2011 no more.

So the year is running out fast and in danger of sounding too much like a bad Christmas song, what have you done?
2011 was year I:
- Got married twice to the most wonderful man I could have ever found (yes, yes I know it is cheesy but it has to be included)
- Started on a long and dangerous route to becoming a vegetarian that has meant many failed meals, but also some new classics.
- Got my Masters degree (yay) and went directly to being unemployed (boo)
- Finished NaNoWriMo!
- Gave up on my first book ever because I am unsure if even rewrites can save it.

But most of all this was the year where I found some sort of standing in the world. Now that the year is almost over I can view my facebook friendlist with a good conscious. I might have lost some people along the way to become who I am today, but I am also embarking on wonderful relationships with new people in a creative space where I feel like an equal. I know I can contribute with vital skills in the writing community and that they give me so much in return. Without them there would probably never had been a Maz or a green cow, no space travelling aliens would have been conceived on my behalf or a story of parallel universes colliding.
2012 is waiting for me with more weightloss, more work, more fun and more love in my life than ever before and that is not a bad thing right?

NaNoDoNo!

I did it.
I am a winner.
50433 words are now floating around on my computer. (plus various other places, because lets face it, you don't want to lose that precious work do you?)
Did I finish my book? No not even close. But this has pushed me in the right direction. I now know that it is possible to write a small novel in a month and this is a very encouraging thought. Maybe this will never become my best work, but at least it is written. I can keep working on it and yes, this is with the acceptance that it might still be shit after revising it over and over.
http://www.salon.com/2010/11/02/nanowrimo/singleton/#comments Is an old article (2010) which pretty much sums up what most people that I have shared my NaNo project with and who I do not count as close personal friends have pretty much been saying for the last month. Her manner might be brute, but in essence she has a point, although a very snotty one. Few of the NaNoWriMers will ever finish, let alone ever publish their stuff. It is kind of a chicken and egg discussion. Is NaNo good for starting these creative processes that will in time make you a great writer? Probably. Will we be using these methods of stress for the rest of the year, probably not. Doesn't mean that all 300 k people do not have a valid reason to try this out. Only by trying will we learn as they say.
Here is a last few wise words from my side on this project and then I will stay silent on the subject until I start spamming you with quotes etc from my book. If you are considering getting on the bandwagon for next year, here are some tips:
- You are the one writing it! It will happen in your own time, so do yourself a favour; use the community for encourgement, inspiration etc. but don't ever measure yourself up against others. People have different ways of working, NaNo is not a method that works for everyone. So stop beating yourself up when half of your writing buddies are done mid-november.
- Turn off facebook, twitter, google + and all those things while you write. Don't offer yourself the chance of distraction.
- Remember that it is only 1000-3000 words a day. There is a life outside of NaNo and it is quite possible to maintain this life while writing your grand masterpiece. Most authors can manage tours and writing at the same time, so don't let your child/pet/alien friend suffer during november. It is a sad month for them too, they don't have NaNo to brighten their day, they have you.
- Consider at the latest in october what kind of author you are. If you are the kind who needs character lists, maps, a plot structure and so on before you can start writing, then make sure you have it before november starts. There is no point in wasting the first couple of actual writing days by writing lists.

I could probably say a lot more, but I will forever rest my peace. See you next year fellow WriMos!

NaNoWriMo all year round?

So we reached the half way point in days... I am not half way through my novel. Although I can now boost of 22000 written words my novel in itself is probably more like 1/3 through the story-line that I had planned. So far I am still not decided on how the complete novel will look. Will I have to split it into 2 books because there are many more ideas for characters that I want to use? Or do I just stick with one very long novel? I guess time will tell when I get to the other end. Right now with some growing of a spine I will be ready for putting this into the editors by late december/early january which is more than acceptable. The big question on my mind now is what happens after NaNo. Should I make it a bi-monthly thing where I just sit down and force myself to write those pesky 2000 words that authors are supposed to be able to produce a day to call themselves succesfull? Maybe it would be less intense if I lowered the word count pr day and instead tried to create something that was actually worth reading. All these questions can only be answered with; time will tell.

