Reflections on NaNoWriMo 2011

After my epic fail attempt at NaNo last year I wrote this post. At that time I did not expect to try NaNo again.

Um, I so did NaNo this year and whupped its sorry arse. Can't tell I'm proud of myself, can you?

So, what was the difference between last year and this?

1. I joined an online critique group full of some pretty amazing people with lots of insight. They've taught me a lot.
2. I've attended writing conferences and critique bootcamps (LTUE, Storymaker, UVU Book Academy).
3. I've joined associations for writers (iWriteNetwork, ANWA, Authors Incognito, LUW)
4. Through blogging and conference attendance, I've met and become friends with lots of other writers, many of whom I've met in real life.
5. After attending my second critique bootcamp, some of us formed a local in-person critique group. We range in age from a 15-year-old boy (he's amazing, btw) to grandmothers older even than I am.
6. I learned how to use sprint writing and the pomodoro technique to help me focus and really crank out the words. I love using their timer and will continue to do so when writing and editing.
7. I forced myself to keep writing even when I wasn't sure where to take the story, knowing it was going to change some in the editing process anyway.

When I did NaNo last year, I was very much alone. I had no cheerleader or people with whom to bounce ideas off (except for my sons, who are wonderful but not writers). This year, if I ran into a snag I had three different sprint writing locations  and social groups via Facebook and Yahoo Groups I could go and there'd be writers I could bounce ideas off or get ideas from.

I hear often that writing is a solitary business. It can be, as it was for my first year. But methinks times they are achangin'. I know that not all writers/authors are made of sweetness and light, and I realize many find themselves on different sides of the debate about where the future of publishing will end.

Overall, however, I've found this community to be full of helpful, giving people who are happy to share from their experience. Rather than feeling threatened by potential rivals they are out there cheering us on and more than willing to give us a helping hand.

I think that's why NaNo was such a different experience for me this year. Next year? Real life will determine that but I'm hopeful. I had a tight schedule what with putting on a municipal election that I won't have to worry about next year (I'll be able to attend the writing retreat--squeee!).

What about you? Have you found the writing community to be as friendly as I have? Did you attempt NaNo this year? If so, how are you doing?

And a humorous note, I stole this from Stina Lindenblatt over at Seeing Creative. It made me laugh.

NaNoWriMo Update

Submitted and verified.

And the Winners Are . . .

The winners of my two copies of

Variant

by Robinson Wells

are

  Abby Fowers

at

Something to Write About

and

Robin Weeks

If you ladies will email me at donnakweaver(at)gmail(dot) com

and send me your mailing addresses, I'll get these off to you.

Congrats.

I have everyone confidence you'll enjoy this read.

NaNo Update

I did it! As of this posting I have 51,434 words and the end of the book is in sight.

Last Day for Book Giveaway

I've still got those two copies of Variant by Robison Wells.

Click here for details.

This book would make a great gift, and it won't even cost you anything.

Farewell, Anne McCaffrey

I just heard that author Anne McCaffrey has moved on to her next great adventure. This woman is one of my favorite authors of all times, having created worlds and characters that will forever be a part of my life. Her use of language has always amazed me, and as a writer I would love to have a fraction of her talent.

I discovered her when I purchased an anthology of Hugo winning short stories. That's when I was first introduced to the world of Pern and met the amazing Lessa and F'lar, Ramoth and Mnementh, their friends (and enemies), and the wonderful Masterharper Robinton (see picture at the end).

The short story captivated me, and I wanted more. After a few years and having read the story several times I decided to see if Anne had written anything else. Low and behold, she had expanded the story into a full novel, and there were even three books so far in the series!

I felt liked I'd died and gone to heaven. There are many more books now than three, and I read (or listen) to the series every couple of years.

But Anne didn't stick with just Pern and the people's battle to save their world from thread (and each other). She created the wonderful world where people whose bodies cannot support them but whose minds are fully functional (shell people) can still have a full life by taking on the body of a ship as in The Ship Who Sang or cities in The City Who Fought (the brain) and pairing them with an ambulatory partner (the brawn).

