Hallelujah!

This is really cool. Check out what happened when a group of unsuspecting shoppers were given a surprise over their lunch hour!

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NaNoWriMo: I Did It!

It's not really, really done, but it's a complete story. And it needs edits, reworking and a lot of TLC. But NaNoWrimo is about quantity and I passed the 50,000 word mark.

I will admit, I had to "cheat" a little because Microsoft Word said "50,057" and NanNoWrimo decided that was 49,996. So the end of my novel says, "And to make myself an official participant, this is the end of my novel. Thank you, Nanowrimo."

But the good news is and what really matters is, I did it. So, for now, I'm taking a break, enjoying the holidays and hoping come January, I'll feel the desire to go back and edit it so I feel like its shareable with others.

Thanks to all who gave me such great support!

I did it!!!!!!

To prove I did it, here's my certificate:

Why I love Black Friday

I love Black Friday because...

• I love finding deals. And I always find something good.
• I like to get up at 5 a.m. and shop. It's the only time I like to get up at 5 a.m.
• It's a good excuse to drink two lattes in one morning.
• It gives me a good start on my holiday shopping.
• I can always find a gift for myself and I will only buy it on sale so I don't feel guilty.
• I like the holidays.

Call me crazy, but I love the rush of the crowds. Some people run with the bulls. I get up early, go out in the freezing cold and run with the deal hunters. And I love every minute of it.

Things I don't understand: hunting edition

This week is deer hunting season in Wisconsin. It's a weird to me. I was in rural Wisconsin last weekend. I saw a lot, lot, lot of blaze orange on everything. On people, on signs, everywhere. It's a good choice though for safety. I could see a tiny little blaze orange hat from a mile away and couldn't see the body it was attached to.

As they do every year, my dad, my brother and my sister-in-law are off in the woods. Yes, I said my sister in law. For those who don't, well Rachael really likes the color pink and Coach purses. I guess as Tim Gunn, says, she "makes it work." She's probably the cutest one in blaze orange in all of Wisconsin. I"m not kidding. Look.

Yes, come each November, my pink loving sister-in-law is out in the woods with the boys. And she has absolutely no problem getting in and cleaning out the deer after its been "caught," as my mom says. (She says doesn't like the word "shoot.") Rachael is a nurse, so she's tough and can handle blood. I respect that. I gag at even the description. No thank you. I don't need to know the details.

To the right is Rachael. She's holding my contribution to the big event- a bottle of white wine called "Deer Hunter's Widow." She also has a coffee cup that has nothing to do with deer hunting, I just happened to re-gift her a coffee cup from her alma mater this weekend.

She's even getting her hunting license next year. Does this woman look like she can kill a deer? Don't put it past her.

Here's thing two about deer hunting, something I can get behind. My brother and sister-in-law are "high-brow hunters." Check out the clearance chairs that my dad found for their deer stand. They are a contradiction in terms. Now, high end chairs out in the woods is something I can get behind. Bring on the class.

So far this season, my dad and brother have each got a doe. I think they can quit now, but they are still out in the woods all week looking for a buck. It's been damn cold and freezing rain the last two days so what do smart deer do? Stay in the woods. What do you dumb hunters do? Sit in their stands cold and wet. I guess they like it. Like I said, I don't get it.

Note the photo to the right. My dad was really proud of his work skinning the deer. Good job, Dad. However, a word of advice: don't run for political office. This photo could really come across bad in campaign ads. Just sayin', you look crazy.

Now, I am not opposed to hunting. I am not an animal rights activist. I even eat the venison. And really, as long as they show up for Thanksgiving dinner, I'm glad they have fun sitting out in the cold in very bright orange suits that make them look fluorescent.

I just think it's an awfully silly and boring sounding hobby. I'll stay inside where it's warm and watch Bambi and drink cocoa. But if they want to keep Bambi's buddies from over populating and hitting my car, more power to them.

On a funny note about deer hunting, enjoy this selection from Cake Wrecks: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2010/11/im-hunting-wreck-its.html

To me, November means time to write a novel. To my dad and brother, it means time to "catch" a deer. We're family, just with different understandings of entertainment.

Happy hunting. And to my fellow Nano-ers, happy writing!

10,000 words in 3 Days

On Saturday, I had 13,787 words.

By Sunday, I had gotten up to 17,917. Getting closer to on track.

Today I am at 22,489.

So far today, I have written 4,572 words.

I am not normally a competitive person, but a creative writing 30-day race apparently brings it out on in me.

