By now, you all have probably heard that I finished my 50,000 word novel a week ago Monday.  It was with an intense sigh of relief that I “Officially” was declared a winner on the 25th.  I’ve now got the certificate and everything to prove it.  You’ve also heard that my first submission was not the success I had hoped for.  So what have I done in the intervening days? Well… I actually spent some time with my family, which was great.  They put up with me disappearing for hours on end (well, minutes, anyway) to write on the Nano project.  I still spent time with them, but not as much some days as I would have liked.  A re-evaluated […]

It has really been a rollercoaster ride this week.  I managed to (dare I say it?) break the 50,000 word mark and finish my Nano book.  That was a HUGE relief!  Literally within minutes of finishing my Nano book, I got a Fedex.  From DAW Books. For those of you don’t know, I had submitted my first manuscript to DAW back in October.  So, with a great deal of trepidation, I opened the package.  Yup, there was my manuscript and there was a note from DAW. Unfortunately, the manuscript wasn’t accepted this time.  But you know what?  I’m actually OK with it.  Yes, I am a bit disappointed, but, after all, it WAS only the first time I had sent it out.  […]

It has indeed been an interesting week.  I have both made great strides and had some challenges.  But then, so has everyone else on the team too, I’m sure. I’ve been managing a pretty brisk pace; I think I’m currently averaging about 2,600 words per day.  Is the story perfect?  Not even remotely, but as has been said before, that’s not really the point.  I know I plan to put the story away for a couple months before I come back to it to decide if it warrants editing and submission.  I think it will, but that distance will be necessary to make a (relatively) unbiased decision. Still, I have had the occasion where I struggled a bit to get the words […]

Yup, there you have it… I had planned to name this post:  Nanowrimo – Week 1, but few things in the world and in writing are original, titles included.  Granted, Aaron’s post comes a day before mine, so I’ll gracefully bow to his use of the words. I still DO want to talk about how my first week went, just like Aaron did in his post though.  That much I won’t change.  Much like Aaron, I learned a few things during the first week, and not exactly the same things either.  I will say that it reaffirmed a couple things that Aaron commented on: writing is hard work 5,000 words doesn’t seem like much when you read them. Yup and double-yup.  […]