I Did it!

Wow, has it really been six weeks since I last posted?

In my last post, I was preparing to start this year's NaNoWriMo. I'm sorry to say I did not win this year. Didn't even come close. But I'm not mad -- I had great reasons for my failure.I finished my first semester of college this week, and all during NaNoWriMo I was dealing with tests and research papers and homework... I was feeling a bit harried and overwhelmed, and honestly, school was infinitely more important to me than NaNo.

Officially, classes ended last week, but I had final exams this week. Just moments ago, my last grade posted, and I'm really really really excited. These grades aren't official, and they won't be until they're posted in the school system. Official grades are scheduled to post on December 23. Unofficially, though, I ROCKED this semester!

I think back to this summer, and my anticipation for starting school. When I say anticipation, what I really mean is abject terror. I was so scared! Scared of trying to tackle schooling again after being out for so long. Scared of being so old -- a combination of fear of the old dog/new tricks adage and of being the crusty old oddity in classes that garners attention for all the wrong reasons. Mostly, though, I was scared of failure.

My reality was so different. So much better. My terror forced me to work harder. I busted my but to avoid that failure. And I found that after the first week or so, I really didn't much care if I was the oldest in class. Once I got into the school groove, I was too busy with assignments to worry about what others thought of me. It didn't matter. I also discovered that as long as I applied myself, as long as I studied and worked hard, I didn't need to worry about being out of school for so long. I was able to do the work. I was able to take the tests. My result was the polar opposite of failure.

Now for my grades. I had two classes that graded on the regular 100 point scale, and two classes that graded on a 1000 point scale. My goal was straight A's, which means a 90-100 on the 100 point scale and 900-1000 points on the 1000 point scale.  Here are my results with the 1000 point grades in blue, and the  100 point grades in green:

Introductory Psychology (PSYC 1101):  1010 points

Composition & Rhetoric (ENGL 1101): 99.76 

College Algebra (MATH 1111):  99.3

Introduction to Computers (COMP 1000): 1120 points

You see that?  ALL A'S! Yes, I'm proud of myself. And now that the semester's over, I'm taking this time to lay back and rest before the next semester starts on January 17th.

30 Days of Insanity

It's that time of year again. It comes 'round every November. For a month, I'm either buried in my laptop or huddled in a corner with a spiral notebook and pen. It's NaNoWriMo time, ladies and gentlemen!

I've really been looking forward to this year. I can't say why; I really don't know why. But I've been counting the days and making my plans. Maybe it's because my first essay in school was about NaNoWriMo, and how it helped me rediscover my joy for writing. Maybe it's because school is taking all my waking hours, and I'm looking at writing for NaNoWriMo as a little bit of downtime.

Then again, I could just be weird. One way or the other, the reason behind my excitement doesn't really matter. All that matters is the fact that I am excited. I've got my vague story plot. I've got my main character. And today, after I got home from school, I designed my cover and signature banner.

If you're not the least bit interested in my story, you may as well stop reading. Oh, wait. I took an algebra test today and grades are already posted. I got a 105%. Okay. Now you can stop reading. :)

Now, for my story, and the history behind it. Last year, you may or may not remember I wrote a story with the working title Blur.  I hate that title. It's not particularly representative of the story. But until I finish it and come up with a better one, that's what I'm stuck with.

Anyway, last NaNo I wrote Blur, which was about a woman who discovered the power of daydreams and indulged until they took over, blurring the lines between her fantasies and reality. My conundrum as I wrote was whether to write it so the fantasies were reality and she just thought they were daydreams, or to write it so she ended up in a mental hospital. As time went on, the story ended up with my main character institutionalized, and I actually had a lot of fun with her descent into madness. But I still wanted to write a story where the daydreams were real.

Lead Glass, my NaNo project this year, was borne of that desire. It's not quite a daydreams are real scenario, but it does promise to be fun to write.  Here's the synopsis I posted at the NaNoWriMo website:

Nadine Thomas is a woman in her 40's, and what those of yesteryear would have termed an Old Maid. While browsing a rundown, musty antique shop two towns away from her home, she finds and purchases an old lead glass window that captured her attention and refused to leave her alone. When she finally gets it home, she discovers the window isn't just a window, but a portal through time and space. Using that window, she travels to exotic times and places, discovers the true origins of her window.  She becomes deeply embroiled in the mystery and theft that surround her portal, and works with a temporal detective to apprehend the thief, find the other missing windows identical to her own, and restore them to their rightful home.

So, the synopsis needs a little tweaking, but you get the gist. Nadine is going to travel to different times, places, and even planets and experience all kinds of exciting adventures.  See? Fun!

