NaNoWriMo 2013: Day 20 - On the Other Side of the Sickness

I'm not completely out of the woods, but I'm definitely better than I was last week. And this week my energy has finally returned which has been very productive for my writing. I'm very happy to report that I finished A Breath in Time on Monday! (This is my longest completed novel now!) Also, that means that I finally have words to report for Point of No Return. I thought this sequel would be harder, but the new main character is really jumping off the page. He now has a last name: Sikes. I'm sure he'll tell me his first name and military rank eventually.

Words Written Today: 2,185
Total Words for NaNo: 31,363
Total Words for A Breath in Time: 78,342 (FINISHED!)
Total Words for Point of No Return: 3,026

I leave you with my newest favorite song and band:

NaNoWriMo 2013: Day 7 - 1k is Definitely NOT Enough

I know that 1k per work week day is enough to make my goal, but I feel like I'm barely reaching my stride when I suddenly hit 1k and hit the brakes. But I don't see how I could write much more than that with my energy levels running on empty during the week when I get home.

We'll see. I may not want to write more than 1k next week if I somehow manage to finish A Breath in Time over the weekend in the 10k sprint I've set up for myself.

Words Written Today: 1,026
Total Words for NaNo: 15,092
Total Words for "A Breath in Time": 65,100
Total Words for "Point of No Return": N/A

NaNoWriMo 2013: Day 5 and 6 The First Missed Day and The First Catch-up

So, no post yesterday, because I fell flat on my face and succumbed to TV thereby ensuring that no writing was done. However, today, I wrote that 1k and a little more so I'm technically still on track (since on Monday I was nearly 900 words ahead).

Today also marked the first introduction of the physical form of my villain in A Breath in Time. Which, of course, freaked dear Alice (my MC) out. I will continue her freaking out session tomorrow.

Words Written Today: 1,213
Total Words for NaNo: 14,068
Total Words for "A Breath in Time": 64,076
Total Words for "Point of No Return": N/A

NaNoWriMo 2013: Day 4 - Oh Yeah, Work...

So reality came crashing back down today with the beginning of the work week. I made my goal of 1k but just barely today because I was so tired. I get off work earlier tomorrow so maybe I'll have time to write a little more than today. 1k barely got the ball rolling before I stopped.

Words Written Today: 1,018
Total Words for NaNo: 12,855
Total Words for "A Breath in Time": 62,863
Total Words for "Point of No Return": N/A

NaNoWriMo 2013: Day 3 - The Rewards of Pushing Through

...are a story that writes itself much faster. Though it did slow down a little towards the end of the day but I think that was because I was slowing down due to being tired. Writing is hard work. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Especially if you do it for many hours in a row.  It's the equivalent of a full-time job to get those words out onto the page.

But now the weekend is over and I go back to my day job and 1k to 2k a day. The story won't progress as fast, but hopefully the momentum will remain until the second 10k push next weekend.

Words Written Today: 4,943
Total Words for NaNo: 11,837
Total Words for "A Breath in Time": 61,845
Total Words for "Point of No Return": N/A


No excerpt today because I'm typing up this post late at night. I'll pick an extra long one tomorrow. Promise!

NaNoWriMo 2013: Day 2 The Long Slog Part 2

Whew. I thought I'd never make it to my 5k goal today but I did. However it cost me to write every single word. However, at the end I was rewarded. In the last 10 min and 200 words of the day the story finally shifted and started rolling. I think 5k will go by much faster tomorrow.

I guess I never outlined my goals for this NaMoWriMo. Due to work completely exhausting me during the week, my goal is to write 5k on Saturdays and Sundays and then a minimum of 1k during the week. I'll keep pushing on as fast as I can though to build up a lead. At least I don't have Thanksgiving this year to destroy my time to write at the end of November. Just report cards to slow down the beginning of it.


Words Written Today: 5,117
Total Words for NaNo: 6,894
Total Words for "A Breath in Time": 56,932
Total Words for "Point of No Return": N/A

And the first excerpt:


“Alice!”

The yell near my ear jerked me awake. I waved a hand vaguely and connected with a warm, round something. I stopped trying to turn off the alarm as I realized the something was Kitty’s head.

“Why are you patting my head?” This time she didn’t yell.

“I wanted to see who was making a racket and waking me up.” I scrubbed her head before withdrawing my hand to rub sleep out of my eyes. “Did you eat already?”

“Mhmm!” She crawled onto my bed and snuggled next to me.

“Was breakfast good?”

“Yes! Mommy let me have my favorite cereal.”

