Monday's Muse NaNoWriMo

I haven't done a Muse post in awhile, so it seems fitting to talk about National Novel Writing Month on this blog since October's posts are all going to be preparation for my nanowrimo novel (minus a few blogfests).

National Novel Writing Month is a crazy November of trying to write 50,000 words on a newly started novel (if following the rules) during family events, school work, regular work, and everything else that goes on. It is a great practice and first draft creating exercise that encourages writing every single day. Since the goal is to write 50k in that one month, the daily goal is around 1667 words. Sure, 50k is a little short for a regular novel, though is okay for some YA lengths, but it's at least a good start. Some people even manage to get more than that amount done in the single month. I've seen people reach the goal after the first week, which seems very insane and some of those, along with others, get near or past 100,000 words in November. One thing to note is that NaNoWriMo is based on the honors system. It takes verification for the site to qualify it as a win, posting in the words to a program that scrambles them then counts. Winning means getting a certificate that you can print out. It's more of a status but one that is fun. I love the event because it's taking the sometime solitary act of writing a novel and makes it a group activity. It's fun and definitely crazy.

My Past NaNoWriMo Experiences:
I have attempted the event 3 different times.  2006 - 2007 - 2008

2006 was the first year when I tried writing the president's son novel, Finding a Way Out, which I only managed a few thousand words. It was my first attempt at writing a novel in general instead of just scenes and short stories. Haven't finished the book or written in it much really but I still like the idea. The agent character is fun and as long as the son doesn't ruin the plot, it could be interesting.

2007 was another failed attempt when I tried to write the YA novel, Ephram's Defiance, with a goal of 20,000 instead of the full 50. I managed to get 14,000 done that month and it was better than the year before. It was the longest piece of writing I had at that point. Didn't finish the first draft until 2009 and I'm now working on the novel rewrite.

2008 was the best year. I won while writing an erotica/romance novel, Hellenic Distractions. Got a few hundred words over 50k and later in December I finished the last few chapters. Had someone read the whole novel too, that I didn't even know, cause I had it up on writing.com and they were anxious for those last few chapters, which is encouraging. Haven't done a rewrite yet but I plan to in the future. The genre isn't my top priority at the moment but it's still fun to write.

2009, I planned to take part but with personal issues going on I ended up not writing for it. Made me a little sad because I had plans to try writing two different novels and started my own group on writing.com.


NaNoWriMo 2010:
This year, I plan to work on an Epic Fantasy novel. This is a story idea that I've wanted to write since high school. It actually started out as a historical fiction slash rpg sci-fi type of novel and eventually became a regular epic fantasy story. The idea has cemented and been the same for the past 5 years but I didn't want to write it yet because I wasn't sure if I could write epic/high fantasy very well. But I'm ready to give the first draft a shot and write it. While 50k is only half the expected length, it will be a good start.


Blog Schedule
October = NaNoWriMo prep
November = NaNoWriMo

and the winner is

The 100 follower giveaway is over. There were 9 entries, so just the two awards will be given out this time. I am pleased to have more than 5 entries, which makes this a somewhat successful giveaway. Next one will probably be at 200 followers and it will be huge (or so I hope).  But let's get onto the current giveaway.


Those that entered the giveaway, in numerical order:
1. Jolene Perry
2. J.D. Brown
3. Ashelynn
4. mamipdx
5. Ariana Richards
6. Charity Bradford
7. Inkwell Scribe (Amy)
8. Summer
9. Heather R

Using a virtual dice from Writing.com to pick a winner. There are other ways, I know, but this is the one I'm comfortable with for now. So, on with the winner.

(image from wpcult.com)

Roll     Your die Results    Total


#1              9                       9

#2              7                       7

 
#1 is Heather R
#2 is Inkwell Scribe (Amy)
 
 
I will email the winners. Heather gets to choose which book she wants first and Amy will get the other book.
 
Congratulations to the winners. Thank you everyone for following my blog and entering the giveaway.

Giveaway ends soon

(image source: laughitout.com)


Tomorrow at midnight the 100 follower giveaway will end.


