S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 106

NaNoWriMo – Update – Week 3

Last week, I posted about how I had a major breakthrough on my NaNoWriMo novel and the luster of that idea has not faded this week. I’m pretty sure that this idea will bring together both this storyline and the one from the Nogiku Series, yet will let this series stand on its own too. It’s very exciting, and I’m thankful to be moving forward with this series at a good clip.

Here’s an interview I did with myself on how everything else went this week…

How’s the writing going?

Good. I’m getting in a decent amount of words every day and I hope to catch up to my word count over the weekend, as well as catch up on my sleep. So far the actual writing has been fun. It’s not been like pulling teeth. The harder part is figuring out what’s going on in my story. Am I revealing things too early? Am I not revealing enough? This is a delicate balance and I’m having trouble with trusting my instincts.

Did you write every day?

I did despite having two to three days of dental pain and a lot of errands to run each day. The week back from vacation is always the hardest, as I have to catch up on household things I let go while we were gone.

What did you write this week that you loved?

Rin hisses, a sound both alien and familiar. I have to remind myself that he’s different from us, raised under a different sun with different values. Who knows what kind of person he really is?

First test, will he let me die?

Has your novel changed since you started NaNoWriMo?

My original idea for this series was huge with a very wide scope. Like when I wrote the Nogiku Series, my very first idea was “This will be a post-apocalyptic novel about the last city on earth before they pick up and leave for the stars. And the population will be 70% Japanese.” And that was ALL I HAD. I didn’t know Sanaa then, or her identity, or her struggle. Because that was the first time I ever brought such a huge idea to paper, I struggled with how to write it. My early beta readers will tell you that I really fumbled. I had huge info dumps, strange characters… I basically had no idea what I was doing. Eventually, though, I did, and I realized that I can have these wide, galaxy sweeping ideas but I had to narrow it down to one person and her story, then how she perceives this universe.

So my NaNoWriMo novel this time around has been finding the voice of my main character and how she interacts with this new universe I’ve built. The cool thing is that I learned good lessons writing Nogiku Series that I was able to apply right away to this new series, so I’m not fumbling AS MUCH.

But to answer the question, I thought that this series would be more space opera, but it turns out that it’s also a heavy dose of scifi action-adventure too. I’ve never written an action-adventure, but it’s a lot of fun keeping the drama coming.

What has NaNoWriMo taught you about your own writing? You own career?

NaNoWriMo has taught me that if I write every day, I’ll keep going. That writing every day when I have a project going, even if it’s only 500 words, is important. Otherwise, I’ll put other things to the top of my priority list and forget about writing. I have to remember this for the future. It’s possible that if I set a goal to write 1500 words every day, when I have a book I’m working on, that I can avoid the slump I was in earlier this year. NaNoWriMo has also taught me that my career will not be the fast and furious one others have. I’m much more comfortable writing at my own pace, saving up a few books and publishing them at a decent interval, then not having new books out for a while.

If we want to follow your progress, how can we do that?

Thanks for asking! You can follow my daily progress on my Facebook page and my weekly updates here on the blog.

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Sunday Update – November 13, 2016

My week of vacation is coming to a close! It was quite a turbulent week with the election and NaNoWriMo lumped into being away from home, but I made it work.

On Monday, we traveled, and it was quite a mess. We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare and then spent our time waiting to be boarded. We had this TINY little plane to get to Charleston (2 seats on one side of the plane, 1 on the other) and it was packed with people. So imagine my surprise when we get ready to push back from the gate and THEN WE STOP. Yep. There was an error in an instrument and after about 15 or 20 minutes, they determined they couldn’t fix it and we all needed to get off the plane and wait. Two hours later, we were finally on an identical plane with all our luggage and heading to Charleston. I’m actually amazed they found another plane for us! We made it in late but in one piece.

Tuesday was Election Day and my dad’s birthday. He went golfing with my husband in the morning, and my mom and I took care of the kids. We went to the playground and grocery shopping. In the evening, we went out to dinner to celebrate my dad’s birthday. Then I fell asleep before the Election results came in and woke up the next day to a new president. (No comment).

Wednesday, we spent the day together by going on a tour of Charleston Harbor in a tour boat. It was a lot of fun and we saw plenty of dolphins in the waters and learned lots of history around the area. Plus, the boat went under one of my favorite bridges!

Thursday, my mom took the kids to the children’s museum in Charleston while I stayed home to write. It was hard to get back in the groove of writing between being on vacation and processing the results of the election, but each day I got some words in! My husband and I went out for dinner together and then had drinks at a local bar (very local).

