IWSG December 2021 with news on NaNoWriMo, What's Next, and Advent

Before I begin, please note this is a multi-subject post. 

Please feel free to read what you want and skip other parts.

Insecure Writer's Support Group

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is an excellent place to find encouragement for your writing practice, writing profession, and writing moments. Many thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for founding the group with this hop! 

Many thanks also to the co-hosts this month: 

 PJ Colando, Diane Burton, Louise – Fundy Blue, Natalie Aguirre, and Jacqui Murray!

OPTIONAL QUESTION: In your writing, what stresses you the most? What delights you?

This is one of the questions that I almost want to skip because I don't have a definitive single answer. The reality is, I am stressed and delighted by many parts of the writing process, depending on the project. I am delighted by some first draft writing and yet completely stressed by other bits of first draft writing. The same goes for revision, editing, and the last bits before publication.

Generally, though the most delightful and stressful time for me is the day my books go live and published. I'm excited, but also terrified there are terrible typos in there. In fact, there are always a few terribly tenacious typos that make it through to the final publication - even in all the traditionally published books out there. I just don't want them in my books. :)

Stepping Down as the Instagram Volunteer Admin

 This was tough for me. I enjoy Instagram and I appreciate all the encouragement and wonderfulness that is IWSG. However, my health has been an issue for a while now. Between three part-time jobs (I count writing as one of them), volunteering nearly eight hours a week, and my health stuff, something had to give. So, I stepped down and thankfully, Juneta Key stepped up. 

Thank you, Juneta!

And, a big thank you to the entire IWSG Volunteer Admin Team! 

Despite Recovery, I Won NaNo and it surprised me

If you follow me on IG or Facebook, feel free to skip. This is essentially what I shared there.

I wrote more than 50,000 words in 29 days. I honestly wasn't sure I could, given the sinus surgery I had in late October and the sinus headaches I've had since, as well as a whopping bit of Menieres Disease vertigo on Sunday (I had too much salt and caffeine on Saturday). But I did it. And this is how I did it. +I wrote every day for one to two minutes somehow, somewhere.

+I had some Nano Buddies.

+I went to a NaNo Sprint via Youtube, but left when I felt tired.

+I went to a live IG writing sprint with Marissa Meyer, but left when I felt tired. (Marissa Meyer is a local author in my area, and she is the author of the Lunar Chronicles, and many other novels. I don't "know" her but I follow her on IG.)

+If I could, I wrote between 2-5 sessions a day. Again, 1-20 minutes per session, depending on the day and session. +I wrote in my journal and counted that. +I wrote on my laptop and counted it. +I used dictation/talk to text and counted it. +I counted my podcast for my church. +I counted my bits on IG, Twitter, and Facebook toward my word count for the month.

+I rewarded myself for every word written. I congratulated myself. Told myself I was awesome for attempting. (I know this may sound silly, but it made me happy.)

Is it all on the novellas I had hoped originally to write? Nope. Do I feel bad about straying from my original purpose? Nope. Once I realized how hard surgery recovery would be, I threw out that plan and just counted any writing. Somehow, I wrote more than I have at this point in any National Novel Writing Month. Usually, the last day is a scramble, but not this year. I finished early. I am glad I wrote. And it is messy. And I am happy with all of it.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR ME:

I am continuing to write. The Rayatana 3 book is underway. I am also working on a few other projects and rediscovering my "delight" in writing. 

I am continuing my part-time jobs but with reduced hours.

I am mainly focused on healing up and getting stronger. 

A Note on Volunteering and Why it Matters to Me

I was a Girl Scout who took my oath pretty seriously as a kid and volunteering is something I have often seen as a "duty" of honor and sacrifice.  As a Christian, I have felt incredibly blessed by the love of Jesus in my life, and I have wanted to share that love with others.

Because of this background, I have been volunteering a minimum of twenty hours a year to a maximum of twenty hours a week since I was in early elementary school in a variety of ways throughout the years.

I think volunteers make the world a better place to live in for everyone, and I used to feel I needed to volunteer at church, in my community, and in the world.

My church does go out and do acts of service in the community and in the world - but I am trying to limit myself even with that. The week before my surgery I made chili for a Habitat Build group and that was fun to create, but I was glad someone else collected it and served it because I knew that would tire me out. I have to measure out my energy while I'm healing.

I need to get stronger, which means I need to focus on self-care, which is something I struggle with. I recently discovered The Spoon Theory, which is helping me understand how many spoons I might have to work with each day. 

