So much for NaNoWriMo

Well, I didn't get anything written for NaNoWriMo this year. In fact, I think I only managed to write about 2000 words. Between making arrangements for the whole family to come over on Thanksgiving, frying the turkey, and spending the last 5 weeks working on a huge job proposal, I don't even know if I saw my kids.

Thanksgiving was great! My dad and uncle Cliff came over. Zulema's mom, nana, and brother came over as well, along with a couple friends from church. I deep fried the turkey, and everything was ready by 1:00pm. Zulema was worried for days prior to Thanksgiving, positive that we wouldn't have enough food for everyone. It turns out that we had so much food that we sent everyone home with huge bags of leftovers, and we're still eating leftovers too. We had deep fried turkey, brandied cranberries, stuffing, green beans (not that disgusting green bean casserole, mind you), rolls, 8 different pies, sweet potatoes, salad, mashed potatoes and gravy, some Philipino stirfry (thank you Miriam!) and an assortment of cheeses and deli meats. My mouth is starting to water just thinking about it again.

The rain stopped drizzling long enough for me to set up the turkey fryer, cook the bird, and everyone ate outside, then it started to drizzle again. We all sat around for the entire day, and just talked. It was very casual and laid back. Perfect.

The proposal I was working on was for a huge remodel job, turning a 7,700 square foot home into an assisted living home. I had to get estimates from two or more subs for every trade needed, compile everything, make sure I had every aspect covered (like wax rings for toilets), and then write up the final proposal. It all seems like a blur now. I got the proposal done, and now we are waiting to find out if we got the job, and when we can start.

So much for NaNoWriMo this year. I still have my story outline, so I'll just plan on doing my own NaNoWriMo...maybe in January or something.

Too much to do and not enough time

Here I sit, writing a blog, and playing games on the computer, when I have a million things to do instead. It's not that I'm intentionally goofing off...well maybe a little. I'm avoiding some things which I should be doing, and giving my mind a break from other stuff.

Today is the first day of NaNoWriMo and I have thirty days to write a 50,000 word novel. I already, kind-a, sort-a have an outline for the story that I want to write, but I haven't written even one word of the 1,600 daily goal that I have. The story will be a story that takes place prior to the last novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo last year. It's a good story, I just haven't finished editing it yet. No surprise there.

The story from last year is a futuristic story about space smugglers, gun-toting monkeys, black-marketeering amazon women, and an environmentalist who wants to destroy the entire universe. It definitely needs more work. The novel I plan on writing this year goes back in time a little, to set the stage for the novel from last year. This novel will include all of the same, but will include illegal drugs made out of small, cute, furry rodents that are almost extinct. It should make the environmentalist mad, the hunters mad, and maybe a nun or two also.

Instead of writing though, I've been working on a mini-sermon that I'm supposed to talk on in about an hour. My church is having a worship service tonight, and they've asked me to talk. After many agonizing days, and weeks, and long lunch breaks from work I've finally had a brainstorm. I decided I would talk on...

worship! Not very original, huh? Well, I can honestly say that I've taken a slightly different approach on it, and I only have fifteen minutes too. My wife has been stressed out for days, and can't figure out why I'm not, but I told her that she sucked all the available stress out of the room, and hasn't left me any. I'll post the mini-sermon here later. In the meantime, I should probably get showered, dressed, and write some notes or something. Just kidding, I finished those a little while ago.

Writer's Group Meeting Last Night

Last night I attended a local writer's group for the first time. I've never been to a writer's group before, and it was very interesting. It was more than I expected, and I wish I had sought out a writer's group sooner.

I wasn't sure what to expect prior to attending. I've always thought that only old, weird people attended these groups, but I was gladly mistaken. There were almost twenty people there, and they were a very diverse group. They were made up of all ages, and came from all walks of life. Everyone had his or her own area of writing that they were most interested in. Some of them have been published, and some have not. I was afraid that I would be out of place, being new to the writing market, but I didn't feel that way at all once I was there.

The discussion was about resources available for writers to help them promote and market their writing. It covered the latest word processing software, techniques to promote your writing, and ways to take advantage of this wonderful thing that we call the internet. It is changing the way that writers are publishing their work, and is making many of the traditional methods obsolete. There will always be paperback books, but the market for ebooks is definitely expanding.

The meeting ended after a couple hours, and I went home feeling very optimistic about writing. I know that I still have a need to hone my writing abilities, but it's also encouraging to know that there are people that are in the area who are willing to help. I just need to finish this blog, pull out some of my stories, and finish editing them.