Drive By Booking

Going Back to Just a NaNo blog

2008-08-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

I've not updated here in over a year because I've been very busy with other opportunities and challenges. Until, and if, I decide to do reviews again, this will revert to it's original purpose as a journal of my NaNo experience. I am planning to do NaNo in '08 - I've even started outlining some ideas! I probably won't post much here until October.

Drive By Booking Hosts Christine Norris on Her Virtual Book Tour!

2007-07-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

Who is Christine Norris? According to her author bio:

Christine is the author of several works for children and adults. She spends her time divided between her writing, substitute teaching, and caring for her family of one husband-creature, a son-animal, a large dog whose greatest achievement is sleeping in one position for an entire day, and a small feline who is very adept in his position as Guardian of the Bathtub. She also works at English Adaptations of novels translated from other languages.

To learn more about Christine Norris, please visit christine-norris.com. You can send an email to Christine at risseybug@aol.com or through her MySpace page, at www.myspace.com/christinenorris

I also had the opportunity to conduct a virtual interview with Christine, where I relentlessly peppered her with probing questions, utilizing a technique I ~~stole~~ learned from Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes fame, known for making world leaders cry. Here's the straight scoop:

Q1: First, and most importantly, Drive By Booking readers want to know: Eggplant or Orlando?

A: Hmm. On one hand, you've got a purple squash, and purple is a nice color. On the other hand, you've got Orlando, named after a character from Shakespeare and a city in Florida. I hate eggplant, even fried, so it's gotta be Orlando.

Q2: Speaking of that, we first met on Absolute Write and many of my readers are also regulars there. What's a nice YA author like you doing in a place like that?

A: Hopefully being a good influence and rubbing off on them. They're a great bunch,and it's a good retreat the road-weary writer who feels isolated because they've chosen to be a writer and no one around them understands that when they say 'I'm writing', it means 'don't disturb me, because my work is just as important as yours.' LOL. Isn't that the way, people who aren't writers just don't understand.

Q3: Is there anything normal people need to be careful about when first encountering fantasy writers?

A: Oh my yes. First of all, fantasy writers live on a different plane than most people, so don't upset their delicate balance with too much 'reality'. That'll just make them mad. Don't argue with them about the existence of Dragons. Dragons are real, and it's not my fault you've never seen one. Make a fantasy writer angry and you could find yourself being eaten by said Dragon in the author's next book. Dragons generally prefer their people crispy and with ranch dressing.

Or the fantasy writer could just turn you into a toad, and then where would you be?

Q4: What drew you to writing Young Adult fantasy, in the first place - are young people even reading anymore with all that YouTube, Wii and Facebook stuff going on?

A:Because I love YA fantasy. Adults are too involved with relationships and feelings, whereas kids want good characters and action. They want heroes who save the day and happy endings, and plot twists that surprise. It's just more fun to write for kids, and they appreciate good fantasy and magic more, I think.

Actually, yes kids are reading. Harry Potter, bless his little heart, has kindly breathed life back into the art of reading, although I don't think it ever really died. The shelves are stuffed with good books for kids. When I substitute teach, I see lots of kids reading. Some love it, some hate it, some would rather set their hair on fire, but they do read. In the lower grades it's required, so they don't have a choice. I also run across kids who read a lot of manga, it's hugely popular now in the U.S., which means they're at least going to the bookstore.

Q5: Do you think you'll keep writing for Young Adults and in the fantasy genre?

A: Oh yes, I have more stories brewing in my head all the time. I grew up on a steady diet of fairy tales and Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz. So it's pretty much what I know, and I love it. I don't want to write anything else, at least at the moment.

Q6: Uh, you don't think 50 is too old to be considered a Young Adult, do you? What about older readers - do you get any feedback from them about your books? (aside from reviewers)

A: Oh, no! You're never too old for YA books. This was a topic of discussion at a convention I went to last year - that so many adults are now reading YA fantasy or sci fi books, because the stories are usually better crafted and not bogged down in...adult-ness. I get lots of adult readers, and they all seem to like the books. My editor at one of my publishers loves my stuff as a reader. I read tons of YA books myself, there are some really great ones.

Q7: How did you come up with the idea for a 'virtual' book tour? Is it fun? Do you miss getting frequent flyer miles and stale pretzel snacks?

A: I can't take the credit for the virtual book tour. I had the idea to have one, then found out that they're getting more popular. There are companies out there that run them for authors, for a fee. I'm cheap, so I organized my own. And this is a very 'green' way to do a book tour - no gas wasted, no greenhouse emmissions! And no, I don't miss crowded airports, airline food or hotel rooms. I get to go all over the world without leaving home! Which is good, because I don't think my son would do too well with that. He's Mommy's boy.

Q8: What's next for you in your writing?

A: I have a book coming out next year from Samhain Pubishing. The book is titled THE CROWN OF ZEUS. It'll be out in e-book form in early 2008, and in print probably towards Christmas that year. It's the first of a series. I have the second book finished, and I'm waiting on a decision from Samhain about that, and I'm halfway through the third book. It's really turning out to be very thrilling and promises to get even moreso. And I'm working on a full-length book for the Wizard Academies series (www.myspace.com/wizardlings ). I wrote two short stories for the anthologies, but we've found that agents and bigger publishers don't really want anthologies. We're considering combining the first two shorts of mine into one book too. That would take some work, but it's possible.

Next, Christine gave me an advance copy of Return to Zandria to read - the following is a brief overview.

First of all, this is a sequel to Talisman of Zandria, published in 2005 - but you don't have to have read Talisman to understand and enjoy Zandria. Both books recount the adventures of Ivy Peterson, a young woman who starts off feeling quite ordinary at the beginning of Talisman and ends up being pretty extraordinary by the end. Return to Zandria is set a few years after that adventure with a 14 year old Ivy who feels about herself, as the first lines of the book put it, "Ivy Peterson was not ordinary. Nor was she extraordinary or unusual. Ivy Peterson was More-Than-Ordinary."