She tapped into the power of the mind with the Talents in the Rowan series where people who can do telekinesis, telepathy, empathy, etc. were employed in all parts of society. Imagine space travel, not in a space ship with fuel, but in a pod that is thrown mentally by one Talent (or teams of less powerful Talents) and caught on a different planet by another Talent.

Her worlds included one where Earth is taken over by others and our people sent out in the universe as slaves. On one world where a variety of species, including humans, are planted to colonize it, the groups work together in what becomes the beginning of a plot to take Earth back in the Freedom's Landing series. The first book is this series is one of a handful of books that, when I finished it, I flipped it over and read it again.

Her creations included the world of crystal communications and crystal miners in The Crystal Singer series. One of my favorite stories is the second book in that series.

She created the Petaybee universe with a sentient planet, the dinosaur series, the unicorn girl (Acorna) series, and the list goes on. She has scores of titles she wrote alone but a long list of collaborative efforts as well.

Someone bought the rights to make a movie of Dragonflight, the first of the Pern books. I'm sorry that Anne didn't live to see it made. I hope whoever holds the rights will do more than sit on it and--more importantly--will do it right.

Thank you, Anne, for not sitting on your talents. Thank you for putting yourself out there and taking a risk, so the rest of us could enjoy the fruits of your wonderful imagination, awesome imagery, and the characters who became our friends.

Masterharper Robinton by artist Robin Wood

You'll be sorely missed.

Thanksgiving and the Book Giveaway

Book Giveaway Reminder

It's not too late to get in on my giveaway of two copies of

Robison Wells'

Variant

Click here for details.

A Day of Thanks

It's been a tough three years. As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving this week I'd like to take a minute and express my gratitude. My list is hardly all encompassing, but these are a few things I'm thankful for.

• Being married (28 years in January) to a wonderful man. When one of my betas told me the epilogue in my adventure romance showed the love interests still too into each other, I had to smile. I hadn't realized I'd based some of my my hero's more romantic characteristics after my hubby.
• Six amazing children. Being a mother changed and enriched my life in ways I could not understand until I'd experienced it. There's truth in the trite little saying that motherhood has a way of proving that your heart really can beat outside of your body. For all the anguish these smart and talented individuals gave us while they were growing up, all I can say is: what a ride. And we did it together.
• Seven (soon to be eight in December) grandchildren. Oh. My. Heck. Why didn't someone tell me how dang much fun being a grandmother would be? I'd have skipped the parent thing and gone right to Nana right away! All the fun with only a little of the responsibility!
• When so many people don't have a job, I do. I'll never be rich working for municipal government but I work with wonderful people, and I like to think what I do makes a difference.
• Belief in something bigger than myself.

Do you have any "attitude of gratitude" traditions in your family?

Book Giveaway - "Variant" by Robison Wells

Last week I participated in the book bomb hosted by author Larry Correia for the book Variant by Robison Wells. It gave me a thrill at the number of my friends who participated as well.

Why?

First, because it was a good cause. But second because I really enjoyed this book. You can read my review here.

Even though I already owned a copy of the audiobook and gave away a paper copy for Rachel Harrie's Campaign, I ordered two more copies, intending to give them away here.

Here's what you have to do to be entered into the drawing for the first copy (chosen randomly):

1. Follow me (if you're not already a follower).
2. Comment in this post that you'd like to be entered.
3. Tweet about this giveaway and encourage others to participate (you'll have to leave a link, sorry).
4. Facebook about this giveaway and encourage others to participate (you'll have to leave a link for this, too).

Since I'm approaching the big 500 follower mark, I've decided to link one of the books to that. I will put the names of everyone who does all the above AND blogs about the giveaway. Please provide me with a link to your post.

On black Friday I will do the drawing for both books.


On a side note, my hubby and I are driving to Wyoming for my uncle's funeral tomorrow, and I'm nervous. Years ago, on my way to visit them for Christmas, I was riding with another college student and we hit a patch of black ice. We nearly went over a cliff, but the driver's quick responses got us into a snow bank instead. I've never been comfortable driving in canyons since and especially not in bad weather.

And, to be honest, hubby's driving scares the crap out of me. His reflexes are great, but he's one of those driving multitaskers. I usually read to him when we drive, so I don't have to watch. It's better for my nerves and definitely better for our relationship.

So if you're prayin' folks, I wouldn't mind being included in yours. If you're not, positive vibes would help.

