Uh oh, NaNoWriMo!

Okay, it's day four of NaNoWriMo and I have only sat down once to write.  It's actually okay though.  I got out 1,179 words in the 25 minutes that I had before my daughter's bus came and they are good ones.

I did it with my patented method of getting into the story big time and have found a mighty weapon to use to get there.  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...The Dr. Wicked's Write or Die thingee!  *Roar of a small but enthusiastic crowd*

All you do is go to the page, enter the number of words that you want to write and in what time.  Then the fun part is choosing your mode for consequences and grace period.  There is everything from gentle mode (why bother) to evil, kamikaze and electric shock.  I tried normal and strict, just to see how it worked.  Basically it gives you a space to start typing and then, based on your preferences, will change the background color when too much time has gone by without typing.  The color change without noise or pictures is ideal because it's a visual cue that's not really distracting.  It's fun and made me compete with myself which is ideal.  By the time the timer ran out I didn't really care anymore because I had moved on to the finish line being when BabyGirl's bus came.  

So if you're a writer and are having a day when you just can't seem to get going - try Dr. Wicked's Write or Die page.  It's fun, effective and just a little bit evil.  : )

Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!...Crap!

National Novel Writing Month started yesterday and I totally forgot!  It's okay because I don't have to technically write every day, but if I want to finish the 50,000 word challenge by the end of the month then I need to get my butt in gear!  

Speaking of writing, I have been trying to get back into it and found that it is super tough to do when you are out of the habit.  I am such a "follow the story" kind of writer and that means that I write my best when I am lost in the story.  I can't plot because I have no idea what's going to happen and so I have no map at the beginning of the book usually.  Well, a basic map maybe - one that has a picture of Earth with an arrow or two that says, "Story starts here and might end up over there...or maybe not."  

So I have some great ideas and just need to find ways to be more disciplined in getting lost in the story.  There is such a difference, let me tell you.  The other day I was writing and I could see the whole thing in my head but what came out of my fingers was some sort of extremely sparse script for a play.  Try as I might the world would not get on the page and the characters were paper cutouts with word balloons.  When I'm lost in the moment my fingers fly and the world unfurls like a drop of dye in a glass of water.  It's beautiful and mesmerizing to me, I never want to stop.  

I know that I have said that I needed to develop this skill better before but I have had trouble finding the time for the last few months.  But I have a secret weapon that I have used since high school - I thrive on deadlines.  The adrenaline rush feeds me and I can't stop the flow.  In times of writing for myself I send half an hour on one page and practically grumble through the whole thing.  Add a deadline and it's a whole new ball game.  This is how I finished Elemental, I had a 9 day deadline till the conference and I just wrote my heart out during all waking hours.  Now I have another deadline, four weeks until I need to finish 50,000 words or else I will have failed.  

I really hate failing.  I'm an overachiever by nature.  (But a nice one and I only compete with myself - never ask my to join your sports team because I am the opposite of competitive on the field.)

Anyway, off I go to write and attempt to meet my deadline.  Oooo, I got shivers just typing that.  There will be updates on the blog and here is my NaNoWriMo link.  

Wish me luck!

Wow. I'm tired.

My son finished up with the flu enough to go to school on Wednesday, Hubby broke his leg on Thursday and the dog is throwing up blood clots since Sunday.  

Needless to say the blog is on a bit of a hiatus.  If I do any writing I'm hoping to work on my books.  That's right, I'm working on two because I need to do the one in case my Elemental gets picked up and the other won't leave me alone.

You kids play nice and I'll post more when things calm down around here.

Mini Post: A PSA about dealing with autism when it makes you, the observer, uncomfortable.

The more you know...

     

       *Matt Damon is leaning against a grey wall and looks up from a book that he is reading*

Next time, when you are in a doctor's office and there is a mother trying to settle down her 10 year old that is yelling and very upset because he is obviously special needs and sick - try not to stare.  That mother is doing her best to calm the child and your staring only makes her shoulders hunch and tension grip her every muscle.  Also, a deep and primal rage begins to well up in her at your rudeness and lack of compassion and that does not help her to maintain the calm talking voice that is necessary to change the situation.

