As of today, I am officially two days behind on my NaNo schedule. Things were going fine, but then I ran into plot problems, namely, I’d only outlined up to chapter six and didn’t have any kind of an ending for my story. I finished chapter three yesterday, and now I’m getting into the meat of the story and had to figure out, not only what happens past this point, but how I was going to resolve it. After all, how does one tear apart or repair an invisible barrier? I also had to have a valid reason for it, so I turned to my dirty dishes and low and behold, it came to me (as well as a lot of other things), and lets just say, one certain angel, who has been demonized for the last two millennia, will return home to a somewhat happy welcome.

Two other reasons I got so behind; editorial and essay. My fifth editorial comes due on the 17^th, and I’m still short about a hundred words. I’m hoping to pull off the ’fun’ theme, like I did with my first one. Key word being ’hoping’.

And I’m entering an essay contest sponsored by Editor Unleashed and Smashwords called ’Why I Write‘. I have it finished, just have to make sure it sounds right and thing are spelt correctly. It’s based on the first time I ever thought about writing and what influenced me. I’ve always felt weird because I read about all these authors who knew, almost since birth, that they wanted to write as a career. I’ve never wanted to make this a ’career’ per se, but I’ve known since I was teenager, that I wanted to tell good stories.

I know I should be doing this tomorrow, but I don't think I'll have time.

So, the first week of NaNo has passed, and so far, I’m doing really, really good. The site says that a daily goal of 1,667 will allow you to finish on time, but I’ve stretched that to an even 1,800, giving me a few hundred words more per day. I finished three days early last year, and I would like to try and beat that. If it’s possible.

So, here is a short synopsis of what’s happened so far;

The day after a battle re-enactment, Louise and her husband notice a strange occurrence dealing with the birds. Knowing that all life is connected, she sends off an email to another member of her order, hoping they might have some answers.

Strange sensations then overtake her, and she is drawn to a gully next to a corn field where she finds the ghost of a sixteen-year-old boy. She leads him through The Veil; the ethereal barrier that separates the spirit world from our world. Once her task is complete, she returns to this world and promptly passes out from exhaustion.

The next day, she witnesses a car crash and watches as a soul is sucked into a Hell vortex. Just when she things everything is fine, the vortex opens again and takes an innocent soul.

Several days later a meeting is called by a secret society of generational Guardians called the Order. They try to have meeting about the innocent being taken, but so many differences of opinions gets nothing resolved.

That’s it so far. I’m on the third chapter, with a word count as of Saturday November 7 of 12,614

Plus, I still have an editorial due on the 21^st of this month. I’m seriously thinking of not doing it again next year.

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while, but after realizing that I wasn’t going to finish ‘VISIONS’ by the end of October, I stopped working on it and started gearing myself for NaNo. Which meant a complete ban on writing until the competition started. Period.

So far, things are going good, I’m keeping to my schedule of 1,800 per day and it’s not as cumbersome as I thought it would be. It takes me a few hours, but then I have the rest of the day to do other things; like laundry and cook meals. :P I’m thinking of posting a weekly summery and would not object to person’s commenting on whether or not they find the story interesting.

I’ve also committed (or should be committed) to reading a novel and doing a review for Flash Me Magazine. How’s that going, you ask? Meh, I'd rather not talk about it, but I promised Jenn I would do it, and I will keep that promise. Even if I end up scratching my eyes out and get my kid to read it to me.(Don't mind me Jenn, I'm just whining)

So, how are things on your end?

“May we come in?” Homer asked. Amelia noted the days growth on his face, and could see the family resemblance between him and his daughter; the slightly faded blond curls that hinted of blond in his balding hairline, the way the bridge of their noses curved slightly. Even the way they held themselves was similar. Yet it was something about the hardness of his eyes that caused her to wonder just what they were doing here. “We really shouldn't be discussing this out on the porch.”

Writing this week felt more like a chore than something I enjoy. It started feeling like this as I neared the end of THE DRAGONSTONE too, maybe coming to the end of a project has something to do with it, but what ever it is, the fact writing becomes almost lonesome really bothers me.

I finished chapter 6 early on in the week, and have about 2k done of seven. So far everyone seems rather happy with the way things are progressing, for a change. Thursday I had to keep myself focussed as I revealed a certain plot to the MC. I started going off on a tangent, making the overall plot more complicated than it needed to be. At first, I thought it was a great idea, but as I thought more about it, why make the plot THAT complicated. Really. So I deleted about 150 words, most of it dialogue.

I’ve only got three weeks left to finish this novel before NaNo starts, which shouldn’t be that hard of a task as I only have about 2 ½ chapters left to write, but yesterday was a right off, and this weekend is Thanksgiving so that rules out any real word count for the next three days.

And speaking of Nano, I’ve only gotten about 6 chapters outlined for my novel this year. I’m hoping to be able to push this one to ten chapters, but like my current WIP, we shall see.