In Return to Zandria Ivy is asked to return to help solve the kidnapping of the Empress's daughter, which has plunged Zandria into an extended winter as the weather there is sensitive to the prolonged depression of the Empress as her daughter remains a captive. Ivy is re-united with companions from the first book, the young apprentice Connor and the Wizard Arden, amongst others - along with some new characters. She learns from Arden that the princess is undoubtedly on "Otherside," what the people of Zandria call our reality, taken there by Duke Drake de Faeolin, the empress’ cousin.

The kidnapping turns out to be a plot within a plot...well, to tell you more would spoil the story.

Return to Zandria is a fun, well paced, YA fantasy adventure. The dialog, action and fantastic elements fit together into a well paced story with a satisfying ending. I think not only has Ivy matured, but Christine's writing has as well. I look forward to her next book, and the ones after that.

Earrings of Ixtumea by Kim Baccellia

2007-06-17T18:10:00.000-07:00

Title: Earrings of Ixtumea
Author: Kim Baccellia
Price: $5.95 from publisher, $4.76 through June 30, 2007 on Mobipocket
Genre: Fantasy
ISBN: 978-0-9782157-1-2 (ebook only)
Publisher: Virtual Tales Book Published by Intellectus Enterprises (in association with Virtual Tales)First Edition: June 2007
Point of Sale: Virtual Tales, Mobipocket

Earrings of Ixtumea blends contemporary fantasy, native Mexican mythology, and teenage self discovery. The author, according to her bio:

[W]as a bilingual teacher in Los Angeles County for eight years. As an educator, Kim didn’t find many books for Latinas that were upbeat or dealt with their heritage. During the time she wrote this novel, she was learning about her own Mexican heritage and decided to write a story that a teenage Latina could relate to while also learning about her own rich culture.

The book opens early one morning in the apartment the protagonist, Lupe, shares with her grandmother, her abuela, in Tustin, California. The story immediately introduces you to a glimpse of Lupe's culture with a sprinkling of Spanish, descriptions of the dress, food and the topics of gossip that engage Lupe's grandmother and her friends. This morning they are talking about the prophecy surrounding the savior of Ixtumea, which Lupe overhears.

Lupe is less interested in these tales of "her Mexican ancestors" than she is about her favorite music and getting along at school. As she is leaving for school her grandmother presses a pair of earrings into her hand, insisting she must take them.

Unfortunately for her, she's fated to be a central figure in those ancestral stories and she only makes it as far as the bus stop before she is confronted with the reality of those tales. A vision of Ixtumea comes upon her when one of the girls at the bus stop touches her earrings, sees the same vision of warriors killing innocent people, and faints. Lupe, appalled and ashamed, runs away from the bus stop but soon is confronted by a young man who tells her he is there to escort her to Ixtumea.

Interspersed between these early scenes featuring Lupe, we are introduced to Malvado. He, too, is from modern Los Angeles, but he's somehow come to Ixtumea to find wealth and power through the auspices of the God of the Underworld, Tezcatlipoca, who has promised him not only the kingdom Malvado rules, but godhood, as well. Malvado doesn't simply believe the ancient stories, he's living them, and he knows that Lupe is the key to his ascension.

Of necessity, the author needs to help the reader understand the mythology, describe the people and surroundings of Ixtumea to provide the context of the conflict between Lupe and Malvado. However, I found some of the descriptive passages slowed the pace too much and some of the dialogue, especially that of Malvado and his minions, seemed stilted and a bit one-dimensional. I'm not sure a YA reader would have the patience to persevere through to the more action oriented scenes.

About half way through the book, Lupe encounters Ixchel, a goddess who protects the people of Ixtumea, learns about her mother whom she thought was dead. She struggles against her own feelings of inadequacy, and her confusion about her mother's role in not only Malvado's plot but in her life, as well.

In the end, Lupe ends up a captive of Malvado. He brings her to a ritual altar where he thinks he will be able to sacrifice her and attain his godhood, but instead there is a great battle of powers and Lupe comes into hers (and finally understands the full potential of her earrings) to fulfil her destiny. These final pages are fast moving, for the most part, and do show how Lupe reconciles the stories of her grandmother, her new knowledge and her new ability, to become the force that overcomes the enemies of Ixtumea, as prophesied.

As a first effort for the author, it shows promise. Overall it's a fair read, with some excellent parts, but to really grab the intended audience, I think some work on tighening up the mid-book descriptions and work on dialogue, would be helpful. Also, I'm not sure there's enough said early on about who Lupe is in this world to make her a character the YA audience can relate to before she's carried off into the fantasy world of Ixtumea.

Oops

2007-06-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I hadn't factored in the whole "my son is visiting", and the trip we took to Disneyland over the weekend, in my last post that said that a review was going to go up over the weekend. It's obvious that one didn't. I'll get working on it and post as soon as I can. My apologies to anyone who has been disappointed.

A Review Will Go Up Next Weekend

2007-06-03T16:05:00.000-07:00

I didn't have a submission in the queue to read last week, but I do, however, have a new book to read and review now. It's a Young Adult (YA) multicultural fantasy, Earrings of Ixtumea, by Kim Bacellia, published by epublisher Virtual Tales. The author notes "My story will be coming out in print through Amazon next month."

Thank you, Kim, for giving me the opportunity to review your book!

All Encompassing Trip

2007-05-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

Author: Nicole Del Sesto
POS: Afterbirth Books
Price: $14.95 ($10.17 at Amazon)
ISBN: 1-933929-12-X

This book bears re-reading to get at all the themes and influences, and I've only been through it once, so the best I can do for you here is brush the surface. Perhaps that's a good thing, however. Like any journey, everyone gets something different from the experience, and you probably wouldn't end up at the same place I did at the finish of another, deeper reading, anyway.

There's a wonderful sense of magic and fellowship in All Encompassing Trip and a definite sense of not taking oneself too damn seriously, even when things that happen are grimly serious. Self-confidence is an important part of the story, relying on your own instincts and intuition, allowing yourself to value your own judgement and not depend on someone else's permission.