Slowing Down for Strength

So, I guess that's all to say, I'm slowing down, doing a lot of prayer and soul-searching, and figuring out how to love myself like Christ loves me, to heal and to rest in God's love, and not see it as necessary to go out and immediately do something with that love for others. I have to let it build up a bit, help me gain muscle mass in my body, mind, and soul. I need to rejoice in the love of God in the moment and live with strength, not busy-ness. 

And, so that brings me to Advent, of which today is the first day.

ADVENT

The theme of the first week of Advent is Hope.

Scriptures for Day 1:

A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” – Isaiah 40:3-5

And

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. - John 1:1-5

Prayer: 

Lord, Thank you for this day. Thank you for your light which shines in the darkness. Thank you for preparing a way for us to see your glory in Christ. We hope and pray for your glory to be revealed and for all people to know you and rejoice in your steadfast love. We place our hope and trust in you. Amen.

I have an advent side project going on, so I will be working on these throughout the month of December this year, in the hopes it will be ready for December 2022.

Hope all is well with you!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Celebrations and Do You Have Goals?

Many thanks to Viklit and her team for hosting Celebrate the Small Things, and Many Thanks to Misha and Beth for hosting Do You Have Goals?

I'm going to combine posts, so hopefully it all makes sense, and is short enough to read. :)


1. Progress on Champion's Destiny sputtered and nearly died, and then I started up again - new plan, refreshed perspective.

2. I wrote a grouping of poetry/fiction/vignettes and submitted them at the beginning of the month, so my "short works" Write 1 Sub 1 goal is on track. Plus, a previous submission, "Cloud Download," was published at Espresso Stories.

3. I'm working on several "short" projects like: my micro-fiction series, Ashes Burn, a free, ongoing series; plus some re-pubs of individual short stories like "Seedling," "The Bridge Snap," and "The Horse in the Well" - which are all kindle select publications which I plan to use for my Friday Freebies. (Hint: wait for them to come up free on Fridays in the months to come.)

4. I had a sale on my books this month - trying to earn some coffee money, at least. Marketing seems to be a skill that has escaped me entirely, but I'm still persevering.

5. I'm signed up for NaNoWriMo. At first, I planned on focusing on Captain Wrath (finally), but now it looks like I'll be working on dueling plots: Champion's Destiny in the mornings, and Captain Wrath in the afternoons/evenings. I will get them finished, by hook or by crook. (does anyone else actually say that?)

6. The red carpet premiere of Ghost Noir - a little indie film that both my daughters acted in this last summer and fall. (2 pics at the end of post - added late)



What are you celebrating? And, do you have goals that you're working towards this year?


#FridayFreebie Dragonfold and Other Adventures - only free on Friday

LAST DAY OF NaNoWriMo - The End

Here I sit, at the brink of finishing NaNoWriMo 2011. As I write this post, my word count rests fitfully at 49,881 words.

Why did I stop there?

Because my husband asked me an everyday question, and I took that as a wonderful excuse to step back from the PC for 20 minutes.

Because the last 1,200 words I wrote totally sucked.

Because even though I've stuffed my inner editor away for 29 days, she's back and she's monstrously huge.

Why?

Because I always have this amazing, beautiful, glorous finale scene in my head when I begin my stories, and when I get to the end, it fizzles. The fireworks backfire, and the smoke rises around the flames on the ground that slowly die into smoking embers. And I'm left choking in the cloudy haze.




So, I have 119 words to cross the finish line, and I want those last steps to rise from the embers and fly like a phoenix into a golden horizon of storytelling.

So, now that I've taken a break, worked on a few old metaphors about writing, and given my husband a big squeezy hug as he goes out the door for work, I can get back to writing the finish, the finale, the end . . .

Thanks for stopping by and listening to me rant for a moment. It actually cheered me up . . . it's odd how that works.

I hope that all of you NaNoWriMo Champions out there have an awesome last day.

May your endings be golden!

NaNoWriMo 1

Day 1 of NaNoWriMo . . . . 1,803 words so far, and may have a chance to write more later today!!! Would love to get ahead.

Anyone else participating in NaNoWriMo?

365 Days of Blessings, Day 184

1. Finished NaNoWRiMo despite all odds.

2. Husband is taking care of me, sweet guy.

3. My mom made me soup.

4. My kids and I had a writing/reading/poetry/language arts day today.

5. Soft kleenex.

6. Headache relief.

7. The sound of water pouring into a glass.

8. Orange juice.

9. Cranberry juice.

10. God loves me.

Scripture Blessings:
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

365 Days of Blessings, Day 176

1. Shoulder rolls that loosen up the shoulder and neck muscles.

2. My oldest daughter Anna is still sick, but feeling better today.

3. My youngest daughter enjoyed auditioning for a part in the Christmas program and is excited.

4. Seeing my youngest snuggle on the couch with my oldest, trying to help her big sister feel better.

5. My oldest daughter did a science experiment involving crayons, candles, and an old camping fry pan. Fun stuff. I think we have a mixture cooling outside on top of the dog house.

