Michelle L. Levigne's Blog, page 180
December 17, 2012
Spotlight!
Check out the Desert Breeze Publishing blog all this week -- INVITATION TO A WEDDING, my newest Tabor Heights novel, is in the Spotlight!
Each day this week, you'll learn something new about the book, how I write, or just interesting thoughts.
And at the end of the week, you'll learn how and where you can get a free short story written brand new for Christmas, set in Tabor Heights.
Each day this week, you'll learn something new about the book, how I write, or just interesting thoughts.
And at the end of the week, you'll learn how and where you can get a free short story written brand new for Christmas, set in Tabor Heights.
December 11, 2012
New Release: INVITATION TO A WEDDING
The next Tabor Heights, Ohio novel is now available at Desert Breeze Publishing!
Stacy was the housekeeper's granddaughter.
Drake was the oldest son and heir to one of the founding families of Tabor Heights.
They grew up together, with Stacy considered a member of the family. Then the years and careers and distance conspired to create silence and misunderstandings and hurt feelings.
When childhood nemeses conspired to keep her from participating in his sister's wedding, Drake had little time to turn Stacy into Cinderella.
Just maybe, he was ready to be her Prince Charming. For keeps.
Stacy was the housekeeper's granddaughter.
Drake was the oldest son and heir to one of the founding families of Tabor Heights.
They grew up together, with Stacy considered a member of the family. Then the years and careers and distance conspired to create silence and misunderstandings and hurt feelings.
When childhood nemeses conspired to keep her from participating in his sister's wedding, Drake had little time to turn Stacy into Cinderella.
Just maybe, he was ready to be her Prince Charming. For keeps.
December 5, 2012
Review: PEACEWEAVER
There are always good reasons to pick up a book to read.
The title is intriguing.
Ditto for the cover art.
You've read other books by the author and you're willing to take the chance this one is just as good as the previous ones.
You've met the author, and you think she's a pretty cool chick.
Guilt -- someone you know is pressuring you to buy the book to support the author, and you do so just to shut them up even though it's not your taste in reading.
With Deb Kinnard's latest from Desert Breeze Publishing, PEACEWEAVER, reasons A through D apply. Besides, she's my friend, and I edited some of her early books, and I know she has the talent and style and imagination to always deliver. Always. So this one was a slam dunk.
And if you're still not convinced, then I'll gladly hit you with reason E. (But if you don't trust me, why are you reading this blog in the first place, hmm?)
Setting: Britannia/Wales, early days of Christianity, uneasy relations between the Cymry and Saesons (I interpret this as the Celts and the Saxons) with some Viking invaders thrown into the mix to make you think making friends and joining forces is a smart move. Throw in two children of nobility, forced to marry for the sake of an alliance to strengthen both tribes. Anmair is headstrong, eager for love, and doesn't quite know where she stands in her faith. Caddall wants to be a priest, but politics and the deaths of his older brothers forced him to become the heir -- much to the disappointment of his crude, opinionated, impossible-to-please warrior father.
Anmair has a talent for weaving, but it's peace and spiritual maturity she's called upon by God to weave into her own life and the world around her -- especially when she is taken prisoner by Viking invaders.
Not going to tell you any more. Why ruin the sheer pleasure of falling into the world Deb brings up from the past, and finding out how our heroine and her hero weave their hearts and lives together? Read the book. If you've read other books set in this time period, you won't be disappointed -- this gal knows her stuff. If you've never tasted this period of history, in this particular part of the world, you're in for a treat.
The title is intriguing.
Ditto for the cover art.
You've read other books by the author and you're willing to take the chance this one is just as good as the previous ones.
You've met the author, and you think she's a pretty cool chick.
Guilt -- someone you know is pressuring you to buy the book to support the author, and you do so just to shut them up even though it's not your taste in reading.
With Deb Kinnard's latest from Desert Breeze Publishing, PEACEWEAVER, reasons A through D apply. Besides, she's my friend, and I edited some of her early books, and I know she has the talent and style and imagination to always deliver. Always. So this one was a slam dunk.
And if you're still not convinced, then I'll gladly hit you with reason E. (But if you don't trust me, why are you reading this blog in the first place, hmm?)
