Sorry about last week. I completely forgot about my post since I was wandering around an abandoned fish processing plant. I would have preferred to be here with y’all instead.
I debated over whether to take part in NaNo this year. I participated in 2007 with no success, again in 2009 when I wrote Lifestyles of the Fey and Dangerous. I hit my 50k words and took a break from it, finishing it the following spring and getting it published this year.
Last year, I beat NaNo by a whole month, writing my erotica, Immortal Danger, in October. That was 84k words in 28 days. This book is the one that landed my agent. I did miss NaNo though, because I liked logging in and seeing how my friends were doing.
The purpose of NaNo is to put the words down. You can do this at any point in the year (as I did), but knowing other people watch your word counts and are there to cheer you on helps when you’re stuck. Does it matter if you paint yourself into a corner? Not really since it’s a rough draft. Does it matter if you forgot what color eyes your hero has? Nah. You can fix that. Just get those words down, my friends. Pound away at the keyboard with all the determination in your soul and write, write, write!
And now for the NaNo theme song. I don’t know if it’s the actual theme song for the contest, but it should be. It’s my theme song at least and when I hear it, I keep thinking “Just write 2k a day, just 2k…and you can do it”. If you can write more…go for it! I’ll be right there alongside you, doing my speed-typing thing and making a mess of my manuscript until I decide it sucks and rewrite it. But I’ll be there!
Angela Schroeder
Patricia Kiyono
Elaine Cantrell
Jeff Salter
Joselyn
Tonette Joyce
Four Foxes, One Hound 
Great song choice!! It’s gonna be a wild month but I love it. And logging in to see friends’ progress is always fun.
Speaking of eye color of the hero. In SURFER BRIDE, I had the hero’s eyes brown in the beginning and then typed green in a way later chapter. At 3 am, the morning of the day after I turned in my final edits (where NOT ONE OF US caught it), I woke up with a “OH NO” moment, got up and did a control-find and there it was. I fixed it and emailed my editor. I said, “I fixed it and here it is.” In the morning – at a decent hour- she emailed me back and said, “Glad you found it- now, can you attach the manuscript?” LOL! DUH!! That’s what I get for 3 am emailing, right?
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It’s gonna be a blast.
LOL, I’ve done that several times to my agent. Forgetting to attach an attachment, not the eye color. That’s one of my biggest fears, LOL
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Love the song! Loved the movie even more. And yes, I saw it in the theaters. (I was about 8) Our neighbor had a black Trans-Am and he’d gone to the movie with us as well. I recall him peeling out of the theater parking lot a la Burt Reynolds too. (He was a race car driver, too.) I also recall the police sirens and half expected Buford T. Justice to show up with his POS car and call my daddy and our neighbor some “rotten sumbitches.” I think I’m going to have to adopt “East Bound and Down” as my NaNo song too now.
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I don’t think I saw it at the theater, although I may have. My family was very big into massive group outings, but it’s one of those movies I have to watch every time it’s on. And dare I say my childhood of watching Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run insured that I feel a constant need to drive fast? *cough*
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I really enjoyed the first Smokey/Bandit movie.
Sorry I didn’t get to your blog earlier today. The day just got away from me. I’m killing myself trying to get a ms. ready for a query.
It sounds like your approach to NaNo is fairly even-keeled. I know folks who are fanatics.
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I find it best not to go crazy over most things. Instead, I choose to drive myself insane over book titles and character names, which I understand shouldn’t be so worrisome.
Good luck with the query! I’m rooting for you 🙂
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