NaNoWriMo2020

Maya’s Pre-Story

Karen

“You want me to do what?” Maya pulled an earbud from her ear to blink at her father.

Thomas Cooper peeked over his reading glasses at Maya. “You heard me.”

“But dad,” she whined. “I’m meeting my friends! I can’t have Bryan tag along, I would die!”

“First of all, you won’t die,” he grinned. “Secondly, your mother has to go to this meeting and Carla has the afternoon off. You’re our only choice.” He paused. “You’re the best choice, obviously. Bryan loves hanging out with you.”

“And I love hanging out with him, but not in front of my friends. It’s not cool, dad.”

Thomas dropped his phone into his suit jacket and gave his daughter his full attention. “Look Gracie,” he stepped forward and gathered her into his arms, placing a kiss on her head. “I remember being fourteen. I know exactly what you’re feeling right now. Remember how I had to stay home with your aunt and uncle so grandma could go to work?”

“Yeah. But you didn’t have a choice. Grandpa had died.”

“True. But you don’t have a choice either. Someone has to watch Bryan, he’s too young to stay home by himself. You don’t want anything to happen to him, do you?”

Maya wrapped her arms around her father’s waist and gave him a loving squeeze. “No.”

“Just act like the cool sister. Show your friends how responsible you are. They’ll be impressed.”

“But he’s so annoying,” she murmured into his suit jacket.

He chuckled. ‘He’s also your little brother. Flesh and blood. We do whatever it takes for flesh and blood, right?”

She sighed and nodded against his chest. She loved the smell of her father. He smelled like sandalwood and gun powder. She lowered her hand and ran her palm over the butt of the revolver in his belt. It brought her a strange sense of comfort knowing her father carried a gun.

“Where’s mom?” Bryan entered the room.

“She at her meeting, bud.” Thomas slipped out of Maya’s embrace and ruffled his son’s hair.

“But … ” he looked from his father to his sister and then back. “Carla is out. Am I going to work with you dad?” He bounced on the ball of his feet, excitement shining in his green eyes.

“Sorry, no. You’re hanging out with Maya,” he said.

“But she’s a girl!” he whined, looking horrified.

“See!” Maya said. “He doesn’t want to hang out with me and my friends either!”

“Look you two,” said Thomas. “We don’t have a choice. Mom is out, Carla is out. There is no one else available. If it’s going to bother you so much, Maya, then stay home. You don’t have to hang out with your friends. Or better yet, invite them here.”

“No. We made plans for the park. We have to go to the park!”

“Oooh, is Damon going to be there?” Bryan sing-songed.

“Who’s Damon?” said Thomas.

“No one!” Maya yelled, reaching out to swat at Bryan but he was too quick for her and dodged her hand.

“Maya, you’re not meeting a boy, are you?”

“No dad. It’s just me and the girls. We need some fresh air. End of discussion.”

Thomas arched a warning brow at her.

Maya crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “Fine. He can come.”

“But I don’t want to hang out with her! Girls are gross!” Bryan whined.

“Enough!” Thomas yelled. Both the kids jumped at his sharp tone. “I need to go. Leave, stay, I don’t care, but you are not to leave Bryan alone, do you hear me, Maya? If I find out you did, you will be grounded.”

She sighed and nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Thomas softened his tone and took a calming breath. “I’ll make a reservation at our favorite Italian restaurant tonight and then we’ll go out for ice cream later, deal?”

Both kids nodded and he smiled. He bent down, pointed to his cheek and smiled when Maya gave him a quick peck. Bryan hugged him tightly around the waist and hung on as Thomas started to walk away. He laughed. “Get off me,  you monkey.”

Bryan laughed and let go, stumbling backward.

Maya rolled her eyes.

“See you later, kiddos.”

“Bye dad,” they both chorused.

Maya waited for him to leave then turned to Bryan. “You better not embarrass me.”

“You better not embarrass me! I know you’re going to the park to watch Damon’s soccer team practice. I’m not stupid.”

“Whatever brat. Go grab your jacket.”

“I don’t need a jacket.”

“It’s 50 degrees, Bryan. I don’t want to go to the park and then you start complaining about being cold. In fact, I want you to be invisible. Got it?”

“Fine. I’ll bring my invisible cloak then.”

Maya growled. “Get your jacket!” She lunged for him and he dodged her once again.

“Haha! You’ll never catch me, Maya. I’m much faster than you!”

She made to grab at him again but he once again ducked under her arm and raced toward his room.

