YAY!!!!!! (Sydney Salter)

But should I really expose others to my celebrating?

Last week I finished my novel, the one I've been working on for two years. The one I sometimes shoved aside in despair. But now it's finished and I am happy with the story. YAY!!!

Re-reading the last paragraph of my novel (YAY!!!) coincided with the end of the school day. I'd already received one text from my 8th grader: Are U coming? It's freezing.

So I slipped my fuzzy-socked feet into my Danskos and jumped into the car. Hair not washed, but I found some sort of hat lying on my un-vacuumed floor. I'd been wearing the same sweatpants for, um, awhile. And my top half was covered in a mismatching sweatshirt.

Okay, so I have to admit that I often drive carpool looking like this. I think it's good for 8th grade fashionistas to have a role model of a different sort (although they probably just shudder in horror & swear they'll never stoop so low).

I announced that I'd finished my novel. YAY!!!

After we dropped off our carpool, my daughter begged me to go get cupcakes so we could celebrate. I demurred. "I'm wearing fuzzy socks with Danksos and there's dog drool on my sweatpants." She was not fazed (she likes cupcakes as much as I do). And, really, I do try to emphasize that appearance doesn't matter, so I hauled my bedraggled self into the cute blue and white cupcake shop and picked out four much-cuter celebratory cupcakes. YAY!!!!

[photo unavailable. Munch. Munch.]

Sometimes celebrating doesn't look good, but it always tastes, I mean, feels good. Now that finished novel is in my daughter's room being read for the very first, all the way finished, time. Remember-- appearances don't matter.

YAY!!!

Celebrate This - Jenny O'Connell

Hmmm... celebrations. Seems like a logical blog topic given the season, and I am definitely one to love a good celebration. But this month I have a hard time thinking about what to write about. The every day celebrations (I got a parking space! There's no line at the post office!), the special occasion celebration (my book sold! My best friend is in town!), and the annual celebrations that we know will always arrive (Birthday! Christmas!).

Well, the other day I was cleaning out a drawer and I found a little notebook I started keeping when my kids were little. It wasn't a journal, I'm a horrible journaler, but rather just sentences labeled 1, 2 and 3, along with a date. So, back in October of 2000 I apparently started writing down three things I was grateful for every day. And as I read them they jogged my memory of amazing things that made me happy - soft flannel sheets, a really good tuna sandwich, how my infant son loved to put my nose in his toothless mouth, that my parents' lost cat found her way home, ant spray, egg nog, a burst of creativity, watching the Sound of Music.

All of things that made me grateful were small, free, and yet worth celebrating just because without them there would be fewer smiles in my life (building a fort out of sofa cushions, chocolate chip cookie dough).

As I think about those little things I wanted to celebrate, even if just by being grateful for them in a journal, I think about characters and what makes them come to life. I truly believe it's the little things about our characters - how they curl up in bed, the way they sneak a fingertip into a bowl of cake batter - that bring them to life. Finding my journal was a reminder to look for the things my characters celebrate, no matter how small, and let the reader see those celebrations. It gives them a dimension and texture with a simple action, a fleeting thought and can speak louder and clearer than all the grand gestures and dialog put together.

And when I realized that I celebrated - with a nice glass of egg nog.

Celebrate Your Ugly Things--Kimberly Sabatini

Let's face it, celebrating the good things in life is a walk in the park. It's easy to get behind success and happy times. What's not to love? I always give *fist pumps* to birthdays, weddings, great report cards, agent signings, new homes, book sales, births, completed runs and chocolate ice cream on a hot day--or any day really.

What's not so easy? Celebrating your ugly things.

And maybe your gut reaction to this weird take on celebrations is to look at me like I'm wearing my underwear on my head. LOL! I understand. Not too long ago, I would have looked at me the same way. But I've had a bit of an epiphany as I wrote and rewrote my debut novel, TOUCHING THE SURFACE.

Life altering mistakes are meant to alter lives…

I could talk to you about the silver linings I've had to embrace while coming to terms with the death of my Dad. Or any number of things that drove me to the creation of SURFACE. But the real answers are not in the details. They in the long view--the big picture. And perhaps that is why they are so hard to see clearly.