Friday, we spent time at the beach in the afternoon and then had dinner out and drove the kids through the James Island County Park’s Festival of Lights display. It was super cool! Three miles of lights to look at. We got lucky and it wasn’t crowded one bit.

Saturday was Plantation Day at the Middleton Place so we spent some time there after going to the farmers’ market in Charleston and eating some awesome Mexican food. The plantation was a lot of fun and we got to play with old-time toys, see lots of animals, and walk around and see the grounds.

Today, we leave to go back home soon! I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. The bed here at my parents’ house hurts my hips, so I’ve lost a lot of sleep this week and been in pain.

As for writing work, I’m making excellent progress on NaNoWriMo and last night I had a huge breakthrough about the plot. Something had been missing, a piece of the puzzle, for the last few weeks. I wasn’t certain how I was going to make this story happen, but then last night, it came to me! Yay! Read my NaNoWriMo update for more information there.

What else happened this week?

I got myself a little writing mascot. His name is Nano.

Nothing like an airport pretzel to get you through a delay.

We enjoyed our tour of the harbor!

The festival of lights was a ton of fun!

Mmmm, fish tacos.

The Plantation Days at Middleton Place are definitely worth checking out. Lots of fun things to do and see!

And now it’s time to head home. See you all next week!

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NaNoWriMo – Update – Week 2

This update is coming very late and will be very brief. I just had a major breakthrough in the plot for this novel and the whole series! Wow! I wondered if and when it would happen. I doubted it would happen. I really did. I knew something was missing but I didn’t know what.

This was one of those things that outlining just wouldn’t fix, you know? Deep down inside, I’m a discovery writer who needs a plan. Is that weird? Lol. I’m coining a new term. I’m a framework writer. I need a skeleton for the body and then I fill in all the muscles and organs. I need a frame for my house and then I put in the kitchen and bedrooms, dress the windows, and paint the walls. That’s how I write. I have a framework of an outline and then I go through and, bit by bit, I add in all the details, being sure to stick to the plan wherever possible. But hey, if I decide to expand the kitchen or finish the basement, that’s okay. I can do that. Makes sense?

Anyway, today I figured out the secret that I’m going to have my characters solve by the end of the series. It’s deep and a little scary, but I think my readers will love it. It totally fits in my Nogiku universe and it’s new and different too. I’m so thrilled!

Today, I crossed the 20k mark on the story and I think I’m still on track to get my 50k this November! Woooo! Be back tomorrow for the Sunday Update!

If you want to follow my day-to-day progress, please follow me on my Facebook page!

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Visiting The Washing Statue – Japan Day Four

Continuing on my journey in Japan, I left Asakusa on my fourth day, after a ramen lunch, and got on the train to make my way across the city once again. I had a mission to visit Sugamo, a part of Tokyo not usually visited by tourists, in order to see the Arai Kannon, the washing statue. If you know me and my work, you know that I wrote about the washing statue in one of my Kami No Sekai short stories. Yes, it’s a real statue, and I was ready to see it for myself!

When I got to Sugamo and off the train, I walked along the main street towards the temple. Many people ride bikes out in this more remote area of the city and there were mamachari lined up all along the streets.

Walking up to the temple, I could already feel like I was in someplace special. It was a small, quiet neighborhood establishment. No one taking photos. Just people praying and going about their daily business.

And there it was! The statue was waiting to be washed. Here’s how it works. You throw 100 Yen into the donation box when it’s your turn to wash the statue. Then you step up, drizzle water on the statue using the ladles, and then you pick up the wash cloth and you wipe down the statue in all the place you yourself have trouble. I often have back aches, head aches, and my right shoulder and arm hurt a lot, so I made sure to wash and wipe down the statue in all of those areas. I felt very much like Yuki in WASHING STATUE WANDERLUST. I made sure to lean in and ask the statue where it wanted to go.

Sunday Update – November 6, 2016

What a busy week! Seriously, on Friday, I couldn’t believe all I had gotten done this week. I also realized that it was good that I had moved my blogging to the weekend because I had completely forgotten about it what with starting a new book and all that.

NaNoWriMo 2016 – Update – Week 1

As you may have noticed I didn’t blog this week except to put up the November Goals post. That’s because I’m ankle deep (just ankles at this point) into a new book for NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month! I happened upon Cait’s Paper Fury blog this week and saw these NaNoWriMo questions and thought I would answer them for you here. If you want to follow my daily progress, I’m updating every evening on my Facebook Page, so please like and follow me there.

I’m now at 7,603 words for this novel and I’m trying to get in 1600-2000 words per day.

