Five for Friday; Things I'm going to need during NANOWRIMO

 

Well friends, here we are. I have no idea how we got to the last week of October already and I've blogged so little this year. Well, I mean, sure, Covid hassles stopped being funny a long time ago, and let's be honest, I never did get back into my real life groove after being in lock down. I mean, who would want to go back to a rigorous schedule of exercise and writing in the afternoons where there is SO MUCH TO WATCH on streaming services?

So yeah, I'm lazy. Completely lazy.

But it's the dawn of a new November. A new stab at National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo).  Last year I managed to complete the 50,000 word challenge and the end result was publishing "Deal With a Devil." This year, I'm way behind where I wanted to be with my next work in progress, a fantasy-dark comedy-romance-internet thriller I have lovingly called "Suburban Princess" for almost twenty years when the idea of it first came into my head.  If I can get over myself and actually write the darn thing, it might be the best thing I've ever come up with.  Certainly the cover is cool!

But soon I will be locked into another Nano challenge and I've already promised this book will be published next year.  So obviously I'm going to need some stuff from you, my readers, if I'm going to really be able to buckle down and get this book out!   

5)   COFFEE, COFFEE, and MORE COFFEE.

I don't eat while I'm writing, but I do drink. A lot. And much of it is coffee!  (Okay I drink coffee a lot anyway, but when I'm planning to sit up into the wee hours of the day, I need more coffee. 

4)  WINE!

Okay, a wise person once said (or maybe it was one of my refrigerator magnets, I get those two things confused) "Write drunk. Edit sober." Friends, I am in the meat of the writing part.  Traditionally, writers have drinking problems, this we know. And the chic writer beverage has been, historically, absinthe.  However, You can only drink so much absinthe before that green fairy becomes a bit too real.  (Which is hard to do since in the US all the fun stuff that's in old timey absinthe that made one hallucinate the green fairy  is taken out!  ((stupid FDA, harshing my fun)) . So my writing adult bevvy of choice is pinot noir. I'm not fussy. Only only cheap bottle will do. Or pricey bottles.  Did I mention I'm writing a dark-comedy-romantic-fantasy-thriller?  Hot tea is NOT going to cut it!

3)  CLEANING and COOKING services.  (OR...mystery food just delivered to my door!)

Hubby is great and all, but let's face it, he works too.  And Skippy isn't one to cook or clean just for funsies.  So, the Bradley manse is going to be a big old mess since I'm planning on ignoring housekeeping duties more than I do now.  So...you know...if you're not afraid of dirty dishes or dirty bathrooms or dirty...you get the picture.  It's going to be dirty.  And the guys are going to be hungry.  ('Cuz I'm going to COOK less than I do now...which is saying something.)  Basically, you can pretend my family 's on the prayer list at church and the guys are going to need casseroles. LOL

2) 5 star Amazon reviews for my other books!

Friends, I have 16 other books of various genres. I've always said I'm not in the writing business for the money. I don't think any author gets up in the morning (or stays up late at night) because there's a big payday at the end of a novel. There typically isn't. Unless your last name is King, Grisham, Roberts, you know, something like that.  

The authors I know get up and write because they have to.  They have stories to tell. Yes, there's a business component to everything we do, but at the end of the day, it's about the art of it. Every writer and author I know has a day job.  Every writer and author I know wishes they could make just enough money at their craft to quit their day job and write full time.  We authors, we don't dream of yachts and summer homes.  We dream of long stretches of time building worlds for others to enjoy.

A storyteller needs an audience and in this digital/internet world, the audience for book lovers is Amazon.  Amazon tracks the number of reviews a book gets and every book needs X reviews to gain visibility on Amazon so that other readers can find the book.  

I've been selling books now for more than a decade, to people who across the board have told me they love my writing.  (Not a brag, I'm just saying.) And I've been pounding away every November for the last ten years, laying the groundwork for a new book.  My reviews on amazon, while generally great, are very few and far between. So I'm putting out this plea, PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW.  

You don't need to be a best selling author to leave a book review on Amazon.  Simply click the 5 stars.  That's literally all you need. If you want to leave a comment, all you have to say is, "I really enjoyed this book."  Every review gets me closer to visibility on Amazon, closer to other readers reading my story. As a storyteller, this is the dream. Getting my stories to the biggest market possible.

And during Nano, seeing reviews for my books goes a long way to boosting me and reminding me that there is a point to what I do. People are reading my stories. They are loving my characters. I have a reason to go on!