I used to think that when bad things, hard things, uncomfortable things happen--it must've been because I'd done something wrong. Now I try (try being the operative word) not to think like that any more. Instead I imagine I'm looking at the big picture of my life through a small window--just a little peep hole. Like this…

When I can't see the expansive whole, because my hole is to narrow, it doesn't mean my life is small--just my vision for it. And I'll be honest, I'm not sure if I believe there's a good reason for every bad thing that happens OR there are no wrong decisions, just wrong attitudes. The truth is--I don't think it matters--the end result is the same. As Newton would tell you--two oppositely charged objects attract. I've come to believe I need both the positives and the negatives to alter my life for the better.

So, as 2013 comes to an end, I'm going to look back and make a conscious effort to celebrate my ugly things. I may not always appreciate them right out of the gate, but as far as I know, I've got time to figure it out.

Happy New Year and don't forget to celebrate your ugly things.

DOING THE DANCE OF JOY

I celebrate a lot. Because as I once famously told a classroom of seniors, having stolen the line from someone (although I can’t remember who), “We don’t go out of this world the same way we came in.” Which was my way of saying, eat the birthday cake and get a pony or whatever it is that makes you joyful. (I give a version of that line to Jenna Samuels in next year’s The A-Word, by the way. Just to throw out a shameless promotional plug.)

Point being: Life is weird and short. It throws curveballs at us on a regular basis. To paraphrase John Bender from The Breakfast Club, “It’s an imperfect world. Screws fall out all the time.”

So celebrate! Do the Dance of Joy. (stole that one from Joss Whedon) Make some noise. Because tomorrow things might suck. Possibly in five minutes. Eat the damn cupcake already! Light a sparkler!

How do I celebrate the good stuff? Nothing particularly extravagant most of the time. Homemade food. A cup of Starbucks coffee because it costs just enough too much to make me feel celebratory—as long as I don’t have one every day. Inviting friends over/going out with friends/talking to friends. Allowing myself (even if I’ve got crazy deadlines and am panicking) the luxury of an evening with fuzzy socks, a blanket, red wine, and a movie/tv show. Reading a book I’ve wanted to read. Buying/making a gift for people I love. Taking a walk and getting my thoughts in order. (Yes, this is a form of celebration for me. These days when I get a new book contract, I wait a bit before I spread the news, and not just because my agent has told me to keep it quiet. But because it’s nice to have it be just mine for a bit. Thanking my imagination and my tenacity and some lucky timing and whatever it took internally to write something that someone else was willing to pay me money for. That’s huge. And a quiet, private celebration makes me aware of what it took to get there.

What am I currently celebrating? In no particular order:

1. My brilliant editors who care deeply about the work I do, about making it shine, about publishing it well. Currently I celebrate my editors at Soho Press and Balzer and Bray!
2. Our current state of general health. We’ve had some ups and downs in our family in that regard this past year, and so when everyone’s smiling and feeling chipper, it’s a good day.
3. The fact that I am still working at a job I love. In the past few years, I’ve learned how rare that is (I really didn’t know), and so I know it’s worth cheering for.
4. Our son and daughter in law—who found each other and are making a lovely little life for themselves with Bernie the wonder dog. Cheers to that.
5. The people I am honored to hang out with: readers and writers and friends old and new. I CELEBRATE them and all they bring to my life.

I could go on. But that’s a good start. 

What are you celebrating and how? Let me know!

Raising a glass to 2013 -- Jen Doktorski

I love the opening lines of John Lennon’s Happy Christmas (War is Over). So this is Christmas, And what have you done…I like being reminded, amidst the season’s celebrations, that it’s a good time to pause, take stock, and give thanks. It’s definitely one of my favorite holiday tunes, but some years, those opening lines not only give me pause, they make me panic. I start thinking: What have I done? Did I accomplish anything I set out to do on January 1^st?

Some years, the answer is no. I didn’t run that 10K or drop five pounds. I didn’t clean out the basement or fix the broken drawer in the kitchen. But this year? This year was different. 2013 was a seminal year for me. Perhaps not as life-altering (in a good way) as the year I got married, or the year our daughter was born, but definitely one with milestones worth mentioning, remembering, and celebrating.

My first two young adult novels were published this year. HOW MY SUMMER WENT UP IN FLAMES debuted in May and FAMOUS LAST WORDS was published in July. After years of feeling like it was never going to happen, having both books come out this year was huge.