Link: http://itsinthebookde.blogspot.com/2010/09/100-follower-giveaway-announcement.html

Have you entered yet? You should. If there are 10 or more, there will be 3 prizes. And I bet the last one will be a little less girly if the winner wants it to be.

:-D

WIP Wednesday

 (Image source: http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-work-in-progress-image11839173)

 Where did September go? It's already almost done and I feel like I've written absolutely nothing. Okay, I have done a little writing but I'd be surprised if I make it past 5,000 words for the whole month on all the different novel projects I have going.

Progress on my September goals? Not so much.

A few paragraphs written of a single chapter on rewrite / rewrite 5 chapters
Paragraphs of one chapter on Angel.Demon / 5k in Angel.Demon novel
No reading / Read 2 books
Not close on any of them. But October is coming and after that is November (National Novel Writing Month). I'm going to be sharing stuff on this blog for all of October, as I take part in a nanowrimo prep challenge. Not sure what I'll post in November, because it will be less common than in October, but there will be something each week at least.

Time to get my works in progress...

Meet Noah

Time to introduce another character. This time I'm introducing a character that has been in a few other blog posts: Noah from Standing Ground.

Noah Lane (last name will probably change in rewrite/edit)

Physical Description
Hair: white (longish in the beginning of the novel but then he gets a haircut)
Eyes: bright sapphire blue
Body type: Regular-ish. Not bulky but not twig thin either. Definitely doesn't work out as he tended to focus more on studying and trying not to use his powers.
Mutation: Controls energy/electricity
Age: mid to late 20's
Area of Study(college degree): Physics and Military Science. The physics was what he wanted to study and useful in his abilities to understand. Military Science he only studied because it might keep his dad off his back. He is anti-war and anti-violence.
Sexual Orientation: Gay and comes out to family in first book.

Maybe not with a leather jacket, but him with shorter hair.

More about Noah

He doesn't like being a mutant and having the abilities that he has. In fact, he wants to be normal. But he doesn't even look normal since he was born with whitish hair and his mutation is one of the strongest ones tests so far, or at least that was the prediction. They viewed Noah as having potential, which he later made sure to never reach up to as far as anyone else was concerned. Truth is, he could surpass the initial potential that was predicted but he's determined to never be a weapon for anyone.

Family Life
His mom is very encouraging, and in the start of the book he technically lives at his parents' house. He has one younger brother, who is like their father, both have super strength and do all kinds of manly things that Noah can't do or doesn't care about. The father is often disappointed by Noah because he was the first, didn't have a lot of strength, never met up with his potential and refuses to join the Superhero Society. So, his dad is the most compative member of the family with Noah. He gets along with his brother pretty well, considering.

Best Friend
Noah lives part time at his parents' house and part time with his best friend, Dominic. Dominic is a mutant who doesn't have family anymore but needs a lot of help due to his mutation. He gets prophetic dreams but they done in symbols that are difficult to interpet. And the dreaming requires his body to sleep far more often then most people. So, Noah often stays with him to help with the daily things and to make sure he doesn't fall asleep in the shower or anything like that.

Shhh Its A Secret

Blogfest that is... hehehe

First, don't forget to enter my giveaway, posted on this blog for a chance to win books. And I could use some comments on nano ideas, for anyone that wants to check out that blog post. Now to the blogfest.

The Concept (aka rules):
"In 700 words or less give us at least one secret in a story: murder, mystery, funny, romantic, poetry, or story snippet...doesn't matter but the word "Secret" must be included in the story or poem to count." The entry is posted on September 17th. And it's a contest, with a prize! Fun shall ensue.

Check out the other entries at My Inner Fairy Blog


 The Novel: Cinder Story. Still in the beginning section of the novel but skipping a couple of things. The secondary character is the daughter of the Boss man, Ella. In most stories, she is the main character, but for mine she is going to be an important secondary character. She will eventually become friends with Cinder and that is key to the story, but this is before that part of the story. (As usual, it is a first, unedited, draft. fyi)


The Entry:


It took over a month to get a schedule going, but finally Jack had all the women in the house figured out... for the most part. And after two weeks straight of menial, servant quality work, he had a day off to relax in his little room. The sleep in morning went well and by night time he was feeling relaxed for the first time since moving in for the job. A look at the clock showed it wasn't too late to call Eathan and have some form of normal contact with the outside world but he couldn't do it in the house.