Setting: Britannia/Wales, early days of Christianity, uneasy relations between the Cymry and Saesons (I interpret this as the Celts and the Saxons) with some Viking invaders thrown into the mix to make you think making friends and joining forces is a smart move. Throw in two children of nobility, forced to marry for the sake of an alliance to strengthen both tribes. Anmair is headstrong, eager for love, and doesn't quite know where she stands in her faith. Caddall wants to be a priest, but politics and the deaths of his older brothers forced him to become the heir -- much to the disappointment of his crude, opinionated, impossible-to-please warrior father.
Anmair has a talent for weaving, but it's peace and spiritual maturity she's called upon by God to weave into her own life and the world around her -- especially when she is taken prisoner by Viking invaders.
Not going to tell you any more. Why ruin the sheer pleasure of falling into the world Deb brings up from the past, and finding out how our heroine and her hero weave their hearts and lives together? Read the book. If you've read other books set in this time period, you won't be disappointed -- this gal knows her stuff. If you've never tasted this period of history, in this particular part of the world, you're in for a treat.
December 3, 2012
My First Nativity
I have this feeling of everthing coming full circle.
This morning, I got out of bed like I usually do on Monday morning, my brain full of all the things I wanted to accomplish this week and determined to make a big dent in the list. Among many things not done last week -- mostly decorating for the Christmas season -- was the item: Set Up Nativity.
This morning, I got it set up. Part of the problem was logistics. I have a gas fireplace, painted white, the perfect setting -- but the gas nozzle or outlet or whatever you call it is smack in the middle of everything. How was I going to set up the Nativity set straddling it, or tucked behind it -- excuse me, but there was no gas outlet in the middle of the first Nativity, so it probably shouldn't be there now, either -- or sitting in front of it, sticking out into the room.
With some ingenuity and some small glass bowls the previous owner of my house left behind, I did it. Looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.
Now, back to the full circle idea ... Mom bought this Nativity set for my first Christmas. I know, because she wrote the date on the box. I can remember a lot of Christmases, winding the music box -- it plays Silent Night -- and lying curled up under the branches of the Christmas tree, listening to the music box play. And now she officially passed the Nativity set on to me, for my first Christmas in my first "on my own" home.
I'm a little nervous about trying the music box. What if it doesn't work, after sitting in storage for years? What if I'm wrong and it plays something besides Silent Night?
As I unpacked the papier mache pieces, I had a lot of memories in my mind. And I thought about the current culture that seems so bound and determined to take Christ out of Christmas. (Someday, it will probably be against the law, not just politically incorrect, to call it Christmas, or wish someone Merry Christmas. We don't want to offend all the other cultures and religions that don't believe in Christ, after all. I want to know: Isn't anyone afraid of offending ME by blocking Christ from Christmas?) And all the "traditions" of Christmas that are either errors or borrowed from other cultures.
For instance: Jesus was NOT born in the winter, and definitely not on December 25. The ancient Church leaders basically figured everyone was used to celebrating solstice and other winter festivals at this time, why not "sanctify" the festival by slapping a Jesus label on it? Hmm, sounds like old-style political correctness, to me. Jesus was born in the spring. How do I know? The Bible says the shepherds were out in the fields with their flocks. No decent shepherd is going to pasture his sheep in snowy fields. Duh! And Caesar wouldn't send everyone in the world to their ancestral homes for the census in the winter. Talk about a logistical nightmare.
Another thing ... no one knows how many Wise Men there were. Why do we insist on three? Why do Nativity scenes depict the Magi at the manger with the newborn? They weren't there that night, because they came from a far country, led by the star -- it took them months, if not years. How do I know? Because the Bible says when Herod ordered the slaughter of the baby boys in Bethlehem, he ordered all boys under the age of 2, based on the timing the Magi gave him. And the Bible says they came to the house (not stable) where the child (not newborn) was with his mother, and presented gifts to him. So logic says Mary and Joseph and Jesus lived in Bethlehem for a while after he was born -- they set up housekeeping, essentially.
And yet, I admit, I put the Wise Men out with the Nativity set, despite knowing better. Why? Tradition. Because it's a set. Because of all the memories.
How many traditions do we keep that are meaningful, and how many are meaningless, yet we keep them anyway? How many traditions do we purge from our lives through political correctness pressure? How many will we hold to, no matter how we're mocked, maybe even persecuted, maybe even sued by people who are so adamant about pursuing their rights that they violate OUR rights?
So as long as I'm able, I'm going to celebrate CHRISTMAS, rather than the holidays. I'm going to celebrate one of the greatest moments in history, the birth of Christ, my Savior, even if He wasn't born in December.
What matters is that He was born.