In June, I had a launch party to celebrate. At the risk of sounding like a five-year-old, it was one of my best days ever! We had it at one of our favorite pubs in New Brunswick, the city where I met both my husband and my agent. It was also where our daughter was born. The music—provided by my husband’s band—was great and so were the nachos. The sheet cake looked like my book cover, and the cupcakes matched the color scheme. But the best part about my launch party was that I got the chance to bring together all the people who were there for me during every mile of the long road to publication. Being the friend or family member of an aspiring author takes lots of patience, and I’m blessed to have people in my life who never got tired of giving me a pep talk—even when the rejections were well into the double digits.

So yes, this was a year of firsts for me. After years of interviewing other people, this was the first time I was interviewed by bloggers, journalists, and even talk radio hosts!

 

I had my first bookstore appearances at two amazing independent bookstores in New Jersey—To Be Continued…in Metuchen and Booktowne in Manasquan. The folks at both stores went out of their way to make a first-time author feel special, and created awesome displays for my books.

I saw my books on library shelves for the first time and did my first (and probably only) photo shoot at the legendary Convention Hall in Asbury Park. I felt very rock star that day.

This Saturday, I’ll add to the list when I make my first library appearance at the public library in Little Egg Harbor. Bookish types in southern New Jersey, feel free to stop by at 2 PM!

For once, I’m not worrying about what next year will bring. Right now, I’m still celebrating this one. And for that, I am very, very grateful.

2013 - a year to celebrate(?) By April Henry

In 2005, my agent bought me this little journal in Italy.  I decided to use it to record things I was grateful for.  Some have been as small as seeing a blue heron.

Paging back through the book, I see that in March, Girl, Stolen won Missouri's Truman Award, and then in April it won South Dakota's YALP award.  Toward the end of the year, it went back for a sixth printing in paperback.  It's also been optioned for film rights, something I can't talk about too much (no jinxing!).  It was a Scholastic bestseller.

At the beginning of this year, The Night She Disappeared was named a Top 10 Quick Pick.  Film rights have been renewed by Tempest Films. The book has gone back for a third printing.

The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die was picked up in hardcover by Scholastic and went on to be a bestseller for them.  It's gotten reviewed in the Denver Post, the Seattle Times, and even the Asheville Citizen Times. And it was named to the Texas Taysha's list.

The flip side
This has been a great year for me professionally.  Personally, it's been a little harder.

This spring I wrote a book in nine weeks (a deadline that was not my fault). It ended up having the lightest edits of any book I've ever written.  But I nearly killed myself to do it.

September was the start of a difficult time in my life. At the beginning of the month, two homeless kids let go of their dogs as we were driving past. We killed one outright when it ran into the side of our car and got thrown under the wheel. I'll never forget the sound and feel of it, nor the sound of these kids screaming and wailing. The second had to be put down at the ER vet's.

At the end of September, I relocated five hours away to live with my mom, who went on hospice. I took care of her for about a month. Although I actually didn't do much but fix meals, make ice, and watch Netflix with her.

She had exactly the death she had wanted: at home, not in pain, and still lucid, funny, smart-ass, loving.

Her funeral was a celebration, scripted by her.  It included:

• tables at the church for all her hats, which we gave away
• her rubber band ball on display
• a ukelele band
• daffodil bulbs for all the guests
• stories of generosity, kindness, spontaneity 
• the wedding march played at the end

I want to live the kind of life that ends with a celebration.  

November by the Numbers--Ellen Jensen Abbott

To kick off my debut on YA Outside the Lines and to celebrate the launch of my new book, The Keeper, I am giving away a Kindle Paperwhite and all three books in my series, the Watersmeet Trilogy (Watersmeet, The Centaur’s Daughter, The Keeper). You can enter to win by commenting here or following me on Facebook or Twitter. See the Rafflecopter at the end of the post.