Remember that everyone with a special needs child is always deeply sorry when your day has been interrupted by autism or whatever else the child may deal with.  We hope that the rest of your day is filled with language capable children, no sensory disturbances and conversations with your offspring.  Lord knows that theirs won't.

                 *Matt closes the book and walks off.  Just as he is about to leave the shot he quietly                        but clearly says, "Buncha Assholes."*

Da na na na naaaaa!

The more you know...  

Getting back on track.

There has been so much business and illness in this house in the last month!  Traveling, teaching, working, a spouse with a terrible chest cold, being pretty sick myself and then a kid with the flu.  I feel a little like an entire month of my life has been stolen from me.  

But it will all work out in the end, always does.  I have a lot of catching up to do and hope to continue getting well so that I can tackle it faster than my current pace of slogging along with a box of Kleenex and bag of Halls.  

I have writing to do (As always, that is never really 'caught up'), housework to catch up on, church stuff that's been left undone, friends to call, plans to make and have just compiled a short list of books to read.  As crazy as it sounds, I'm a little sick of fiction for just a bit.  It happens every once in a while.  To write a fiction story there must be drama and I do eventually get sick of the drama, the bad decisions, the traumatic back stories and the angst.  Unfortunately there aren't a million David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell and Sloane Crosley books out there so I must look elsewhere.  

Once, in a time of fiction fatigue just like now, I went to the store and stumbled on a book that I loved called Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside by Katrina Firlik.   It was exactly what I needed at the time and I read all of the gory details with a smile on my face.  The list that I have compiled right now is not medically themed, but social justice.  I don't know if I'll be able to read through the list but I'll have it for whenever I want to go back to it.  Just like I have another medical book about cadavers that I have kept in the back of my head for awhile in case I do decide to get medical.

Here is my little list, let me know what you think.  Or better yet, let me know what is on your non-fiction reading list!

1. Everyday Justice by Julie Clawson

2. We the Purple: Faith, Politics and the Independent Voter by Marcia Ford

3. Fair Trade: A Beginner's Guide by Jaqueline Decarlo

Book Review: Shadowlight by Lynn Viehl

Finally, I had the time to read the wonderful new book Shadowlight by Lynn Viehl.  Recently Ms. Viehl was cool enough to let the followers of her blog volunteer to be sent an eARC in exchange for a review.  An ARC is an Advanced Reader Copy, the pre-release book that is sent out to people in the business for reviews and such.  The e part just means that it was a file that she sent me instead of a hardcopy - saving trees one author at a time!  I thought that her idea was a bit odd at first, those of us who would normally buy the book now have an electronic copy and I am too cheap to buy what I already have.  The actual truth is that we who received an eARC are now singing the book's praises before it is released in stores.  So I have changes my mind and now think that Ms.Viehl is some kind of crazy genius who stays away from conferences because her brilliance is too much for the public to handle in person.  

Another thing that made it so cool was that I felt like one of the big kids.  Sure she sent a copy to anyone who asked - but as a newbie writer trying to get anyone in publishing to notice me, having an established author let me have an ARC was a big deal.  Plus she gave me a deadline for the review.  I had a deadline that someone else set and that person was a big time author - be still my palpating heart!

The book itself took me a little while to read because I was busy and not hooked by the opening chapter.  I could tell that it was the nice and gentle opening before tragedy struck but I just didn't like Jessa, the female lead character, from page one.  Unfortunetely that dislike carried through the whole book.  I think that some of it was my personality, I don't like nice string o' pearl wearing women who have lived lovely lives and wear tailored suits.  There is nothing wrong with them but I just don't jive with them and so when a character in a book is like that it is almost a given that I won't like them.  Another thing about her was her intense distrust of people who shared psi-abilities with her and her inability to accept the possibility that there was a race, the Darkyn, that had all of the same abilities but had to stay out for the sun and drink blood.  She had never been actually pursued for her talents and the leap from psi-ablilites to psi-abilities and drinks blood is not so big in my mind.  So her resistance just struck me as annoying stubbornness after awhile.