To be on track today, I should be at 25,000 words. I don't think I'll get there, but I want to get just a wee bit closer.

Nanowrimo, you are an addiction. And I'm completely hooked. Just hook me up to an IV.

Nano: Day 12

I wasn't feeling too inspired when I sat down to write today. I had to crank through one of my regular journalistic assignments before getting back to my creative outlet. I got that done, managed a quick work out and then came back to my computer.

I knew I was at a crux. There were important words to write. How was I going to shape this next step in the novel? What were my characters going to learn if anything?

It came slow today. But suddenly, as happens with these things, a few major plot lines came together. I suddenly knew what clues I'd made up along the way meant. And it developed. Stewed a bit. And developed further and deeper. I had found another major crux in the mystery, perhaps the most important one. I knew some of what my characters were battling, but not the why this has happened to them. These things come in waves.

To be honest, I still don't fully know the why them. But I do know why I made one of my characters a murder and what she was protecting. And I have what I think will be a major plot twist to pull out at the end. And I really like it.

To be honest, I'm a bad secret keeper. Really bad. I want to tell everyone everything. But I have people who love me (or at least give a damn about me) who want to read my book. And I can't say, "here's what I think I'm going to make happen at the end." That kind of ruins it, right? So that's kind of hard. But it forces me to find my inner ability to keep a secret.

I'm still behind on word count from losing those few days, but am catching up.

Oh, and I have a title. Rosa Unchained. I googled it just in case. The only thing I could find was some Latin song.

Oh and no, for those of you following the plot loosely, Rosa is not the name of the grandmother. Rosa is an undefined character that will make sense upon reading. But not, I hope, until the end.

Happy Nano-ing to all those still holding out to write a novel in a month. I still aspire to be among those at the finish line.

Day Ten

NaNoWrimo has been put on an unfortunate back burner for me the last few days. It wasn't my choice. It was my computer's choice. To die. But, like Lazarus, it was resurrected. But, not in a cool way by Jesus. In a much more mundane way, by a new battery arriving safe and sound (FINALLY).

I also lost roughly 1900 words because I broke my flash drive. I felt like God was taunting my efforts, and not in a good way.

The good news is, I've made up for the lost words. The bad news is, I also lost some good thoughts. I had really good vibes going last Friday when I wrote those words. My repeat efforts feels much less inspired. Oh well, that's what editing is for, and NaNoWriMo is not about editing.

I'm going to now try to get another 2,000 words out before bed. I'm excited because I'm going to delve into my character as young children. I'm curious to see what I'll come up with. Hopefully something more inspired than my repeat effort of making breakfast and meeting their closeted, gay lawyer. (Is it Freudian that I typed "Laura" instead of "lawyer" as I first wrote that. I'm going to blame it on having just watched last night's episode of "Glee," which was all about gender issues.)

Ok, back to nanoing, instead of blogging.

Happy writing!

Day Three

NanoWriMo Day Three: I'm at 4,177 words... a little bit behind on pace, but the plot is starting to come together. I'm also allowing myself to understand that this is a "zero draft" of a novel (like a pre-first draft). If it's good, I'll fix it later. If it's crap, well, I will have completed the challenge.

Now, I think I need a bit of yoga and then bed. Writing is a brain sport.

Learning to Write a Novel

I write a lot. I love to write. I also love to read. So, taking on the challenge of writing a novel is a lot of fun. I'm actually really loving my premise.

However, I'm really not digging what I've written so far. I decided to just title it as a prologue for now. I like the idea of the story. I don't like how I'm pulling it together.

It feels too introductory. Like "Dear reader: meet Andrea and Patty."

I think it's more like "Dear writer: meet Andrea and Patty."

I think there are bits I need. I think there are bits that may be more helpful later in the novel instead. So, for now, it's a prologue. I'll fix it later. I have 49,000 words to go. No time to worry about it now.

I keep reminding myself, not to self-edit along the way. I can go back and fix my prologue at the end. Or maybe delete part of it or all of it.

Just getting the thoughts on paper and characters more fleshing out the characters more fully has been part of my initial challenge in taking part in NanNoWriMo. Lesson for next year: figure that out before November 1.

The last few days have been really busy. Tomorrow I need to make up for lost time. In theory, I need to crank out 3,000 words to be on track. This task is going to be tougher than I thought. But, I'm dedicated. I can do it!

Happy NaNoWriMo 2010. I'm curious to hear how others are doing.