This morning, I got out of bed like I usually do on Monday morning, my brain full of all the things I wanted to accomplish this week and determined to make a big dent in the list. Among many things not done last week -- mostly decorating for the Christmas season -- was the item: Set Up Nativity.
This morning, I got it set up. Part of the problem was logistics. I have a gas fireplace, painted white, the perfect setting -- but the gas nozzle or outlet or whatever you call it is smack in the middle of everything. How was I going to set up the Nativity set straddling it, or tucked behind it -- excuse me, but there was no gas outlet in the middle of the first Nativity, so it probably shouldn't be there now, either -- or sitting in front of it, sticking out into the room.
With some ingenuity and some small glass bowls the previous owner of my house left behind, I did it. Looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.Now, back to the full circle idea ... Mom bought this Nativity set for my first Christmas. I know, because she wrote the date on the box. I can remember a lot of Christmases, winding the music box -- it plays Silent Night -- and lying curled up under the branches of the Christmas tree, listening to the music box play. And now she officially passed the Nativity set on to me, for my first Christmas in my first "on my own" home.
I'm a little nervous about trying the music box. What if it doesn't work, after sitting in storage for years? What if I'm wrong and it plays something besides Silent Night?
As I unpacked the papier mache pieces, I had a lot of memories in my mind. And I thought about the current culture that seems so bound and determined to take Christ out of Christmas. (Someday, it will probably be against the law, not just politically incorrect, to call it Christmas, or wish someone Merry Christmas. We don't want to offend all the other cultures and religions that don't believe in Christ, after all. I want to know: Isn't anyone afraid of offending ME by blocking Christ from Christmas?) And all the "traditions" of Christmas that are either errors or borrowed from other cultures.
For instance: Jesus was NOT born in the winter, and definitely not on December 25. The ancient Church leaders basically figured everyone was used to celebrating solstice and other winter festivals at this time, why not "sanctify" the festival by slapping a Jesus label on it? Hmm, sounds like old-style political correctness, to me. Jesus was born in the spring. How do I know? The Bible says the shepherds were out in the fields with their flocks. No decent shepherd is going to pasture his sheep in snowy fields. Duh! And Caesar wouldn't send everyone in the world to their ancestral homes for the census in the winter. Talk about a logistical nightmare.
Another thing ... no one knows how many Wise Men there were. Why do we insist on three? Why do Nativity scenes depict the Magi at the manger with the newborn? They weren't there that night, because they came from a far country, led by the star -- it took them months, if not years. How do I know? Because the Bible says when Herod ordered the slaughter of the baby boys in Bethlehem, he ordered all boys under the age of 2, based on the timing the Magi gave him. And the Bible says they came to the house (not stable) where the child (not newborn) was with his mother, and presented gifts to him. So logic says Mary and Joseph and Jesus lived in Bethlehem for a while after he was born -- they set up housekeeping, essentially.
And yet, I admit, I put the Wise Men out with the Nativity set, despite knowing better. Why? Tradition. Because it's a set. Because of all the memories.
How many traditions do we keep that are meaningful, and how many are meaningless, yet we keep them anyway? How many traditions do we purge from our lives through political correctness pressure? How many will we hold to, no matter how we're mocked, maybe even persecuted, maybe even sued by people who are so adamant about pursuing their rights that they violate OUR rights?
So as long as I'm able, I'm going to celebrate CHRISTMAS, rather than the holidays. I'm going to celebrate one of the greatest moments in history, the birth of Christ, my Savior, even if He wasn't born in December.
What matters is that He was born.
November 30, 2012
Eleven Days Until Launch
Launch of WHAT?
Year Two of the Tabor Heights, Ohio series.
INVITATION will be released December 11.
You'll not only meet some new faces in Tabor Heights, but run into old friends and get hints of what they've been doing since their particular romances came to a "happily ever after" conclusion. PLUS, in the correspondence that our Hero and Heroine carry on during the year that the story takes place, you'll get sneak peeks at other stories taking place in Year Two.
But no spoilers.
At least, not the spoilers that would stop you from buying the book and finding out what's going on.
So visit the Desert Breeze Publishing site on December 11 for the release of INVITATION TO A WEDDING, and check the Desert Breeze blog the week of December 17 for a spotlight on INVITATION. You'll get some inside information and insights, and maybe a chance to ask some questions, make comments, and win a prize or two. Who knows? We're stilling putting together the fun!