There's a Tolkienesque flavor to it, too, with a fellowship that gathers and separates, some mundane and then some mystical journeys, and evil magic versus good. I'm also reminded a bit of Gaiman's American Gods and Anansi Boys, in the way no one mythology has precedence, rather a blending and sharing of many different types, and how the mythological norms are changed by the modern setting.

The action in the book mainly takes place in Northern and Southern California and the author knows these geographies well, you get a good sense of place in the lively description. The protagonist, Nikki, and her friend Amber are good friends who met in an exercise "boot camp" where Amber is the trainer. Their world changes overnight and they are led to other companions, and through their journey, by a coyote who arrives at Nikki's door on the day of the change. He is named "Lefty" by Nikki, and he communicates to her using cryptic song lyrics. Along the way Nikki, Lefty and Amber meet a number of unusual characters, both friend and foe.

This is one of those books where attempting to give you a thorough synopsis of the story is futile. Nikki makes things disappear in her new "reality", something she finds especially distressing, because coffee is one of the things she misses the most and when she touches it whole coffee shops go poof. The passage about her flight to Anaheim is surreal in the extreme. Another example is the scene with the lunch in the Blue Bayou Restaurant at Disneyland between two 7 foot plus characters, one who is black, apparently Jamaican, and sports van Gogh tattoos, the other who is green and they're brothers. Disneyland is important to the story, the brothers are as well. Trying to give a glimpse into why, not so easy. I'm not even going to try to explain the importance of Oprah in the story.

Some of the character traits of the secondary antagonist characters are quite exaggerated. There's a woman who has an extreme Vegan, Godess worshipping, high colonic addicted, personality - and she's also very gassy and unwashed throughout the book. She and the other single minded characters are more allegorical, but they fit the overall irrationality of their place in the story, so I didn't find it distracting, just worth noting. Plus, they're pretty funny, in a Keystone Cops kind of way, as they blunder through their places in the plot.

The action is continuous; things don't bog down, and I always wanted to turn the page to see what would happen next. I felt there were moments where the point was a bit too obvious, a little preachy, but it didn't dilute my overall enjoyment of the story. What I did find disappointing, and personally could have done without, were the two afterwards. The good thing about afterwards is you've already finished the story and can decide for yourself if you want to disregard them.

Because I read an electronic copy, I'm not certain if some of the small typographical errors were an artifact of the PDF or exist in the hardcopy. There were words where the first few letters were missing scattered throughout the text. I hope this is just a problem with my PDF, otherwise it will be a bit annoying.

Overall, I enjoyed being on the All Encompassing Trip. I don't often read fantasy in a modern setting, but I think, that del Sesto has talent in that genre. I hope she keeps writing and goes far.

No Review This Week - But...

2007-05-20T19:17:00.001-07:00

But the good news is that I have a small press submission to work on for next week! It's All Encompassing Trip by Nicole Del Sesto from Afterbirth Books. This is Nicole's debut novel.

I'm also working on what my overall objective is in doing these reviews. I guess a "business plan" for something that's only a hobby, seems kind of strange, but still, it's a good idea to have some kind of a thought out plan for any endeavor. Where am I going with this and how do I get the word out that small press books of interest and my reviews of them are here? How picky am I going to be about submissions?

All this and more after ponderment is complete.

Oh, in case anyone wonders, I'll do e-books, too - that is to say books only being made available as e-books, but again, they need to be from e-book publishers. Self published e-book authors should submit to POD People.

May Not Have a Review This Week

2007-05-16T20:06:00.000-07:00

Here we are at Wednesday and I haven't found a new small press book to review - yet. I read fast, so it's possible that I'll squeak one in under the wire if I find it soon.

If you (yes, you, one of my 3 loyal readers!)would like to suggest something, please leave me a comment or send me an email. If you've been published by a small press and would like a review, please contact me!

I also thought I'd take a moment to give an idea of the kinds of books I would love to read:

Techno or Political Thrillers
Psychological mystery or thriller (I like Jonathan Kellerman, for example)
Science Fiction - pretty much anything
Fantasy
Romance
Humor and Satire
Military history/fiction (I read W.E.B. Griffith, for example)
Historical fiction (I love Rutherford and the like)

Now, if you've written GLBT themed fiction or romance, I could give it a try - I'm not a reader in this genre but I won't rule it out. Very strongly sexual erotica - also not a reader and probably wouldn't do it justice.

Nudist Guy and Yankee Gal

2007-05-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

Author: Allen Parker
POS: Authors Ink Books
Price: $10.99 (current sale price, reg. $13.00)
ISBN 09722385-1-4

Full Disclosure: Allen is a member of Absolute Write forums, as am I. We've had a number of conversations via AW and email going back a couple of years now. He's got a great sense of humor and a wonderful attitude about life and writing which comes through in his contributions to the various threads on the boards. I count Allen as one of my online friends.

About a year ago he sent me a copy of his book A Mouse Among Us. I had the occasion to sit in a hospital emergency waiting room for several hours one day, and used that time to finish reading through the book there, heedless of the occasional glare that came my way when I laughed out loud at a passage. A Mouse Among us is Allen's second book featuring the nudist, Chester. I have not had the opportunity to read the first book in the series, A Nudist Among Us which introduces Chester and his immediate family to an unsuspecting world. A Mouse Among Us was full of Chester's family and childhood reminiscences, along with humorous insight into a unique culture that includes Baptists, hillbillies, and nudity. Chester is a Southerner - but I can't help but feel that he's not entirely representative of the citizenry south of the Mason-Dixon line.

The subject of this review is Allen's third book about Chester, the Nudist Guy, and his family. This book, like A Mouse Among Us, and I assume A Nudist Among Us, as well, is a collection of short stories, slices of life, set in present day Virginia.

In the introduction to his book, Allen assures us that while there's a "small piece of all of us" in Chester, he's a completely fictional character. I'll take Allen at his word, but he's created a complex and fully realized character in Chester, so I can understand how some folk might wonder about the autobiographical feel to the writing.