“No wonder you are hyper. Too much sugar makes for a loud, excited Kitty first thing in the morning.” I tickled her and she squirmed, giggling.

“Have you packed everything for that trip I told you about?”

“Uh-huh! Mommy said we’re going to Earth for a trip. Are you coming?”

“I think I will. Though, I might come at a different time. I have to stay here to help all the people leave. And then I get to leave on the last shuttle. You, my cute Kitty, will be leaving before then.” I squeezed her before tickling her a little more.

And We're Off! NaNoWriMo 2013

It's finally here and words are finally being put on the page to finish the novel from last year, now renamed "A Breath in Time". It's been a hard slog to get back into the story, but I think I managed to get back on track after today. This weekend should be the final ticket to getting myself thoroughly situated back in the story and world. That is, if report card writing doesn't get in the way...

Words Written Today: 1,777
Total Words for NaNo: 1,777
Total Words for "A Breath in Time": 51,815

4 Months

4 months?! It's mind boggling to realize I've been in South Korea for four months now. The time has flown. I've been up, down, and back up again in the space of those four months though. The past month has been an up, what with the addition of a new coworker and friend. Yet another potential friend arrived on Tuesday. Those first three months were a spiral down to the point of frustration at the micro managing style at work, but I survived! (And it helps that the higher ups aren't breathing down my neck much nowadays.)

I haven't seen half as many things here as someone more extroverted and bent on adventure might. Though I might just get dragged into a lot of it in the coming months if the past month is any kind of indication. My new friend is very much the adventure seeker type with the ability to wear me out! (Sorry, Dottie, but it's true! And you know it.)

I've seen two palaces in Seoul: Changdeokgung and Gyeongbokgung. Both were beautiful and elegant in their own way though I preferred the nature oriented architecture and garden of the former. I promise pictures from both places, but they are waiting their turn in an increasingly larger backlog of pictures I need to polish up and upload onto flickr. (I know I have a link in the sidebar, but here is the link again to my flickr photostream.)

I'm halfway through uploading the pictures from Chuseok in September. It's the South Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving in the US and all the little preschoolers and kindergarteners dressed up in hanbok, korean traditional clothes. I even got into the spirit with a hanbok loaned to me by the school.

My kids are growing on me though a few are still in the "can I just strangle them?" category when they refuse to listen in class to "Teacher". I've gotten oddly used to talking about myself in the third person as "teacher" this and "teacher" that. Or even "Anna Teacher" when the occasion calls for it.

South Korea has grown on me and I like it a lot here (even if my workload is frustratingly heavy at times). I'm glad I came.

So what does it take to drag me out of my hermit, coping hole? NaNoWriMo of course. It's right around the corner. Less than two weeks away! And I'm raring to go. I'm excited to meet with fellow Nanoers here in the Seoul area in the coming month though I hope to find some to write with who are closer than a 15 minute walk to the subway and another 30 to 60 minute ride on the subway itself. But we'll see how it turns out. I have a few potential coffee shops lined up for writing in and I may take up residence there for a good portion of the month even if no one else joins me.

Since it is late as I write this, I leave you with the two covers that my lovely friend Riella made for my NaNo novels (my interview with her is here) and my two synopses. You'll recognize the first as the novel I wrote and won with last year under a new name, but I haven't yet finished it and so it will take first priority before its sequel.

A Breath in Time:

Alice Oglethorpe is a brilliant scientist and the driving force behind the colonization of the moon. However, no one knows she gained her brains by traveling space and time for over a hundred years. When a former nemesis attacks the moon base, Alice's cover is blown and she must use all of her acquired knowledge to save not just the colonists, but all of humanity from destruction.



Point of No Return:

The moon colony has been saved, but if the infestation is to be stopped, the bugs must be traced to their source and eradicated. Alice Oglethorpe embarks on this mission accompanied by her old team who helped her the first time. But can she go back to the old life when she now has a human companion to remind her of what she might have once had?

Until next time!

NaNoWriMo 2012: Day 30

It is an odd feeling to sit quietly and watch the clock change from 11:59 to 12:00. No mad dash to update the word count last minute, but rather, a peaceful evening. In fact I played around in a different universe today while playing pathfinders. Out of the six NaNoWriMos I've done, this has been the first early finish of them all. I have enjoyed the break, to be sure. It gave me time to pause and get ready for the heavy posting in the blog this coming month.

However, it doesn't change the fact that the feeling is odd. Perhaps next year I'll be again madly typing away on the 30th except this time aiming for that elusive 60k which I have never hit in one month. This time, once I hit 50k the motivation to continue drained out of me.