1. Overall, how is your mental state, and how is your novel going?

It’s going well. I don’t find 1667 words per day to be at all daunting. I do 2000-3000 regularly when I’m on a deadline. So far the novel is going well, even though I’m pantsing it instead of outlining for the first time in ages. I *am* outlining as I go, though, and referring back to story structure to make sure I hit all the beats I need to.

What’s your first sentence (or paragraph)?

My fist flies forward, smashing into Miyazawa’s face with a satisfying crunch.

My main character has a bit of a temper!

Who’s your current favourite character in your novel?

I haven’t met all my characters yet, so I’ll have to go with the main one, Yumi Minamoto. She’s the daughter of two characters from The Nogiku Series, and I know her parents well. So it’s fun to be writing her now.

What do you love about your novel so far?

Yumi’s voice. Her dialogue and voice are just flying out of my fingers.

Have you made any hilarious typos or other mistakes?

Hmmm, not yet except that my tense is all over the place. I keep switching between past and present!

What is your favourite to write: beginning, middle, or end — and why?

I don’t have a favorite part except to dislike the middle. Lol.

What are your writing habits? Is there a specific snack you eat? Do you listen to music? What time of day do you write best? Feel free to show us a picture of your writing space!

I write best in the middle of the day or in the evening. I get my exercise done in the morning and then work the rest of the day. The photo associated with this post (click through to my website to see it!) is me dictating at my computer. I try to get in a 1000 words typing and dictate the rest to save my hands.

How private are you about your novel while you’re writing? Do you need a cheer squad or do you work alone (like, ahem, Batman)?

Pretty private which is why I didn’t answer the first set of Beautiful Books questions. Lol. I work alone but share texts with my critique partner, Tracy. But I’m also a member of a great NaNoWriMo Facebook group and we do sprints and word count check-ins every day. It’s motivating! Plus I’m updating my Facebook Page every day with a status. That’s pretty much all I need.

What keeps you writing even when it’s hard?

Knowing that if I get past the hard parts there are better things to come.

What are your top 3 pieces of writing advice?

(1) Know and understand story structure so you can get yourself out of pinches when need be. (2) Answer all conflict questions with, “Yes, but; No, and”. Do they finally kiss after they fight the first time? Possible answers are: Yes, but it leads to another fight; or No, and they walk away to be frustrated another day. (3) If you’re stuck on a particular detail, leave an XXX in your document and come back to it later in revisions so you can keep going.

Okay, that’s it for the questions! I’ll see you back here tomorrow for the Sunday Update!

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November 2016 Goals

We’re closing in on the end of the year!

What Happened With October’s Goals?

More blog posts. I actually posted less during October and it was much better for me. I’m going to continue posting on the weekends through the end of the year.

Finish Daydreamer 3. I DID IT!!!!!!! Yes, I finished writing this book, and it made me SO HAPPY. SO RELIEVED. It’s now been put aside so that I can think about how I want to tackle revisions.

Finish and publish my next short story. I did this too! And I put out an omnibus of all the short stories just for my newsletter subscribers!

Plot out some ideas for my NaNoWriMo book. I did not do this and I start writing this book today. Oops! I’ll figure it out.

More knitting. I managed to knit during this month!! And I’m learning to knit while dictating too. Excellent.

More exercise. I hit my 70 miles goal before the end of the month and it felt good to be active the whole time.

Try four new recipes this month. This did not go as planned but I did try a new barbecue sauce and a balsamic and honey sauce for on brussels sprouts. Both need work.

Business Goals For November

Participate and win NaNoWriMo. This is my main goal this month, to write 50k on a new novel. I hope to update every day on my Facebook Page, so please follow me there if you want to see my daily progress. I will check in here on the Sunday Updates with my weekly progress!

Get my Nogiku Box Set on Kobo. I’ve been working on an omnibus for the Nogiku series, all five books, and I have to get it up on Kobo by the end of this week, if at all possible.

Personal Goals For November

More knitting. Let’s keep this up and try to finish this damned shawl before 2017.

More exercise. I set another 70-miles goal for the month. Let’s keep this up. It’ll be hard with all the vacations and holidays coming up!

And that’s it for my goals! LET’S DO THIS!

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Sunday Update – October 30, 2016

Let’s start off with the really good news. I FINISHED WRITING DAYDREAMER 3!! On Friday night, I typed the last words of it and did a little dance. Man, that was a hard book to write, but the ending left me extremely satisfied, so I know I did right by the story. I also know how it ends now and what I have to do in revisions to make it all work. But the important part is that it’s DONE. I haven’t finished a book since January. JANUARY. And I was beginning to wonder if I would ever finish a book again. This was a tough year, but I’m excited that I’m bringing in the end of the year with such an accomplishment.

