From the Inkwell, From the Vein.....

So, I woke this morning, and would have sworn to anybody who asked me, that it was only the day after Halloween. As my last post was dated 10/31/11, I had no problem whatsoever believing that today was November 1st..... but, it's not---- sigh..... How a person goes about losing 20 days when they are not in a coma or some other unconscious, time-suspended kind of situation, is beyond me... clearly. But, a lot of things have whittled away the time and I was completely unaware of how quickly the month was passing. Nanowrimo started on the 1st. This is year 5 for me and the first time that I've ever started without a clear plot in mind... of course, that didn't mean I would easily give up. For the first week, in fact, I was right on schedule, my daily 1667-word goals adding up quite nicely. By week two, I found myself hotel-bound in Edwardsville, Illinois working on a bookstore remodel for my company. Anyone who's ever worked in book retail knows it isn't ...

Once again, I have come out of NaNoWrimo triumphant! Triumphant, that is, as far as word count goes. Year 4 found me completing my entry in a Baton Rouge hotel room. But, exactly what it is that I completed, I have not, as yet, figured out. I squeaked out a 50,023-word victory on Nov. 29th. I had hoped to be finished long before then, but life--as it always does--had other plans. But, I did finish....though what I'm left with is FAR from complete. "Tangle of Matter Ghost" had started as a tragic Victorian-ghost love-story, with a not-so-subtle nod to Gothic Lit....that was my intent anyway. Buuuuuuut..... somewhere along the way, about 5 or 10 thousand words into it, the story suddenly became a Civil War novel, centering on Voodoo, the horrors of war and what can happen if you take more than you can pay for....and what can happen if you take magic and you can not pay for that either. So, I have some 15 characters, 137 pages of mixed plot-lines, which is inter...

I sat down to write a note about my preparations for NaNoWriMo year 3 and I suddenly became aware that it has almost been a full year since I added a post. Funny how life gets in the way sometimes. This year has not been the easiest, but as each day passes I revel in the fact that I am one day closer to moving on, moving past, going forward or whatever the appropriate terminology is. This year has been a lesson in self-discovery, loss, fear and triumph. I have come to the full realization that I am no longer happy in the job that I am working and I am hoping that this discontent will fuel my passion to become a published author. With that goal in mind, my efforts post-nano will be doubly focused on making that dream a reality. By this time next year, I would like to be able to post a substantial number of submissions that I have made. It is time for me to step up from just writing to actually submitting. My chances of becoming published will only improve if I get my work out there, o...

After my less-than-hopeful last post, I'm hoping this time to not further depress anyone who might read what I've written. Slowly, the 2-month long shadow is beginning to lift. It feels as if I've distanced myself from my creative self for far longer than 2 months, but that is all it has been. Desire to return to my unfinished stories and the limbo-held lives of my infant characters is now needling its way through the darkness...... --I've left Morgan Blake in the clutches of her sadistic, psychopathic cousin. --Poor Daniel Quinn has been "lost" in the In-Between for longer than he should have been. --And my dreadfully neglected Gruesome triplets must surely think I've disowned them-- Wilhelmina, Phineas and Ignatius are still without a home, though their inheritance should be of some comfort. --Regretfully I'm ashamed to even mention Carson Reed and Raimi Singh, whose story is still only half-conceived. I am obliged to return to my writing, n...

As if I wasn't insane enough to get myself caught up in the November writing frenzy, NaNoWriMo---50,000 words in 30 days--- Now I've signed myself up for the sister program Script Frenzy---20,000-word or 100-page script in 30 days, which is set to begin April 1st. I've never written a stage or screenplay before, so it should be an interesting exercise in imagination. And because I want it to be fun, I've decided to use one of their generated plot ideas so I don't have to struggle with what to write. Try not to laugh too much at the plot, it is supposed to be fun, you know ;) So, without further ado, here it is: Screenplay: Devil Dread Bayou Main Characters (so far): Max Steiner, Elsa Hardcastle Plot: In a world where sleep must be paid for, a bike messenger with a death wish, plans to camp out in a haunted bayou. So, let's see what I make of it :) I'm hoping it will be a good way to relieve some stress, since I don't really care how it turns ou...

The holidays were supposed to be an exciting and warm time to share with friends and family. I've never understood how/why people find it necessary to go completely insane. Simple times with loved ones are all I crave and wish for during the holidays. I wish I could say that working at a bookstore that we might actually be immune to the insanity, but it isn't true. Even now, 3 full days after Christmas and we are still getting trashed. What ever happened to people having respect for property? What about home-training? Have we all forgotten how to raise our children to treat things/people with decency? I am constantly amazed at the total disregard for everything in our store. It's not that I'm crying in outrage for the mistreatment of corporate America, not at all. But, the whole attitude of "isn't it your job to clean up after me" is not only erroneous, but degrading. We are not paid to be your maid, in fact, we aren't paid anywhere near enough to ...

Just when you think you've got everything all figured out, something somewhere seeks you out and throws you a massive curve ball the size of small island. Okay, so maybe it isn't the size of a small island, but it's still annoying. So, I have a vague, very general outline for my up and coming project "Soul Sifters", but I am, as yet, unable to come up with a single character name and I'm not even sure that the outline I have is really what I'm looking for.... sometimes I just wish stories could write themselves. I like the idea, but it borders on possibly being a psychological thriller or possibly a horror story. I don't think it's going to fit in either younger genre that I'm much more accustomed to writing in. Yet, I suppose that dabbling in other genres is part of the growth process. How will I know where I fit as a writer unless I try writing every possible form of writing out there??