It remains to be seen if I'll be able to finish this year because of my school commitment (I also have a research paper due the first week of December), but I'm going to have lots of fun giving it the ol' college try.  (Sorry.  I couldn't help myself.)

Showering Ideas

Week 3 of college is done.  Most of my assignments are completed, and now I'm preparing for next week's tests in Psychology and Algebra.  Yes, Week Four = Test Week.  Yippee. I have one assignment with which I'm still struggling, though.  Shocker of shockers...it's a Composition assignment.  Will my Composition woes ever end?  (Lynn, meet Giant & Impossible to Navigate Around Wall)  We're working on our first essay, and our instructor is kind enough to take us slowly through the steps.  Thank goodness, because while I may have done structured writing once upon a time...  Well, let's just say that the man who was President of the United States at that time is no longer with us.  Yes, it was that long ago, and yes, I absolutely need the refresher course.

Anyway, it's an essay.  A narrative essay.  She gave us three choices for a topic:  1) an oft-repeated family story; 2) a special gift; or 3) a life-changing or challenging event.  Of course, the moment I read those choices on the page, I blanked.  I had nothing.

I've lived a boring life, I thought.  I've done absolutely nothing that would be of interest to anybody besides myself.  What the heck am I supposed to write about?  Yes, I can be a little maudlin in my thoughts.  And a lot unyielding.  Nobody is harder on me than me, and I often beat up on my inner-child.  Poor thing is bruised and bloodied, yet always come back for more.  But, I'm wandering away from the point, aren't I?

Back to the story...

I had nothing.  Then I thought of the first time my daughter swore.  It's a cute story, and I've told it a lot, but these narrative essays are supposed to have a point.  What's the point of that story other than the fact that it's cute as a bunny's ear?

The cussing story was out.

There's also a potato story from my daughter's childhood that gets told and retold.  Same problem, though.  No point, unless I want to talk about how skinny she is despite starch overload when she was two.  Since I didn't think that would be enough to fill an 850-word essay, the potato story was out.

Next I hit upon LittleDude's hospitalization.  That was a huge, life-changing and challenging event.  The point could be that it was the catalyst that made me decide to pursue nursing.  Initially, it passed all the tests, and I put it on my little scratch sheet of ideas.  For me, though, the problem with that story is it's just so heavy.  It's almost depressing.  I don't want to be heavy and depressing.  I want to be light-hearted and fun.  Breezy, even.  But when I left class on Thursday, heavy and depressing was all I had.

Phooey.

Then, as my husband and I were making the 30-minute drive to a local (yes, 30 minutes away is local) computer store, I had an epiphany.  Because, of course, epiphanies always come during 30-minute drives.  Or during showers.  I have even better epiphanies in the shower, but I digress.

My epiphany.  NaNoWriMo!  The call to write a 50,000 word novel in a month is absolutely challenging.  My first win, and the story I wrote to get that first win, helped me rediscover my joy for writing, so that's definitely life-changing.  Light & breezy?  Heck, the story was about a talking dinosaur and a duck that wore a blue felt fedora!  I think I may have hit on something there.

So, now I've got a light & breezy topic.  Next, I need a thesis statement.  I've got until Tuesday to come up with a thesis statement that takes an opposable position.  Not as easy, so I'm brainstorming.

Maybe I should take a shower and hope for another epiphany.

Want Bacon With That?

I did it! I did it! I did it!

You've heard of The Shot Heard 'Round the World? Well, at 9:21pm on Tuesday, November 30, I let out The Scream Heard 'Round the World.  Yes, that odd piercing screech you may have heard at that time was me.  Screaming with joy.  Because I had just received a winning word count from NaNoWriMo.  I had just seen the winner screen come up.  I had finally finished my 50,000 words in thirty days, and I had won.  This makes my third winning year in a row out of four years of doing NaNoWriMo (I lost the first year).

Am I proud of myself?  You betcha!

I'm also toast.

Writing 50,000 words in a month, especially when they were so difficult in coming in the beginning, is quite taxing.  My writing brain has officially turned to mush.  So my first order of business has been taking a little writing vacation.  But that doesn't mean my plate is empty -- my To Do list is tremendous.

I should specify that I was taking a fiction writing vacation, because while the fiction writing is on hiatus, the copywriting continues.  I've been helping SoundGuy and his colleagues with copywriting and layouts for their business.  That's taken some time since these men I'm dealing with...  Let's just say it's been work.

Then there's Christmas.  Christmas will be tough this year since we've also become victims of the economy.  We're not as bad off as many, but we're in nowhere near as good shape as we were last year.  It's going to take some work on my part.

