Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Less than 24 hours

August's Camp NaNo begins in 22 hours and 37 minutes, and I still don't have an outline!  I didn't use one for the first half of the book, since I wasn't aiming toward a specific ending, but now that there will be an ending to the book, I feel like I need to rein myself in and work to an outline.  I'm thinking that another 50-70k words should finish this book, since rewrites will bring the total down a bit, and I'd like to end up with over 100k.  I'd like to get everything done on this book by October, so I can start concentrating on the next book in the trilogy for NaNo in November.  

Monday, July 16, 2012

10 Chapters edited

Finished editing all ten chapters of part one.  Have corrections to make and scenes to write and probably one scene to delete.  I'm happy with the story and my writing, and I'm planning on having the changes done before the end of July.  I also need to outline part two of the book.  Last time, I used plot points rather than outlining, and I'm trying to see which way works best for me.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Finally editing

I certainly enjoyed my week and a half of pleasure reading, but I finally got started on editing this morning and finished the first chapter.  Made some notes that I'll have to reconcile later in the novel, but I'm happy with my writing.  With some short term memory loss, reading it is almost new, which is wonderful.  Only have the first 4 chapters printed (Dad's printer blew a gasket on me), but hopefully that will get fixed so I can print the other 6 chapters out.  It's easier to catch and note the edits on paper than it would be online.  Lots of my own shorthand symbols.  I'm looking forward to getting some plot points down on paper for the second half of the book.  I think I'd like to end up with around 120k words after editing.  Not sure I can write all that in August, but we'll see.  At least I have a couple of months before I need to write again in November.  That should give me time to write and edit the rest of this book, before I start the second book.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Reading when I should be editing

Yes, I know.  I'm supposed to be spending this month editing my June Camp novel, but I've missed reading for pleasure so much in the past 8 weeks, that I was going through withdrawal.  So, here it is the 7th of July, and I've already read 8 books since I won Camp NaNo.  But, I haven't forgotten about my book, I've been cogitating on it all along and have worked out some of my worldbuilding issues.  It seems to be a neverending task.  And I've made some notes for fixes that I need to make in the manuscript.  I did go through the first three scenes and edit them.  It's kind of funny, because although I know the story, I've already forgotten details, so reading them as I edit is surprising.  I just need to set aside a couple of hours everyday to edit so I quit procrastinating.  Yah, I know.  Quit blogging and edit!

Monday, July 2, 2012

Genealogy Bucket List

1. I want to go to Cuba and Puerto Rico to see where my paternal grandparents came from, to dance to their music and eat their food.


2. I want to go to the Basque Country of Spain and France to walk the streets where my ancestors walked, to sit through a service in the churches they worshipped in, to taste the food they might have eaten, to hear the language they spoke, to see the ancient buildings they saw, and hopefully to meet some relatives.


3. I want to go to Norway to visit the country of the Vikings where my last name originated, and to see the stunning Northern Lights.


4. I want to go to the next Oneha ohana reunion in Hawai'i.


I'm sure there will be more items for my bucket list.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Books Read in June 2012


Dereske, Jo
- Savage Cut
Fiction.  1st in the Ruby Crane series.  A forgery expert moves back to her hometown in Michigan after her daughter’s auto accident.  She tries to pick up the pieces and heal her daughter while trying to solve a murder and start a new romance.

Dullemond, Tom
- The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy:  Volume One 
Non-fiction.  Covers Roots of Fantasy, Worldbuilding, Race Creation Plot Construction, Medieval Clothing and Food, Mythology, Religion, Martial Arts, Humor, Research and Marketing

George, Anne
- Murder on A Girl’s Night Out
Fiction.  First in the Southern Sisters mystery series, about two 60-something sisters living in Alabama, who end up involved in two local murders.

Morris, Tee
- The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy: Volume Two 
Non-fiction.  Covers Myth Busting, Writing Short Stories & Novellas, Worldbuilding, Writing YA, Mystery and Fantasy, Romance and Fantasy, Government, Magic Systems, Herbalism, Shared World Writing, Writing Arthurian Legends, Self-Editing