Maya scowled after him and sent Ava a text. Dad is making me bring Bryan. She walked over to the mudroom and grabbed her green pea coat from the hook. Her phone dinged as she slipped it on.

No worries. I think your little brother is funny.

You wouldn’t think that if you had to live with him.

“Come on slow poke!” Bryan bumped into her as he rushed past.

“Oh my God! You are so annoying!” She yelled after him. She grabbed her cross over bag, made sure she had the door key, her lip gloss and some cinnamon gum before following her little brother out the door.

“Bryan, wait up!” Maya yelled while skipping down the stairs. He was already half a block ahead of her. She reached in her bag and retrieved her lip gloss. She tried to apply it while speed walking after Bryan. She felt nervous. Even though she told her father she was going to the park to hang out with her girlfriends, which was technically correct, she was largely going because Damon was going to be practicing with his soccer team. She had had a crush on Damon for nearly two years and this was the first year he finally noticed her. It was also the year she developed boobs and bought her first bra so maybe he had finally noticed she was becoming a woman.

She pressed her lips together and looked both ways while crossing the street. One block to the park. She could just make Bryan out in front of her. “Bryan!” She yelled.

He spun around and began to run backward while waving at her.

“Slow down!” She could have run after him, but she didn’t want to arrive at the park all hot and sweaty. Though maybe a little sweat would make her t-shirt cling to her newly developed breasts and that would prompt Damon to finally talk to her.

She thought back to the first time she had seen Damon. They had fifth grade class together. He sat to her right, catty-corner from her desk. She had the perfect spot to watch him without him noticing her stare. He was gorgeous. He had hair the color of swirling milk chocolate and light hazel eyes. He had a dimple in his left cheek whenever he smiled. He didn’t smile a lot, but when he did, it took her breath away. He was very quiet that year and stayed mostly to himself. She thought he was mysterious and broody. He never once looked back at her and he never seemed to sense she was drooling over him every day. The only time he actually looked directly at her was when Mr. Shaw asked her a question and she didn’t know the answer. The other kids snickered and whispered but he simply turned around, grinned and said, “don’t sweat it. We can’t always know the answer.” She had been lost from that point forward.

She always made a point of knowing where he was at all times that year. Then in six grade, she had casually asked her friends to find out from his friends what classes he was taking so she could try and get into the same class. She was never able to take a class at the same time as him but she had English right after he did so they nearly always passed each other in the hall that year. He never said a word to her but she always made a point of walking past him every day.

This year, she had been lucky and had Social Studies with him. She sat directly behind him so she could gaze lovingly at his thick, wavy hair. He seemed to be interested in Social Studies and knew a lot of the answers. Because she didn’t want to appear stupid in front of him, she studied extra hard and often competed with him to answer the teacher’s questions. One time, she was asked a tricky question about September 11th, 2001, and when the teacher told her she had the right answer, he turned around, grinned and said, “nice.” She thought she would melt into a puddle on the spot. She carried that memory with her for weeks.

Then, last week, she heard he had tried out and made the soccer team. She immediately signed up to be part of the pep club so she would have an excuse to attend all of his games and cheer him on. She talked her best friend Ava into joining her. Her phone buzzed in her purse. She reached in to read the text: Where are you? Practice is starting and we saved you a seat.

Nearly there, she typed back.

She put her phone back and gave her full attention to the path before her.

Bryan was no where to be seen.

Maya’s heart quivered. “Bryan!” she yelled. “Bryan!” she yelled louder. She broke into a jog straining her eyes in search of her little brother. “If you get lost, mom and dad will never forgive me,” she muttered under her breath.

Continue reading “Maya’s Pre-Story” →

Politics

Another Lockdown?

Karen

The thought of another lockdown makes me physically sick.

If you haven’t heard, France, Germany and I think Belgium is locking down for a 2nd time. It’s because the number of COVID cases has risen substantially. And hospital admissions have gone up.

Here’s the thing …

So what?

I don’t mean to sound callous, that is not my intention, but COVID is not going away. Neither is the common cold or the flu. It’s something we must live with and thankfully, thank GOD, contracting COVID doesn’t mean a death sentence for most people, in fact 99.9% of people fully recover.

But when the media reports on such-and-such number I think people automatically assume that means deaths. No. That means these people test positive for the illness, it doesn’t mean they have died or are going to die. The numbers are not great. But I’m betting the numbers for cancer, heart disease, pneumonia are not great, either. It’s another sickness that we must learn to adapt to and live with, unfortunately.