Year Two of the Tabor Heights, Ohio series.
INVITATION will be released December 11.
You'll not only meet some new faces in Tabor Heights, but run into old friends and get hints of what they've been doing since their particular romances came to a "happily ever after" conclusion. PLUS, in the correspondence that our Hero and Heroine carry on during the year that the story takes place, you'll get sneak peeks at other stories taking place in Year Two.
But no spoilers.
At least, not the spoilers that would stop you from buying the book and finding out what's going on.
So visit the Desert Breeze Publishing site on December 11 for the release of INVITATION TO A WEDDING, and check the Desert Breeze blog the week of December 17 for a spotlight on INVITATION. You'll get some inside information and insights, and maybe a chance to ask some questions, make comments, and win a prize or two. Who knows? We're stilling putting together the fun!
November 23, 2012
The Day After
I don't know about you, but I try to stay home and off the road on Black Friday. Especially now that I live so close to a mall!
It seems such an antitheses to the relaxed atmosphere of Thanksgiving, where you don't care about catching up on your email or work, and you just sit around and watch TV and talk and enjoy being together with your family or friends or whoever is important to you.
Mom and Dean and I had a great day yesterday. Granted, I didn't do more than 200 words of writing on my NaNoWriMo project, and I'm still days behind schedule, but it was a good day yesterday. Sometimes you need to just goof off and think about something besides deadlines and goals and earning a living!
We had brunch, then we played Skip-Bo, then we moved into the living room and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Dean wanted to see the Underdog balloon, and I got online to see if it was still even included in the parade, because I can't honestly remember seeing it for a while. It's amazing all the information on the parade that's available, most of it on Wikipedia. They list the years different balloons and floats were introduced into the parade, and even a funny/silly/sad list of when balloons created havoc, ran wild, and had to be punctured by the police to protect bystanders. Some of the pictures of early balloons were downright bizarre!
I finally had to look up Underdog, the show, and found the listing for the parade. Doggone it -- the Underdog balloon was retired in the 80s!!!! Gee, no wonder I couldn't remember seeing it for years and years ...
Funny how time speeds by, isn't it? But we have our good memories, and that's what Thanksgiving is all about -- not stocking up for the insanity of Black Friday. Which started early this year, by the way. When I took Dean home, the Target parking lot across the street from his apartment was jammed at 10:30 at night. Come on, people! Get a sense of reality here!!!
Well, it's Friday, and back to schedules and goals and deadlines. I'm still unpacking and getting my apartment organized, but at least my office is somewhat put together. I can actually FIND supplies when I need them. 95.5 the Fish is playing Christmas songs all day, and I'm trying to get all my online work done so I can get back to work on my NaNoWriMo project. If I manage about 5,000 words a day for the rest of the month, I'll get this thing finished! Which will make my publisher very happy. She's waiting for the 5th and final book of the Hunt series -- and come to think of it, so am I! I love it when I'm writing the first draft. Things happen I never planned for, and sometimes it feels like I'm reading the story and discovering what it's about as it's being written.
So happy Day After Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope you're home and relaxed and warm, safe from the insanity and easing your way into the holidays.
It seems such an antitheses to the relaxed atmosphere of Thanksgiving, where you don't care about catching up on your email or work, and you just sit around and watch TV and talk and enjoy being together with your family or friends or whoever is important to you.
Mom and Dean and I had a great day yesterday. Granted, I didn't do more than 200 words of writing on my NaNoWriMo project, and I'm still days behind schedule, but it was a good day yesterday. Sometimes you need to just goof off and think about something besides deadlines and goals and earning a living!
We had brunch, then we played Skip-Bo, then we moved into the living room and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Dean wanted to see the Underdog balloon, and I got online to see if it was still even included in the parade, because I can't honestly remember seeing it for a while. It's amazing all the information on the parade that's available, most of it on Wikipedia. They list the years different balloons and floats were introduced into the parade, and even a funny/silly/sad list of when balloons created havoc, ran wild, and had to be punctured by the police to protect bystanders. Some of the pictures of early balloons were downright bizarre!
I finally had to look up Underdog, the show, and found the listing for the parade. Doggone it -- the Underdog balloon was retired in the 80s!!!! Gee, no wonder I couldn't remember seeing it for years and years ...
Funny how time speeds by, isn't it? But we have our good memories, and that's what Thanksgiving is all about -- not stocking up for the insanity of Black Friday. Which started early this year, by the way. When I took Dean home, the Target parking lot across the street from his apartment was jammed at 10:30 at night. Come on, people! Get a sense of reality here!!!