The November prompt for YA Outside the Lines was to reflect on what you had to get done this month, whether or not that included NaNoWriMo. But here I am on the last day of the month, so it seems that a “month in review” ala the Harper’s Index in is order:

Number of People served Thanksgiving Dinner

at the Abbott household:

23 (full disclosure: one was an infant)

Number of pounds of turkey carved:

32

Number of Hamlet research paper annotations read:

232

Number of papers graded:

123

Number of doctors’ appointments for the Abbott family:
9

Numbers of Books Launched:

1

Of course, it’s this last number that dominated my month. My third book, The Keeper—the final installment in the Watersmeet Trilogy—was released on November 5. Since I’m new to YA Outside the Lines, I’ll give you a quick synopsis: In the Watersmeet Trilogy, readers follow the outcast Abisina as she leaves her village to search for her father and for acceptance. On her journey, she discovers the whole land of Seldara: the dwarves of the Obrun Mountains; the fauns of the western forests; the centaurs of Giant’s Cairn—some friends, some foes. When she reaches Watersmeet, she thinks she’s found the home of her dreams where all of Seldara’s folk are welcome, but soon Watersmeet’s existence is at risk and Abisina finds herself outcast again. Can she save the home she loves? Can she unite the land against a gathering evil? Can she embrace her destiny and become the Keeper of Watersmeet? 

A book launch is supposed to be glorious, but writers, insecure by nature, find plenty to sweat about. And here again, there are numbers that can tell the story. With the launch of a book, I begin to wonder what my Amazon rank will be, how many bookstores, libraries, and schools will want my book on their shelves, if I will earn back my advance, how many people who bought my first book will come back to buy my second or third.

Lots of writers, on publishing their first book, worry that there will not be a second. The same is true for a series. What if you really only have one story to tell? All the dreams that you have wrapped up in your book pre-publication—Will I remember to thank all the right people in my Newbery speech?—and the nightmares—Remaindered after one month on the shelves!—are now going to be tested. It’s enough to make this writer want to stick her head in the sand and let her agent read her reviews!

But there is one element of the book launch which makes all of these other numbers meaningless. It just takes one reader—touched by your story, engaged in the world you built, rooting for your characters and loathing your villains—to make this day as glorious as you want it to be. Lucky for me—and thanks to social media—I know who that ONE READER is. Here’s the photo and the caption his mother shared with me the evening of my launch party:

“I had to get him out of my hair, so I handed him your book...1.5 hours ago.”

                                                         

It’s really this simple, one-to-one relationship that writing is all about. It’s hard to ignore all the other statistics that are used to weigh the success of a book, but for now, I like the number one. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Na NoNo

Well, with both my upcoming books with the editors this month, I had no excuse but to attempt to crank out an entire novel in the eleventh month. I started off hot, but with just a couple of days to go, it looks like I'm going to fall slightly short. By about 40,000 words.

Okay, kind of a failure. But not really. I'm about a sixth of the way through a new book. And I like to edit as I go along, so my book will be totally and absolutely perfect by the time I'm finished. Totally. No rewrites. I never rewrite. Not even for editors.

My main problem is that this arbitrarily happens in November. To all you lesser people, the month itself doesn't matter. But to teachers, the summer months are optimal. If this had happened in June, I would have finished on time. You see, it's not my fault.

At any rate, my editors will be getting back to me soon, so I'll be busy with another round of rewrites. Still, I like to think that what I started this month will result in a published book in 2018. Or not. Whatever. It's all your fault.

Oh, and I have a new novel coming out with Dark Continents Press this coming March. Watch this space.

And for all you authors that succeeded with your writing goals this month, I kind of hate you.

The Little Things (Margie Gelbwasser)

November is a big month for NaNoWriMo. I definitely see how writing X number of words a day to complete a novel by the end of the month can inspire people. I can also see how motivating it can be. As for me, it adds to my anxiety.

I put so much pressure on myself already, the thought of making goals I can't achieve really brings me down. I can't write without going back and seeing how things fit. I need the freedom to revise along the way if I have to. Usually, I write about 50 pages. Then, I go back and add details, fix what's not working, write another 50, rinse and repeat. If I didn't do this and just kept going, the result would be one huge mess. It's so much harder to revise a 200+ mess than a 50 page mess.

One year, though, a friend asked me to do NaNo with her. I figured if I had a partner, I could be productive. I started off writing over 1k words a day, then the word count slowly dwindled. At first, I got upset with myself. Then, I realized something. I was STILL writing every day. Every day! Who cared if it was only 500 words? At least I was writing! That experience taught me to not be so hard on myself and to focus on the bigger picture. Many days of zero words adds up to zero. But writing, even a little each day, adds up to real word counts.