6. My youngest, not able to find her book and wanting to read, picked up her sister's newest book and is avidly reading it.

7. The challenge of the NaNoWriMo. Whew! Hard work, but good for the writing soul.

8. My characters still aren't to the island yet, but I just switched up a few plot points. They met the griffins and their riders, and had a battle at sea. Tomorrow, they land on the island whether they like it or not . . . I just have to picture the place better in my head before tomorrow morning.

9. Snow outside before Thanksgiving! Amazing, cool powdery stuff with bare footprints in it from my youngest . . . we only have a small smattering here.

10. My Dad took my youngest to church! Praise God! My husband was in the sound booth from 7:30 a.m. until he left early to try and go to a cancelled softball game. My older daughter and I stayed home with her flu bug, and my mom stayed home with back spasms. So where is the blessing? Wait for it, wait for it . . . when I was growing up, my dad only set foot in churches with great reluctance. He agreed, with some groaning, to go with my mom after he retired from working the night shift. I think, although I'm not certain, this is the first time my Dad has willingly, happily gone to church without my mom. Yes, I asked him to take Trisha to church . . . but he was happy about going! Hallelujah!

11. God grows the seeds of faith.

Scripture Blessings: "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor." 1 Corinthians 3:6-8

365 Days of Blessings, Day 174

Giving thanks for these amazing blessings:

1. Getting published! Whether on-line at a web-zine or in actual print, getting published is exciting.

2. Every Day Poets will be publishing four of my poems in the next five months!!! So cool!

3. Every Day Poets is putting out a print anthology of poetry, and one of my earlier poems will be published in that!

4. I just wrote a sea serpent scene for The Crystal Sword! I may be behind on my word count, but I am loving my story right now!!!

5. There is nothing like battling a sea serpent with fangs and acid venom to get me going in the morning. It's all in my imagination, but hey, it's probably more fun that way.

6. I know I've mentioned it before, but I'll mention this one again: the pep talk e-mails from NaNoWriMo have kept me writing on through the doldrums and back into the action of my novel. Thank you NaNoWriMo!

7. I like sword fight scenes and I am thankful for my favorites from the movies like this one from The Princess Bride: Princess Bride Sword Fight - who couldn't love that line "There's something I have to tell you, I'm not left-handed either." You can actually tell that although they are stage-fighting, they've had training from a fencing master. It's in the stance, and the way they grip their weapons. It's all in the fingers and the wrist.

8. Hmm, can I add fencing to our homeschool lessons today? I have my old gear, and it could be fun.

9. Looking forward to the sea serpent scene in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Anticipation + imagination = sweet daydreams. Oops, I have to get back to life soon.

10. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath.

Scripture Blessings:
"Then he (Jesus) said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." Mark 2:27

365 Days of Blessings, Day 167

Blessings and Thanksgiving Abound! Here are just a few more of my blessings that I'm giving thanks for today:

1. All the awesome Thanksgiving sharing on-line on facebook, and blogs.

2. Pomegranate

3. Massage therapists.

4. Massages.

5. Hot rocks.

6. Having relaxed neck and shoulder muscles - I didn't even know how tense I was.

7. Petting Tucker for three minutes straight - Tucker is the "hardest" case cat at the Cat Rescue we volunteer for, and he used to turn and try to bite at the lightest touch. Seeing him become loveable is sweet.

8. Being covered in happy cat fur.

9. The helpful pep talks from NaNoWriMo showing up in my inbox. With my word count as low as it currently is, I need all the pep talking I can get.

10. God is just.

Scripture Blessings:"The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love." Psalm 33:5

365 Days of Blessings, Days 160 and 161

Blessings and Thanksgiving:

1. Listening to “Everybody Dance Now” at a Dance-a –thon hosted by Metropolitan Ballet. The rhythm rumbles through my muscles and pours movement through me.

2. I meant to sit and write, but hey, Zumba class was too fun to pass up.

3. I wrote 1500 words in an hour, and then more later.

4. Then, I meant to sit and write some more, but Bollywood class was too fun to pass up.

5. My muscles received a wake up after a long coma.

6. Sweat – yes, I’m thankful for sweat. It’s way better than panting like a dog.

7. A Free Writer’s Workshop hosted by my local library. My local library is awesome!!!

8. A Writer’s Coach: The Complete Guide to Writing Strategies That Work by Jack Hart.

9. Polishing up a piece of writing in the workshop.

10. Meeting writers. Each of us is unique, and we love storytelling and words.

11. Focusing on the craft of writing for three hours.

12. Regaining momentum for my NaNoWriMo.

13. Knowing my Theme for The Crystal Sword: Only faith defeats darkness.

14. Getting my character back into the plot, even if takes tripping her up, and sending her sliding on her backside into the right place.