Moving on - the stories in the book remind me of half-hour sitcoms, in fact reviews of his earlier work compare Chester's experiences to "I Love Lucy", which I think may be a fair assessment. Each story reveals an idiosyncracy of the main character, there's conflict as a result of said quirk, which is eventually resolved after mis-haps and usually some embarrassment on somebody's behalf, and it's not always Chester. There's a definite slapstick feel to the stories centered around Mountain Mist moonshine's effect on judgement, to say nothing of the stories that have fireworks in them.

Because, like in the typical sitcom, there isn't necessarily a linear flow from story to story, Nudist Guy and Yankee Gal is a challenging book to read all at one sitting. The break in continuity is a bit distracting if you try to take it all in one go. After reading the first two stories back to back, I took breaks between the rest of them to clear the mental palate before reading on.

As in sitcoms, sometimes the story is about Chester's efforts to keep a situation from collapsing in utter ruin. Chester usually contributes to further chaos with each attempt to fix the problem, as in the stories "The Chicken's Little Revenge" which centers around the annual church picnic, or "The Fourth of July" which is about a nudist celebration of our nation's birthday, complete with fireworks. Other times it's about the importunities life (or his wife) thrusts upon him and his sometimes futile attempts to retain a modicum of dignity, as in "The Gym", "Doctor's Visit" and "The Baptistry". The "Civil War Family Reunion" is a variation of the 'fish out of water' premise, where the Southern Chester manages to create turmoil at his Yankee wife's family reunion.

Aside from the occasional perplexing use of a word, the book was fairly well copy-edited, I didn't run across a lot of typos or punctuation errors, things that always throw me out of a story. I'm not well acquainted with small press books, yet, so I don't know what one should expect in general regarding other editorial input. Allen's voice is that of a homey, folksy, storyteller regaling his audience with another doozy of a yarn with all the exaggerations and occasional meanderings typical of those tales. Sometimes that translates to the written word better than other times. As a result of that propensity, it seems to me, there were passages that could have been cut or tightened and others that, I felt, needed a bit more exposition and this, I believe, is where a good editor comes in.

All told, this is a warm-hearted and funny book that gives a glimpse into a different way of life than I'm familar with, being a generic protestant Yankee who keeps fully clothed when not in the shower. I enjoyed reading it and hope many others will as well.

***

A note about "rating" - a number of reviewers give ratings to the books they review. I haven't settled on whether or not I want to do that or how I'll construct my rating criteria. So for now, the absence of a rating is no indication of whether or not I liked the book.

Progress Report

2007-05-10T19:59:00.000-07:00

I'm well into my first book, Nudist Guy and Yankee Girl by Allen Parker. I should have a review ready by Sunday.

Hope you come back then!

Yep, I'm Gonna Write Book Reviews Here

2007-05-05T17:01:00.001-07:00

The other day at POD People, I received a submission email from a writer I know from Absolute Write. His book was published by a small press, not self-published. POD People reviews self published books. So I had to turn his submission down, but I said I'd ponder about doing a review and posting it somewhere else.

Ponderment done - I'll be reading and reviewing books here. About a book a week (I hope) when RL things don't get in the way (like vacations or visiting relatives). Come back next week and take a peek at my first review.

And It's Been 10 Days Without A Word

2007-01-13T20:38:00.000-08:00

Neither here nor on my main blog, nor on my WIP. I was miserable from the cold for over a week, going to bed early and sometimes sleeping 14 hrs or taking long naps, I haven't felt like writing anything for 10 days. I'm not going to kick myself for not meeting daily writing goals until I get over this, whatever it is.

My Vacation Is Over

2007-01-02T23:02:00.000-08:00

Only 586 words tonight. I've been really sick and the brain is full of mush. My vacation is over so tomorrow I have to try and work. Should be interesting working all day and then trying to write with this bug, whatever it is.

January 2007 - Kicking the New Year Off Writing

2007-01-01T23:44:00.000-08:00

Just finished 1100 new words on the WIP I started for NaNoWriMo. The goal is a minimum of 1k per day in January. By the end of the month I should have at least 80k words. The final work needs to be around 100k before I call it finished.

It was very hard to start again. I'm a bit uninspired but the same rules apply - turn off the editor, just write. Try to find a rhythm and let the story unfold. I'm resisting going through the earlier chapters and playing around with what's already there but it's hard.

Had Too Much Fun Sunday to Post

2006-11-27T12:45:00.000-08:00

Daughter and I did some power shopping - we were out all day at the mall. It wasn't too bad - I think a combination of weather (rainy) and holiday exhaustion may have kept a lot of folk home on their sofas. Whatever the reason, it was good for the daughter and me.

She had a 6:00 a.m. flight this morning so we got up at 4. Nobody should have to get up at 4. At least there wasn't a line at the baggage kiosk or security. She sent me a text once she arrived home so I'd know she got there safely.

I've got the day off - I was going to take care of some stuff relating to my recent nuptuals - getting my name officially changed on my documents is going to be a pain in the rear. I have to start with my social security card. Next will be DMV. I really dread the lines. Eventually I'll get my passport changed, too.

This has nothing to do with my WIP...tonight I'll get back to it.

Just Because

2006-11-25T19:17:00.000-08:00

I know I missed a post day for NaBloPoMo and I could just throw up my hands and say "forget it" but I've decided to go ahead and finish up the month anyway. Yesterday was a weird day - I was on line quite a bit, but I also slept in 'til 10 and then around 3 took a very long nap. I was a bit befuddled for the rest of the evening. Really couldn't have told you where my head had gone. I found myself completely absorbed in Laurell Hamilton's Obsidian Butterfly and by the time I finshed, it was well after 1 a.m.

I enjoy reading the Anita Blake series - not sure why. I don't normally like first person writing but it works for these books.

I need to get back to my NaNo WIP soon or all the effort of pushing myself to write thousands of words a night will have been just for NaNo instead of establishing a habitual BIC time. And my 50k words aren't the whole story - it needs to get where it was going - it's not even half way there!

That said, my daughter is in town for just one more day - I may not write 'til Monday - it's not her fault that I don't write or post, she goes out with her friends (like tonight) and I could use that time (like I am now) but I guess I'm just in 'vacation mode' because she's here.