I guess it's fitting that this post appears on Thanksgiving. Too often, we take stock of what's not working or where we aren't. I'm guilty of this too much. I feel like I'm always chasing what others have in the writing world. I don't stop and think about what I accomplished. A few months ago, I was talking to an old friend from high school about how I wished my writing career was elsewhere. And she said, "But you published two books. You're working on other projects. That's amazing." And I told her that I wanted the books to be doing better, to have more projects. She looked at me and said, "But don't you see? To us, you're like a princess. You had this dream and you did it."

I think about my friend's words a lot when I'm having that you're-not-good-enough-feeling. We just have to all keep going. Nothing wrong with striving for more. Heck, that's the way to make it happen. But we also have to give ourselves credit for how far we've come. To remind ourselves that years ago we would have walked miles in 6 inch stilettos to get to where we are now. To let ourselves be that princess. Even for a day.

Grateful for breaks (Jennifer R. Hubbard)

In honor of NaNoWriMo, we’re blogging about what we’re trying to get done by the end of the month.

My date here at YAOTL is the 27th. And when I looked at the November calendar, I realized that’s the day before Thanksgiving (in the US), and very few people will probably read this. The day before Thanksgiving is one of the heaviest travel days of the year, and those who aren’t on the road will probably be preparing feasts, cleaning house, welcoming family.

For those of us who are here, I invite you to take a breath. A nice, slow, deep one.

Ahhhh!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love its emphasis on gratitude, and its simplicity. We just gather, make a special meal, and count our blessings. Some people even forgo the big meal in favor of serving others, as in a soup kitchen. There isn't as much pressure to decorate, to buy things, to dress up any particular way.

Before I married, I developed the habit of going for a long walk on Thanksgiving, making myself a nice meal, and relaxing. I lived far from family, but I knew I would see them just a few weeks later, at Christmastime. Thanksgiving was a day of peace and quiet and blissful solitude—and even now, I usually make time for a walk on that day.

For me, Thanksgiving is one day in the year for not rushing or scrambling. There are plenty of days on which we get things done. We need a few days to just be.

Why I Fail at NaNoWriMo. And my Cover! (Kristin Rae)

Writing a novel in a month. Sounds great, right? So great that this month I gave it a shot. Sort of.

Until this year, I've been a portrait photographer and October/November/December have been a stressy nightmare. Since I've stepped away from photography, I thought I'd jump on this NaNo train and whip out the bones of a middle grade book in a month, shooting for 30-35k words, well below the official 50k goal. I said to myself, "Self, you are going to write one thousand words a day. That's your goal. You can do it."

I didn't even make it one day. The word-vomiting method of NaNo is NOT for me. My brain doesn't let me do that. I LOVE clean first drafts. I edit like crazy as I'm drafting. The less work I have to do later, the better.

I've also been EXTREMELY distracted this month. This is right around that 6 month mark before my debut, so exciting things are happening! I have a cover!

I'm told they're still tweaking it, but this is the one on the ARCs.

I am getting my ARCs, like, NOW! I can't believe a story that came from my brain is going to be printed and bound and blurbed!

“With Italy's brilliant landscapes, a main character you'll love from the first line and a new dreamy book boyfriend (he's mine!), WISH YOU WERE ITALIAN is a charming and addictive read. Devour this delicious treat like a double scoop of gelato.” —Lindsey Leavitt, author of Going Vintage and Sean Griswold’s Head.

 I also just attended an online marketing conference so I'm researching and game-planning and basically doing a lot not-writing. Way too much not-writing.

I think this should be my goal by the end of November: create a doable daily schedule that involves a baseline word count goal. AND STICK TO IT.

Anyone else so distracted by the squirrels of life that you have trouble keeping a schedule?

swamp lilies and snowflakes

A book in thirty days. That's a challenge many writers pursue in November. I've never signed up for NaNoWriMo. It often takes a year to complete a first draft (including months of revision). Everybody has their own process. And that's okay. It's all about getting words on the page.

This November, I've been working on publicity stuff for my third YA novel, More Than Good Enough. In six weeks, it will be in the world. Looking back, I remember the stages along the way.