Going back through the week, it was another busy one here. Monday was a typical Monday except my husband was home sick. He was pretty miserable so he played a lot of video games and slept. I made sure to walk on the treadmill and write, though that didn’t work well either. I had dictated a whole scene and accidentally deleted it. I totally cried, too. I eventually recovered but it was a crappy way to start things off.

Tuesday, my husband went back to work and so did I. I went for a walk right away in the morning then got home and right to work. I started off with typing and went to dictation and knitting later after I hit my word count for the day. We had a good, easy afternoon, too. Wednesday, we were really busy. I had the cleaning ladies here in the morning and I walked on the treadmill and worked while they were here. Then I wrote while my kids were at tennis lessons in the afternoon. I picked up Japanese food for dinner but I ordered the wrong thing so I wasn’t very happy with it. I finished up the night with a bowl of cereal.

Thursday, I went to the gym. I was working out when one of the trainers there complimented me on all the work I’ve been doing these past few months. It felt good to be noticed for something I’ve been working on (basically being active and lifting weights without being hard core about it) that isn’t being a mom or a writer (not that either of those things garner a lot of compliments either!) Anyway, I feel good about my routine of getting exercise almost every single day and taking care of myself. I thanked that trainer for noticing. It was really sweet.

Friday, I went for a walk in the morning and then Panera to see my friend and fellow writer, Amy. Then I finished up Daydreamer 3 in the evening!

Saturday, yesterday, I had planned on writing about Japan. I’m excited to show off my photos from the second part of Day 4 there, BUT now that I wasn’t writing, I really needed to take the time to update both my computer and iDevices. I’m always hesitant to install major updates when I’m in the middle of a big project. What if I brick my computer and then I have to spend days without it? So I waited until I was done. I backed up my computer, deleted a bunch of apps and stuff off of it I didn’t need anymore, and prepared it for updating. First, though, I backed up both my iPhone and iPad, and upgraded them both to iOS 10. Once they were good, I ran another Time Machine backup, then I upgraded my computer to Mac OS Sierra. The last time I upgraded my computer it totally messed with my Mail and a bunch of other things, but this time I’m really pleased. Not only does it seem to run smoother, but I also gained back about 50 GB of space!! I’d read that Sierra had better OS management of storage, and it’s true. I’m super happy with it. Both my phone and iPad are working great too. I hope I didn’t jinx it by saying that in this post. Lol.

I spent all day yesterday doing this so there was no time to update the blog. I also took the time to clean the kitchen and make an apple crisp. Gotta use up those apples!!

Now I’m preparing for NaNoWriMo. Kinda. I have an idea of what I want to write and nothing else started. I’m going back to scifi to start a new series in my Nogiku universe!! I’m pretty sure the heroine of this series will be Kentaro’s youngest daughter, along with her twin brother. Pretty sure she’s going to be kick-ass like her mom and dad, and a little bit unruly. She doesn’t like to play by rules. While on a mission to find the other Japanese planet that was settled from Earth, things go wrong and she gets in the middle of some politics. It should be fun. I have an opening scene in mind, and then I need to go from there.

Wow, that the most I’ve ever said about this new series out loud! EXCITING!

What else happened this week?

Ramen was needed after my disastrous Dragon mess up on Monday. Ramen soothes the soul.

It was cold this week! Enough for me to break out the hand knits.

I spent 1.5 hours putting on Girl Scout badges this week, but now I’m caught up. Also, Badge Magic is the best!

My new favorite thing is to knit while dictating. YES. KNITTING AND DICTATING AT THE SAME TIME. Dude. This whole multi-tasking thing is awesome.

I finished MORNING STAR by Pierce Brown this week and it made me cry it was so good. The perfect end to that series. Book Chat to come soon! The above image is of his acknowledgments at the end. So apt. I held those words close as I finished Daydreamer 3 this week.

I finished Daydreamer 3 and celebrated with rum punch in tiki mugs!

And yes, there was more knitting as I updated all my devices!

Coming up this week: November Goals post, maybe a Book Chat if I hit my NaNoWriMo word count for the day, and hopefully my next Japan post.

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Sunday Update – October 23, 2016

First, it’s my Mom’s birthday. Happy birthday, Mom! I hope to Skype with her and the kids later today. She’s read all my books and is my biggest fan. I love my mom, so another birthday in the books is a great thing.

Second, I’ve decided to cut back on blogging until the New Year and only update on the weekends. I love my blog, but I feel that I need to concentrate on writing books right now, since I spent all spring and summer not writing books. My blog is perfect for the off-times between books, so I’ll be back to updating during the week when I’m not actively working on a novel.