1) Don't judge! Just send me encouragement! (But NOT on my phone!)

November is not only Nanowrimo, it's also the beginning of the holiday season. People laugh when I say I'm just about done gift shopping, but I have to be. November is all about the work.  There is nothing else.  In other years I've cut my Nano time short because of Thanksgiving, because I have to spend time with family and whatnot.

Not. This. Year.

That's how serious I am about this book.  It's going to be good. But not if I can't focus. So yes, I'm going to do some mildly social-family-holiday stuff, but I'm not planning on spending any kind of heavy duty quality time ooh-ing and ah-ing over my mom's turkey (I mean, it's not going to be good anyway, but this year I'm not even going to try and lie about it. That just takes up time. LOL)  I'm going to avoid social gatherings (more than I do now!) and I'm going to turn down invitations. Please don't judge. Just understand.

And send me messages, but not by phone. Cheer me on via Facebook or Sarah's Twitter.  Give me funny memes about writing, coffee, encouragement. Just say you wish me well.

This blog might sound like I'm going off to do something difficult and draining. I am. But it's something I love and this year...this year I'm going to put everything I have into it. And I'll be able to do it.

With a little help from my friends!

On a side note, it's NOT TOO LATE to sign up for Nanowrimo if you want to give it a go. It's FREE.  (Well, no money is involved.)  And I'll be your buddy!

Five for Friday: Here's a challenge!

 Hello and Happy October everyone!  (Yes, I realize we're halfway through October...whatever.)

There are a lot of other things I'm not doing this month either. But, I AM doing this thing:  

If you're in the New Berlin, WI, area TOMORROW, 10-16-21, come on down, check out my titles including my NEWEST:  Deal with a Devil

Okay, anyway, today's Five for Friday was inspired by a bunch of stuff I've managed to try (and fail) to do recently.  Yes, you are going to be tempted to try this stuff too.  Go ahead, do it. Especially if you're at work. Really give this stuff the good old college try.  Your co-workers will thank you!

5)  You can't put your elbow in your ear.

This is an old one, I think I got it from a TV commercial talking about cleaning your ears (clearly it was ANTI-Q TIP)  but recently I thought of it and had to give it go. Fail.  Give it a try.  See if you, like me, manage to 

4)  You can't tickle yourself.

I had ridiculously ticklish feet.  Just ask the few brave women who have given me pedicures over the years.  BUT, I can do whatever I want to my feet without nary a giggle.

3) You can't snap your toes.

Actually, I can do this.  It freaks Hubby out.  Go ahead. Try snapping your toes like you would your fingers.  I can...but I bet you CAN'T.

2) You can't smell or taste something disgusting without needing to share it.

It's not that we want to cause our loved ones discomfort. Or maybe we do. Humans are weird. But we've all been there, right? We've all opened that container in the fridge that smells like it came out of a Vincent Price movie and we say, "Oh wow, this is gross. Here smell this!

Did you taste something horrible?  I know, just like I know my own waist size, that you've turned to the person closest to you at the table and said, "This is so awful, you have to taste this!"

We can't help ourselves. Misery loves company.  If your pet barfs or craps in the house, you know, YOU KNOW, you're narrating everything as you clean it up, so everyone within 50 feet of you knows just how horrible the smell and texture are.  

"OH WOW, that cat vomit is REALLY juicy this time! It must be fresh!  CAT, what on earth are we feeding you that this smells so bad?  Did you eat rotting fruit? What is this?"

My challenge: The next time you come across something that smells or tastes terrible...keep it to yourself. Don't try to get your loved ones in on the fun. You'll fail, we all do, but try.

1)  You can't measure your own inseam.

This is actually the reason for this whole blog. You know that lovely, dreamy in between time in the morning when you're not really awake, but not asleep anymore?  Most people enjoy the remnant of a nice dream or, if you're my mother and it's the 1980's, you wake up wondering what you're going to defrost for dinner.  Not me. Nope. Couple days ago I drifted awake and realized I was bent in a weird way, as if trying to...measure my inseam.

Guess what, I couldn't. And neither can you!

Okay, so there we go.  5 things you absolutely cannot do. As an observer of humanity, I think I can confidently predict that you're going to spend at least five minutes today trying all five of them.  At the very least I will have distracted you from whatever you're supposed to be doing.

My work here is done.