It begins with a character. A problem to solve. From there, I discover the setting. Before I start typing at my computer, I always explore the places in my story. More Than Good Enough is set in two worlds–the city of Miami and the Miccosukee reservation in the Everglades.

While researching for the book, I visited my friend, Houston, on the Rez. He was very patient and answered all my questions. One day, we took an airboat to the tree islands where his family had built a Chickee Chobee ("big house") years ago. It became the opening scene.




When I finished the revision for my agent, she sent the book to my editor at Flux. I had just moved to Brooklyn, New York. As I walked through the snow-glazed fields in Prospect Park, I often thought about Trent and Pippa, the main characters in the book. The mangroves and salt marshes of South Florida seemed so far away.

Months later, the book sold, and I visited those characters again the following winter. This time I was tackling the revision letter from my editor. At first, it's so overwhelming. Could I finish the edits in time? As snowflakes swirled on the fire escape, I closed my eyes and remembered the Everglades.



I needed to look at the manuscript with a fresh perspective. As I worked on the edits, I drew each chapter as a storyboard. It helped me organize scenes as I charted the character's journey.


In the summer, I flew to Canada on a writing retreat. That's where I finished my copy edits—curled up in a tree house with my laptop, surrounded by a haze of dragonflies.


Advance copies have already trickled into the wild. Here's the ARC that I mailed to a contest winner (with notes and doodles). I'll do another giveaway when the book releases in January.


It's hard to let go of a book. You've spent so much time together. The characters are still whispering in your ear. But now they're off on new adventures. Maybe you'll see them again. Or maybe it's time to write...for a just one month or many. Because every story moves at its own pace. Sometimes the words pour out fast. Or not at all. As the first tiny snowflakes tap against my window, I'll be listening.

List-Induced Hysteria

I'm not participating in NaNoWriMo this year. Why not, you ask? I can't fit it into my To Lo list.

To Do lists are the devil.

I'm an organized person -- I have to be to juggle a career as an author with a fulltime job and family. But this time of year, I have so many lists going, I think I'm suffering from To-Do List Induced Hysteria. The symptoms are awful -- hold on, I have a list of them here.

1. A compulsion to create To Do lists (plural).
2. Rapid breathing, increased heart rate when reading To Do lists. (See Nancy Ohlin's post from 11/14 for proof!) 
3. A tendency to procrastinate actually doing the items on the To Do lists. 

November is a busy time for us. Besides Thanksgiving, which I host every other year, November holds birthdays for both my husband and me, plus our wedding anniversary. This year is my turn at hosting Thanksgiving and not only are two of my guests diabetic, I was recently diagnosed as pre-diabetic. I've been scouring the internet, looking for low-carb and low-sugar recipes we can all enjoy because there's just no joy in watching other people eat while you can't.

I've found recipes for roasted Brussels sprouts with vinaigrette, harvest vegetables, a vegetable platter arranged like a turkey, even faux mashed potatoes. I've got recipes printed out, lists of what gets prepared and baked at what time. Before I can cook, I have to shop, so there are shopping lists for the whole month of November, because some things can be purchased earlier than others. My husband's birthday falls right on Thanksgiving this year, and that means a low sugar/carb deal cake just won't fly -- so I need to serve options.

It's daunting, it really is!

I participated in NaNoWriMo once about three years ago and it nearly killed me. But it did teach me a few good lessons. First, I plotted the hell out of that project. Second, from that plot, I created a scene list. (You knew there'd be a list, right?) I wrote 1600 words a day and thoroughly enjoyed crossing the finished ones off my list.

November is also holiday shopping season, so I have lists for who needs/wants what hot item that all the stores are out of. *sighs*

I started a new role at my day job. That means studying, and learning the ropes. One of my first projects was to organize our chief's holiday greeting. Instead of cards, he's doing a video. I had to write a script, run out to discount stores (plural) to find a tacky holiday tie, coordinate schedules with the video crew, and get artwork approved.

How many lists are we up to now? Right, three. (I think I need a list of lists. *Adds that to list.*)

I'm working on a new YA project. My contract with Sourcebooks is up and now, I'm starting to panic. What if nobody likes this project? I've already had this happen with a ghost story I'd planned and plotted for a year. No nibbles. It's so hard to abandon a story once it's grabbed you around the neck, but you have to, or you won't publish for years. So now I keep lists of ideas in case an editor nibbles on my current project, but wants more than one title. *breathes into paper bag*

Did I mention how daunting this is?