But now I know that I can do it. I know that it is possible for me to finish early and force myself to sit down and write that much for that long. Now that I know this, it's time to raise the bar. 2.5k pace next year? In order to finish on the 20th? You bet that I am going to try for it!

Now I'm off to sleep and dream up the first post of the Picture Countdown and to figure out what picture to take. Sweet dreams and I'll see you next year NaNoWriMo!

Until next time.

NaNoWriMo 2012: Days 27 and 28 and Announcements

I think I've pretty well resigned myself to not writing for the rest of November. I just can't muster the motivation to do so. On the upside, I have found my productivity in other areas to increase as a result of discontinuing my focus on NaNo. If I find myself with the opportunity to write tomorrow or Friday, then I will do so. However, I am content with the 50k I have already written and am enjoying the break before I begin again at my task of chipping away at the remaining plotline.

Two announcements. Firstly, you may have noticed that I did not write a review this month for CSFF's monthly blog tour. This is because there was a snarl up with the mailing of the review copies for the featured book "Angel Eyes" by Sharron Dittemore. The solution by the tour organizer was to postpone it until January so look forward to the review in slightly under two months. I will not be participating in the December tour due to time constraints. But you can probably count on me to at least post something about the book and links to people who are participating.

Secondly, I am going to continue my Christmas tradition of a Picture Countdown to Christmas. However, this year there will be a slight twist. Look forward to the first post this Saturday, December 1st!

Until next time!

NaNoWriMo 2012: Day 26 The Day After Winning

Today I took a break. I normally don't write much on Mondays because I am too tired so I decided to take it one step further and spend the day resting from writing. It's been nice to relax. However, it's back to the grindstone tomorrow. I've got 10k until that elusive 60k mark and I'd like to put in a good chunk tomorrow. That is, if I don't decide to detour to the local police station to get my fingerprints done for a criminal background check. I've been putting it off for weeks, but without it I can't apply for a visa which would put me in a tight bind where my next job is concerned.

Words written today: 0
Total words written: 50,044

NaNoWriMo 2012: Day 25 and Winning!

Well I did it. After a nearly 7k sprint all day today, I made it past 50k and finished on time for a 2k pace. This is first time I've ever won early. Both other times I crossed the finish line on the last day, but not this time. Perhaps I can hit 60k? Perhaps I can do more than that and end November by finishing the entire first arc? Anything's possible at this point!

Word written today: 6,980
Total words written: 50,044

Excerpt (detailing the annoying love interesting my FMC acquired today):

A nearby crew member must have noticed how much I was straining because he came up to me and said,

“Need some help?”

“Ah, thanks, but I can manage. I’m just getting tired, that’s all. I don’t normally work in here so I’m not used to carrying heavy boxes.” I attempted a chuckle, but the strain of holding the box choked it.

“Let me help.” And without waiting for me to respond, he grabbed the box as easily as if it were twenty pounds lighter.

“Thanks…?” I raised an eyebrow and waited for him to introduce himself.

“(crew member #1).”

“(crew member #1),” I repeated. I smiled at him and then did an about face back into the shuttle.

Slightly distracted, I nearly walked right into (scientist #2). “Oh, sorry.”

She peered around me, and then giggled. “I saw that. Isn’t he handsome?” Smirking, she pushed past me to the outside.

I grimaced and picked up my next box.

NaNoWriMo 2012: Day 24

In a mad dash I attempted to get as close to 45k as possible, but I failed my goal of 6k by about 1.5k. Hey, I may not be able to finish on time for a 2k pace, but I'm going to come pretty close.

Words written today: 4,547
Total words written: 43,064

Excerpt:

More than the original two techies gathered behind him. I made my exit quickly. My breathing and vision wasn't quite back to normal yet and I felt like sitting down until they resumed their normal level of functioning. I thought about Sensei's request that I stop by for a check-up and found myself outside the sickbay, not quite sure how I'd gotten there. He wasn't inside, though, when I entered. But the beds looked so comfortable that instead of sitting down to rest, I lay down on my side.

Blinking my eyes, I tried to clear away the blurriness of my vision, but it refused to resolved into clear sight. My hands were shaking slightly as well. "Must be from the exertion of running so fast for that length of time." I barely finished muttering before my vision disappeared entirely into blackness.

No, not another one.

NaNoWriMo 2012: Days 21 - 23 and Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy belated Thanksgiving! I spent the day hanging out with family and generally stuffing myself with delicious food. It was a good trip and I enjoyed seeing everyone (especially the cousins' four cats!). But, as anticipated, I wrote hardly anything.