I get why these governments are locking down, especially if the hospitals are close to capacity, but instead of shutting everything down, how about we erect temporary units to house the overflow? Because hiding from this thing only prolongs the inevitable – IT’S. NOT. GOING. AWAY.

I even talked to a patient the other day who said he has had COVID twice. Apparently, there are six strands of COVID, so it’s possible to get this thing again. So logically, does it make sense to hide from six different monsters? Eventually, you’re going to be caught. And since it’s not as deadly, overall, as the “experts” first thought it was, how about we go about living our lives and allow this thing to burn off? Why must we disrupt people’s lives again?!

And I want to know who the hell is testing for COVID? It annoys me when I hear on the radio a call to action – “come to the fairgrounds and be tested for COVID – FOR FREE!” What? Why? Are you curious? If you feel sick, stay home. Why must anyone test for COVID? The only time I understand being tested for COVID is if you’re gearing up for surgery, or you’re sick and your doctor recommends it. Who are all of these people getting tested?? To me, it sounds like this: “Come on down and get tested for COVID! Our numbers are down and we must get them up so we can continue scaring the crap out of people and we need to keep this momentum going so that we can more easily control them.”

That’s what I hear whenever I hear announcements about “free” testing. I just don’t get people going to a drive-in testing spot to be tested. I’m not that curious, thanks.

I hope I’ve had it. I want to have had it so that I can go about my business. But unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.

It’s likely a matter of time before someone from our clinic gets COVID. Actually, that’s not true. We’ve already had a few people in my clinic come down with the virus. They stayed home and they are back to work.

As with any sickness, it sucks and no one wants to be down and out but being sick is part of being alive. I don’t understand our unwillingness to just treat COVID like we do the flu. Be careful. Wash your hands. Don’t touch your face when you’re out. Stay away from people who are hacking out a lung or sneezing. We should all be doing these things anyway. COVID is really not that special. Not now. And again, I’m grateful for that. But we need to stop thinking of COVID as a death sentence. It’s no more a death sentence than coming down with the flu. Here is what to look out for:

Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:
Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea
Look for emergency warning signs for COVID-19. If someone is showing any of these signs, seek emergency medical care immediately:
Trouble breathing
Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
New confusion
Inability to wake or stay awake
Bluish lips or face

Sound familiar?? That could literally apply to any other disease out there. Now, if it was common to bleed from your eyeballs or you were expected to die within 24 hours of contracting it, we would be having a vastly different conversation, but those are not the symptoms. We are destroying ourselves for THIS??

France has gotten so strict with this new lockdown that you must present a certificate of permission to leave your house.

Dude, what the hell?! Who wants to live like that?? Well actually, most of the French people don’t want to live like that, as a matter of fact. And they were so anxious to leave the city after the announcement that traffic was blocked and backed up for 400 miles. People were rushing around getting their haircut because hair dressers, once again, will be not allowed to operate. And the stores were ransacked because people once again went to the stores in a panic to buy toilet paper. Which sounds stupid on the surface but dude, if you have to have a certificate to present to the police, if stopped and questioned and you want to avoid jail time or a fine, I would be buying toilet paper, too, because who knows when you’ll have permission from the almighty government to go out and get more.

This is madness. I don’t know what else to call it. We have crossed over the threshold and are now living in the Twilight Zone.

And you can bet your bottom dollar if Biden wins, America will be implementing the same Draconian measures as the French have done.

If that doesn’t concern you then IT SHOULD.

Roman Catholic Archbishop Carlo Vigano wrote an open letter to President Trump where he warned of an initiative of the World Economic Forum that has emerged in reaction to COVID-19 for a “Great Reset” of capitalism and a “health dictatorship” to combat the virus, warning the plan threatens the sovereignty of nations and religious freedom.

“Vigano wrote a letter to Trump in May warning that the COVID-19 pandemic was being used to user in a “world government” stripping people of their freedoms. We see heads of nations and religious leaders pandering to this suicide of Western culture and its Christian soul, while the fundamental rights of citizens and believers are denied in the name of a health emergency that is revealing itself more and more fully as instrumental to the establishment of inhuman, faceless tyranny, Vigano wrote.” Source

In other words, Vigano is saying that government leaders, from all over the globe, are using this pandemic as an excuse to get rid of capitalism and to implement a world government. And they are continuing to use fear to manipulate people into submission. It’s sick and wrong and it frustrates me that we the people have been reduced to a rat running a maze waiting for the next buzzer to train us how to react and where to go.

