I've Won a...I Guess Just a Little Self-Respect

After a full month of suffering, of creative bliss, of carpal tunnel, of overheating laptops, of lack of sleep, and of finding my voice through written expression, I have finally finished my NaNoWriMo novel with 7 hours and 25 minutes to spare. Even though all of you in cyberspace may not be able to see it, I am doing the legendary dance of joy that Balki on Perfect Strangers brought all the way to America from Mepos.

I can't express to you how proud of myself I am. I haven't done anything this constructive since I graduated college. Although my novel is by no means perfect, it is a very solid first draft that if I'm patient I can mold and weave into a little gem. I can't believe how much the story has developed and changed over the last month. It started off being this silly farce about space-traveling yetis, but it has developed into so much more than that. It has changed into a study of human nature and gives a realistic vignette into how the human race might react if it suddenly had to share the world with a species very different from their own.

It's definitely a story that I must work with and polish, but for right now I think I've worked hard enough and it's time to go back to my life of play.

Christmas, Christmas Time is Near!

I am so over-joyed with Christmas spirit, and Thanksgiving hasn't even passed yet. Every year this feeling of unreasonable gaiety worsens, and I can not seem to figure out why. It's not like I do anything spectacular for the holidays, but as soon as those decorations go up and those sledge bells start to jiggle, I start to feel like a kid again and my wallet opens up wider than it would under any normal circumstance. However, it is refreshing to be generous for a change instead of hoarding every penny, but sometimes I really don't know if I'm really being generous at all. Maybe, I'm just giving myself an excuse to go shopping, get distracted, and buy gifts for myself.

The Xmas spirit hit me hard a week ago when I was picking up random groceries at Walmart. There to distract me with all of their exuberant glory, was the cutest Christmas card set that I've ever seen so of course I had to get them. Then, I made the mistake of going into the Christmas section and fell in love with a wrapping paper set. How anyone falls in love with wrapping paper is beyond me, but somehow my heart managed to figure it out. So here I was, a week before Thanksgiving with Christmas cards and wrapping paper but no gifts. Well that all changed today. I decided to browse online for some items and like magic I found a plethora of gifts that would be perfect for my friends and family. It's a shame but on one of the sites, I bought two presents for other people and three presents for myself. It's terrible I know, but at least these people can be assured that the things I bought them were nice enough that I had to have one for myself. Then I found the perfect gift for my brother on eBay. I put in my bid in today and I pray that no one else makes a bid because his gift is coming all the way from Australia and the shipping costs more than the actual item, but I think it's worth it. It's a unique item, and I don't think he would be able to get it in the States. The only person that I still have to buy for now is my mother, and I have only a vague idea of what to get her. I'm thinking a book or something to do with Egyptology because she loves that stuff, but I'm still undecided. Hopefully, I can get my mother a great present and decorate my home to the extreme without credit card statement screaming bloody murder at me in January.

Chapter Two

Well the plot is thickening in my novel writing world. I'm still very far behind on my word count goals, but I'm starting to get better at writing quickly and not worrying about editing. I have a promising 11,000 words now and a glorious 39,000 words to go, and I think there is a chance that I may actually pull it off if I stop analyzing every scenario that I create and just let them run free on the page. Though this may sound like a easy thing to do, I find it next to impossible, because I like every detail to shine like a new penny.

I finished shining Chapter Two--True Colors a few days ago. It's posted on my author's profile if you want to check it out. In this chapter, I introduce my space traveling yetis and the two humans that they've taken as prisoners. I don't like to pick favorites, but I think Ambassador Octapon is going to be my favorite character. He is my top-ranked, charming yeti/cyrun who seems to get into trouble where ever he goes. Running a close second is the captured archaeologist Fieldy who is being carried against his will back to the yeti's underground city. These characters still surprise me everyday with the things that they do and their mannerisms. Sometimes, I even think these characters have more control over me than I do over them, and we'll see where they take me soon enough. Anyway, it's back to my story for the time being, because I refuse to be defeated by this task that I've set in front of me.

Chapter One

It's day four of National Novel Writing Month and my progress is slow but steady. The first few days were really tough for me because I couldn't focus, and I kept on thinking that my story wasn't good enough. I've conquered those demons today as I was putting the final touches on my first chapter. So far there is no breath taking imagery or subtle nuanced symbolism, but I think it's amusing and not a bad attempt for my first fantasy/humor/sci-fi romance novel. If you would like to explore my first chapter please click here. Also please feel free to tell me want you really think. I'm a tough girl. I can take it.

Anyway, I've wasted enough time as it is. I still have 46,000 words left to write. Wish me luck!