It was a week in which I was tearing my hair out over the book I’m writing, but ended in a good place. Monday and Tuesday were a blur. I don’t even think I took pictures on those days. Monday was very busy with two appointments back to back after school. Tuesday, I don’t remember what we did besides pick up veggies.

Wednesday was a kill-me-now day. I had a chiropractor appointment in the morning, which is fine, but it sucked up writing time. I had to pick up the kids early from school to take them for their yearly doctor checkup. This is never fun. It involves a finger-prick to get blood for hemoglobin tests and what not. Then a flu shot. Both kids cried but then they were happy when it was all over. Then we got home and had to go back out for tennis lessons. While at tennis, I sat there and stared at my computer and Daydreamer 3. I had written myself into a corner and needed to fix things in the story to continue. This was the day that I had just about had it with this book! I am so close to finishing and yet so far. Ugh. I needed a strong drink this evening.

Thursday, everyone was in A MOOD. The kids were tired and cranky, probably from the flu shots. And I just needed a break. I did maintenance on my treadmill and cleaned up in the basement, then I changed into my workout clothes and went to the gym. I got lunch at Whole Foods and then got back to work on Daydreamer 3. We took it easy in the afternoon and I spent the night on the couch working. I got back to a place in Daydreamer 3 where I could continue and felt relieved.

Friday, my husband returned from a trip not feeling well. Still, we rallied and went to the school to see the pumpkins. It was fun and there were a lot of cool pumpkins to look at!

Saturday, my husband had to attend a funeral so I had the kids all day. My youngest went to a birthday party and my oldest and I went to Target. I hit 70k on Daydreamer 3 and I’m about five or six scenes from the end! SO CLOSE!

What else happened this week?

It was definitely a week for Thieves. Diffusing this oil at home helps keeps the germs away.

I managed to have a cup of tea outside on Tuesday when the weather was nice. I had to sit under the umbrella though because too many sticks and leaves were falling off the tree and hitting me on the head.

I’m quite thankful for the wifi at the tennis club.

These are were some of the pumpkins at the school, all carved by the parents and kids of those at our school.

And I am so close to finishing this book! This one was so hard to write. Between all the mean things I do to Mei in this book and the twists of the mystery, it was like running an obstacle course. But I am persevering! I will finish it!

And that’s it from here! I hope to be back next weekend with another post about my trip to Japan. I’m also hoping to get together a Book Chat soon too. Have a great week everyone!

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Asakusa – Japan Day Four

On my fourth day in Japan, the typhoon moved on, and I got moving after breakfast. First of all, I found out that I had access to the Executive Lounge at the Tokyo Hilton, so I started going there every day for breakfast. It was awesome. The perfect amount of food each morning to get me going, and I had a great view of Nishi-Shinjuku while I filled up.

I got on the train this day and made my out to Asakusa to visit Sensō-ji temple. I had always wanted to go here! I had even written it into SUMMER HAIKUS based on all the videos and images I had seen online (and I must admit that I think I did a great job of describing it, never having been there before).

Anyway, I got off the train and went to the first gate.

Here I am in front of the gate…

And this is around back. You then face the shopping street.

So I walked down the long shopping street, stopping along the way to see what was available. This street is pretty famous and crawling with people. There are lots of things here to buy and it can be very overwhelming. My first pass, I just looked and then I remembered what I wanted to buy for the trip back.

Once I got to the main temple grounds I was sure to pick up my very first omikuji! You may remember these from REMOVED. This was in the very beginning of the story when Sanaa, Miko, and Helena get their fortunes on New Year’s Eve.

Here’s how it works. You pay 100 Yen. You then pick up the large metal container, shake it around, and then tip it over to get a stick to come out.

Once you get the stick, it’ll have a number on it in Japanese. This is 30.

Three-Ten are the kanji from top to bottom, which equals 30. But you don’t have to read Japanese. You just match it to the drawer.

And then pull out your fortune!

There’s English on the back of this one. I’ve looked for this slip of paper since I’ve returned home and I can’t find it. I believe it was a small curse about traveling. Maybe someday I’ll come across it when I’m cleaning at home!

From here I purified myself at the incense.

Prayed inside the temple and then walked around to take in the sights.

That’s the Tokyo Skytree in the distance.

After walking around, I got myself a snack. These are mochi rice balls covered in kinako, which is toasted soybean flour. They taste peanutty.

Then it started to rain.

So I went and got lunch! This was shio ramen (salt ramen). So tasty!

I stumbled across this across this orange street, which had shopping all up and down, on my way to the train station. I had plans to go someplace else this day! To visit a special friend… But since this post is so image heavy, I’ll save that trip for next time!

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