It must stop.

I don’t know the political climate enough to give advice to France but here in America, we have to start putting our foot down. Stand up and say NO MORE. Stop allowing these power-hungry politicians to dictate our lives. COVID is not that bad – again THANK GOD – but we know enough about it now to learn to live with it and combat it if it happens to come knocking on our door. Hiding from it and living in fear does nothing but destroy us. And for what?? The virus remains and will continue to remain for quite some time.<

It’s not going away any time soon.

I don’t say that to frighten anyone but we have to face facts.

And Dr. Fauci says the first vaccine will not kill the virus, it will only prevent symptoms. Again, let’s be realistic about this. The flu vaccine? It doesn’t kill the virus, it simply tricks your body into thinking it’s already had it so if you’re exposed, the symptoms you experience will be minimal.

The same thing with COVID.

And by the way, I know Dr. Fauci is simply doing his job but I’m OVER his continued fear mongering. Give it a rest, Fauci.

The Daily Mail reports: US reports single-day record of 88,500 coronavirus cases with states like Illinois nad North Dakota reporting all-time highs – but one NYC hospital says death rate for severely ill has fallen by 70%.

Again, GOOD NEWS. And that 88,500 record number of cases are CASES, NOT DEATHS. I really think that is what people are seeing when they see headlines like that. And the death rate going down makes sense to me because we know more about the disease and we have medications for treatment.

Let’s take a breath and stop allowing the media to scare the bejeebus out of us.

And if you want to wear a mask, wear a mask. I don’t care. However, again, what’s the objective here?

Control.

Continue reading “Another Lockdown?” →

TBR

November To Be Read Stack

Karen

Hello readers!

You can tell which book I’m currently reading by the Goodreads widget in the sidebar.

I’m all about Kindle e-books. I’m a hard core e-book reader. I haven’t read an actual book in quite a long time and I find that when I hold an actual book, it feels large and clunky. I much prefer my Kindle e-reader than an actual book. With that said, I get all of my books from Kindle Unlimited – I rarely, if ever, spend money on a book – it all goes into the $10 dollars a month I pay for Kindle Unlimited.

So, if you’re interested in reading lesser known authors and want to save a ton of money in books, join me!

I rarely read anything lower than a four-star review on Goodreads – I’ve come to trust the reviews of Goodreads readers. I stopped reading for a long time simply because every book I read was stupid, or disappointing and ultimately, a waste of time. (I feel the same with movies – haven’t watched movies, or TV, in about a year). I’ve had great luck sticking to this philosophy and most of the books I read are pretty good.

You can see my book ratings on my Goodreads account.

My goal for 2020 is to read 90 books – I’m currently at 80 – I bumped my goal down to 90 because I’m participating in NaNoWriMo (sort of) and I want to concentrate more on my writing than I do on reading this month.

Oh, and feel free to friend me on Goodreads, too. 🙂

Moving on, here is my November 2020 TBR stack:

  1. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
  2. The Price of Paradise by Susana López Rubio
  3. Sparrow by L.J. Shen
  4. I See You by Mary Burton
  5. Winter’s Mourn by Mary Stone
  6. Burden of Truth by Robin James
  7. Beautiful Demons by Sarra Cannon
Realistically, I’ll probably only get about four of this list read …
Happy Reading!
Preptober

Less Than One Day to Go!

Karen

Are you ready?

Of course you’re not ready – is anyone truly ready for this monster?

I have a few tricks up my sleeve. As mentioned, I will be working on my novel as well as blogging and/or writing short stories to keep the creative juices flowing. I know me, and I know I will get bored out of my skull if I’m ONLY working on one thing at a time. So. I have my handy-dandy index cards close by so when an idea strikes, I can add it to my stack. Ideas usually pop into my head when I’m reading something, or writing something unrelated. (This is how I prep for my podcasts, too. I’ll be watching a video, or reading an article and suddenly, I have an idea to talk about and I write it in my podcast journal. Yes, I have a podcast journal because I’m TRYING to be organized here).

Some last minute tips:

I’m using SmartEdit Writer software for my novel. It’s similar to Scrivener but it’s FREE. I’m loving it so far. Try it out!

Here’s someplace you can host writing sprints – for either you or for a group! Writing sprints really work well if you need a concentrated time period of just writing. I will be trying the Pomodoro Technique – I think that will work well for me. (Remember the short attention span when it comes to writing … but only when it comes to writing – not sure why that is).

