What do I do now?

For all of my dear writer friends out there, and all my lovely followers, I want to share a little post-nan0wrimo wisdom with you. YOU AREN’T FINISHED! (insert maniacal laughter here)

So true. So very, very true. I am still a student in the way of the writer, myself, but this bit of author humor seems to strike a certain chord with me. I’m working on book two of my Riesa Grimshaw series, but after the flurry that was November, I had to take a break from my novel. I had to step back and breath for a moment. I had to read someone elses words for a while. I had to forget what I wrote so that I could go after it again with fresh eyes.

And that is the story of how I managed to read seven harlequin romance novels in nine days. It’s my guilty pleasure, what can I say.

Admittedly, I did keep a running notepad of ideas while I was taking my “break”. The better to edit with, my dear.

Time to go back to work, I guess!

NaNoWriMo, the twilight hours.

Phew! After thirty days of struggling with time and motivation, I’ve finally validated the rough rough rough draft of Ghost of a Chance. Clocking in at barely 50,500 words, it still needs an ending and a lot of polishing! And trust me, “a lot” is an understatement.

But, I am still proud of myself for sticking it out, and I am proud of all of you fellow nanowers too! Whether you won or just got started, you all created something. ain’t it nice?

I look forward to reading your books!

-Tamara

 

NaNoWriMo 2012 – Day 10

While we are officially approaching the end of the first 10 days of NaNoWriMo, I am pleased to report that I am on track! I’m actually a day ahead in the word count, which makes me very happy. I’ve got the best NaNoWriMo group in the world, I do believe. Anytime you get a group of crazy, inventive, like-minded individuals together, you are bound to have a great time. =) As a group, we have collectively written over 860,000 words these ten days, and I have personally contributed 18,179 of those words. Still got a little ways to go, but Riesa’s holding out okay. There is more I can throw her way, I’m sure. =)

So, as a little something extra, here is the rough, rough, rough draft of the first scene in Riesa’s 2nd book, Ghost of a Chance

-  -  -

The man dressed as a monkey riding a unicycle while blowing bubbles during a 5k race was the most interesting that I’d seen all day, but that was before the snow started falling. Falling snow isn’t so unusual, but it was late October, clear skies, with a high of seventy-five degrees. In Alabama. During a burn ban for dry conditions. At least I didn’t think the Monkey-Man was my fault.

“Not again,” I groaned.

A nearby customer, tall woman with a cute orange sweater, stopped trying on shoes and looked out the same storefront window. “Huh. Funky weather today, yeah?”

I managed a half smile. “Yeah. Funky weather. Can I help you with anything?” I asked, turning away from the window and returning to marking down sale prices.

She waved me off with a smile. “I’m good for now, thanks,” and off she went to the boot isle. I slapped the last label on a pair of purple and black tennis shoes and retreated to unpack a new shipment, distancing myself from the storefront. It was unlikely that anyone would blame the weather on me, but you never know.

The truth is that it probably was my fault. For the past month, strange things had been happening all around me. For example, the weather would turn strange while my thoughts wandered to the gloomy side, or random objects would breaking or levitate depending on my moods. There was one instance where I accidentally made a man’s beard catch on fire. He was hitting on me at the transit station, so he kinda deserved it.

I set the tape gun down on a box in the storage room and grabbed the box cutters. In the past month, I’d had a lot of time to think about the whys and hows, and I came to the conclusion that it was because I was a baby-demonologist-slash-angel-descendant with lots of power and zero control. I had cut myself off from my soul-bound demon, Azaraphel, or Phil, as I called him, and I refused to call him for help. I was in Atlanta to avoid him, and asking for his help would have been counter productive.

Thinking about Phil brought those dark, heavy, unwelcome thoughts back. I wanted nothing more than to call Phil. Even worse, I wanted nothing more than to drive back down to Salem, back to my friends, and back to him. It was a shame that such a thing would end in disaster, like he and I destroying each other. Not that he knew this. I decided it best to keep him blissfully ignorant. Of course last I checked, he was totally furious with me. It thundered loudly enough to rattle the shelves in the storage room. So much for clear skies.

“Grimshaw, is there something going on in here?” Mr. Sorrels, the manager, peeked into the storage room just as a tremor hit. Shoe boxes fell off of shelves as they toppled over, setting off a domino effect across the room. I watched in horror, cast a protective circle around myself out of habit, and waited for the chaos to come to an end.

I stared slack jawed at the disaster around me. “Uh…” was all I managed to say.

“Grimshaw, you’re fired.”

-  -  -

Well, that is all for Riesa tonight. If you are dying to hear more from Riesa, check out the first book in the series, Devil in the Details, now available on Amazon Kindle!

NaNoWriMo 2012 – Day 1

It is finally the first day of November, and the first day of National Novel Writing Month! This is a very exciting time for me, because I means that I get to focus almost an entire month on doing the one thing I enjoy most: writing novels. =)

Okay, so maybe I like doing other things, too, like playing with my kids, helping with homework, snuggling my husband, eating and sleeping, but writing is my “ME” time. Well, me and the voices in my head.

