Huricane Florence and the Eastern NC

Eastern North Carolina is hunkered down and waiting to see what this storm is going to do. Currently as I type this the wind is blowing and we had a short rain shower. People are still driving and making last minute preperations. Soon all will be quiet except for the moaning howls of wind and spattering rain.

Folks will hunker down with loved ones (furbabies too) and wait for the storm’s fury to pass. On the beaches waves will mercilessly and hungerily rip and tear at the shore, while wind will shred anything it can get a hold on. Bad times are coming and yet we have held our ground and thrived.

After the storm has spent its fury and has moved on. Then the clean up and the taking stock will begin. People will pull together and life starts again. If you are in the path of the storm, be safe. I will see you folks on the otherside of this storm.

Cheers on a hurricane afrernoon. james

NaNoWriMo 2018 Goals

It has been three years since I last participated in NaNoWriMo. I focused so much on my writing that the entire month was a blur. And I couldn’t remember anything about it that wasn’t writing related. It scared me. So that summer I thought maybe I could participate in Camp NaNo and it wouldn’t be quite as intense. Well I had fun and wrote about 10K words. And that was pretty much the last serious writing I have done, excepting my journal and this blog. Although the blog has suffered greatly by my neglect. I do apologize for that. Life and myself got in the way.

What does a non-writing writer know about writing?

That question haunted me and it still rears it’s nasty lil head up every so often. However the answer to that is this, putting words on the page. No it may not be the world’s greatest piece of writing. But it has brought me back to the page and to the words. So I have decided to give NaNoWriMo another chance. Except this time it will be on my terms. Since I got so wrapped up in my writing I am cutting down my word count to 750 words per day. And I am going to start writing now, however it will not count towards the final word count. If I can get started on and maintain the 750 words then some days the words may fly fast and furious and some days maybe not. But I will be writing and that my friends is what counts most.

Goals

• Start writing now, thru November 30th
• Daily word count 750 vs 1667 
• Rebuild my writing skill and confidence
• Have fun and enjoy writing again
• Keep blogging 

So these are my goals and I think I can keep up with them. Fingers crossed. So what goals are you setting for your NaNo writing prep season. Are you thinking about participating in NaNoWriMo? There are great resources available at nanowrimo.org

Cheers, james

Mysterious Happenings

I am part of the official NaNoWriMo facebook group and somebody posted about unsolved mysteries. People have been commenting on various mysteries thru the ages. I commented about the “Beast of Bladensboro” in North Carolina.

The story goes between 1954 and 1955 there weird animal killings, domestic and wild animals. The victims spanned from pet dogs to deer. Then the killings stopped. Speculation abounded on who or what had done the killings. One theory said it was a cougar or a large cat that had possibly escaped captivity. There were lots of more interesting theories suggested.

When I lived in the mountains, people talked about the Brown Mountain lights. The theory goes the lights are lost souls forever wondering the mountain in search of peace. Another is aliens running around just to mess with up. Another theory is the flashes are reflection of vehicles on the road which is why the lights are always moving.

So what interesting stories or mysteries do you have lurking in your backyard. Sometimes those homegrown legends can inspire your writing and spark your imagination.

Cheers, james