However, I planned ahead for this, remember? So I'm still technically on schedule! I was able to write in the car on the way there and back, hence why I managed to stay on track and am ending the night slightly ahead.

Day 21: 593 words written

Day 22: 0 words written (but a fun photoshoot!)

Day 23: 880 words written

Total words written: 38,517

Excerpt:

Clasping my hands behind my back I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. Be careful, Alice. “Since the tech department is so busy I’ve been trying to handle all the minor problems in MLab.”

 His left eyebrow twitched.

“However, I ran across an odd glitch that I can’t solve.”

I had his full attention now and I thought I could feel several more pairs of eyes and ears trying to listen in.

“What was the glitch?” he asked, switching from bored to full troubleshooting mode.

“I ran into it while checking the recordings we have. You remember the big fuss recently because we recorded signals which sounded like a language?”

“Of course. Please continue.”

“I went to pull up the first recording to analyze it once more and it wouldn’t play properly. The file kept jumping and skipping so much that the audio was garbled.”

“Isn’t that just a case of a corrupt file?” His interest was visibly draining.

“That’s what I thought at first as well. So, of course we keep multiple copies of our recordings. However, when I checked each of these files they also exhibited the same behavior. Even my own personal copy was damaged. I thought that perhaps the recording system was at fault. But every other recording before and since then is fine—except for the other two recordings we have on file in the same language.” I sketched quotation marks in the air around the word with my fingers.

“That is certainly odd.”

“But the oddest part is that each of the other two recordings exhibited less noticeable glitching with the most recent being the clearest. And when I checked every copy they all exhibited the same level of glitching as the original file.”

NaNoWriMo 2012: Day 20

Today wasn't the sprint that I hoped it would be, but I still wrote more than I've ever written on a Tuesday for the entire month. (On a side note, I'll be leaving on our Thanksgiving trip tomorrow so I doubt I'll be able to post until we get back on Friday.)

Words written today: 1,970

Total words written: 37,045

Excerpt:

I blinked in the strong light after the dimness of the lab. When I looked down, Kitty was rubbing her eyes and squinting.

"Here's your rock" I handed her the two pieces. "Aren't they pretty now?"

"Yes, they are." She caressed the smooth surface. "Now they don't look dirty and they're so shiny."

She turned first the large one, then the smaller one over in her hands, examining them while we walked. Before we entered her family's quarters she held out the smaller stone.

"For me?"

Kitty nodded. "I don't need two. I want you to have it."

"Thank you!" I took it and hugged her. The stone covered about half my palm and was crisscrossed by veins of different color. It was also roughly tear drop shaped. "I'll make sure to put this in a special place and keep it safe." I beamed down at her. "But it's time for you to go back to your Mommy. I have a lot of work to do." Struck by a desire to warn her, I knelt down to look her in the eye and whispered, "I might be able to talk your Mommy and Daddy into letting me take you down to Earth for a visit in a week or two. Why don't you pick out some things you'd want to take and some clothes and pack them? Just in case I can convince them."

Her eyes lit up. "Sure. I wanna come!"

"Okay, but don't tell your Mommy or Daddy about it. Pack your bag secretly. You can do that, right?"

"Mhmm." She nodded enthusiastically.

"Good girl. I'll tell you later whether I can take you or not. Be a good girl today!"

NaNoWriMo 2012: Day 19

I pushed through my tiredness and pulled out enough to keep my two day lead intact. Here's to hoping I have enough time and energy to turn it into a three day lead tomorrow.

Words written today: 1,450
Total words written: 35,075

Excerpt:

He nodded. The rest radioed in ready and he gave the order to move out. We traveled at a slow speed at first, adjusting our control to the terrain. But by the time we'd traveled a mile we were racing flat out as fast as the terrain would allow. The path there was well worn and fairly level but the occasional bumps and drops of levels would toss the vehicles high and, if we weren't careful, out of control. As we went airborne off of a semi-large bump, I felt (scientist #2) clinging onto me with all her might. I laughed quietly. She definitely wasn't the adventurous type. Thereafter I made sure to pick the largest bumps to jump just to tease her. I knew I would pay later, but I needed the laughter now. It distracted me from thinking about how badly the situation could turn out.

NaNoWriMo 2012: Day 18

Another low count today for Sunday so no more catching up. But I'm lucky to even get 1k done and I maintained my two day lead. I'll try to hit it harder tomorrow and Tuesday.

Words written today: 1,075
Total words written: 33,625

Excerpt:

"But you think your father will believe and help us?"