One more chapter to tie everything up and my NaNovel will officially be complete. Well, the first draft of my NaNovel will be complete, but that's still something. At just under 56,000 words this is the longest and quickest-written novel I have ever managed. Now what I have to look forward to in the coming months will be the dreaded editing. The energy and enthusiasm that went into this project initially will be needed more than ever as the edit begins. I just hope I'll be able to dig the energy back out. But, this will also make the third novel added to the stack of edits. I suppose I'll have to decide which direction to move first....which book to work at.... I suppose my next plan will be to reread all 3 books and try to decide which one is the closest to being ready for submission. If I don't start sending out query letters soon, I'm going to have an entire bookcase full of unpublished manuscripts. Plus side of that is I'll always have a spare novel to ...

I just realized that my NaNovel is actually the longest manuscript I've ever composed...and I'm not even done yet! When I first sat down and outlined the story before November 1st, I had serious doubts that the plot would carry me through the 50,000-word requirement to be considered an official NaNoWriMo winner. But, here I am, November 19th and I am currently at 53,376 words!!!! Today is also my 2nd anniversary with my husband and what better way to celebrate. I can completely devote my attention to my supportive and up to now neglected husband and not feel guilty. I think as authors we sometimes forget the ones who wait patiently in the "wings" or in the hallway as we ignore everything about normal life for the duration of our writing frenzies. It is never more obvious and poignant than during a literary marathon such as National Novel Writing Month. At a time when we feel obligated to strap the keyboard to our fingers to even half-way compete with the rest of the...

Just passed the 50,000-word mark right before midnight!!!!! My total word count for the Write-a-Thon was only about 3,500 words, but it was enough to get me to my first NaNoWriMo win!!!! Now I just have to finish the book....have about 10-15 % left before the end and will get there very soon ;)

I just passed the 40,000-word mark and it's only day 11 in this crazy month-long literary marathon. I really feel that if work hadn't invaded, I might...just might have been able to get the word count out in a week!!!!!! And I can't tell you how unbelievable that is for me. To have a working first draft in a week is amazing and exhilarating and something I never would have thought possible for me. My first book took a little over 3 years just to get a complete first draft. My second book, still isn't a complete first draft and it's going on 2 years. My third book, I was very proud to say, made it to complete first draft stage in just at a year.....but now this!!!!! My fourth book project and I am very close to having a complete first draft in less than a month!!!! And I actually might make it at around 2 weeks!!!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!!!!! This has been the thrill-ride of my life and I really hope to be able to continue doing NaNovels every year for the rest o...

I'm about to pass the halfway point on my 50,000 word journey. In less than 500 words I will be embarking on the last half of my NaNovel. I can't believe I have gotten so far so quickly. It is only day 4 and I'm well on my way to victory. This has been a thrilling 4 days and I know for sure that whatever happens, every November will become my insanity month. I will strive for normalcy and calmness for the other 11 months, especially since I'm a retail manager. But that one month in the year, that precious sweet 30 days will be all about the magical and terrifying power of words. Since signing up on Oct 18th, I've been stifled, stilted, excited and exhilarated. And now I feel more accomplished than I have ever felt in anything I've done. I don't know how all of this will turn out ... well, I know how my book will turn out, I know pretty much how I want it to end ... but what I don't know is where I will go from there. I don't think I'll even l...

Normally I'd be complaining about not having any words come at all. But now I have so many pouring through me that I'm having withdrawals when I step away from my laptop. And I mean serious separation anxiety. I can feel my chest tighten and my pulse race and my breathing double. It's not like I'm walking away mid-sentence. Heck! I'm not even walking away mid-paragraph. But, as soon as I step inches away, the story starts screaming in my head to be let out. I'm like a gambler watching the stakes get higher and higher... the jackpot growing and growing before my eyes. Every word takes me that much closer to my goal and I HAVE to keep going. Whew!!!! Okay, I'm addicted....*hangs head* My name is Mysteria-Wednesday, and I have a problem.....

Day 2 and have totaled 15,164 words!!!!! Woot!!! I've never written this much in 2 days in my life. Now, I know most of it is going to be total crap that will have to be edited to oblivion, but just to be able to release the words like opening a vein is exhilarating. I've promised not to go back and read or edit anything I've written until the month of November is up. Well.....I've read a little bit, but I promise that I haven't read all of it. And I've totally left it un-edited (my apologies to the readers of my blog for having to read the first run of crap). I'm just enjoying the ride and eager to see where it takes me.....if my pace continues, I won't need the whole month to hit the 50,000-word finish-line!!!!

Is it possible to be possessed by a story? I've only been writing on my NaNovel since midnight, off and on (with time in there for sleep) but I'm already at 6148 words and counting....21 pages to be exact. I don't think I've ever written so much in so short a span of time. I guess when you take away the hindrances of an internal editor and put in a huge time crunch...30 days tops....I guess anything can happen and does!!!! Wow! I didn't think it possible.

9 hrs and 15 min left. I never thought that waiting for something would cause such agony. Every spark of inspiration has been told to wait patiently. Every sleepless hour of plot mulling will be for nought if my memory and sketchy outline don't hold. I am so accustomed to crawling out of bed in the middle of night, laptop in hand, when a eureka moment happens. The last 2 weeks have been an agonizing and torturous exercise in creative stifling. And finally in less than 10 hrs, I will be put out of my misery. I'm so excited I can't even begin to describe it. I like my basic story idea and I like the fact that I'm going to try and get it written out in a month! I know it will in no way be perfect, but just being able to pour my heart, soul and visceral innards into it non-stop for a solid month of insanity is exhilarating. Especially since I haven't been able to write any of it out at all. The conscious effort of not-writing has been the hardest part of this for me...