There's a housecleaning list, too. It's not enough to just do the regular chores like laundry or dishes for the holidays. There's extra stuff like making sure the good dishes are washed, the silver polished, the bathrooms have fancy towels, and all the laundry is actually folded and put away, instead of piled on top of the washing machine.

*checks list*

Oh, I almost forgot one! Medical stuff. I save a few medical things for the end of the year to make sure the deductible's met and I can cover the out of pocket expenses. I have to see the gyno and dermatologist, make appointments for Pap smears and mamograms and a laser treatment (I have these tiny cysts on my face like pimples but they never go away unless zapped. Pretty sure they charge about $500 a zap. *gasps*)

Lists for Thanksgiving, lists for Christmas, lists for day job, lists for novels, lists for doctors -- I need a nap. *checks lists* Perfect. I can fit that in right now...

NaNo Fail (Lauren Bjorkman)

NaNo is about turning off your internal editor and going for broke—an amazing premise. But even when I'm prepared with a shiny idea, characters, premise, theme, and a bare bones plot plot, it quickly collapses for me. I get bored with my outline. My creativity deflates like a balloon the day after the party.

As I draft, I usually reevaluate after every chapter. Do some research. Ponder. This takes time.

For example, in my current WIP, I planned a scene at a funeral in Hawaii based one I attended where the friends and family of a surfer that died gathered at the beach to distribute his ashes. At the end of the ceremony, a dozen surfers paddled out to sea on boards covered in leis, leaving the flower garlands on the water surface like living prayers.

The images were so deeply etched into my memory, the scene should’ve written itself. I knew in advance the funeral would be the backdrop for the first interaction between my main character and her antagonist. But as I dove in, questions came up? Was the ceremony I attended typical? Early Hawaiians hid their dead in caves so the bones holding their mana wouldn’t be found by enemies. Cremation destroys bones.

Before writing the scene, I spent a few hours researching Hawaiian funerals—both ancient and modern. And that led to a discovery of ancient burial caves only a few miles from where my novel is set. Legend has it that if you look at a Hawaiian's gravesite, the spirit will follow you home. Wouldn't that make a cool new scene? 

An hour of research may result in big changes or none at all. Still, for me, it serves a greater function. It re-ignites my passion for the story.

Still, I wonder what I'm missing. I have to try again. 

Next year.

NaNoWriMo: A very helpful tool

As a writer, often times the hardest thing to do is remain motivated. Sure, you can sit down every day at your computer or notebook and write, but without motivation, odds are you're gonna toss out whatever words you put down because there's no inspiration in them. Motivation to a writer is like fuel to an old-school engine: it doesn't work right without it. 

National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, is a month-long motivational tool designed to get writers writing. It's basically a massive group of fellow writers who've banded together to keep motivation going for each other, to inspire each other, and lemme tell ya, it works. I've "legally" signed up for NaNoWriMo a few times already, and have actually "won" twice. (note: it's not an actual legal event or a contest, hence the quotes). This year I wasn't able to dedicate the amount of time it takes to NaNo to officially sign up, but that hasn't stopped me from using it as a motivational tool anyway.

If you happen to follow any writer's blogs or Facebook pages or Twitter accounts, you've undoubtedly come across NaNoWriMo posts/messages/tweets praising even the smallest of daily word counts or positive messages urging you to "just keep at it." These are what I turn to on the days when I just don't feel like sitting down and writing, when life has kicked me in the shins and all I wanna do is shut out the world. C'mon, we all have those days, right? And as writers, it's hard to feel creative when that happens. But it's also hard to not write something when all your writer friends are busily toiling away at their NaNo WIPs. It kinda makes you feel like a failure, or at the least a dweeb for not taking even just five minutes to jot down a scene or plot point.

The point of this post is to say... Don't feel bad if you can't sign up for NaNoWriMo and churn out 50,000 words. Don't feel like you're not as good as the next writer. Don't let it squash your creative juices, no matter how fleeting they sometimes may be. Use this motivational tool, this collaborative group of fellow writers, to your advantage. If you're feeling like you just can't do it, take two minutes and hop on Twitter and let others' successes of the day fuel you, motivate you, inspire you. Then, just maybe, you'll write. 