Have a great weekend.

I hope I'm here.

ETA: No trip to Wyoming. My cousin called to say they were forecasting 100 mph winds in the canyons.

I SO wish I could apparate.

The Next Great Adventure

I found out yesterday that my uncle died. He was in his early 90s and lived a long full life, but he was also a survivor of not just the bombing of Pearl Harbor but the assault on Iwo Jima. For decades, he wouldn't talk about what he experienced.

He was from a small town in Wyoming, spent twenty years in the Navy, and returned to that same small town in Wyoming where he bought the farm next to his father's.

He was the husband of my beloved aunt, my mother's only sister. In his later years he became rather crotchety, according to his daughter, but I'll never forget how he chased me down after I got my finger embedded in the twines of a music box and was running screaming through his house (we were visiting). My uncle was fond of getting comfortable after work. He'd get down to his skivvies in the summer or his thermals in the winter and was never bothered to greet company however he was dressed.

So many of my childhood memories are tied to these dear people in Wyoming. We spent a couple of summers with them. One was the summer after my mother died. My cousin and I were very close, and my aunt suggested that I stay there for the school year. My father didn't want to split my little sister and I up, so I didn't get to stay. I was brokenhearted at the time, but I can see now my father's wisdom. My poor uncle, though. He liked to put honey in his morning coffee. My little sister thought it was funny to put a bunch of salt in the honey. It only took twice and he was able to convince not to ever do that again.

My sweet cousin, who in so many ways was another sister to me, said it best. He's in a better place now where there's a happy reunion going on with my aunt and their son who went before. She and I are both Harry Potter fans, and I think she'd agree he's gone on to his next, great adventure.

Even so, he leaves a huge hole.

Love you, Uncle Ned.

Tag

Abby Fowers over at Something to Write About tagged me. Since I needed a break, I've decided to play. Though, perhaps I shouldn't have. You decide. I think you'll know which question made me a little nuts.

If you could go back in time and relive one moment, what would it be?
This one is easy for me. My mom died when I was fourteen. With the arrogance and ignorance of youth, I didn't visit her in the hospital as often as I should have (and would have if I'd realized she wasn't coming home). I'd go back and relive the visit I missed (I'd actually accompanied my father to the hospital--and sat in the car while he visited her because I thought the hospital was creepy).

Now don't worry about me. I don't beat myself up over this. I happen to be one of those people who believe in what Dumbledore called "the next, great adventure". I believe I will see her again, and I don't think she'll hold it against me. But still, I'd have liked to have had another memory to look upon, one that could have helped to get me through those tough times when I was growing up and having to get along without my mom. One more time to tell that I love her.

What movie/TV character do you most resemble in personality?
I'm guessing this means physically. So I went to a celebrity look alike generator.

I submitted this one.

Really? Really?
You should have seen the first picture I used! It was almost all guys.

Shut up!

If you could push one person off a cliff and get away with it, who would you choose?

Um, no one. I have a more eternal view of justice.

*grins evilly*

Name one habit you want to change with yourself?
I bite my nails. Even when I'm not "technically" biting them, I'm worrying them to death.

And after watching that movie Contagion, I so should not bite my nails. Or touch my face. Or touch anything or anyone. Or eat anything that anyone else has touched.



Why do you blog? (Answer in one sentence.) 
It began as a way to stay up to date with family members and when I started writing it morphed in making friends and learning tons.

So, who do I pass this on to?

Barbara Jean Byrem over at Far Away Series
Angie Cothran over at Live to Write ...Edit when Necessary
Joanne over at Whole Latte Life

Veterans Day

On a serious note:

I offer my thanks to the men and women (and their families who support them) who stand or have stood between us and those would relieve us of our freedoms. I'm an Army Veteran, and I come from a family of Veterans. Here's a link to my post from Memorial Day this year.

How about you? Have you served or do you have family members or friends who do/have? What branches did they serve in?

For fun, how far do they go back? My great great grandfather fought on the side of the South during the recent troubles or the war of northern aggression. My northern relatives might think them's fightin' words ...

Mother of all Book Bombs

Author Larry Correia is doing a book bomb today, November 10th. You can read the details on Larry's blog here.