While his was the only bedroom on the first floor, Jack knew the walls were thin enough that any conversation could be heard if someone happened to be in one of the nearby rooms. There was no way of knowing they were empty the whole time and he didn't want to limit his conversations when it came to friends. Didn't want to spill a secret when it could easily be avoided by stepping outside.

Two hours of phone conversation, in the dark, sitting on the cold concrete edge of guest parking that made up the farthest end of the Boss' property was enough to make him reconsider the decision. Shivering, Jack stretched while stifling a groan that radiated down the upper back of his thighs. He was about to go in when the unscheduled illumination of a car pulling into a family member parking spot caused him to halt. None of the girls were supposed to be out and the parents were already in bed. Jack stayed in the shadows, peeking around a set of trees on the edge of the property while squinting to see which one of the girls violated the strict curfew.

Then the light on the side of the house pooled over the feminine figure that wrestled with an oversized purse in probable search a house key needed to sneak back into the house. To Jack's surprise, it wasn't the hot headed, fake blonde daughter. Instead, he saw Ella, his boss' only biological daughter. Her natural brown hair hung down in waves to her shoulders. Unlike her step-sisters, she never dressed very revealing but it was far outmatched by her general personality. He hadn't worked much with her, but that said more than anything else. So far, Ella hadn't used him for stupid, overly girly and embarrassing assignments. All of his reactions with her made him believe she was nice but he would need further reactions to make a final decision. But none of that indicated why she, of the three girls, was out past curfew.

NaNoWriMo Ideas

(Image Source: cafepress.com)

Hello there. Hard to believe that September is more than half way over, which means October will be here soon followed by the epic month of November. That means, National Novel Writing Month and attempting to write 50,000 words on a "new" novel. But I don't know what to write for it. I'd had an idea picked out, actually, but changed my mind. So, I'm going to post here and see what anyone who comments thinks. Hopefully I pick one by October for the prep challenge.


Michael's Book - The idea I was originally going to write for NaNoWriMo 2010. It's a book in the mutant Series with the main character being Michael, who controls both fire and ice. Michael is a secondary character in the adult series book 1, Standing Ground. I considered writing the book before that, where he meets the other set of mutants and how they get involved with the revolution, which leads to them forcing Noah to help them break into SS, but I don't know if I want to anymore. Might wait and just focus on the YA and Adult books I have going at the moment.


Epic Fantasy, book 1 - One of my first novel ideas ever. It actually started out as a historical fiction idea, so it changed a lot the first few years but for the past 5 years the idea has been consistent. I loved to read epic fantasy in high school and have wanted to write a book with elves and mages for a long time. My username on Writing.Com is elfmage7, if that indicates anything. The main two characters are elves, slightly different types, and the main secondary characters include humans and a female dwarf. The villain is targeting human settlements, trying to take over for a particular reason (revenge is part of the plot) and the group has to work together despite their differences to stop him.


Intersex YA - Taylor was born intersexed, male and female technically, but his parents were so worried about picking the wrong gender (which could lead to transgender issues) that they decided to wait and let Taylor decide which gender is the right one. Has been alone, not making any friends all through school, and in high school stays away from others. Look androgynous so others don't often even try to be friendly with Taylor. Until one day a boy changes that, causing Taylor to wonder not only about own gender, but also the possibility of friends and maybe even dating.


Steampunk - Adult fantasy novel with steampunk elements for sure. One MC is a military leader/officer(detective), strong and capable of handling situations by the book. The other MC is a wood faery and works on a flying ship where he's supposed to protect the ship (not the people in it, just the actual ship). Fae MC's ship is attacked by the villain, whom other MC is working to capture. The two must try to work together, to not only save the people captured but stop the villain's plans. Plus there is the awkwardness of their personal interactions, and whether they will fall for each other. I am worldbuilding for this novel currently.