Well, it's Friday, and back to schedules and goals and deadlines. I'm still unpacking and getting my apartment organized, but at least my office is somewhat put together. I can actually FIND supplies when I need them. 95.5 the Fish is playing Christmas songs all day, and I'm trying to get all my online work done so I can get back to work on my NaNoWriMo project. If I manage about 5,000 words a day for the rest of the month, I'll get this thing finished! Which will make my publisher very happy. She's waiting for the 5th and final book of the Hunt series -- and come to think of it, so am I! I love it when I'm writing the first draft. Things happen I never planned for, and sometimes it feels like I'm reading the story and discovering what it's about as it's being written.
So happy Day After Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope you're home and relaxed and warm, safe from the insanity and easing your way into the holidays.
November 12, 2012
The evils of "Reply All"
Confession time.
I have a temper.
Some people might be saying, "well, duh," about now. Those who I have sliced and diced with my tongue. The thing is, it takes a lot to make me blow up. Stupidity, rudeness, obliviousness, nasty self-righteousness. It has to build up over time.
I've had a problem with a number of sites and groups lately, where if you make the mistake of contacting them for information, they put you on their mailing list, without asking you. And no matter how many times you ask them to take you off their list, they keep sending the information.
I had finally gone beyond the "enough" point with the newsletter editor of a writing group 2 hours away. I attended a book fair they sponsored probably 5 years ago, and was immediately put on the mailing list for their newsletter. I did the usual -- marked the envelope "return to sender" and underneath that "take me off your list" and tossed it back in the mail.
The newsletters kept coming. I threw some out. Others I marked "return" and "take me off your list." I even opened some and used email to ask her to leave me the heck alone. She apologized -- and the newsletters kept coming.
A few weeks ago, I sent another email -- and found myself on the E-MAIL list. Where I received all the "reply all" responses from members of the group. Nothing irks me more than getting deluged with "reply all" messages and "inside" or "personal" information from people I don't even know.
I again demanded my name be removed from her lists. Another apology and promise it would be done.
The incompetent twit LIED.
Maybe a week later -- you guessed it. Another email news release for the group.
Fed up, I hit "reply all" and wrote a general plea to the group for someone to intervene.
And then I had second thoughts -- give the twit one more chance -- so I saved the email in the "send later" file, wrote her another email and told her if she sent me one more email, I was sending to the entire group.
Here's the thing -- later that day, I had a huge editing job I needed to email, so I wrote up the cover letter and attached the file off-line, then went online to send it. And didn't remember the email I had saved to "send later."
GULP.
I had some interesting responses. One person analyzing why she was incapable of acting on my requests and then demands. Someone else responded that he was also getting unwanted newsletters, and one guy who said to just block her email address, so I wouldn't receive anything from her.
Here's the thing -- REPLY ALL.
People in this group hit "reply all" to respond to whatever is in the newsletters. Which means everyone who was sent the original e-mail gets the response. And do you think that blocking the original sender's email address will automatically block all responses?
*sigh*
I should have deleted that general plea for help, instead of saving it for later, in case I needed it.
I hereby apologize to all the people in that group -- especially the people who are also victims of this woman's technological incompetence, or laziness, or rudeness, or need to feel powerful.
Hitting "reply all" is rude. It inflicts unwanted information on people you don't know, who couldn't care less what you are thinking.
I hereby promise from now on never to hit "reply all" unless it's for a very small group of people, all of whom know each other, or who are working on the same project or goal.
I have a temper.
Some people might be saying, "well, duh," about now. Those who I have sliced and diced with my tongue. The thing is, it takes a lot to make me blow up. Stupidity, rudeness, obliviousness, nasty self-righteousness. It has to build up over time.
I've had a problem with a number of sites and groups lately, where if you make the mistake of contacting them for information, they put you on their mailing list, without asking you. And no matter how many times you ask them to take you off their list, they keep sending the information.
I had finally gone beyond the "enough" point with the newsletter editor of a writing group 2 hours away. I attended a book fair they sponsored probably 5 years ago, and was immediately put on the mailing list for their newsletter. I did the usual -- marked the envelope "return to sender" and underneath that "take me off your list" and tossed it back in the mail.
The newsletters kept coming. I threw some out. Others I marked "return" and "take me off your list." I even opened some and used email to ask her to leave me the heck alone. She apologized -- and the newsletters kept coming.