I had a brief panic attack earlier - I loaded my WIP into the "official" word verifier and it came up at 45k and change. I could see it maybe being a couple hundred off - but 5k?? So I went back and re-saved my final Word doc into a text doc (which I thought I had done already) and re-loaded - that worked, I was sent to the official winner's page, got my new icons, etc. It's cute, too how they put the little banner on the profile page, too.

I'm very glad I did NaNoWriMo this year. I look forward to doing it again next year.

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Well...Crap

2006-11-25T10:22:00.000-08:00

I forgot to post yesterday. That blows my chances at the NaBloPoMo prize. *sigh* It's not like I was doing anything important - I was on line quite a bit, too.

Damn.

Oh well - maybe next year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-23T18:21:00.000-08:00

Just a brief post - hoping you had a happy Thanksgiving if you celebrated it today. We've had our meal and are just lounging around. I'm not planning on writing any tonight, perhaps tomorrow. Going forward after Nov 30th I may come back to occasionally ponder or whine about my work in progress.

I think it's time for another whipped cream laden slice of pumpkin pie.

Day 22 - Uh, I Did It!

2006-11-22T23:46:00.000-08:00

yep - with less than 15 minutes to spare this evening, I passed the 50k mark.

I have so much more to write and I'm sure as heck not resting on my laurels - but I actually wrote 50,000 words in 22 - no, I didn't write on 4 or 5 of those days - let's say 4, 18 days!

*whew*

Along the way I've figured out a plot, headed in a new direction as far as who my main plot protagonists are, created a bad guy and the rationale for him and introduced a Viking with a reindeer companion. I've also had so much fun doing it!

Now I can start plugging some gaps - some nights I didn't write from where I'd left off the night before, because I had a new idea. I'm thinking I can start tieing up the chapters now when before I didn't want to go back and re-read anything for fear I'd spend time editing and re-writing instead of going forward.

I'll have to be careful not to fall into that trap...ok, gotta post this before midnight to stay in the NaBloPoMo game! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Day 21 - Totems and Food

2006-11-21T23:07:00.000-08:00

So today I did 2560 which brought me to within 282 words of 45k. I'm going to get right back to it in a minute, so I will get over the mark - but it's after 11 pm and I didn't want to get too wrapped up in it that I forgot my NaBloPoMo for tonite!

The plot has taken my characters to a place where they're going to be influenced by Native American mysticism. And eat a dang good lunch. There's a lot of food in this story. The characters like to talk over meals. Works for me.

I have tomorrow off and hope to get a bit ahead of the word count since my daughter will be in town for Thanksgiving day and through the weekend. Thursday is the last "planned" day off - but I may try to do a few words anyway. OK, I wanna break that 45k mark - gonna get back to it now. See ya tomorrow. I hope your writing is going well!

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Day 20 - It's Getting A Bit Paranormal

2006-11-20T23:07:00.000-08:00

Day 20. I did 2423 words - wanted to do more but the day was full of distractions and I worked late, too. Add to it that today is also my daughter's birthday (and I had a lovely chat with her NaNo or no NaNo a birthday comes first). I'm looking forward to her visit over Thanksgiving. We'll have a dual celebration. Pumpkin pie with candles? Maybe I'll spring for a cake.

My story has taken me into the antagonist's character tonight. It's dark and magical and I'm having a blast. Eventually the good guys will win...I think. But I'm going to let him have the reins for awhile and see what happens.

Tired now, gotta rest. See ya tomorrow!

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Day 19 - Where I Sure As Heck Have Never Gone Before!

2006-11-19T23:24:00.000-08:00

Gonna keep it really brief tonight. Wrote 4,454 words, up to 39,735 tonight. The amazing thing is that it's really coming together. Going in a completely different direction than I thought a the start. I've got everyone under a threatening situation and I think I know how it's going to resolve but I'm going to relax and let things take me along. The couple I thought were the main characters are moving back, becoming more secondary. I think there's a lot of weaving of plots and subplots to do, so I'm not concerned - the 50 k I finish in November is just the half way point, there's a lot more writing to do before =the end=

I'm pretty excited, sorry - this may all seem like old hat to a lot of folk, but it's uncharted territory for me and I'm feeling like I'm going to discover a new continent or something.

It's quite late and I'm nowhere ready to go to bed...guess I'll get back to it!

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Day 18 - Things Are Taking an Interesting Turn

2006-11-18T22:21:00.000-08:00

I need to be at 33,333.332 words tonight to be on pace. Last night I didn't write at all so I thought I was gonna be in trouble. However it wasn't as bad as I thought to catch up. So I'm at 33,385 right now and I'm not quite ready to stop. I've gone ahead and loaded it into the word verification tool just in case I get so into my writing that I forget the time.

The interesting turn things are taking is that one of my secondary characters has gone and gotten my attention and I've spent this evenings writing time following through on some thoughts about her. It's also taken the story into a bit of a paranormal/fantasy direction. Which is not completely out of synch with the rest of the story - it was heading that direction anyway. It is going to be so interesting to piece this whole thing together and re-write. I still have no idea what's going on with these people although there are a couple directions I'm leaning towards settling on to follow as the main and sub-plots.

I'm going to really need those Learn Writing With Uncle Jim lessons when I finish my first draft...and I don't think I'll be finished at 50k words either. This looks to be a much longer work the way I'm writing. It's probably a good thing - easier to cut down than pad up.

I want to thank my two commenters from yesterday's post. It's fun to see that someone is reading!

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Wrimo's Beware!

2006-11-17T20:00:00.000-08:00

We aspiring novelists are trying to finish 50,000 words of deathless prose fiction this November. I hope we all reach the goal or are happy with the effort we've made should that magic number not be attained by 11:59::59 on Nov. 30.

Either way, there lurks out there beyond December 1st, a grave hazard to the novice writer - scammers.

