Category Archives: NaNoWriMo

#NaNoWriMo2017, Day 3 or Making Progress

YAY! I made progress yesterday! It’s always such a good feeling to see the word count rise! I think I’ll probably need to go back and add some stuff in the middle of what I already wrote – maybe even a whole chapter’s worth, but we’ll see.

In between three trips to school (drop off a kid with a project, pick up a kid with a project, pick up a kid after color guard), I finished a couple of partially written scenes and wrote a couple others. I’m loving the snark Katrín is bringing to the story. If anyone deserves to be snarky (and call King Benjamin Benji in front of the Queen Mother), it’s Katrín. 😉

Be sure to check out the main page of the website (or the left column of the blog) for the In Concert with the King tracker!

Today’s goals:
Hit 20K on ICWTK
5K total words

Stats:
Yesterday: 4022
In Concert with the King total: 15313
NaNoWriMo Total: 6026
On track to finish NaNoWriMo (50K): 11/25

NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo, Writing

#NaNoWriMo2017, Day 2 or It’s a Start

Just a quick post while the kid is getting for school. Got some work done yesterday. Went to Chick-fil-A for a couple hours while the oldest worked. Read through what I have of In Concert with the King and made notes. Then wrote some when I got home. Finished two scenes that I’d started months ago then wrote a whole new scene.

But part of that scene is sort of flashback-y to when Benjamin stood up to Isaiah in Reclaiming Hearts and was copy/pasted so it feels a bit cheat-y to count them but some parts were rewritten because it was from Maggie’s point-of-view originally.

Hoping to get a few more scenes written today. We’ll see how it goes…

Stats:

In Concert with the King
Day 1: 2004
Total: 11291

NaNoWriMo 2017
Day 1: 2004
Total: 2004

NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo, Writing

2016, Day 313 or #NaNoWriMo2016 Day 9: Leavin’ on a Jet Plane – Help!

 

nano-16-day-9-jet-plane

(Scroll to the bottom for details on a SALE!)

Okay – so that plane looks a little LOSTish and I have no desire to end up on a desert island with a smoke monster, a mysterious hatch, crazy Others, Benry, and Desmond.

BUT…

Matt and I talked the other night and it looks like I’m going to two new conferences next year! YAY! They’re the StoryMaster’s conferences in Toronto (May) and Houston (June). Both look fantastic and I hope to learn a lot.

My issue is transportation.

Clearly, driving to Toronto is out. It’s about a 16 hour drive. I’d thought to buy tickets out of St. Louis, Kansas City, or Tulsa, because they have much bigger airports, and I have family in all three who could likely help with transportation to and from if needed.
But then I looked at tickets out of my local regional airport. I can get a round trip to Toronto (and Houston, which isn’t quite as far) for about $400. That’s not much more than flights out of those other cities and MUCH closer to home.

Both directions have one layover, but with the same airline (or regional counterparts). However, there is with one airline and back is with another. Even when I choose the same airline for both sides of the trip (which wouldn’t work out time wise), I get this note on

Expedia:

Your flight is a combination of two one-way fares, each subject to its own rules and restrictions.

When I click more details I get this:

If one of your flights is changed or canceled, it will not automatically alter the other flight. Changes to the other flight may incur a charge.

Question 1: does that mean the leg to Toronto is a one way fare and the way back is a separate one? Or that my flight to Chicago and from Chicago are two separate one way fares combined to make one longer trip and if my flight to Chicago is delayed and I miss my connection, I have to pay out the nose (probably) to get on another flight? How does that work?

When I looked at buying a one way ticket, that note disappeared and the prices were (ballpark) half of what the round trip was. So I’m guessing it’s that the two directions aren’t connected rather than the two legs on the way there or back, if that makes sense.

Does anyone know for sure? Is there any other potential issue? I mean, presumably, it just might affect the time of day for my flights as it appears there’s multiple flights at different times.

Question 2: I’m still six months out from these trips, but these prices astound me. Do I buy them now, or will they be cheaper later?

Keep in mind, I’ve flown exactly once since 1998… :p

SALE!

All of the books in the Brides of Belles Montagnes series are on sale for .99!!!! If you’ve been waiting to pick them up, now is a GREAT time!

Hand-Me-Down Princess
Winning the Queen’s Heart
Protecting the Prince (long novella)
Prince from her Past

hmdp-free-series-sale-2

NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo, Writing

2016, Day 308 or #NaNoWriMo2016, Day 4: Choosing Names

Just a quick note. Hubs had the day off today so we went out to lunch and did a bit of shopping and then did some stuff with the kids then dropped them assorted places, went out for dinner, and birthday shopping, then walked the dogs and went for Andy’s Frozen Custard! Yum!

I also posted a request for names on Facebook. An adorable four-year-old showed up and needed a name. Over 100 of you responded. I’ve chosen a name but a couple of you will win an ecopy once this book releases. Plus I’m making the list in Excel so I can have a WHOLE LONG LIST of names next time I need one ;).

The name I’ve chosen is super special for many reasons. When we get closer to release date, I’m sure it’ll be told. I love the name. I love how the story behind the name relates to the title of the book to come. And so many other things that were already falling into place before this decision was made.

Only God…

But NaNo…

NaNo Yesterday Total Word Count: 3549
NaNo Daily Word Count: 0 (and unlikely to change)
NaNo Total Word Count: 6334/150000
Percent Done: 4.22%
Percent To Go: 95.78%

NaNoWriMo, Writing

2016, Day 307 or #NaNoWriMo2016, Day 3: Finding Calendars

nano-2016-blog-covers

I almost went with “Finding Time” but I haven’t found much of that…

Today was a vet appointment for the new dog, plus a return trip when I forgot the paperwork the shelter gave us. And an appointment next week for a heartworm test because the shelter went by the word of the former owners that they’d been giving him medicine. Our vet wants a test to make sure. Plus a trip to the groomer tomorrow (but I won’t stick around for that obviously).

