Post NaNo

Congrats to all of the writers that took part in NaNoWriMo this November. I hope the writing went well and you learned so much about your writing and you yourself as writers. 

Well done. james

NaNoWriMo 2016

For all the ones doing NaNo best of luck and keep going. You guys can do it. Remeber final word count is good but learning about your writing and your story is the real prize. For all the ones not doing NaNo keep writing guys. Our time will come. Cheers, james

BookBub Buzz

I got an email the other day from BookBub saying I had been invited to try out a new program called Buzz. I decided to sign up because I enjoy the BookBub email recomendations and discounts. 

From what I can tell and I do not have a Goodreads account. Buzz is very similar. You chose your favorite authors and books and you can write reviews about them. You can read other reviews and recomend books, set up a read list or a to be read list. And meet lots of people that read. Yay! Now we just gotta get folks interested in writing. Thank you NaNoWriMo for all the stories you help people to tell.

Since I just started with it I will keep you guys updated how it goes. And if you don’t know about BookBub check them out. They are pretty cool and have lots of books. Cheers, james

NaNo Prep

I got an email last week about September NaNo prep. Hmmm. I think I will be sitting out NaNo this year but I will keep writing. Just not so fast, furious and to exclusion of the rest of my life. 

To all the ones thinking about doing it, trying for the first time, and newbies just hearing of NaNoWriMo. I applaude you and your efforts. Huzzah, james

The Zombie Factor

The shambling moaning undead endless searching for …

Words. Yep you guessed it. Forget flesh eating, brains chomping zombies, I’m talking about the writers that during certain months of the year turn into the stumbling mumbling undead. 

I love the idea behind NaNoWriMo, the camps, and Chris Beattys’s “we need your story” philisophy. Words, stories touch us and connect us to each other. What I don’t love is something I am calling the zombie effect. Last November I did NaNo, had a great time until Dec. 2 and I realized I had no real memories of November. Oops. I figured it was me, a fluke, one time deal until I finished camp. There was so many things I let go during those months. My blog posts were late or left for the following week. I stopped journaling for the entire month. Work was the worst. It was like I hadn’t done anything when I normally do things. Crazy, scary, and very, very bad.

Am I the only one suffering the NaNo zombie factor? If there are others how have you fought it, coped with it? I’d love your comments or suggestions. 

Cheers on this stormy Sunday evening, james 

Camp NaNo

I never liked summer camp as a kid. So why would I want to get involved in a virtual summer camp? No bugs! LoL!

November was my first attempt at NaNo and while I didn’t make the count. I did write every day through the month. Afterwards I lost my momentum and haven’t spent as much time writing. I am hoping by setting a lower word goal I will be more motivated to suceed.

I wrote about all my writing projects in my previous post. So it is tempting to say let’s work on all of them. I am furtherest in my
writing on Owl Story and MEI. I was torn between these two stories. However MEI seems to be a project well suited to this type of high intensity writing. It has a slightly futurestic setting with a few significant changes. Most of my research is in the manuscript and book making aspects, rather than world building. I have also dug around into Robert E. Howard’s writing career and life as well as the Conan stories. Since it is his chronicles that she is comissioned to make. I am more focused on the story and not on the world the story takes place.

In Owl Story, I am still world building as I write. So my mind is split on the story as well as figuring out the rules of world as well as building it. Time consuming and richly rewarding, but not a fast and furious type of project. I would rather spend the time and effort to lay a solid foundation down. I get the feeling this will be a long if not a multibook project.

A really cool thing I stumbled on the NaNo forum is a Tea Swap. As I understand it, you send three to five teas including enough for at least five cups of each to your swap buddy. All teas must be mailed out by July 7th. So I signed up for one swap buddy. Also there are Tea Angels, folks that mail tea out to folks that didn’t get anything. The whole thing sounds awesomely fun.

So signed up for camp, camp project picked, tea swap signed up for. Cabin assignments go out in a week or so and then tea assignments come after June 30th. Fun plans for this summer.

Cheers on this peaceful Sunday afternoon, james

Writing Projects Update

I am working on several writing projects. I have Owl Story, there is a page for it under Pages. Saving Emilsa also has a page listed under Pages. Zombie Shark story/screen play I play with in moments of humor. I need to set up a page for it. Then my first NaNo project Manuscripts Ephinanies Illuminated, or MEI for short. Plus two untitled stories that are only a page or two right now.

Cheers and staying busy, james

Mid Year Ponderings

Today is Friday June 3rd, the year is at the half way mark. What? Where did it go? I was flipping through my old posts, thinking didn’t I just post that. But no it was way back some time ago.

The old folks say the older you get, the faster time moves. If its moving this fast at 34, a year when I’m 74 might feel like a slow blink. I looked at my unfinished NaNo project, haven’t touched it since the end of February. Tonight I changed that, two pages written and I still have the flow going. I just took a quick minute to finish this post.

So I am still writing, still blogging, journaling, although a wee bit slower than before. Cheers on this stormy evening, james

Getting back in stride

I have been trying to re-establish the good writing habits NaNo instilled in me. I took most of December off trying to catch up on non-writing projects and Christmas stuff. I did spend some time writing, but I didn’t fully engaged with all the other stuff screaming in the back of my mind. 

So now is the time to say, “Enough you lazy bum, pick up that pen and get writing.” Things have calmed down from the holiday rush and there is a whole brand new year waiting to be scribbled on. So if you got lax consider this your metaphorical kick in the britches to get writing.

Cheers, james

2016: A New Year

As the Christmas holidays are wrapping up and looking to the start of a new year. I want to reflect on the things I have acomplished and things I tried and did suceed as well as I would have liked.

I have kept this blog going for almost two years come March. I have found an awesome group of friends to spend time with, and I have grown both as a person and as a writer. I have tried NaNo and while I didn’t make it to 50k. I did write every day of November. That is well worth celebrating. I have learned that I am a writer, even if I don’t always feel like one. A writer is a person who writes, not because they want to, but because they have too. And saddly I am still thoroughly addicted to office supplies. (Sigh)

I hope 2015 was as inspiring and eventful for you, dear readers, as my year was for me. Here’s to 2016, may it be the best of times, the worst of times, and the trumph of all times. Cheers, james