Tag Archives: NaNoWriMo

November NaNo and Novenas

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I would just like to say to anyone who may have sent an email or text or message that’s gone unanswered, I have a really good excuse.

To my friend whose novel came out and I read and thoroughly enjoyed but haven’t quite got round to posting that review yet, it was wonderful and I will get to it. (And P.S. You can read all about it in this interview with Kara Bietz on her book, SIDELINED.)

And even though Libs can’t read, I feel like I should apologize for letting her out and then forgetting to leave the door open so that she could come back in. (To be fair, she seemed pretty happy, sitting outside on the steps in a sunny spot. Where I found her three hours later.) Again, I have a perfectly good reason for that oversight.

See, I had this idea for a cozy mystery–which I’d made a good start on–and I was determined to employ some “planned neglect” during National Novel Writing Month (NaNo for short) and…well, you know what? I wrote all about it already over at the Muffin in “Planned Neglect (Or How I Met My NaNo Goal Without Even Trying).

(I managed to squeeze in another blog post over at the Muffin earlier this month. It is always quite the adventure “When The Universe Strikes.”)

Anyway, here it is, November 30th, and I’ve completed about 15,000 words more than I scheduled, just by ignoring almost everyone and nearly everything. That seems like a pretty fair trade-off, right?

(Oh, wait! Today is the feast of Saint Andrew which marks the beginning of the Christmas Novena. You can find out more about this special Advent devotion here. And sure, I was writing, writing, writing, but you know this Catholic girl remembered to say her prayers today!)

Time Flies And All That Jazz

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IMG_20191113_135133422As I’m writing this, Libs (The Tiny Terror) is shivering in her…er, paws. Oh, she’ll throw out a little bark every once in a while, but mostly, she’s just cowering behind me. Because the Carpet Cleaner Guy is at the house!!!

Yeah, the Carpet Cleaner Guy. When I called him, I asked, “When did I get the carpets cleaned? Last November? Or was it September?” And there was this awkward little pause.

“Mrs. Hall,” he said. “It was three years ago.”

Which just goes to show that one minute, you’re thinking how nice and clean your house smells, and the next minute, it’s November (and you’re wondering why your house smells). Such is time flying and all that jazz. And that brings us to my blog post over at the Muffin today: NaNoWriMo: Are We Done Yet?

Because for cryin’ out loud, y’all, can it possibly be nearly the middle of November? If you’re toiling away at the National Novel Writing Month writing challenge–and lagging behind–then you’re going to want to read that post. But if you’re like me, skipping NaNoWriMo but just getting around to getting carpets cleaned after three years, then you might want to check your fridge.

Me and Libs both are scared of that.

 

The October WOOooOooo Wrap-up!

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10626620_10204178615537318_786430566163493947_nOctober is a favorite month for me and not just because I happened to have been born on one of its spooktacular days. (But I’m not saying which because honestly, I pretty much celebrate the entire month. And Oldest Junior Hall is taking me to see Wicked this weekend as a birthday /Christmas gift–I suspect he’ll be using this adventure for the next couple years to cover everything–so the party’s not over until I sing so much that Oldest Junior Hall tells me to stop. And P.S. I won’t. Because yeah…it’s my birthday.)

The point is, lots going on in October and now it’s time to catch up:

Remember the Kidlit Fall Writing Frenzy over at Kaitlynn Leann Sanchez’ blog, Math is Everywhere? I wrote Worms Crawl In for this fun contest and boo-yah! I was a winner! I love when writers join together in community to support each other, and when there are prizes, too? Well, that’s just about the best in my book.

Of course, now that I’ve won a creep-tastic critique, I suppose I’ll have to write up something. I’ve got an idea for a sort of nonfiction, sort of funny picture book that I might work on in November during NaNoWriMo.

I’ve also got lots of opinions about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), so if you’re on the fence about whether to participate in this November writing challenge, you might want to give a read to “The Rights and Wrongs of NaNoWriMo” over at The Muffin.

And yes, I know that a picture book is not a novel, even if it’s a long non-fiction one. But I’ve been working on a revision of a middle grade paranormal all month and I’m this close to being stick-a-fork-in-it, I-really-mean-it-this-time done. So I’m kinda novel-ed out right now.

I’m not done with all my research, though. I’ve been binge-watching every ghost hunter show this October–who knew there were so many?–partly to pick up a pointer here and there, but also to get me in the paranormal mood. I even went to a presentation at my local library where a paranormal investigation crew played EVPs and answered questions and showed us ghostly, ghastly photos and videos.

It was all a bit oooOOOOooooo. Until I asked one of the investigators my burning question: Why do ghost hunters always hunt for spirits and such at night? I mean, time doesn’t mean anything to a ghost, right?

No photo description available.But it’s October, y’all, and hunting ghosts and telling spooky stories and getting ready for NaNoWriMo is what you do. Unless you got something different? Spill your guts, please, ’cause yeah…it’s still October for a day or two.