Having said that, I did enjoy the story and most of the other characters in this book very much.  The Takyn series seems to be a little more high on adventure than your average Darkyn book and I like that.  Once the action started it just kept on coming.  I loved the psychotic Lawson as a crazy guy obsessed with Jessa and GenHance as the evil corporation that has no qualms about playing god.  The chase scenes got my heart pumping and I felt a real sense of dread as Jessa was stalked.  That is why this book is good writing and Ms Viehl deserves her bestseller status.  If I never fully warm up to a character but am still able to place myself next to her as she runs from a psycho and feel my heart pound in a shared fear then that author has mad skills with a keyboard.

A word about a character that I did fully warm up to - Rowan.  Man, I love Rowan.  Here is a woman who has struggled and has more than one tragedy in her life.  She has been molded and bent but never broken by a hard past.  At the end of the book there is a sneak peek at the next Takyn book which is Rowan's and is called  Dreamveil.  It looks so awesome that I think I whimpered when the excerpt ended.  I cannot wait until 2010!

So I definitely recommend this book to anyone into paranormal romance.  It's an exciting first book for a series that explains what it needs to but doesn't skimp on the action.  I have found that some first books in a series are so busy world building that they forget to show me why I should care.  This book made me care even if I wasn't initially inclined to.  The release date is October 6, so keep an eye out for it!

In defense of groceries.

This morning I was doing the dishes and thinking about how I needed to clean out the fridge due to a hotdog juice spill when I remembered a scene from the movie G Force.  Yes, movies about spy guinea pigs and their self image issues stick with me.  Anyway, in the movie there is a huge company that is about to launch a new feature on their appliances that will basically put your whole kitchen online.  Specifically I remember the example of your fridge knowing that you're low on milk and eggs, sending an order to the market and having the items delivered without you even being involved.  People onscreen cheered and I imagined that someone in the theatre who had brought their kids was probably angrily texting others in their department at Frigidaire wanting to know who spilled the beans on their Top Secret project.  

So there I was, trying to get the kids on their way to school, finishing dishes and contemplating a society that has no desire to experience anything that they don't have to.  (I'm a great multitasker.)  See, lately my life has gotten busy.  I keep thinking that the kids have been in school for just a couple of weeks and the truth is that it has been a month and that this level of busy is the new norm.  I'm not a fan of busy.  My kids are not in sports yet but Hubby and I have already decided that our super athletic daughter will not be allowed more than one sport plus one club at a time.  Family dinner will be mandatory unless there is a good reason.  Why?  Because super busy all the time is not a life, it's a schedule.  I don't want to live my life trapped in a demanding schedule that makes life miserable and hope to raise children that don't either.  

I want to live a life where I can always find time to go to do the grocery shopping.  When I go to the grocery store I do it in a timely manner but don't run.  Well, occasionally I run, but the norm is a reasonably paced meander.  I like looking at the produce section and all of the colors.  If I'm buying paper towels I look for the coolest pattern and tissues need to be in boxes that coordinate with the room or are fun to look at.  These little touches make life more fun and brings a bit of happy to household jobs.  I notice when my paper towel has Peanuts characters on it and it makes doing windows a little less boring.  

My favorite is finding new products in a store and trying any that look cool.  Weird salsas, exotic fruits and different kinds of chips are just waiting to be found.  If I just run in and shop the list then I miss the experience of being surrounded by variety and choice.  Why would I want technology to take that away?  Don't get me wrong, I love technology in many ways.  But I draw that line at having it take away the experience of everyday life.  I hope to never sacrifice the mundane in exchange for a chance to be more busy.    

I like my non-sentient refrigerator and hope to keep it that way.