Anyway, today has gotten off to a great start! I’ve got a new novel planned an in the works on the heels of “Devil in the Details”. The new novel title is “Ghost of a Chance”. I’ll post more details about it as I get closer to finishing the rough draft. =)

I’m off to a great start! 3652 words in the first 24 hours, and counting. My goal is 5000 words by the end of the day. Wish me luck!

And to all of you NaNo’ers out there, Good luck to you, too! Lets get writing!

Podcast: “We’re Alive” Review!

Okay, I don’t often do this, but after the death of my laptop, I’ve found myself browsing the web on my cell phone. In my meanderings, I came across a podcast story called: “We’re Alive”. I was instantly dragged in, and once I started listening, I couldn’t stop!

 

This needed to be shared with the masses! And so, because of the awesomeness of this discover, I would like to present you with my very first Review of an Audio Podcast. 

“We’re Alive – The Zombie Story of Survival” 

I wasn’t sure what to expect upon first streaming this podcast. I knew that it was zombie related. I knew that a friend of mine had liked it. That is where my knowledge ends. What I didn’t know was how awesome the journey I was about to embark on was. 

Without giving away the chills and thrills, the story follows the tale of a group of soldiers responding to an emergency call with little to no information to back it up. It soon becomes obvious that there is a zombie apocalypse underway, and the small group of soldiers who answered the call find themselves in a race for survival. In their search for safety and other survivors, they are forced to make tough choices and deal with the stress of being a survivor. 

The story telling built the mood and there were several times when I found myself on the edge of my seat, tense with the expectation of what was going to happen next. This story was perfect for sitting back in the dark, putting in the headphones, and simply listening. Even if you don’t have a rich imagination like I do, the setting and ambiance is crisp and clear with the sights and smells of apocalyptic decay and the smell of ripe bodies. Yes, it is that good. =D

The voice actors tell their parts of the story to perfection. The emotions, motives, and personalities are easily distinguishable from the dialogue. I don’t think I’ve heard better. With that said, this story is not for the easily offended. There is foul language, and images of terror painted nicely for those who readily indulge in nightmares. Also, don’t listen to this if you don’t like zombies or survival movies, shows, or games. 

If you do like zombie movies, shows, or games, don’t mind nightmares or don’t have them, enjoy a chill and a thrill, then this podcast is a must-listen! You can either stream it for free or subscribe for better quality. I used the “F” word. You have no reason not to test it out. =)

Why wait? Click Here to Listen! 

Keyboard-is-kaput

Clean Your Room!

This is a mantra that every parent has spoken at least 50,000 times within the first 5 years, multiplied by the number of children you have, divided by 20 if your offspring are very well behaved and mindful. (Insert copious amounts of laughter here)

Yesterday, my children had a raucous of a good time with several of their cousins who had come over for a play date. They had a blast. One of their cousins spent the night. Fun and hijinks were had by all. Of course, playing hard means leaving an absolute mess, right?

We aren’t talking about “left the legos out” kind of mess. We aren’t even “dumped out the toy box” level of mess. We are talking about full room domination, contained hurricane, curtains torn off the windows, bookshelves upside down level of mess.

Children’s response to “Clean Your Room!” ?

“But we didn’t make that mess!”

And here is the point where I relate my experiences as a parent with my experiences as a writer. I don’t know who it was who coined the phrase “Write what you Know”, but these living experiences are the bread and butter of the journeys that our characters go through. In this particular scenario, I had a lesson to teach my children, that surprisingly taught me something as well.

“You still have to clean your room,” I said. “Your cousins aren’t here anymore and your room is still a mess”
“But we didn’t make this mess, our cousins did! It’s Not Fair!”
I picked up the fallen curtain rod and rehung the curtains that went on it. “Did I knock down your curtains?” They told me no. “Is it fair that I have to put up your curtains?”
“But we can’t put up the curtains, we’re too little and don’t know how,” replied my 7 year old.
“Uh, huh, But it’s not fair! I didn’t knock down the curtains. Why do I have to put them up?” I imitated my children.
“Because you have to!” answered my 6 year old.
I finished hanging the curtains and smiled at my children. “Exactly. It’s not fair, but I still have to do it.” I pointed out the mess around me. “It might not be fair that you have to clean up after your guests, but you still have to clean your room. It’s the right thing to do.”

Teaching my kids that the Right Thing isn’t always the Fair Thing wasn’t on the agenda for the day. Truthfully, had my children not brought up the issue of fairness, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought, and this pearl of wisdom would have stayed buried in my subconscious. So when I sat down to brainstorm story ideas, I pulled up my Master List of Big Ideas, the handbag from which I pull my story ideas and twists, and added: “What is Right isn’t always Fair, and what is Fair, isn’t always Right.”

What will I do with this? I don’t know. However, it’s there in my grab bag of ideas, and is sure to find its way into my future writings. The issue may come up in fictional politics, mimicking the socialism of some made up kingdom. It might find its way into the life of a hero, who has to sacrifice almost everything to save a world that could care less about him. It might come in a simple argument between two siblings who don’t want to share the cleaning responsibilities.  Oh, well! Back to the fray.

Happy Writing! (And parenting where applicable!)

-Tamara