What's a book bomb? Larry explains it:

What is a book bomb? Well, Amazon has its own bestseller list. It is calculated hourly and you are given a sales rank based up on how you stack up against the other six million books on there. It is some sort of strange rolling average algorhythm, but what it comes down to is, the more books that are purchased during that particular time frame, the higher you rank. The higher you rank, the more of their top 50 or top 10 lists you show up on. The more of those you show up on, the higher you go, the more attention you get, the more books you sell.

Who's it for?

Robinson Wells
You can check out his blog here.

What's the book?

This is from my post on October 19th.

But I just finished listening to Robison Well's book Variant. Oh, my freakin' heck! I LOVED it! Kept me right on the edge of my chair all the way through. Crisp writing, lots of action, but it really got me into the characters, which is a big deal to me.


From amazon:

Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Academy would be the ticket out of his dead-end life.

He was wrong. 

Now he’s trapped in a school that’s surrounded by a razor-wire fence. A school where video cameras monitor his every move. Where there are no adults. Where the kids have split into groups in order to survive. 

Where breaking the rules equals death. 

But when Benson stumbles upon the school’s real secret, he realizes that playing by the rules could spell a fate worse than death, and that escape—his only real hope for survival—may be impossible.

You so have to check out this book.


I'm just sayin'!

This is a great cause and an excellent book to be pushing. One of my sons struggled with anxiety attacks a few years ago. It's a miserable thing to experience.

Amazon link to Variant:  http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=monshuntnati-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0062026089&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

I've ordered to more copies that I'll be giving away in the next couple of weeks (continental U.S. only--sorry). I've already purchased the audio and given a hardcover of it as a prize for the Third Campaign.

I've got a favor to ask. If you were thinking of buying this book, I strongly encourage you to do so today. Whether it's for yourself or as a gift for the upcoming gift-giving season. Not only is the purchase for a good cause, it's a great read. 

If you're not in the position to make a purchase, I would ask that you tweet, Facebook, email, and whatever else to get the word out about this cause.


Thank you!!

The Other Blog

I've got a post about perseverance on the iWriteNetwork blog here if you feel like taking a peek.

Oh, and I broke 19,000 words last night.

Just for Fun

Since I've been so focused on writing since the start of NaNoWriMo (I hit 14,214 words last night, by the way--according to NaNo stats if I keep going at this rate I could hit the 50,000 word mark my November 17th).

Last night I attended my first write-in. It was held at this cute little place called The Chocolate. It's an old home that's been converted into a restaurant. I only knew about it because I attended a book launch there a couple of weeks ago. Holy cow. The place was packed! Since it used to be a home, it's full of lots of small rooms with small, intimate tables.

It was kind of distracting trying to write because real life was going on all around us. Seriously! It was hilarious listening to these young couples who'd come to this dessert cafe. One of the discussions going on next to us made me think about Melanie Jacobson's book Not My Type. The main character gets roped into doing an online series about dating. She's got a snarky, witty edge and many of her dates are disasters. I'll have to ask Melanie where she got her ideas. The Chocolate would have been a great resource.

This morning I needed and wanted something to make me laugh. Someone on Friday suggested that I should go to Google and type in the word askew (no quotes)

Go ahead. Do it yourself.

Did you smile?

Now type in do a barrel roll (no quotes--or words in parentheses).

So do it.

Are you dizzy?

That got me thinking. Dangerous on an early Sunday morning. But I decided to check out what other quirky things those folks at Google have been up to.

Google's Top 10 Hidden Treasures

Google Earth: Top ten fun things to do
I love #3's second option.

Anyway, it's time to get back to work. The general municipal election is Tuesday, so it's going to be a crazy, crazy week. Tuesday I'll be in the office at 6 a.m. and if things go well will be home before midnight.

I used to just ask that people vote (our primary turn out was 7.5%--that means in a city with over 50,000 registered voters, fewer than 4,000 people decided who got to move on to the general election).

It's amazing to me, however, the number of people who vote but do so uninformed. No candidate will ever represent your views on every issue, but do a little research and make sure you're at least on the same continent on issues that mean a lot to you.

Local elections are where the rubber meets the road, by the way. You have the greatest chance at making a difference in those.