Some of that work involves handmade gifts.  Gifts like these crocheted dish sponges , these crocheted dish sponges , and the crocheted dish sponges from this site.  I'm also planning to make a bunch of these hangers, and a bunch of scarves and a prayer shawl on my Bond Ultimate Sweater Machine.  And if I have time, a few crocheted dishcloths, as well.  Now that NaNoWriMo is over, I can dedicate my time to hand knitting, machine knitting, and crocheting.  I've got to get crackin'!

And speaking of handmade stuff, check out this adorable tote bag!  And this one. Can you believe them?   Both are crocheted with "plarn" fashioned from recycled grocery bags.  I'm in the process of making my plarn, because I must try these patterns.

Ooh, and the fall portraits.  I took fall portraits of my kids.  Must get those processed.

Additionally, I've still got writing stuff on that To Do list.  I have to finish re-entering CHESTER & RUBE (my NaNoWriMo 2008 winner) into the computer so I can try and edit that one into a series of early reader books.  That's my goal with that one, anyway.

Then there my winner for last year's NaNoWriMo, SAVING WONDERLAND.  I need to finish writing it and edit it for submission.  Which means I should probably figure out where to submit it.  That one may end up as a trilogy.

We mustn't forget BLUR, this year's NaNoWriMo winner.  At just a hair over 50,000 words, it's actually almost finished, making it the shortest story I've every written (have I mentioned I'm wordy?).  I want to get that baby done.  At that point, I'll decide if it's worth the effort of trying to get it edited.  It may end up as one of those creatures under the bed, waiting to attack in the dark of night.

Always lurking in the back of my mind are my previous mss, BURN ME ONCE and IRRESISTIBLE HARMONY, both of which I'm still planning to submit (or re-submit, as the case may be).  I just need the time for updates and final edits.  And assembling the submission packages.

Oh yeah, and finding my courage.  ::sigh::

I need more hours in the day.  It looks like I'm going to be toast for a while.  Not quite so bad as long as I can get some bacon with it.

NaNoWriMo Has Me BLURred

There's still more to LittleDude's story, but updates may be even fewer and further between this month.  It's November, and that means NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is upon us again.  That's the time I completely lose my sanity and try to write a 50,000 word novel (or 50,000 words of a novel) in thirty days, from November 1-30.  Which of course means all my spare time (what little I have) will go to writing.

This will be my fourth year participating in NaNoWriMo, and once again, I'm doing something a little different.  Last year's NaNoWriMo project (a win!) was SAVING WONDERLAND, the story of Dinah, who was transported through a faerie portal into Wonderland, a land that's a mixture of Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz and all the fairy tales we grew up with jumbled together.  Dinah is thought to be the savior of Wonderland, the one chosen by the Wise Ones to wrench the land back from the House of Green and restore her to all her former glory.  The story's not done yet, but it's been great fun writing.

The year before that was another win with CHESTER AND RUBE, the tale of a small white duck and a giant purple dinosaur and their adventures in Feckerson Forest as they embark on a quest to save their beloved homeland from the evil Centipig and his pigapede minions.  I'm in the process of attempting to break this story down into a series of children's books.

My first year with NaNoWriMo was a monumental failure with SHIFTING RHYTHMS, a contemporary romance.  I still want to write that story, but I've yet to find myself in the correct frame of mind.

This year's project is going under the working title of BLUR, and here's the novel blurb from my NaNoWriMo profile:

BLUR (working title)

When daydreams merge with reality

Her husband left her for a younger woman.  Her teenaged daughter is heading off to college.  Her job pays the bills, but is mundane.  She has no romantic prospects.  Few friends.  In short, she's fallen face-first into a deep, unending rut.

Until Grace Walters learns the power of a daydream.

She dreams while working at the power company.  She dreams while cooking dinner.  She dreams while vacuuming her quiet, empty house.  And in those dreams, her life is interesting.  She has friends.  Lovers.  Adventures.

Summer comes, and her daughter's off on a pre-college adventure.  When her boss tells her she must either take all her saved vacation time or lose it, she takes the summer off work to immerse herself even further in her newfound love.  Her daydreams. 

And that's when her daydreams take over, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality.

So far, I'm having fun with this, although writing Grace's fantasies has become much more fun than writing her reality. I still don't know how this one will end, though. Will it turn out that she's not just daydreaming, but traveling inter-dimensionally and actually living these dreams? Or is it a much sadder ending, and the daydreams have taken her sanity, leaving her staring blankly from a window in a mental facility? I guess I'll find out soon!

In the meantime, I will resume LittleDude's story when I have time.