15. My kids have been dancing all day.

16. My house is still a mess, but writing and dancing make us happy.

17. Free Movie Night last night at my church brought 225 people in the sanctuary on a Friday night – some family faces, some friends, some new faces.

18. Toy Story 3 warms the heart, jiggles the belly with laughter, and tears up the eyes.

19. My husband brought my tap shoes to the studio – I’m tap dancing in less than 30 minutes!

20. A Dance-A-Thon supporting Celebrate His Birth, a nativity ballet.

21. God gives us life that is truly life, joy that is truly joy, and rest that is truly rest for the soul. I don’t always think rest looks like sleeping on a white cloud . . . sometimes it looks like a dance, changing up the rhythm of a weekly grind.

Scripture Blessings:
"Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."
1 Timothy 6:18-19

365 Days of Blessings, Day 159

Stuff I'm thankful for, and count as good, good blessings today:

1. Relief at finally fulfilling my word count for the day for NaNoWriMo. I struggled today, but I still achieved my goal.

2. New widget on the right, the NaNoWriMo Progress bar.

3. I had a very simple plot point to fulfill today, and yet my characters kept making it more complicated. Yet, I'm thankful. I know now what my MC is like under major stress, running through dark underground passageways, holding a dying child in her arms, meeting up with another group of refugees and being reunited with her parents . . . in less than 2,000 words. Wow. I even answered a question about my character that I didn't even know I had . . .

4. Writing daily, and writing more than I usually do daily is good for me.

5. My kids are signed up for the Kids NaNoWriMo, and they are fulfilling their daily word goals with joy and enthusiasm.

6. My mom is writing daily now too, although she's not officially doing NaNoWriMo because she would rather have the option that the kids have, and choose her own word count maximum.

7. Time to talk with dear friends.

8. A science experiment involving soda and balloons - fun stuff.

9. Getting into the swing of a new math curriculum.

10. Tomorrow is Friday. Usually that's not a big deal for me, but this week I am so thankful for the coming weekend.

11. God shields us and protects us.

Scripture Blessings: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people."
Ephesians 6:10-18

365 Days of Blessings, Days 155 and 156

1. Funday Sunday at Peninsula Lutheran Church.

2. Parachute Games with awesome leaders, laughter, and shrieks of excitement.

3. All the amazing help that my husband gives me when "I" set up stuff for Funday Sunday.

4. Mega balloons for the balloon room.

5. Trick-or-treating in Gig Harbor . . . lots of cool costumes on kids and adults.

6. Trick-or-treating in a neighborhood . . . this is the way I remember it.

7. Walking the full walk to THE Candyman's house! Really, a retired candyman, handing out giant sticks of factory made candy to kids in his neighborhood.

8. Trick-or-treating with friends.

9. Pastor Paul's bonfire in his driveway on Halloween, and the Minute to Win It games he plays with his neighborhood kids.

10. Monty's pumpkins. I wish I had taken my camera. There were at least 25 major pieces of artwork there.

11. Knowing that even though I didn't get my Velmster costume all the way together this year, and spilled dish soap on the part I had before we went out, I am that much closer to having it all together for next year.

12. Hearing my kids get compliments on their costumes over and over again. Very cool.

13. My daughters' friend is participating in NaNoWriMo, so now they are too!

14. 1,382 words written today for NaNoWriMo. I feel like they are all junk at the moment, but I am glad that I was able to get some writing in today on the busiest day of the week when I've been going since 6a.m. at full speed for everything else. I wrote for 45 minutes in a dance studio lobby, and probably missed out on five cool coversations.

15. The nickel and chocolate replacement program for corn syrup candies that takes place in our household.

16. Watching my daughters separate out candy for Daddy, candy for Grandparents, candy for friends, and candy for the church movie night . . . knowing that they can't eat a single item they received from trick or treating last night. They can't have corn syrup, but they will happily exchange all the corn syrup candies for chocolate or nickels.

17. I have big enough shoulders to cry on tonight . . . even though I wish they didn't have to get used.

18. The snuffing noise our beagle makes whenver food is set on the table. I'm not sure which is funnier - when he decides that he is interested and sits down to beg, or when he snuffs three times, twitches his face and then walks away.

19. A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare.

20. The Lord gives us help when we need it, and gives us the strength to help when others need it.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4