NaNoWriMo 2014

Okay, folks. Tomorrow's the big day. 

It's the kick off for NaNoWriMo 2014, and just like last year, I'll be fundraising for the National Novel Writing Month (formally the Office of Letters and Light -- that's the folks that run this little shindig). 

Any and all donations are great. Spare $1, $5, $10, or however much you want! Your donation go to fund youth reading programs and help foster a love of writing.Please consider donating today (or any day in November) as I write towards my goal of 50,000 words. 

Last year I sat my goals low, and you all surpassed my expectations.This year, I'm aiming for $500! So let's make sure NaNoWriMo continues to be supported.

 

Now, what does this mean for my updates, you may ask. Because of how involved NaNoWriMo is, and because of my real life commitments, I will only be able to do limited updates this month. I'm shooting for the halfway mark (November 15), then again at the end of the month.

 

So I'll see you then :)

 

Adopt a marine

On top of having all these short stories that I'm doing, my family and I decided to try something new this year. We've "adopted" a marine in a family friend's unit, and will be sending him food, toiletries, and letters starting this month. My mother's been wanting to do this for awhile, so we all jumped in to volunteer when she asked. We even extended the idea out to family and friends, and now have that friend's entire unit covered.

I'd like to extend it further for anyone else to join in. Please go to anymarine.com and learn how you can adopt a marine. :)

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As for the writing progress: I've completed another short story, and have left it to sit and mature while I go back to edit other things and start new projects. I haven't queried any agents in a while, as I'm waiting for several grace periods to expire. Once all those catch up, I'll send out more. And as always, I'll keep you folks posted.

Until next time!

When a plan comes together

I'm glad to say that the focus this past month has paid off. Not only do I have two short stories out for critiquing, but I've laid the foundation for a set of follow up short stories. I've even started working on them while I wait for my other stories to return.

The ones I'm working on today are direct follow up to Thoroughbred and Evening Hallow, both of which, I'm excited to say, will eventually connect the two casts. I'd like to think I'll be able to do this with all of my dreamfics eventually. I may even have a serial out of it, wouldn't that be interesting? :)

Anyway, it was good catching up with you, but now it's time for me to get back to work. Tootles, and I'll see you next week.

Nearly there

Something about this time of year, with the changing, cooling weather, the abundant storms, and dreary days makes shotgunning Welcome to Night Vale's podcasts more enjoyable. Late night travels by car make them creepier.

I like listening to the podcasts right now because the more time I spend on Lightning Strikes 1,200 Times, the more it leans towards horror. I'm hoping that the atmosphere will translate through my muse onto the paper, and help transform this short story into something memorable.

Short story. Heh. Frankly, I've impressed myself. Lightning Strikes started out as a flash fiction, barely 1,000 words and two pages. Now it's 7,700+ words and 14 pages, and a tempest. Currently I have it out for critiques, which is why I've been listening to so much Welcome to Night Vale. The change in focus is keeping me from overthinking possible edits, and also giving me a chance to relax and let my mind recuperate after four straight weeks of writing and editing.

The good news is, I think Lightning Strikes is almost ready to be published, so I may be able to get it published to Amazon in time for Halloween. It just needs some well-placed tweaks, which will have to wait until I get the feedback from the critics.

Anyway, I'm out for now. You folks take care until next week :)

Been busy

It's been three weeks since I last checked in, and it's because I've been busy working on a new short story for you. I'm into the third draft of Lightning Strikes 1,200 Times, and I hope to have it finished and up for sale soon.

Gotta get back to work on it now, but I'll keep you folks posted. :)