How do you think I got this post done? :-)

Confessions of a Sporadic, Manic Housekeeper by Jody Casella

This month we're blogging about stuff we've got to get done before the end of the month. My list is long and growing longer. Finish the WIP that I've been revising for months. Put together a power point presentation for a talk at the local library. Plan lessons for an upcoming school visit. But what's really hanging over me is an influx of holiday guests.

In a few weeks I've got 14 people coming to my house for Thanksgiving dinner. The guests include my son home from college, my aunt and her toy poodle Mr. Pepper, my in-laws, my mother, the next door neighbor and his family. Also, his father Henry.

Give me a minute and I will invite you. And your parents.

I'm not complaining about the guest list. I love a full house on Thanksgiving. I love cooking the turkey and all the creamy, fat laden side dishes. I love stretching out the dining room table and adding card tables on each end so we can fit more people around it. (Last year we managed to squeeze in 22.)

What I don't love is having to clean my house before the guests arrive.

Case in point: the dining room table. It's dusty--I'm fairly certain about that--but I can't see the dust because there are so many things piled on top of it. A bag of dog food. Three 12-packs of cokes. A couple of wine bottles. Stacks of papers. Books. A bowl of picked over Halloween candy.

What I should do is pack up the clutter. Straighten. Vacuum. This is how a smart, efficient housekeeper would approach the next few weeks.

I am not a smart, efficient housekeeper.

And I blame an incomplete transmission of my über-clean grandmother's Italian Cleaning Gene.

First, a few words about my grandmother. The woman set the cleaning bar high for our family. She had a schedule and she stuck to it, despite having seven kids underfoot. Once a week, for example, she emptied out her kitchen cabinets and cleaned them. She cleaned the floors and ceilings. She cleaned the walls. She cleaned the inside of the washing machine.

Sadly, I have only received a handful of molecules of the Italian Cleaning Gene. How this plays out is that every so often-- before I'm going out of town, or, um, faced with an influx of holiday guests-- the molecules will flare up inside me, and I will whirl around my house like a tasmanian cleaning devil.

The results tend to be comical. In retrospect. One time out-of-town relatives were coming to visit and I had the overwhelming urge to clean all the mini blinds in my house. I should mention that these mini blinds had never been cleaned before, so simply swiping them with a dust cloth wasn't going to cut it. I spent a morning (when I should have been getting the guest bedroom ready) removing all the blinds, soaking them in baby pools set up in the backyard, and laying them out in the driveway to dry. Side note: it was like, 95 degrees that day.

I spent the afternoon putting all the blinds back up and discovering, to my horror, that they had been broken during the process.

A few hours before my relatives were to arrive, I frantically called my husband and asked him to buy blinds on his way home from work. With minutes to spare, we were stuffing the clean, yet broken blinds in the garbage and hanging all new ones in the windows. Ah, fun times.

Today, my clean gene fired up again.

Instead of clearing off the dining room table, I did this:

Yes. Much better.

And I still have a few weeks before the guests arrive. Which means it's the perfect time to reorganize the garage...

Dear November: A favor, please? (Amy K. Nichols)

Photo by Ariel da Silva Parreira

Hi November. 

I know you're busy, but…can I ask you a question? 

Where are you going so quickly? 

It seems like you just got here and you're already on your way out.  

I'm not trying to make you feel bad or anything. I know you have a schedule to keep, and I respect you for who you are. You have a certain momentum, following on the heels of Halloween and ramping up for the big holidays in December. Not to mention your own special day on the 28th. I totally get that. 

But…

I had big plans for us, November. Fun plans. Creative plans. Writing. Reading. Some art tucked in here and there. 

I feel like you're in such a rush, we're not getting time to do much of anything.  

So, before you take off, can I ask you a favor? 

Will you slow down? Just a bit?

See, I have this novel I'm trying to finish writing this month. My editor's asking when I can have it to her. It's a little over half-written, and I know I'll be able to reach The End by the time you step aside for December. You saw me hit those last two deadlines. I can totally do this…but only if you stop rushing by. 

What do you say, November? Will you slow down?

Please?