Fine. I'll get off my soapbox.

What about you? Do you vote? Or does the ugliness that's so much a part of the national news taint even your local elections?

NaNo Update and Award

I'm not doing too shabby so far. I've got 8,548 words as of end of writing on Thursday night. I can live with that. Especially if I can keep it up.

It's interesting as I'm writing because I'll get hung up on how to do something and then I have a duh moment. You see, this is NaNo. I don't have to get hung up on things like I normally would. I can just leave myself a comment and move on.

Award

Author Marsha Ward was kind enough to give me the One Lovely Blog Award. Because of NaNo I'm going to cheat. For some reason everyone is supposed to forward it on to 15 (yes, that's right, FIFTEEN) other blogs. I don't have time. But since many blog awards are satisfied with 7, and this particular award asks for 7 things about me I'm going to stick with 7. Hey, it's good enough for Voldie Baby, it'll have to work for me.

So if you want to be bored stupid you can check a previous post here for some random person tidbits.

Please check out Marsha's blog and say Howdy (she writes Westerns).

And check out these following awesome peeps:

Donna Hosie at Musings of a Penniless Writer
Kristin Baker Przybyla at Fairies and Pirates, etc.
An Alleged Author
The Desert Rocks
J.A. Bennett at A Book, A Girl, A Journey
Angela Brown
Jess at Write, Skate, Dream

NaNoWriMo, Timing, and Metal

Just a quick post here since NaNoWriMo started today, and I've been furiously working on a new project. It's a YA fantasy starring ... my granddaughter. This is going to be her book. My hope is to present it to her for her birthday in July when she's no longer a child but an adolescent.

Speaking of NaNo, John Waverly had a fabulous suggestion for mastering your use of time in his blog post here, using the Pomodoro Technique. Even if you're not doing NaNo, you ought to check it out.

Last weekend I downloaded the Focus Booster and practiced with it on some editing I was doing.

Um, can I say THRILLED?

Having that little 25-minute timer sitting at the edge of my monitor really did help me focus. I blew through a ton of pages whereas I'd been struggling prior to that.

I'm so going to kick NaNo's derriere this year.

Just sayin'.

Now, for the metal part of my post. Anyone who's read this blog much knows I'm a huge Brandon Sanderson fan. That's a caps lock HUGE.

Brandon's got a book coming out this month ... one I'm not going to be reading until December because he's part of the reason I was a NaNo Epic Fail last year (he'd released the next to the last Wheel of Time book last November--total sabotage, and I'd have cried foul except I was so engrossed in the book that I forgot).

Satan, get thee behind me! No temptations allowed during NaNo this year.

But really, I'm excited for this book which is set in his Mistborn world. It's called The Alloy of Law. Brandon speaks a bit about what's he's done in this fantasy book and wonders whether his 14-year-old self could approve.

I really liked what he says about our tastes in certain genres:

Perhaps we fantasy readers sometimes mix up correlation and causation in our fantasy novels.  In fact, I’m more and more convinced that taste for a specific genre or medium is often built on shaky ground.


An example may help.  I have a friend who once claimed he loved anime.


Over the years, he consistently found anime shows superior to what he found on television.  But as he started to find more and more anime, he told me that he discovered something.  He liked the anime he’d seen at first because these were the shows that were successful and well made, the ones with the quality or broad appeal to make the jump across cultures.  He found that he didn’t like all anime—he only liked good anime.  Sure, the medium had something important to do with it—but his enjoyment came more from the quality of his sample than the entire medium.


Likewise, I’ve come to find that what I enjoy is a good story.  Genre can enhance this—I’m probably going to like a good fantasy more than a good thriller or romance because worldbuilding and magic appeals to me.  In the end, however, it isn’t the lack of guns (as my young self assumed) that draws me to fantasy stories.  It’s the care for setting, pacing, and character development.


This is actually a correlation/causation fallacy, and I wonder if I’m the only one to have made it.  Many of the books in the fantasy section we love (perhaps because of the setting attention or the types of writers attracted to fantasy and SF) have dragons.  Do we therefore make the assumption that we only like books with dragons?  These two things (the dragons and our enjoyment) are parallel to, but not completely responsible for one another.

You can find the rest of the article on the Tor blog here.