A few weeks ago, I sent another email -- and found myself on the E-MAIL list. Where I received all the "reply all" responses from members of the group. Nothing irks me more than getting deluged with "reply all" messages and "inside" or "personal" information from people I don't even know.
I again demanded my name be removed from her lists. Another apology and promise it would be done.
The incompetent twit LIED.
Maybe a week later -- you guessed it. Another email news release for the group.
Fed up, I hit "reply all" and wrote a general plea to the group for someone to intervene.
And then I had second thoughts -- give the twit one more chance -- so I saved the email in the "send later" file, wrote her another email and told her if she sent me one more email, I was sending to the entire group.
Here's the thing -- later that day, I had a huge editing job I needed to email, so I wrote up the cover letter and attached the file off-line, then went online to send it. And didn't remember the email I had saved to "send later."
GULP.
I had some interesting responses. One person analyzing why she was incapable of acting on my requests and then demands. Someone else responded that he was also getting unwanted newsletters, and one guy who said to just block her email address, so I wouldn't receive anything from her.
Here's the thing -- REPLY ALL.
People in this group hit "reply all" to respond to whatever is in the newsletters. Which means everyone who was sent the original e-mail gets the response. And do you think that blocking the original sender's email address will automatically block all responses?
*sigh*
I should have deleted that general plea for help, instead of saving it for later, in case I needed it.
I hereby apologize to all the people in that group -- especially the people who are also victims of this woman's technological incompetence, or laziness, or rudeness, or need to feel powerful.
Hitting "reply all" is rude. It inflicts unwanted information on people you don't know, who couldn't care less what you are thinking.
I hereby promise from now on never to hit "reply all" unless it's for a very small group of people, all of whom know each other, or who are working on the same project or goal.
November 6, 2012
Halloween and NaNoWriMo
Tally so far for NaNoWriMo:
11,000 words
Tally for Trick-or-Treating in our new neighborhood of Parma ...
(NO, I did not go out. I stayed home and handed out candy and worked on my NaNo project)
150 children.
Give or take.
I mean, honestly, sometimes they came in bunches of 7 to 10 at a time! And it was dark. And it was cold. And I was trying to keep a running tally of costumes. I know I missed a dozen or so kids.
We bought a 5-lb. bag of minis -- you know, those little cube candybar bite-size pieces. Excuse me, but those things are so small, there's nothing to bite -- you just pop the whole thing in your mouth. Be careful to take it out of the wrapper, of course! These were the good minis -- Milky Way, Milky Way Dark, Snickers, 3 Musketeers, ButterFinger.
So that bag had about 300 pieces in it. Not bad.
Of course, Halloween was on Sunday night, November 4, instead of the traditional Halloween night because we got socked with Frankenstorm all last week -- otherwise known as Hurricane Sandy. Even as far west as Cleveland, Ohio, we were reeling from the wind and power outages and constant rain for days. Man, I have new sympathy and respect for Noah!
Rough estimate of costumes:
4 witches -- 2 Batman -- 8 vampires/Draculas/Dracula-ettes -- 30 generic scarey (skulls, scream masks, black robes, bloody faces, white pancake makeup, etc.) -- 1 Alice in Wonderland -- 1 Sponge Bob -- 1 Ninja -- 1 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle -- 1 Thomas the Tank Engine -- 5 princesses (hey, if they had crowns and long dresses and glitter, they were princesses!) -- 1 military -- 1 granny (robe, gray wig) -- 38 kids with bits of costume but nothing identifiable (makeup, masks, wigs, something slapped together at the last minute to justify them walking around with a pillowcase getting candy) -- 1 Tigger -- 1 Rocky -- 1 Captain America -- 5 cowboys/cowgirls/Indians -- 3 Christmas-themed (elves and Santa) -- 3 Spider-man -- 2 Ohio State football -- 1 Darth Vader -- 1 Elmo -- 5 Faeries -- 2 clowns -- 1 Angry Bird -- 7 assorted Stormtroopers/Star Wars characters -- 1 shark -- 1 Fireman
Next year, we're expecting more if the weather is nicer -- better get 2 5-lb. bags!
And through all that, I managed to get my NaNo writing done. Whew! It helps to have an outline and notes and bits of scenes thrown into my file to work from.
I'm a little less than 1/4 of the way to the goal. Of course, I want to have a whole lot more than 50,000 words by the end of November .... so I better get off the Internet and back to writing!