Oh btw. Played and finished Space Marines, meh...

20k!

Yep that's right. The 20 k mark is reached and I am finally down to being done on the 4th of december with my current writing speed opposed to 14th of january when I started this week.
Watching the cat sleeping next to me at the moment fills me with much needed calm and happiness. It is my birthday in 2 weeks and everyone is asking what I am going to arrange, I have no clue what to answer them as I am not sure I want to celebrate anything. It is just another candle in the cake after all.

11-11-11

And so what? Deeply fascinated by all the people getting married today because they felt it would bring them luck from the universe and make them special. I will let in on a little secret; if you get married on a day like today you are not special because you are sharing it with a million gizilion others. Your date of marriage should be important because it is the day you are signing yourself over to that one special person, not just because the numbers were right. Numbers will not make your marriage a happy one nor will it keep you out of discussing the dishes or the toiletseat. Congratulations on making this decision and engaging in what will perhaps be one of the most important days of your life, lets leave it at that.

NaNo score says 12,5k, so working my way upwards and beyond. I had to write a sex scene today that I had not quite expected to write until this morning were it would not leave my mind. I am no good at sex scenes, not because I am prude or anything like that, but because I find myself giggling because describing his throbbing member seems so fanfic. To me my characters should enjoy the same freedom of choice as I have, so they chose to not show the scene in details but just end the paragraph at kissing and start the next one after insemination had taken place. The aliens will definately have a problem with this free will stuff that the humans have. Maybe this is why the mayor is brain-washed? I found out that the reason why Melissa Farley was so angry and evil has something to do with Aelfrec who seems to have started all the mess by leaving her for Cat and now he is hiding out as a cow (yeah he can't turn back or he doesn't want to turn back?)

42

Is the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything.
Greetings Ma Chara (my friend).
Rereading Hitchhickers Guide to attempt to bring some space into my story but sadly my characters have decided otherwise. Maz wants to get drunk, Farley wants to be important and Catherine... Well I don't know what Miss Firefly (Would she technically still be mrs even if her husband is a cow?) wants but I bet you anything that it doesn't involve torture, humiliation or questioning in front of hundreds of people on a cold april morning.
Found out that although I love Gaelic and wish that I remembered it better from my childhood days it comes slowly to me these days and remembering all the expressions is a pain in the butt when you have a druid who insists on using the language all the time. He wasn't planned, the group was not planned, the scene was not planned but I needed Maz to know for sure that Cat was the one he was searching for all along and even now that sounds cheesy in my head.
On a less creative note I am reading about buisness management and optimizing your workforce in a positive way were they can feel they are contributing to the changes that are happening. It is a bit dull so I have to keep telling myself that maybe some day when I have my own firm and need to use my HR back-ground it will come in handy knowing what questions to ask. Anyway, time to finish up the last 60 pages of school work so I can go make these two things:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/toffeeapplecrumble_87427


http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/appleandtoffeemuffin_86119

AND do some swaps I am behind on AND do some wordsprints on NaNo. Will there be enough hours in the day? Only time will tell

Post-Firefly

Very short blog as I am very very tired after 48 hours of constantly being pushed and pulled around by other people. It was fun, not amazing, but fun. Food was nice, most of the people were nice, I got to go to a fancy dress party and wear a mask while sipping champagne and eating Hours Douvers which turned out to be poisoned if you got the wrong ones. (of course only in the game silly nilly, although Salmon snack kills four LARPers would probably make headlines)
Came home to an email from one of the most inspirational people I know; Mrs Amanda Palmer. I linky linked her new song beneath:

http://music.amandapalmer.net/track/ukulele-anthem
<3 Love Amanda Palmer and after this I must learn to play the Ukulele!
And here is her blog about said song:
http://blog.amandapalmer.net/post/12015666698/presenting-ukulele-anthem-a-prescription-for-living

PS: This week we tried something new with ze foodbudget and I am proud to say that we are 10 Euroes under budget!