from my personal collection. (If you are considering doing this tell the store why you want the books. They help you find kid appropriate ones and may give you a better deal. One store gave me a great deal if I let them put the store sticker in the front cover).

I do this for a few reasons. Everyone gives candy so I like to give a little something different. Also I love comic books and if someone would have given me one instead of candy I would have loved it.
The bigger reason I give out comic books is to promote reading and art appreciation. Maybe it's not the finest literature or art you are going to find but for kids it's a start. More and more kids and adults rely on T.V. and videos games. I love these things too but I worry that eventually few people will care about reading because they can just watch it. Then they will miss the beauty of things like the inner monologue, the suspense that fills you when you just can't read fast enough and how much more grand things are when imagined rather than shoved in your face. And I worry that few people will ever stop to appreciate the time and effort it takes to draw images that look like they could reach out and touch you and maybe no one will realize that if you take the time to think about it one beautifully detailed scene says so much more than a movie can.
I know that most people don't see comic books that deeply but they can be a start for children. Obviously not just comics either. If you can find children's books or give out Play-Doh or crayons, anything that encourages a child to think and imagine, then hand those out.
I don't think I need to explain why we should encourage children to create and appreciate. I just thought I'd mention it in case anyone was looking for an alternative to candy this Halloween.
I've done this for the past three years and the kids seem to love it.

BTW: I updated my sidebar with my NaNoWriMo page and this time it's my own page not just the home page for the site(Oops!). I also added my MySpace page although I don't spend much time there so it's not that exciting.

Excuse for laziness:Halloween

I spent today trying to get my articles for the Lookout done. I probably didn't spend as much time as I should have because I was too busy enjoying Halloween! Also I still haven't heard from my interviewees, so really nothing got done.

I'm a little tired tonight, but I'll spend some time attempting to finish the first installment of what will hopefully be an ongoing series of my new superhero story. I am sore from all the crazy Halloween preparations, so I'll probably go to my comfy chair and do some old school hand writing.

Then I'll probably read because it's important for writers to read. I'll start with the latest rejection letter I got today and finish with a few chapters from a novel.