"Yes. He's enough of a believer to go out on limb for any chance to contact aliens even if there isn't much evidence. And the prospect of there being an alien homeworld at certain coordinates will be like the proverbial carrot dangling in front of a donkey. Nothing short of death will stop him from trying to confirm it."

"I hope so. He's going to have to pull out a miracle in order for the message to reach that far. But I have a back-up plan which might help if we can't send the message fast enough."

"A back-up plan?"

"Who says I’ve only met two alien races in my travels?"

I pressed the button to close the lift doors and we traveled down, heading for the airlocks to try to catch (kitty's father) before he and the others left.

NaNoWriMo 2012: Day 17

The villains have finally shown themselves and the pace of the story has accelerated into a gallop. That and the desire to get ahead for Thanksgiving is drove me onward to my highest words written in one day this month. My MC basically spent the whole time spilling her secrets so it was nice to finally get all that out on the page where the readers can see it.

Words written today: 4,180
Total words written: 32,550

Excerpt:

"Good afternoon, (scientist #4). Everything running smoothly?"

He jumped slightly and his gaze traveled up until he saw my face. "Ah, good afternoon, Dr. Oglethorpe. Um, yes. It is going well.” He pushed his glasses up. "Can I help you with something?"

"Yes, you can pull up that recording of the transmission that just came in and let me listen to it. (signal scientist) wants me to listen to it.

"Oh, alright." He tapped on the console to reach the file folder with the recording. He clicked on the wrong one at first and had to backtrack to the right recording. "Here you are." He handed me a pair of headphones.

"Thanks." I slipped them over my ears. Static, then a soft half beep before the message began. "This is (alien freighter #2). Virus confirmed." Static. "Measures are being taken to prevent spread of virus, but the ship is beyond rescue. We are evacuating." Garbled static voice and which faded into normal background static.

The ice that had frozen my hands was now spreading up my arms to the rest of my body. Ship beyond rescue? Evacuating? That sounds like a very late stage 2 infestation. This is not good at all. I tapped (scientist #4) on the shoulder and asked him to replay it. I wasn't able to divine any more information, but the words were now memorized in my head.

Until next time!

NaNoWriMo 2012: Day 16

And my motivation streak continues! I scored my fourth day this month of 3k or more and I'm finally back to a one day ahead lead. I'm going to do my best to increase that even further tomorrow. My goal is 32k tomorrow or bust (and I wouldn't say no to somehow ending up near 34k).

Words written today: 3,066
Total words written: 28,370

Excerpt:

"Mhmm, isn't that perfect? Why else would they have chosen orchids to grow up here? They don't use that much water and are easy to grow. All they had to do was make a new color and then the colony had a steady export other than moon rocks."

"And rocks aren't as pretty." Kitty scrunched her face up. "Daddy brought me back a rock which he thought was pretty, but it isn't."

"Well maybe you just need to polish it. Sometimes rocks look really dirty and yucky until you cut them in half or polish them until they're smooth. How would you like to take your rock to someone who could polish it today?"

"Will it really make it pretty?" Her tone was skeptical.

"I promise that polishing makes any rock pretty. It makes it smooth and shiny too."

She hummed and rocked from side to side before standing up. "Okay. Can we do it now?"

"Sure. Let's go get your rock."

I proffered my hand again and led her out of the room. The air outside felt dry and stale after breathing in the rich, moist air in the hydroponics room for so long. I could almost feel my skin drying into flakes. An application of lotion when I returned to my quarters would stop that feeling. Maybe a bath too, I thought before remembering that I'd used my bath quota for the month. Blast it all to Saturn and beyond. I hate having only one bath a month.  

Until next time!

NaNoWriMo 2012: Day 15

I'm back on track and I crossed the halfway mark! Today I managed to recover my motivation for writing. I could have probably written even more if I'd had people to war with. And, the big question, am I half way through the novel? Not even close. I'm nearing the end of the first arc, but I'm only at the very beginning of the rise to the climax. I might get close to or past 40k with this arc.

Next goal? Catch up to the 2k per day pace. (On a side note, this is only the 3rd day this month that I've crossed the 3k in a day line.)

Words written today: 3,028
Total words written: 25,304

Excerpt:

I slid my card in the access panel and the door whooshed open. The air smelled of earth and greenery with the sweet smells of flowers mingled in. I loved coming to this room because it helped keep me grounded. The smells and greenery reminded me that the sterilized chamber of a colony we lived in wasn't the only existence out there and that there was a whole planet of humans for whose sake I was working. I came close to forgetting the reason for which I was working often, but a trip to this room always brought back why I was up here. And reminded me that I was within a shuttle ride of home.