Dystopian - Borders novel. Human settlement in the mountains protected by old magick made borders to protect the villagers from the monsters (need to decide what kinds) that survive outside the borders. Very few people ever leave and very few have ever made it safe to the village from elsewhere. But a family shows up in a car, almost out of fuel one day, as the borders are starting to falter under the constant attacks of different monsters. Two potential MC characters. Boy from the village or the new boy that comes with the new family.


Mom's Novel - Romance with female main character. She meets the male love interest when they are in high school but her family moves away even before graduation. Lose contact after awhile. Both get married to others and then meet again. There are several different times in their lives when they meet but never is a time where both are single to get together. In retirement, they meet again and finally get to be together. It's my mom's novel idea, but she doesn't think she could write so I said I'd try to write it for her. The fact that it spans so many years sounds like the hard part for me.



Which should I pick?

100 Follower Giveaway Announcement

Yep. I promised that I'd do a giveaway after reaching 100 followers on this blog, and I'm already at 106. Time to give something away.

(Image source: technorati.it)

I'm going to try and keep this giveaway simple. There will be only one point (one chance) given to each person, instead of the extra blog, tweet, and such types of points. I've found the first giveaway or so tends to be a test run-ish, limited type. Well, at least my giveaways so far have been limited in results, so I don't want to put too much into it yet.

It will be U.S. only. Sorry for any International followers. However, I promise *crosses heart and holds hand up in vowing style* that the giveaway for 200 followers will be bigger and International.

Rules:
1.) Comment to this blog post with any type of greeting and add your email address. I need the email address to let the winners know, cause it's not easy to keep track of an old post on blogs (I know).
2.) One entry per person. I'd prefer followers of my blog, but really... I won't be checking.
3.) U.S. Only
4.) If less than 5 people comment, there will be only one prize given away. If 5-10 people post then there will be the two. If more than 10 post, I'll add a surprise third or so (depending on the number) prize.

The Prizes:
The books are YA and kinda girl books. Though males and females should read any book, no matter if it's called a boy book or a girl book. Or at least try. Cause trust me, I can't handle reading many girl books, lol.

1st Place: Gets to choose between Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer and Wake

 2nd Place: The book that doesn't get chosen by the first place winner.

3rd Place: Surprise Package.



Good luck! The Giveaway ends September 25th.

Feeling Overwhelmed

I haven't been posting much on this blog for a few reasons. Things have been beyond busy. Worked so far for 2 weeks at the elementary school and somehow already caught a cold. Sucks because I can't even drink coffee because my throat and such, not used to going days without coffee. Aside from the work and illness I have a ton of homework. Microbiology is proving to be one of the most difficult classes ever and it caught me at the end when I was already tired of school. I hope I do better the second half, after the break because right now things aren't easy.

Work isn't too bad except trying to learn SEE sign language. It's really frustrating for us and the student when he's trying to tell us something but we can't understand what he's saying. Got the alphabet down and some words/phrases. That is all so far.

Writing is slow because of this. I am writing in Sekrit Novel during lunch, which is nice. I've been very slow overall on that one because it has taken a few months to get done with 3 chapters but this week I did officially finish chapter 3. I also finished chapter 10 of the paranormal romance novel. Yay for that. They have not only met, but they are on their second meeting and soon will be living together. Fun times. Now I need to focus on the novel rewrite. When I am caught up with school work.

The other reason for not posting much here is I'm posting a lot on my other blog. The theme weeks are fun but require posting often in one week to make it worth the effort. That and I'm not sure what all to post here right now. I'll figure something out and in November this should be one busy blog. Let's hope.

WIP Wednesday September

It is September and actually the first day of September, so this is a perfect opportunity to post a Work In Progress Wednesday with goals for the month.

First, should post August Results.

Write 5 chapters in Rewrite
- 1 chapter finished.

10k in Angel//Demon Novel
- At least 3k done but maybe close to 5k. Haven't counted lately.

Read 4 novels
- Finished half of Shiver, so not even close.


September Goals

5 chapters in Rewrite
5k in Angel//Demon
Read 2 novels. Cause I think the break from classes starts towards the end of month.

I'll have some time when I don't have to do homework.