Writing Inspiration

In preparing for NaNoWriMo I was looking for some inspirational quotes and I found a few.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” This was the quote that I started this blog with and I find that it has guided me well.

“You don’t have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great” – Les Brown

One of my favorites is from Ernest Hemingway. According to Mr Hemingway “the first draft of anything is s***.”

“Once upon a time ”

“A long time ago in a faraway place”

I haven’t decided yet whether or not I will be one of the planners or one of the Pantsers but it looks like I’m leaning toward Pantsers. Planning does not seem to be one of my strong suits when I am writing. However I have decided to try new methods of brainstorming. The plot maps are still a mystery to me. However I have found a sense of freedom using a large sketch pad to write and draw out story details and beneficial connections that might not be clear. It is a very neat way to go.

I like the feel of a blank page and letting the words bubble up from a hidden spring in my soul. Which reminds me of my last quote.

“The blank page gives the pen the right to dream.”

And I would love to give credit where credit is due, but I haven’t the foggiest notion where I read this.

Cheers on this lovely Friday evening, james

The Dirt Bike Knight part 7

“My beloved, a vacation is exactly what we need. Our daughter is old enough to look after the kingdom. Besides the young fellow will protect her, should the need arise.”

“I don’t know George. Our baby, we can’t just leave her behind.”

“Attend me young Race.” George said.

Race looked questioningly at the princess. She shrugged. Slowly he got up and walked back toward the throne room. Elegance followed behind him, more curious than concerned. The Queen was reclined on her cushion and George was beside her. When he walked in the room, George stood to his full height, wings slightly flared open.

“Race kneel before me. Do you swear to protect our daughter from harm? Do you swear to uphold her honor from abuse?”

“Dadsey!” Elegance screached. George winced slightly before continuing on. The Queen hissed Elegance to silence. A king should never be interrupted during a knighting.

“Repeat after me. I, Race, swear to uphold and protect Princess Elegance from any and all harm or threat of harm. I will serve the kingdom of Keystone and obey it’s king and queen.”

Race squeezed his eyes shut but stumbled through the oath. Finally he was finished. George laid a cold metal sword againt his shoulders. He was glad he was kneeling, he wasn’t sure how steady his feet and knees would have been seeing that huge sword swung in his direction.

“Arise Sir Race, Dirt Bike Knight of  the Kingdom Keystone.”

And so concludes the first adventure of the Dirt Bike Knight. I will continue with another story later. Besides we have Portland to explore and those grandparents to find. I hope you have enjoyed the tale. Cheers, james

Owl Story Update

Update: As of Sunday, Sept. 20th my typed word count is 14,812 Yay! I am still twelve handwritten pages away from being completely caught up. So I have broke the 16,000 word count. For me this is huge. I’ve never written this much on a story. Not so great news is it has taken me a year and change to get here.

I have been typing on my main work in progress. Noticed that my font size instead of being 12 point was 10.5. No wonder I had the zoom on 140%, cause I couldn’t see it. I thought it was just me, being blind. I changed it to 12 and my page count jumped from 28 to 32.

Yay! I have typed up from page 86 to page 96, I think. It is a lot slower typing it up vs. writing it up. I’d still be working on it, but the grill was calling me.

So I am tending to fire, grilling a nice chunk o meat. The hubby had to work this afternoon so, I am being wifely?, and making supper. I think he will be pleasantly suprised driving up and seeing smoke from the grill and not his kitchen. Lol!

So cheers to you on a lovely evening, james

NaNo Update

I did it. I have registered for NaNo 2015.

I don’t have a clue about what I’ll write or even how to prepare a plan for it. I can be found on the NaNoWriMo.org site under amusing2write, like this blog.

I have read some of the past year pep talks, wow, some heavy hitters in the writing world. Neil Gainman, Garth Nix, Mercedes Lackey!!! And a whole bunch more.

If you have ever had the wild idea to try your noveling wings, and need the push outta the nest. November and NaNo is for you. Thirty insane writing days to plan, start and finish a 50,000 word novel. Wanna try, sign up at http://www.nanowrimo.org

Cheers on a Thursday night, james

Hope

I met a lady today and we talked. But then she got upset thinking about the problems in her life. She was crying and said she considered suicide. Whoa, hold it, lets not go there. We talk a while longer, gave her my phone number and the phone number of a friend.

I hope and I pray that when I left her I gave a measure of hope. I told her if you want or need to talk ,call day or night. I was put in place to help her and I hope I passed the test.

I did ask her if she would like a kitten and said they could leave their mama next week. She laughed and smiled as I recounted their antics. She said she would love a kitten. I wonder which one she’ll chose.

If you are willing please say a prayer for her in her time of need. She needs the Good Lord’s grace to hold her close and carry her through this. In times of need, faith carries us in His loving arms. Thank you, james

What have I done …

I think I just talked myself into NaNoWriMo this year. I started a page last year about my NaNo goals, read thru it and hit publish. I am so not ready, but excited to give this challenge a try. Now to visit the NaNo site and not chicken out.

Dum da dum dum da are you considering joining NaNo this year? Or are you an old pro? Come join the fun. They say its a wild ride.

Cheers on a beautiful Thursday night, james

The Dirt Bike Knight part 6

“A commercial airplane is an object. A huge metal bird like thing that flies and moves people from place to place.”

“Wow, that sounds a little too fanstic to believe. If you didn’t want to tell me, you could have said so. Huge flying metal bird, yeah right.”

“Says the girl with dragon parents.”

She glared at him. A smile tilted the corner of her mouth. He wiggled an eyebrow and she swallowed a chuckle.

“Okay, point taken. So what else is there in Portland? What about your betrothed, surely she’ll be worried about you?”

“Betrothed? You mean girlfriend? I’m single, my last girlfriend dumped me for some jerk. One of the awesome things about Portland is I don’t know. I ‘ve never been before. A far away place that seemed like a good place to go.”

“Huh? I thought you lived in Portland?”

“I’m trying to get there or I was until I met you. Remember I asked you for directions. What is your name by the way?”

“Yeah, uh sorry about that. Elegance, I know, but Mumsey wanted something princessie.”

“George, shh the children will hear.” The queen giggled, shushing him.

The Dirt Bike Knight part 5

“My beloved queen will you walk the gardens with me?” George winked at her.

“I would love to my king.”

Race was baffled, what the hell? Talk about your 180s. The king escorted the queen out of the room. Race shook his head. He glanced at the princess.

“Sorry about that, they always go loveydovey after a fight. I can’t imagine going from so mad you could roast something to that. I’m starved, wanna get your chow on?”

“Sure, I guess. Portland can wait.” He followed her down a hallway into a huge kitchen.

“Who is Portland and why are they so important?” She gathered a plate with fruit, cheese, bread, meat and some jars. She flopped down at the high bar. He sat across from her. She pushed the plate between them.

“Portland is a place, not a person. And I have to meet my grandparents there. They flew in from out of town.”

“Try the plum sauce on the duck. It is to die for.” She handed him a spoon and pointed to a small jar.

“So what are grandparents? Are they dragons too, silly, they must be how else would they fly.”

“They are my dad’s parents. He’s long gone, but they were always there for me. This is really good, I’ve never tried duck before. No they are flying on a commerical airplane.”

“What kind of animal is that?”