The sad fact is, scammy agents, "traditional publishers", and a number of literary parasites, might just start contacting us - they'll have seen our blogs and used our contact info or maybe it's just lucky spam mailers. Possibly we'll see a key word ad somewhere and think, "maybe I could get this published, what could it hurt?" and click through.

Many people just starting to write are unaware of the signs to look for and will fall prey to the scams - I know this from reading hundreds of posts by people who thought they were going to be legitmately represented or published. Two years ago I wouldn't have known - I'd never heard of Absolute Write or Writer Beware.

The fact is, if we do succumb, it will eventually leave us sadder and out of pocket a significant sum, for no hope of return on our investment.

A. C. Crispin of Writer Beware has posted on the At Last! Writer Beware Blogs! site an important warning. Please read. And make your NaNoWriMo colleagues aware as well. I've also gone to Digg and posted the article - a vote on Digg for it gives it even more visibility. Please go vote. It doesn't draw any attention here to this blog - it points folks right over to the Writer Beware blog.

There are also vanity presses who will offer to print (they may say "publish" but let's be real - a publisher would put your books in bookstores where books like ours need to be to sell to the public - not amazon.com). These presses will print you a copy of your book and maybe list it on the bookselling websites but at the end of the day you get no editing, no distribution, no marketing and you're on your own with a crate full of books to sell.

There is another "publisher" who claims to be a "traditional royalty and advance paying" publisher called PublishAmerica. Please don't be tempted to place your NaNo work with them. There's a long list of reasons why in my sidebar...scroll down to the "Don't Be Scammed by Publish America" list. Some of the links are dead now - I will go clean that up eventually...

So, whatever you do, please - before you send your manuscript off somewhere - read A. C. Crispin's message.

Help spread the word. Link to the Writer Beware blog. Post about it. Please visit and vote: Digg the Writer Beware article

For more on scams and scammers, here are two good books to get your hands on: The Street Smart Writer: Self Defense Against Sharks and Scams in the Writing World and Ten Percent of Nothing: The Case of the Literary Agent from Hell

Use a Technorati Tag: Writer Beware

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

P.S. I managed to push another 423 words into last night's writing to bring my count up to over 30k. I haven't started writing tonight - totally procrastinating.

Day 16 - Back on track!

2006-11-16T22:24:00.000-08:00

A shaky start (seems to be my usual issue, is this common?) but like the proverbial snowflake that sets off an avalanche I ended up with 2606 words tonight.

I've introduced some more complexity to a main character and brought in a new one. I did look up two things on the 'net. One definition and then a Wikipedia article. I try to limit my "research" to bare minimums. I can go back during the re-write and look stuff up then.

My husband asked me the other night if I had a plot yet. I told him "it's rather nebulous but it seems to be coming together". Tonight he offered to correct my spelling and punctuation when I was done. That might not be good for the marriage...*sigh*

I would have liked to hit 30k tonight. I might have another 356 words in me before midnight...

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Day 15 - Ooops!

2006-11-15T22:08:00.000-08:00

Writing is going very slowly tonight (as in I'm at 1k words and it's nearly 11pm) due to a number of unavoidable interruptions tonite. I may not even hit 1k words before 11:59 pm

Oh well. At least I'm doing my post here.

Short as it is...but I gotta get back to my writing!

I'm back - it's nearly midnight but I managed to do 2001 words total tonight. *whew* I'm still on track!

Day 14 - A "Designated" Day Off

2006-11-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

Today is my husband's birthday so I dedicated the evening to him and didn't write. It was one of the planned 3 days off. I'm still a bit ahead so I'm not too worried about catching up but I am worried about how taking time off makes getting started again more difficult.

I am using some prompts each night to get the words moving along and so far that's helped. I'd share the prompts but they're quite specific to the characters and plot of my story and I know they wouldn't help anyone else.

I'll share a little about that - it's not a deep dark mystery. Quite some time ago on the Absolute Write Water Cooler (forums) there was a move from one hosting service to another. Jenna Glatzer announced it and a number of us started posting in the thread "are we there yet?" and I started treating the thread as if it were a road trip and I was a youngster keeping a travel journal. I was very silly and the folks there were as well. I've been using some of the posts as prompts and all of the posters are characters - at least their names if not the tone or persona they were using in the thread.

Of course I'm taking a lot of liberties and the story isn't directly about the thread - but the inspiration was.

If you want to go to Absolute Write and look a the thread it's called New Host Coming!

Dawno,
Absolute Write,
Jenna Glatzer,
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Day 13 - I've Passed the Half Way Mark!

2006-11-13T21:26:00.000-08:00

Yep, 25,037 is tonight's verified word count. I would like to get a little more ahead because even though I've hit the half way point two days early I'm going to lose another three days this month. Tomorrow is my husband's birthday so I'm taking that off to spend with him. Thanksgiving Day and probably the day after I'll be busy with family so I don't count on writing on those days either.

That said, I hope to get further ahead this coming weekend and I did take the Monday after Thanksgiving off so I might have to do some extra writing then, as well. Of course by the 27th I should be getting pretty close to the big goal and with the finish line beckoning there should be plenty of incentive.

I'm still challenged with not enough forward momentum in the flimsy plot I've been loosely constructing as I go. I'm getting more dialog written, however. It doesn't seem as daunting as it did at first. I think it's because I'm getting familiar and comfortable with the characters - I can "hear" how they talk and the dialog just seems to be right when it happens.

I've tried to stay light on description but I know that it's important not to neglect it all together. If I don't do much now I can always go back on the re-write and put more in - a good thing when the goal is 50k and that's not quite up to novel legnth. I'll need at least another 40k to be at minimum standards from various submissions guidelines out there. Not that I'm already thinking about that - I read a lot of writing related sites - kind of my self-devised job description for my moderator job at Absolute Write.

Speaking of which - I'm going to head over there now. See ya tomorrow!

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Day 12 - Last Day Off!

2006-11-12T23:28:00.000-08:00

I'm home but I got here late enough that I didn't get any writing done tonite. I'll pick things up fresh tomorrow and get back on track.