Here are some writing prompts if you’re still looking for an idea …

Sixty things for your characters to do …

Character flaws … because let’s face it, our darling characters MUST be flawed. Who wants to read about someone perfect??

Don’t have a story theme? Here are some ideas …

These are just a few of my resources. I hope they’re helpful to you. Maybe they will spark an idea … or two. Don’t feel like you HAVE to work on just one project – maybe you have several ideas in your head – write them all. It’s perfectly fine to be a NaNoWriMo rebel. Don’t fight your writing process. Embrace it. The important thing is to continue writing, no matter what that looks like.

My plan? *sigh* Who knows. My next writing project is to post Maya’s PRE story. I think it will help me understand what makes her tick if I write THE moment that shaped her personality and her beliefs. I have quite a few scenes written out in my index outline and maybe I’ll get a few more if I write her PRE story.

I still want to blog and I know I simply won’t if I put all of my eggs into my novel basket. I think it’s important, for me at least, to step back and take a breath of fresh air from my novel and shift gears a bit on to something else. Kevin and I are still participating in our podcast every week and I’m working on recording my own podcast each week, not to mention, still trying to read books though now I don’t think I’m going to make my 100 book goal since I will be lucky to read one book a week, let alone two plus a week like I’ve been doing up to this point. (I changed my goal to 90 books – because I’m a wimp).

Oh well.

Anyway. Don’t get too stressed about NaNoWriMo. The project is what you make of it and for me, I simply want to develop a habit of writing on a daily basis again – however that looks for me.

Good luck, Blogfam!

NaNoWriMo2020

Interview with Maya

Karen

Hello Blogfam and welcome,

I’d like to introduce Maya Cooper. She’s the main character of my NaNoWriMo project and she has graciously consented to being interviewed for my blog. Please give her a warm welcome.

Me: Hello Maya. *warm smile* Thanks for hanging out with me today.

Maya: Hi. Thanks for having me. *shy smile*

Me: So. You have a starring role in my upcoming story, how do you feel about that?

Maya: Well, *soft laugh*, if you had asked me how I felt before I lived this story, I would have been tongue tied and terrified. But now.. *shrug – pause* let’s just say I’m no longer terrified.

Me: Oh wow. That’s quite a loaded statement. Can you elaborate?

Maya: And spoil the story? Of course not. *chuckle*

Me: Well now I’m intrigued. What happens that changes your perspective?

Maya: What happens? A lot. In fact, I have a bone to pick with you, did you have to put me through so much agony? It was touch and go there for a while. Actually, several times. *she frowns*

Me: *embarrassed chuckle* Well. I couldn’t make it too easy, it wouldn’t have been as interesting to read.

Maya: I suppose.

Me: Okay, well. I’m sorry?

Maya: *chuckles*

Me: By the way, I LOVE your hair. It’s gorgeous.

Maya: Thank you.

Me: I wish my hair was long and thick like yours. Did you French braid it yourself? And I love how you left the pigtails loose at the bottom. Very pretty.

Maya: Thanks. Yeah. I did it myself. When you have waist-length hair, you think of creative ways to get it out of your face. My friend, Ava, taught me how to French braid. In fact, most of the styles you see me wear in the story was created by my friend. The color is growing out though. I need to go back in and touch up my highlights. *self-consciously touches her hair*

Me: And what a gorgeous sweater dress. That dark green looks amazing on you, it really highlights your light green eyes.

Maya: *blushes* Well, thank you.

Me: Where did you get those boots?

Maya: *chuckles* Now you’re just buttering me up.

Me: Is it working? *grin*

Maya: *laughs* Maybe.

Me: So tell us a little something about you.

Maya: *sighs* I’m not sure where to start so I guess I’ll start at the beginning.

Me: Always a good place to start.

Maya: *narrows her eyes* Are you making fun of me?

Me: No, no! Sorry. I guess I’m feeling a little embarrassed because I didn’t realize I was so hard on you.

Maya: I nearly died a few times, Karen. Not to mention, what happened to …

Me: Go on.

Maya: *shakes head* No. You’re not going to trick me into telling your audience what happens. That would spoil everything and make my story less “interesting to read,” as you put it.

Me: *blush* Okay. Fair enough. Start at the beginning.

Maya: *takes a breath and looks off into the distance* I was a happy child, for the most part. Mom and dad are still married though after the adventure you put me and my friends through, I don’t know if they will stay married.

Me: Wow. Sounds serious.

Maya: It was. You pretty much destroyed my family … in some ways, but in other ways, you healed it.

