Blast from the Past

When I was packing up for the move to Dallas this past June, I rediscovered a couple of small boxes that my brother gave to me last year. They contain many of the letters that I wrote to my mother over the years. I read a few, then put the boxes away to resume packing, determined that I would go through them at a later date and put them back in chronological order.

With the husband working overtime almost the whole entire weekend, and having absolutely nothing to do, I spontaneously started going through the letters last night. At first, I wasn’t sure that it was the best idea. Earlier this week, my kitty broke the magnet that I had bought while shopping with my mother when she visited us on Maui. That visit was the last time that I saw her while she was healthy; she died less than a year later (still so hard to believe).

Here's the sad little magnet that kitty broke.

At any rate, I was pretty upset about the broken magnet, much more upset than I had expected to be, so I thought that maybe reading these letters would upset me as well. However, it turned out to be pretty fun.

The very earliest letter is from Feb. 1994, during my freshman year of college. The last is from Jan. 2007, my last full year of living in Portland (although I didn’t know it at the time). But the bulk of the letters are from Aug. 1996 – Oct. 2000: my last year of college, the year I spent in Minnesota, and my first couple of years in Portland. I know that there were many more letters than these. They’re probably still somewhere in Mom’s house; I doubt she threw them away.

I thought that reading them would be kind of embarrassing, but for the most part it’s just fascinating. The most striking thing is how much I’ve forgotten. There are people I mention that I can no longer recall, as in I literally cannot picture them, but there they are on the page, with me talking about them like they were important to my life. There are also lots of events I mention attending that are lost to the mists of my memory. For example, I mention, more than once, going to see my roommate-at-the-time’s friend’s band “Lolly” play. Now I can’t remember this band at all. I don’t even know what kind of music they played. I looked them up on iTunes but they’re not there.

In all honesty, most of what I write about is rather boring, or it would be to an outsider. For me, though, it’s interesting to see my progression through the years, especially my young adult years, to see how I slowly became the person I am today.

I’ve been considering scanning the letters into the computer and/or typing them up, but I’m not sure yet if that’s a step too far. For now, I think it’s enough to read through them and put them in order. I’m thrilled to have this time capsule of my life, and grateful to my mother for (perhaps unknowingly) saving it for me. It’s a pretty cool thing that anyone would be lucky to have.

Camp NaNoWriMo, Final Reflections

Camp NaNoWriMo is well and truly over. As predicted, I did finish on time, coming in at just over 55,000 words on Wednesday of last week.

I found the process more difficult this time than I did last November. I’m not sure if it’s because I was working on two things at once, or because I had a job this time, or because this story was simply not as easy for me to write. Perhaps it was a combination of all three.

At any rate, I’m pleased with the core of the story, but it is going to require a lot more revision than the first book in the series. There is one chapter in particular with which I’m unhappy. I’m also a little “iffy” on a certain aspect of the story (a relationship) and I need some time to mull it over before I draw conclusions. So far, I haven’t re-read a single word of it. I need distance from it for now.

However, none of that is intended as a slight against the experience. I had a great time. I was really proud of my ability to stick with it despite no longer having the support of a writing group. I’m definitely planning on doing the “real” NaNo in November, when I will write the last book in this fantasy series.

Writing fatigue was prevalent last week so I took a lot of days off. I didn’t reach the previously mentioned goal for the fantasy romance. All I wrote was the one new chapter (chapter 15), but it ended up being twice as long as I’d anticipated.

ALSO, I started the werewolf romance. I literally couldn’t stop myself. I tried to, but damn if that story doesn’t want to come out. I’ve already written three and a half chapters, around 10,000 words. I’m really excited about it & am looking forward to the process. I think it’s a good story.

This means that I currently have three works in progress (WIPs) and two completed novels that require revision. As I was walking the dog last night, I realized I’m going to have to maintain NaNo levels of writing for months if I want to get all of this done by the end of the year. The thought kind of scares me, but I'm pretty sure I’m up for the challenge.

Camp NaNoWriMo Update, Week 4

I consider Week 4 of Camp a reasonable success. Although I took a couple of impromptu days off, I still ended the week at 48,211 words. That’s less than 2,000 words from the stated goal of the competition. If I hadn’t slacked off, I probably would have hit 50K, but that's okay. I feel comfortable with where I currently stand.

