NaNoWhatO?

November has come and gone. It seemed just a short while ago that I had the ambition to be a short time novelist. Riding high on the success of last year's NaNo, I felt as though it would be an easily accomplishable feat to write fifty thousand words in thirty days. Then life got in the way. 

I fell short of the goal by about twenty thousand words, maybe thirty. It was a poor showing for me this year; there's always next year. This November was possibly better spent traveling dark cities, scrounging for offal, and swilling perfectly pulled pints of cask aged, well brewed, craft ales. Life is hard, I do these things so you don't have to. 

London Calling: Loose Ends

Well, under ninety six hours to go. I'm stoked. Yesterday, I got off work, hopped on my trusty steed, and dashed down to Congress and Riverside to do some currency exchange at a Wells Fargo. I had to pay five bucks because I'm no longer a member of that bank, and traded in $391.09 for £230.00! This was quite the reality check. I have calculated, more or less, what I'll end up with when I'm over there, and will have to be quite thrifty, but am not fearful.

Damn she's homely.

I got back on the bike, and started heading North again. I kept obsessing over the wind getting in my shoe from the gaping hole in the side of it. I had been talking about getting new shoes for weeks, and just hadn't done it. I made an emergency stop at REI, and bought a pair of slip on Keens, and some synthetic long underwear top, for a cozy base layer. I disposed of my old kicks forthrightly, and went down to the Shoal Creek Saloon, had two beers, and made my way to Bark'n'Purr. 

"Mama always said, 'You can tell a lot about a person by their shoes.'"

After navigating the five o'clock traffic, and West Campus, I made it up to 45th and Burnet. I ran in bought the Innova Evo that the beast eats, and went home. I got home, and was all excited to type it up, and get my NaNoWriMo on, but I was pooped, so I crashed out on the couch for a bit. The Professor came by, and we had a beer before the lovely Miss Cruz and crew showed up. We watched some Trailer Park Boys, Flight of the Conchords, and Top Chef. It was tight.

After they left, I needed to eat, but have no money, so I ate that arugula from the garden, and had what possibly may have been the worst meal I've had in months. I had scored some White Mountain Veggie BBQ from the freebox on Sunday, so I sauteed up some bell peppers, and garlic, with the hopes that this would gussy up this shit, but it didn't. I ate it, but I didn't like it. I know now, that I don't like that stuff, and will never put it in my precious mouth again. 

The hours are counting down, I need to pack, and call my bank and let them know I'm leaving the country. I've got a busy week at work, tons of meetings, have to do an evaluation, and stock produce. Time flies, right? Werd.

Can't Sleep, Thinking Too Much...

This is guaranteed to be the shortest week of my life. As someone who continually says that they experience weeks like days, this one will be like a half day in elementary school, minus the coloring, and picture books. 

Instead, it's full of anxiousness for the future; the enemy of the present. With the election and my impending trip, it's going to be a wild ride, no doubt. I've been thinking a lot today. Work flew by. Saw Deb, that's always a treat, and got all of my laundry done. I wrote a shit ton. Nothing worthy of sharing, just words on the page. Moving at a good clip, too. Finished day two of the challenge with 4,930 words. Nearly ten percent in two days. Just need to keep it up. 

I'd like to finish this novel this year. I hit the 50K word mark last year with last years's, but that book still has a 100,000 words at least in it. I want to hit 75k this year. The Yip Yip costume  is smugly staring at me from a chair; its dander is everywhere. 

Going to be in a movie tomorrow, or more like four hours from now. Sleep tight, let the World turn without you tonight...

NaNoWriMo: In the Beginning...

Oh. Yeah. I forgot about all this typing involved, and the inevitable feeling of having to play catch up... Stay tuned.

London Calling: The Challenges of International Novel Writing

Wow. We live in amazing times, don't we? We sure have managed to create an environment/world where we have too many options to overstimulate our feeble minds. So...

I may be crazy for deciding to go through with this, but NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow, and I leave for London in week. I had the realization that, "Oh shit! They have different outlets over there!" The last thing I want is to blow up my MacBook. That would really suck. 

Thankfully those brilliant folk over at Apple have this to offer. Now, this also got me thinking about the long flight across the pond. I need to be able to crank out words on that flight without the fear of my battery dying. Extra batteries cost $129, and when you're faced with an exchange rate, you don't really want to spend $200 on computer accessories, $100, sure, but not any more. 

After speaking with a rep from Continental Airlines, who was very helpful -- yay for good customer service -- I decided to purchase this as well. I don't see myself doing a ton of flying, but two 11 hour flights may justify its purchase. 

I am crazy, aren't I? Trying to write a 'novel' in thirty days is hard. Doing so while being in another country for nine of those days, with a full itinerary, is, well, mad. I wouldn't want it any other way.

NaNoWriMo Approacheth

Saturday, the first of November, is creeping up like the ivy that covers the North face of my home.

Time for some really fast and furious typing. NaNoWriMo is gonna be the shit this year.  As I've said before, last year's piece was a bit toooooo personal to want to revisit, this year, this year, dear reader, we're going to the heart of it. Food. Food industry tales. Foodies. Food industry people. Still staying in the vein of Gonzo non-fiction based, slightly embellished realistic fiction. You'll have to get your critical reading on to find where those lines are blurred.

NaNoWriMo Anyone?

Well. It's October. There is a chill to the moist morning air, and life is beautiful. October also means that it is time to register for this year's NaNoWriMo. November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and the goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in thirty short days. 

This means you must type around 1700 words a day to stay on top of it. Regardless of how hard you try, you will fall behind, which leads to marathon days of writing. Last year, I 'won' -- which means I hit or exceeded the word count amount. I in no way finished my novel; there is still another half of the story to tell.

Last year I wrote a Gonzo, psuedo-multigenerational biography/realistic fiction. I told the story of my father and mother. I intended to bring it up to the present day through my story, however, there was much to write about that happened before my coming of age.

About half-way through the month, the book got really somber as I wrote about the decline of my mother's health. I finished with her death. If I ever wanted to pick that novel back up, it would start with a shift in focus from my father to the character based on me, and delve in to the psychology of a teenage boy suffering from intense abandonment issues.

I don't know if that will ever happen. It took a lot out of me just writing about the pain that that family endured over a six year period of physical decline. I had to do some fact checking with my father and his girlfriend, who has been a lifelong family friend. Too much, too much. All of it very real, and much like an arrow through the heart. 

This year, NaNoWriMo takes a much lighter approach. I'm going to write a novel based on my life-long obsession with... food. I can recall at least 50,000 words worth of food stories. You can't start writing until November 1st. From the 7th to the 16th, I'll be in London. I see a significant challenge here. I need to be able to write 1700 words a day, on vacation, in a city that I've never been to. 

Fortunately, I plan to eat a lot of food in London, so... If I write about that, I should be able to fulfill that quota. At least that's the plan for now. Last year, I found my self sitting down for serious marathon typing sessions. I had a two day run of 18,000 words (10k one day, 8k the next). If you want to get to know your computer, participate in NaNoWriMo. 

I'll be blogging about this as time goes on. When November 1st hits, be ready. I'll post excerpts and what not.