Then I spent quite some time looking for my calendars for Winning the Queen’s Heart and Discovering Home because there’s some overlap. I finally found them.

Kids are in bed. Time to write.

NaNo Yesterday Total Word Count: 2031
NaNo Daily Word Count: 351 (so far)
NaNo Total Word Count: 3136/150000
Percent Done: 2.09%
Percent To Go: 97.91%

NaNoWriMo, Writing

2016, Day 306 or #NaNoWriMo2016, Day 2: Life Happens

nano2016-day-2

I’m really afraid that’s going to end up being my motto this month.

Last night, I spent several hours doing insane things (like pushups, crunches, and leg lifts) to keep my mind off Kid #1’s district band tryouts. She did well, but only 4 of 15ish tenor saxophones made it – and she was a freshman competing against much older kids. So not this year :(. They didn’t get home until 1130. Because of that and because she wasn’t feeling great, she slept in this morning then stayed home.

It’s always harder to write when people are home. Plus I took her to get her favorite food (even though we brought it home to eat). Then Kid #2 twisted her ankle during Trick or Treating and needed to go to the sports’ medicine clinic to have it looked at. Slight fracture of the growth plate in her right fibula. Brace and rest for the next couple weeks (and two hours of time today…)

I have a vet appointment for the new dog tomorrow (we had a naming meeting tonight, but The Yorkie Formerly Known As Prince remains TYFKAP for a few more days while we decide for sure – I was on board with Zeus, but I think I’m voting for Chewbacca now).

Time to get some words in before bedtime…

NaNo Daily Word Count: 161 (so far)
NaNo Total Word Count: 916/150000
Percent Done: 0.6%
Percent To Go: 99.4%

NaNoWriMo, Writing

2016, Day 305 or #NaNoWriMo2016, Day 1 – Getting Started

Because my goal this month (and every NaNo) is to do a quick blog post every day, I’m doing one super quick before I officially start on NaNo.

nano2016-day-1

I was up until the wee hours last night finishing the Still-Untitled Christmas novella. Then took Kid #1 to school this morning. Went back to bed for a couple hours followed by an eye appointment with a semi-specialist. It’s the same doc kid #3 has spent a year in vision therapy with. Her reading speed and comprehension are Off. The. Charts. compared to last year.

My eye surgeon recommended I go see him because I have a bit of Gaze Nystagmus. This is unrelated to the PRK surgery I had in April, but it is why I’ve had the double vision issues. The inflammation from the surgery absolutely took significantly longer than most to heal, but it is healed. The Gaze Nystagmus means my eyes wobble just a teeny tiny bit. Enough to make everything just a smidge blurry – and help cause headaches.

For reference (kind of anyway), when cops suspect someone of being intoxicated they do the “follow my finger with your eyes only” thing. I would fail that because of this. They look for that telltale wobble.

Mine, however, isn’t the result of alcohol, but most likely because of the medication I take to (wait for it!) prevent headaches :p. Talk about counter productive. I have an appointment with my regular nurse practitioner next week to discuss the possibility of an alternative. If we find one, I’ll go see him a month or so later to follow-up because it’ll take a while to get out of my system.

But now… stats… then I’m headed to write…

NaNo Daily Word Count: 0
NaNo Total Word Count: 0
NaNo Goal Word Count: 150,000 (yes, I’m insane)
Percent Done: 0
Percent To Go: 100

NaNoWriMo, Writing

NaNoWriMo 2011: Day 6

I’m up to 66 words for the night. Better than the last 3 days combined. Still… its like pulling teeth. Think I’m trying to force their relationship before they’re ready for it. I’m going to forge ahead for now anyway though. Was hoping to fit a smooch in right about now but they’re not feeling it, so I’m not feeling it…

Another busy week ahead. Wanna see?

  • Monday: check up for 2 kids, other 2 along for the ride [and the flu shots – plus one kid is running a slight fever tonight so may stay home anyway]
  • Tuesday: school, my birthday so a trip to Lambert’s for a late lunch likely by myself with laptop along to write for a bit if I can
  • Wednesday: dentist visit for the 6yo, last time she didn’t go to school b/c her face/mouth hurt
  • Thursday: school, MIL over, preschooler thing at school from 5-630, 10yo’s school music program thing at 715
  • Friday: sis has the day off so is going to pick up the preschooler from school which will give me about 5 hours total, then Beauty and the Beast play at sis’ school that night
  • Saturday: VeggieTale Premiere
  • Sunday: Branson with a friend to see Muse Watson [NCIS’s Mike Franks] in a show
See? Insanely busy. But hopefully I can carve out some time – house is clean so that’ll help.
And now… back to it…
NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo 2011: Day 3

I got a big ole goose egg so far today but if I’m gonna make it for NaBloWriMo I gotta post now ;).

Had a good day with the kiddos, busy day at work and got caught up on ALLLLLLLL of my schoolwork done for the next week [except I do need to read the last 3 chapters of the text but other than that, no papers to grade, no tests to write, nothing of that nature]. Hoping to still get a few words in tonight but we’ll see…

I think I’ll sit by the fire and watch Storm Chasers instead ;).

NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo 2011: Day 2

It’s been one of those days.

6yo with a dentist appointment who stayed numb until too late to go to school [her nose was numb!], 4″ stack of papers to grade and so on.

I’m currently at 2601 for the month which is 952 for the day so far. Taking the smidgiest of breaks to post this so I have a post for the day that’s NaNo related :D.

Back to the grindstone… 😉

NaNoWriMo
1 2 3 4 5