Me. Sounds cryptic. Care to elaborate?

Maya: Not at this time, no.

Me: *chuckles* You sound like a politician.

Maya: *shrugs* I’ve learned a lot about being careful what I say and to whom. *smirks*

Me: Sounds like you don’t trust me.

Maya: I don’t. *pointed look*

Me: Ouch. And touché. *nods head* Please continue.

Maya: I had a normal childhood … at least as normal as you can get when your dad is a secret service officer hired to protect the president.

Me: *blinks* As in, the President of the United States?

Maya: That would be the one.

Me: How long did he do that?

Maya: Oh gosh, years. I don’t even know how long. He has protected five presidents over the past 25 years.

Me: Was he ever hurt on the job?

Maya: That’s classified information.

Me: Really?

Maya: *chuckles* No. But it sounds cool.

Me: *grins* What about your mom?

Maya: She’s great. My mom and I are close.

Me: Are you close to your dad?

Maya: *pauses and chews her lip* Not exactly. We sort of had a falling out.

Me: Care to elaborate?

Maya: I’d rather not.  You’ll have to read my story to find out what happened.

Me: Wow. That sounds mysterious. Not to mention, that puts pressure on me to deliver.

Maya: *shrugs* You’re the writer.

Me: Or at least, I like to pretend I’m a writer.

Maya: Are you looking for a compliment?

Me: *grins and shrugs off her comment* Any siblings?

Maya: *long pause* No.

Me: Did you have to think about that? Do you not want to claim a sibling? *laughs*

Maya: *quietly* It’s complicated.

Me: Oh, I’m sorry. Did … something happen to your siblings? Continue reading “Interview with Maya” →

Preptober

Outline Your Novel Using Index Cards

Karen

It’s a puzzle, LITERALLY.

Outlining your novel with index cards is a lot of work, but it also makes a lot of sense. When I watched Sarra’s video, a light bulb went off over my head. I went out and bought a pack of index cards with four colors.

Act I is pink, Act II, part one, is light blue, Act II, part two is yellow, and Act III is baby green.

And side note: breaking up Act II into two parts makes a lot of sense to me, as well. As I heard someone describe the middle of your novel once – it’s the creamy, gooey filling of a delicious éclair. That’s certainly a better description than what I typically ascribe to it. *ahem*

Are all of my index cards filled out? Nope. Not even close. But laying the cards out and then writing in my beginning scenes and my ending scenes, at least, my ending as it plays in my head now, that could, and likely will, change as I get closer to the end, and then sticking scenes that pop into my head into the puzzle as they come to me, REALLY helped me. It doesn’t give me an exact view of my story, but it definitely gives me enough to start writing. I will add and change scenes as I write because I don’t like to outline fully, I like my characters to “speak” to me as I write, but I think using this method of outlining will REALLY help me as I go through the process and will likely help me not get AS stuck.

Because I’m not going to pretend I won’t get stuck. I will. And my plan when I get stuck is to move on to another writing project. Whether that’s blogging, journaling, writing short stories, or writing anything, really, and then I can get back to my novel with fresh eyes.

I understand my writing self more now. I get bored. I like to flit from project-to-project. I’m used to never finishing something completely as my day job is never ending and I’m NEVER caught up, it’s just the nature of the beast, so to speak. I am a medical assistant and when you juggle 40+ patients a week, scheduling them for testing, appointments, preparing a short synapsis of why they are coming in and comorbidities for my doctor and mid-level, answering phone calls and returning phone calls, addressing messages from my co-workers about patients, covering for other medical assistants when they’re out and all the miscellaneous work, I’m never caught up. All I can do is stay about 24-hours ahead of the “old” stuff. So I’m used to juggling several things at once and I think that’s why I get bored with one project. I like having several irons in the fire, it’s what I’m used to and I thrive on multi-tasking.

Anyway, I’m excited about this “puzzle” approach to outlining and I’m very thankful to Sarra Cannon for sharing her knowledge with us. This is the first time I’ve approached NaNoWriMo feeling comfortable with my “plan.” Which is what, you ask? I’m going to reach my 50,000 word count working on a variety of projects. I will be a NaNoWriMo Rebel because why not? That’s pretty much how I approach life, I bend rules. I don’t necessarily break the rules, but I definitely bend the rules.

I hope this was as helpful to you as it was to me.

And I hope you’re as ready as you can be for NaNoWriMo because, Blogfam, it’s nearly here!

(Pst – you can find me on the NaNoWriMo website under the username: take2max!)