11,000 words
Tally for Trick-or-Treating in our new neighborhood of Parma ...
(NO, I did not go out. I stayed home and handed out candy and worked on my NaNo project)
150 children.
Give or take.
I mean, honestly, sometimes they came in bunches of 7 to 10 at a time! And it was dark. And it was cold. And I was trying to keep a running tally of costumes. I know I missed a dozen or so kids.
We bought a 5-lb. bag of minis -- you know, those little cube candybar bite-size pieces. Excuse me, but those things are so small, there's nothing to bite -- you just pop the whole thing in your mouth. Be careful to take it out of the wrapper, of course! These were the good minis -- Milky Way, Milky Way Dark, Snickers, 3 Musketeers, ButterFinger.
So that bag had about 300 pieces in it. Not bad.
Of course, Halloween was on Sunday night, November 4, instead of the traditional Halloween night because we got socked with Frankenstorm all last week -- otherwise known as Hurricane Sandy. Even as far west as Cleveland, Ohio, we were reeling from the wind and power outages and constant rain for days. Man, I have new sympathy and respect for Noah!
Rough estimate of costumes:
4 witches -- 2 Batman -- 8 vampires/Draculas/Dracula-ettes -- 30 generic scarey (skulls, scream masks, black robes, bloody faces, white pancake makeup, etc.) -- 1 Alice in Wonderland -- 1 Sponge Bob -- 1 Ninja -- 1 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle -- 1 Thomas the Tank Engine -- 5 princesses (hey, if they had crowns and long dresses and glitter, they were princesses!) -- 1 military -- 1 granny (robe, gray wig) -- 38 kids with bits of costume but nothing identifiable (makeup, masks, wigs, something slapped together at the last minute to justify them walking around with a pillowcase getting candy) -- 1 Tigger -- 1 Rocky -- 1 Captain America -- 5 cowboys/cowgirls/Indians -- 3 Christmas-themed (elves and Santa) -- 3 Spider-man -- 2 Ohio State football -- 1 Darth Vader -- 1 Elmo -- 5 Faeries -- 2 clowns -- 1 Angry Bird -- 7 assorted Stormtroopers/Star Wars characters -- 1 shark -- 1 Fireman
Next year, we're expecting more if the weather is nicer -- better get 2 5-lb. bags!
And through all that, I managed to get my NaNo writing done. Whew! It helps to have an outline and notes and bits of scenes thrown into my file to work from.
I'm a little less than 1/4 of the way to the goal. Of course, I want to have a whole lot more than 50,000 words by the end of November .... so I better get off the Internet and back to writing!
November 2, 2012
NaNoWriMo -- Day One
Off to a good start.
Considering I didn't even get to sit down and work on my NaNo story, "Gathering," the 5th book in The Hunt series until Thursday late afternoon!
(Previous titles are:
Dawn Memories
Quartet
Butterfly *2013 EPIC Awards finalist in YA*
Finders, Keepers)
But my total at the end of Day 1 is 2,600 words.
To make the 50,000 words by the end of November, I only (ONLY, hah!) need 1,666 words each day.
Anyway, it's going on 4pm on Day 2 and I haven't written yet!
That's next on my list.
But so far, so good.
If you're NaNo-ing this year, please comment below and let the rest of us know what you're doing!
Considering I didn't even get to sit down and work on my NaNo story, "Gathering," the 5th book in The Hunt series until Thursday late afternoon!(Previous titles are:
Dawn Memories
Quartet
Butterfly *2013 EPIC Awards finalist in YA*
Finders, Keepers)
But my total at the end of Day 1 is 2,600 words.
To make the 50,000 words by the end of November, I only (ONLY, hah!) need 1,666 words each day.
Anyway, it's going on 4pm on Day 2 and I haven't written yet!
That's next on my list.
But so far, so good.
If you're NaNo-ing this year, please comment below and let the rest of us know what you're doing!
October 31, 2012
Do You NaNo?
It's that time again!National Novel Writing Month.
Are you going to NaNo this year?Please do -- it'll be major fun!
Check back here. Plans are to update regularly on the progress of GATHERING, the 5th book in "The Hunt" series.
Might be good news. Might be lots of complaints. But at least there'll be a word count every other day or so. Depending on how well or how bad I'm doing!
Check out NaNoWriMo for information. There's still time for YOU to sign up and finally do it -- write a novel in a month.
