30 Days of Literary Abandon

Today is November 4th! 
As of today, I should be up to 6,667 words of 50,000 words in a novel that I'm making up as I go along. I tend to get a little wacky during this month, attempting this feat of 50,000 words in a month. Want to see a typical day of me writing after a couple of hours? Here you go. 

Good thing that I'm in such a giving mood. I'll share a couple hundred words with you all today. 

And please note again that National Novel Writing Month is not about creating a QUALITY piece of fiction. It's about FINISHING a novel in as short a time as possible. *laughs* So no mocking my novel that I have no idea where it's going. 

January 1^st

                Lily moved to New York City at 25 years old. She had just graduated from Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan and had finally decided to take that leap and go to New York City to pursue her dreams of being a world class editor at a publishing company. She had always wanted to work for Simon and Schuster Publications and work her way up to being an Acquisitions Editor. So up she moved, bringing me, your humble narrator with her as her roommate. I had no job lined up …. But I was working on it. Lily was someone who always knew what she wanted to do. I envy her that. She didn’t have much of a plan when she moved out there. The only plan she had was New York City. I warned her about the idea. I remember how I always told her that we had to take it the slow, methodical way, but did she listen to me? Nope!

                Lily didn’t get a job immediately at Simon and Schuster of course. That’s now how life worked. But … she did land an amazing job as a Copy Editor working for a tiny publishing company just off of Seventh Avenue and she got an apartment just the right size for two in her budget. The apartment was in Brooklyn so she had to take the subway into work every day which she LOVED. It made her feel like she was a real part of the city. Lily was 25 (as I mentioned) with long brown hair that she frequently cut short in the summers to survive the heat. She had chocolate brown eyes and ivory-toned skin. Lily was also extremely well put together. She was a bit of a perfectionist with nothing out of place and perfectly pressed clothes. Personally, I just shoved my things anywhere I wanted and as long as it fit, I was happy. Sometimes I envy her organizational skills. Sometimes. Deep down, I also really love my organized chaos. What’s not to love about that, after all?

                On that cold, January 1st, Lily unpacked her bags and began to put away all of her clothes in the new, musty smelling closet. The whole apartment needed a whole can of Febreze and FAST. She color coordinated all of her outfits and matched each with a pair of heels. She only had four pairs of shoes and she hoped that she’d be able to buy more as she started getting her paychecks. She wanted to look professional and stylish.

                “I just want to look professional and stylish,” she repeated as she turned to look at her roommate a.k.a. ME, Clarabelle, but she didn’t call me that much. Just Clara. “Is that so much to ask?”

                “Nope,” I said simply. I let out a silent yawn. I had already unpacked.

                “I’m just saying that it’s not out of the ordinary for an editor to look like she knows what she’s doing,” Lily said. She grabbed her now empty suitcase and shoved it into the back of the closet. “I think what I really need is to just take a break and not think about this for a little while. What do you think, Clara?” she asked me. I had just shrugged in response. Half the time, Lily didn’t really want a response from me. “Well, I think I’m going to explore our apartment building and see if I can meet some our neighbors … maybe make a few friends. You think that anyone’s going to mind the crazy girl living in 7B, Clara?”

 There are a few lines from the novel I've cranked out in the last four days. Obviously, it needs work.
I love NaNoWriMo. In the 8 years I've done this, I've won twice and it's totally worth it because I have taken bits and pieces of each novel and have used paragraphs in other works. 
My dear friend Jeanne and I used to sit for hours at a coffee shop, talking, comparing notes and ideas, and just writing our novels together. It gives my writing a boost every year. 
And speaking of writing, how much reading have I done? Oh yeah. A LOT! Shall I share? Oh yes, I do think I'll share my favorite book of the week. 

This is a book about a young boy named Nobody "Bod" Owens. He is only a toddler when his entire family is murdered by the man Jack. The killer can't seem to track him down right away and gives Bod the chance to wander into a graveyard. By the time the man Jack tracks him down, the denizens of the graveyard have already made it their mission to protect him. Mr. and Mrs. Owens adopt the boy as their own, giving him his name "Nobody" because there's 'nobody like him'. And what kind of adventures can a boy being raised by ghosts get into? Many! 

The book was one that was different and inspiring and absolutely spellbinding. It's definitely one of those books that I couldn't believe that it had ended. 

So there you have what I did last week. OHHHH! And this year for Halloween, my friends, Faith, Alice, my sister Tatum, and I went to the Niles Scream Park and went into their attraction The Field of Screams. It was a lot of fun and really creepy. The only part I couldn't handle? The clowns. WHY do people think that clowns should be in a maze, huh? It's just sick. 
Even though I had to work on Halloween, I made the most of it. When I got home, I had a Halloween movie marathon that was on SyFy channel. Halloween: H20 is still my favorite movie in that whole series. It made for an excellent evening. 

Did anyone else have a fun Halloween weekend? Anything planned for this coming weekend? 

I already have my plans for November 22nd set in stone. And I'm psyched about it. For all the book lovers in the world ... you know what I'm excited about, I'm sure. Here's a hint ...

Oh yeah! The movie premiere of Catching Fire! I'm hoping that they improve Katniss' character in the movie. Because after book one, I wasn't a fan of her because she became so self-righteous and egotistical. Everything became about her. 
But what I'm EXTREMELY excited about is seeing Finnick in the film version. He's my favorite character in the trilogy and I would have loved to know his whole story. He's kind of like Cinna. Everyone loves him but no one KNOWS him. 
A couple of my besties, Ashleigh and Emily are going with me and they're going to dress up for it. I don't think I could afford to do that. But ... I will go as moral support. They have amazing costumes made up as members of the Capitol. 

Emily (on left), Ash (on right)

I can't wait to see what they pull off for the actual movie premiere. I'm sure they're adding to it. And no, Ash did NOT dye her hair purple. It's a wig. An awesome wig. 

Okay, now I'm going to make my big Book Recommendation in honor of NaNoWriMo. One of my TOP favorite authors wrote her novel during this wonderful month. 

Don't Let Me Go by J.H. Trumble is the story of Adam and Nate. Together, they're like a yin and yang, two halves of a whole, and perfect for each other. But when Adam agrees to take a dream job on Broadway, he and Nate have to make a long distance relationship work amidst all the odds against them. 
It was a book that made me laugh, cry, and cheer and it has easily made it into my Top Ten list. Heck, my Top FIVE, which is very difficult for a book to get into if I do say so myself. 
I love her books so much that they've been on my Recommendation list at work too. Right now, I have her book, Just Between Us featured at work too so seriously ... if you love my recommendations so far, readers ... go for J.H. Trumble's works at a full out run towards the bookstore. You will not be sorry. 

I wish you all the best of luck and I hope that you fellow writers are having the time of your life this NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)

Be Open, Be Loving, Be Yourself
Taryn