I anticipate hitting 50K today. With approximately 2.5 chapters left to write, it seems obvious that I’ll be going over goal. I anticipate finishing somewhere around 55K. I'll probably be done by Wednesday.

As predicted, I didn’t get a whole lot done with my other novel. However, I did finish chapter 14, which ended up needing more revision than expected (i.e. almost complete revision). This week, I plan to write the new chapter 15, which will be short (probably only two Word pages) and revise chapter 16. I’ve already reviewed 16 extensively and feel it doesn’t need much work, so it should be an easy week.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the werewolf romance story I mentioned last week. I have most of the plot figured out. I’m feeling pretty excited about it and honestly sort of want to get started. Not sure if it’s the best idea. I’m still only about halfway through the fantasy romance and there’s my partially written spy romance to think about as well. I don’t want to get distracted from these two novels, both of which I feel are good stories.

I will be checking in about Camp NaNo for the final time next Monday. Thanks to everyone who's been checking in on my progress!

Camp NaNoWriMo Update, Week 3

A heavy-duty case of writer’s block severely hampered my progress in week 3 of Camp.

Okay, so it wasn’t so much writer’s block as it was “What the heck am I doing?” This is a common problem with my writing. I frequently know where I’m going, just not how I’m going to get there. Annoying.

Eventually, I figured out the way forward, although it may cause problems farther down the line in the story (I’m not sure yet). In the end, I wrote about 10,000 words. That may seem like a lot to everyone else, but I fell 3,000 short of my goal for the week, so I was disappointed.

Fortunately, I did reach my weekly goal for my other novel: I rewrote chapter 12, and wrote a brand new chapter 13. Upon further reflection, I think the rest of my rewrites will play out like this: massive, although not complete, rewrite of 14; new but brief chapter 15; and minimal rewrite of 16. After that, it will be brand new material until the end of the book. I don’t know how much I’ll work on this novel this week as I try to catch up on the NaNo novel. We’ll see how it plays out.

I also started kicking around a new idea this week for a gay werewolf paranormal romance story. Not sure how I feel about it. The concept might be a little heavy (no, really) but I’m intrigued by it. Hmm.

Lastly, and this is a complete non sequitur, but I have to tell someone that I’ve become obsessed with the band Neon Trees. I love Tyler Glenn’s voice. 

I’m a little worried for my mental health.

An Ode to Menial Labor

All I ever wanted to do was write.

Until earlier this year, I spent my whole entire adult life trying to find a “career” or “job” that I actually enjoyed. I was miserable. Finally, I had to give up and admit to myself that it wasn’t working. If all I ever wanted to do was write, I realized, then that’s what I need to be doing.

When the husband landed his current job here in Dallas, he would have been perfectly fine with me not working at all. However, I wanted a job, both to supplement our income and to get me out of the house. I decided to search for something part-time and low-stress. You know, something that wouldn’t distract from my writing. Within a couple of weeks, I had landed my current job: working the afternoons at a shipping store.

I’ve gotten more than a few side-eyes when I tell people where I work. I understand this reaction. I’m well educated, intelligent, and knowledgeable, all of which comes through in conversation. So I get that my job confuses people. What’s a person like you doing working a job like that? I can practically see the thought forming in their heads. So I frequently end up explaining my situation, like I did for you just now.

And while all of what I explained above is true, there’s another truth that I don’t often share with people: I actually love my “menial labor” job.

I don’t see what’s not to love about it. It’s a quick, short drive from home. I only work four hours every weekday afternoon. The time flies by. My co-workers are nice, interesting, and a pleasure to speak to and work with. Most of our customers are regulars. We know about their lives. They’re rarely angry or rude or mean-spirited. In fact, it’s a little bit like Cheers, only with P.O. boxes instead of beer. My work also requires critical thinking and problem solving skills, so it’s not like I’m not using my brain. At the end of every day, rather than being stressed out, I usually have a funny anecdote to take home with me.

Honestly, I feel very lucky. I may not make much money, but this is probably the most fun I’ve ever had making it. Life is pretty good these days. It seems to me like it can only keep getting better from here.