My weekend was wonderful. My daughter's performance in her college musical was fabulous. I enjoy her company so much and have missed her enormously this year. I support that she wants to be on her own as a young adult, I did too at her age. That said, I wish she were here instead of there!! Oh well.

Will talk about NaNoWriMo tomorrow. Time for bed now.

Day 11 - Still on Hiatus

2006-11-11T17:31:00.000-08:00

Slept in, shopped for hours and in a little while I go see my daughter sing and dance in her college's production of Grease.

It has been a lovely day here - the clouds came in late afternoon and it's cooled off considerably but still only sweater weather.

Happy writing to the rest of the Wrimos out there.

Day 10 - On Hiatus

2006-11-10T22:19:00.000-08:00

I'm at my daughter's house for the weekend and did not do any NaNo writing today. I feel mildly unsettled about it. Especially since I'm taking time to write this! But it's easier to post a quick post for this in the short amount of time I have left this evening than write for two hours.

Anyone else have scheduled in non-writing days this month? I hope it's not a struggle to get back to it when I get home!

Day 9 and My Novel Writing Kit Arrived!

2006-11-09T22:32:00.000-08:00

I made a contribution to the NaNoWriMo cause and my thank you gifts have started to arrive. I got a cool poster a couple days ago and today I got a box with my Novel Writing Kit and a few other nifty goodies.

I procrastinated by going over my treasures (and having about half a pint of dulce de leche icecream) past my usual BIC time of 7 and didn't start writing until about 8. Once I got going though, I seemed to get "in the zone" and did 2,524 words tonight.

I talked a little about plot on the Absolute Write forum tonight and James D. Macdonaldreminded me about the wonderful site The Evil Overlord Devises a Plot which is a very fun and handy site to keep in your bookmarks.

The AW NaNoWriMo folk are a wonderful and unflaggingly encouraging group of folk. If you find this blog and aren't familiar with AW come visit your fellow Wrimoers there OR (shameless plug) the Blogging forum which I moderate.

Membership is free but what you get out of belonging is priceless.

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Dawno Gets Week Two Off to a Good Start

2006-11-08T22:37:00.000-08:00

Slightly over 2500 words tonight. Plot is starting to click in my head - it's firming up in the flow of the writing as well. Will mean major re-writes at some point but I'm not even considering it until Nov. is a memory.

I'm ahead by 4876 words today. That's 2.6 days cushion in my 27 day plan. I'm hoping that I don't have to use it this weekend, but I'm glad to have it!

Did I mention that one of the cats has decided that 'the' place to be during my scheduled Wrimo time is on my lap with paws on my laptop computer? She has finally gotten comfortable enough with me to get in my lap (it's been almost a month she's been here) and of course the main time she wants up is exactly when I can't have her there!

chaostitan on Absolute Write asked "I wonder if you put your cat on the keyboard for one month....could that count as a NaNo novel?"

Only if you let the cat take full credit, ok?

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay 7!

2006-11-07T21:08:00.000-08:00

One week of NaNoWriMo down. Three more + 2 days to go.

I don't know if you have to be signed up/registered to view this post on the NaNoWriMo site, but I hope not...it's very funny. One of my fellow Wrimo's is writing in the window of the Waldenbooks store in the Cortana Mall in Baton Rouge dressed in a chicken suit. What fun!

Tonight was fun but a struggle. I'm slowly getting some action and plot into this thing and it's challenging not to fiddle with it but just keep writing. That and Jello (the grandkittie that my son thinks is named Kiki)has finally gotten comfortable enough with me to want to get up in my lap and head-butt my hands away from the keys so I'll pet her.

I hated to put her outside the room and close the door.

I hope everyone took time to vote today or, as in my case, earlier by absentee ballot or early voting options.

Hey, I'm over 1/3 the way to 50k! Cool. See ya tomorrow!

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Day 6 - A Glimmer of a Plot Appears

2006-11-06T22:03:00.000-08:00

Did a bit over 2300 words tonite - I'm over 7k ahead of the 30 day daily pace. 4,061 ahead of my 27 day minimum daily pace.

I had an idea for a more active scene, introduced a new character who may not be vitally important but we'll see. There's a developing conflict now with one of the secondary characters and the main ones; it's the set up for a/the? conflict between the two main protags.

I'm loosely aiming for a romance with a happy ever after - it's got a bit of a fantasy element, maybe...and it might just be a fantasy with a strong romantic streak, I'll know when I know.

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Day 5 - Slogging Through the Words

2006-11-05T20:53:00.000-08:00

It was challenging tonight. Took me a lot longer to get out the words. I'm still searching for a story as I write. I'm sure it's in there somewhere. I'm about two days up on my goal. Since I'll be at my daughter's this coming weekend I wanted to get ahead just in case I couldn't find time to write while I'm there. But I also think I need to take time to wrestle with the story itself. I will try to do that and my daily writing - seems to me that will be part of the ongoing process anyway so I better get used to it.

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Day 4 of my WriMo Experience

2006-11-04T21:13:00.000-08:00

Yeah, trying to do something different with the title today. This was a tough go. I took more and longer breaks but I managed over 2k words. I was more pleased with the output tonight - I felt like I was capturing some good emotions and setting up the conflict for the protags.

I've been reading a lot over the past few days as well. Finished King's Lisey's Story then Pratchett's Wintersmith and am now reading Stirling's A Meeting at Cornwallis. I've also dipped into Rober Crais' Two Minute Rule, but will put it off for a bit longer while I finish the Stirling. I'm starting to notice some things in the works I'm reading. I'm not entirely happy with that - I read for the pure joy of it. I want to get lost in the story, not critique it. However, if I do learn something that I can use to improve my own writing, I suppose it's not all bad.

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

NaNo Day 3 (don'cha love the original post titles?)

2006-11-03T21:29:00.000-08:00

I've pounded out just over 2100 words so far tonight. It's Friday so I may keep at it until I can't see anymore. Or feel my fingers, maybe. I think I need to get some padding on my laptop where the "heels" of my hands rest. They're getting a bit sore.

Anybody know if these daily posts have to be substantive for NaBloPoMo?

Anyway, I still don't really have a plot. I'm just writing about characters. They go places, do things, talk. I'm starting to get a feeling for who they are and what they might do...but as far as a real novel with a plot - not there yet. Well, maybe a glimmer.

I keep tippy toeing up to a conflict between my two main characters, but things aren't serious enough yet for a real crisis. Maybe soon. In a "real" novel nobody would possibly read this far without a damn good reason to keep turning the pages and I still haven't come up with it. But what are re-writes for anyway? When I figure out what the conflict and crisis are then it's cut n paste time!

Before I go, I'd like to just plug the Learn Writing With Uncle Jim thread at Absolute Write. It's going to be my guide to the re-write on this thing. But right now I'm taking this advice:

"One way to find your beginning is this: first, write your book. Now go through it to find its start.

Here's how to recognize the start: it's the point where you can no longer summarize everything that went before in a single sentence"

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Nano Day 2

2006-11-02T22:17:00.000-08:00

Whoo hoo! Started about 7:30 and just finished another 3166 words. The dang story still isn't going anywhere - I'm getting into my characters and their relationships but so far no conflict is coming up. I have to just give myself a break, I guess. I think the characters are going to reveal something to me soon. After all, when I have a first draft I can go back and ruthlessly edit and re-write. The point of all this NaNo stuff is to actually *do* a first draft - something I've never accomplished.

I'm jazzed!

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Day One!

2006-11-01T21:57:00.000-08:00

Got off to a rocky start - sat at the computer totally uninspired. Worked on the wiki for the review site I am a submissions coordinator for, PODPeople, browsed the AW forums...then my husband peeked in my office and asked "Why aren't you writing?" and that pretty much kicked me into gear.

I did 2,514 words. I can hardly believe it. And I'm not totally unpleased with the result, either. I didn't spend a lot of time agonizing over it - just wrote. No edits, minimal 'research' (I wanted to include a bit about the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot so I did Google a bit on that). Took me just over 2 hours (with a longish break at the 1 hr mark and a couple short breaks for snacking and smoking).

I sure hope I can keep this enthusiasm up!

Dawno
NaNoWriMo
NaBloPoMo

Tonight's The Night!

2006-10-31T18:08:00.000-08:00

Yep, at midnight tonight all the NaNo-ers in the world can start tapping away at their masterpieces. There's a local event that I'd love to join but I have some early meetings tomorrow so it's not a great idea to go.

I'm very excited about participating. I'll (try!) to keep a brief (for the most part) daily journal here of how things are coming along.

Now I'm off to the NaNo website to go figure out how I'm supposed to get my word count validated...

Dawno
NaNoWriMo

Three More Days to Go

2006-10-28T17:55:00.000-07:00

I've thrown my hat in the NaBloPoMo ring as well - that means I'll be trying to post every day here at Drive By Booking as well as doing my NaNo writing. Since this is my NaNo blog I thought it might just be possible!

Still no plot - but some ideas that might decide to become plots.

Deciding on whether I want to try joining a group kick-off on Tuesday night at Midnight. I am supposed to actually work the next day...

Dawno
NaNoWriMo

Still Counting Down!

2006-10-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

I haven't given into my fear yet. I've even done some stuff to try and keep me motivated - told my husband, decided to go to local NaNo events - there's even a Wednesday "write-in" at the local indie bookstore that I'm going to go to.

Scary.

Oh, a number of folk on the Blogging forum at Absolute Write are talking about blogging every day of November. Not necessarily doing both NaNoWriMo and the blogging - but that's what I'll try. First I have to meet my nightly word count goal then I get to post here and on AW - then I need to try and stay in touch on my other blogs...yikes. Maybe I should try to take November off from work.

Dawno
NaNoWriMo

Exhausted!

2006-10-14T22:43:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to go on a trip is really exhausting. And tomorrow I'll be on planes all day. *sigh* I probably won't post tomorrow night - so I hope everyone has a lovely Sunday.

Maybe a change of scenery will help me attract some ideas!

Dawno
NaNoWriMo

Count down to NaNo

2006-10-13T23:01:00.000-07:00

18 days to go. I need a plot and characters. I need a countdown ticker. I want a cookie...no, wait, get back on topic!! Do I want to do a Mind Map or traditional outline? One of my colleages over at Absolute Write has a tool on his site called Plot Craft - he lets you download it for free. (Woot Fahim!) Should I use Plot Craft? Do I have time to really figure out how to use Plot Craft (it's not the tool's fault - I just always need a lot of personal assistance to figure out new stuff - it's the way I learn)

I've got a copy of "No Plot? No Problem!" by Chris Baty, Program Director and founder of NaNo. I think I'll read it again.

Dawno
NaNoWriMo

Welcome to Dawno's NaNo Blog

2006-10-12T22:11:00.001-07:00

Yep. I'm signed up for NaNoWriMo '06. I'll post stuff about the process and other miscellany. I won't be posting the WIP. Well, maybe teensy bits. But the whole purpose of me doing NaNo is:

Write every day
Give myself permission to write crap
Have fun

My one rule is going to be NO BLOGGING, NO POSTING ON AW until I've done my BIC for the day. Except weekend mornings. I don't think I'll be doing my daily writing in the morning. I'm not a morning person; so on the weekends I give myself permission to blog or post as long as it's in the morning and not instead of NaNo writing.

There are 3 days in November that I probably, realistically, won't be writing. My husband's birthday, my daughter's birthday and Thanksgiving. So 50k words / by 27 days = 1,852 words per day. If I type at about 45 wpm that's 41 minutes. I'm sure I'll not just sit and type continuously so I better set aside two or three hours each evening. The TiVo will fill up, that's for certain!

If you're doing NaNo and visit here, please say hi, let me know your NaNo username and we can give each other some encouragement!

Dawno
NaNoWriMo

You must have visited my profile

2006-03-18T22:03:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted anything here, yet, because I'm pondering what I want to use this for and I created it to try out template stuff without messing up my primary blog.

My primary blog is NVNC ID VIDES, NVNC NE VIDES. If you want to know what I'm up to, visit there.