Camp NaNoWriMo Update, Week 2

Week 2 of Camp NaNoWriMo was a rousing success.

My goal had been to hit 25,000 words by Sunday (yesterday). I reached this, coming in at 25,064. In theory, this puts me at the halfway point. However, I’m guessing that, like my last NaNo novel, this one will come in over 50K (the last one was just under 60K), so I have a ways to go.

I took an impromptu day off on Saturday. This left me playing catch-up yesterday. I feel like I could have gotten more done if I hadn’t skipped Saturday, so I’m considering writing about 1,000 today. Since I need to get some other things done – house cleaning, haircut – we’ll see if I can also squeeze in 1,000 words before I go to work at 2.

Work on the fantasy/romance was also good. I revised three chapters: former 5/now 9, former 6/now 10, and former 7/now 11. All of them required some extensive, but not complete, rewriting.

This week I plan to do some major rewrites on former 8/now 12. I believe I’ve also decided to add another new chapter, one that will come directly after the new 12. After that, everything left in the story will probably have to be almost completely rewritten. Which is kind of ugh, but I guess them’s the breaks when you want to produce something good. So to recap, for this week: rewrite 12, write new 13, then we’ll see after that.

Still really pleased with my project and feeling pretty good, although I think I might need to start laying off the caffeine because I haven’t been sleeping well.

Onwards and upwards!

Camp NaNoWriMo Update, Week 1

Just checking in for a quick update on how my writing is going.

At the end of Week 1, my NaNo book, tentatively titled The Reluctant Wizard, stands at 10,572 words. I’ve been averaging a little over 2,000 words per day. That was intentional because I had been planning all along on taking today off from writing (I need the break, and I’m going into work a few hours early today).

So far, I’m really pleased with the quantity of my progress. I think the quality is also good, although I’m a little concerned that I’ve taken too long on the build up of the story. We shall see as it progresses over this week.

As for my romance story, progress on that has been good as well. While I was on vacation a few weeks ago, I decided that both of my current romance novels weren’t working and required some heavy-duty revision.

For now, I’m focusing on the novel that is a fantasy/romance hybrid. Since vacation, I added four new chapters between what were chapters 2 and 3. After the start of NaNo last week, I completely rewrote the former chapter 3 (now chapter 7) because it no longer fit. I also partially revised the former chapter 4 (now chapter 8). Both of those chapters are complete; this week it's on to the new chapter 9.

All in all, things are going pretty great. However, I’m glad for the break today. I was starting to feel slightly burnt out.

Camp NaNoWriMo

I woke up yesterday morning and decided, once and for all, that I’m going to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo in August. For those of you not of the writerly persuasion, regular NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. It occurs every November & is a challenge to write a 50,000-word novel in one month. You don’t get anything for “winning,” just a completed novel, which most of us writers would consider reward enough.

Camp NaNoWriMo occurs each June and August. It is the same challenge each month. The difference from regular NaNo is that less people participate in these & there is less support. I had intended to participate in June, but then that whole pesky move thing happened and, well, writing in general was kind of hard to do.

However, I’m ready for the August camp. In fact, I’m feeling pretty psyched about it. For Camp NaNo, I’m going to write a sequel to my last NaNo novel, The Necromancer’s Son. Last NaNo was a fantastic experience for me. I gather that this isn’t necessarily always the case; a lot of people don’t finish at all. I attribute my success to the fact that I wasn’t working at the time, don’t have children to take care of, and was part of an awesome writing group.

Despite the fact that I’m working now (albeit part time) and no longer have a writing group (sob), I’m going to try something different this time around. I’m going to try writing my NaNo novel while continuing to work on another novel.

I might be insane.

But I figure that there’s no time like the present. Currently, I have no social life because I can’t really afford one. We have absolutely zero disposable income, especially for the next two weeks. I’ve been sticking pretty close to home anyway. So instead of watching too much Olympics/Netflix and reading too much fan fiction (to my great shame), I can throw my energy into lots and lots of writing.

It’s an experiment. It might fail. I might burnout. This is one of those instances where it could hurt to try, but I’m going to try it anyway. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

That is, if I’m still able to form coherent thoughts at the end.