Done!

I hit the 50,000 word limit of NaNoWriMo AND I reached the ending! All within the limit!

So, yeah, just thought I'd report it.

It was a fun experiment, and I'm glad I did it. But, boy, was it tough! Maybe I'll give it a go next year, but for now, I'm glad to be done. Oh, for anyone who wants to know, I think it turned out really well. I'm really pleased with how this will most likely turn out. That's one competition down, nonetheless.

See you in December!

NaNoWriMo Closing In

I'm tipping on 45,000 words at this point. Nearing the end. I'm not exactly sure if I'll make 50,000 or reach the end first, but, either way, I should be done by this weekend. I would have been done by now, if so many things didn't fall into my lap this month, but what's done is done. The end is near, either way.

This isn't the first time I've written something of this length, but I felt like giving the challenge a shot this year. Every now and then it's nice to try something new.

Speaking of new, I used this opportunity to try something different than my usual thing as I've said before. So far it's turning out to be better than I was expecting. Even for a first draft it's looking like a style I'm going to keep pursuing. But let us wait and see exactly how it plays out.

Oh, I also think my novella is on sale on Kindle today.

Otherwise, I'll see you in the next update!

Random Inspiration

Do you ever have that moment when you're out on the town, or alone in your home, or maybe in a group with friends, or possibly a gathering with family, when something inside of you clicks? When something that wasn't obvious to you before now becomes plainly obvious? That might have happened to me yesterday night.

Now, I'm not going to say I was thunderstruck with ideas, or that angels whispered truths in my ears that changed everything-- just that it arrived out of nowhere. Inspiration is a strange beast.

I go for a walk every night. Not a long one, it usually only takes about twenty minutes. Sometimes I say a Rosary, sometimes I think about where the world is heading, sometimes I think about mistakes I've made, and sometimes I just enjoy the walk. It's one of my favorite times of the day, or night.

Picture, if you will, a small town, empty streets, and only the cold of the fresh winter blowing upon you. No sounds of traffic or distant barking dogs, but only the wind howling and blowing raked streets of thin snow across the barren roads and onto the sidewalk. The silence says everything, even as the world sleeps, showing how everything just works whether you're around to see it or not. It's gorgeous.

How one could fail to get inspired by such sights is beyond me. But then, we live in a world where modern "art" runs rampant that glories in pointlessness and terror. Sometimes it's easy to forget the world we live in doesn't really fall that way, and all it takes is a single gander at nature in its simplest form to remind yourself that we have the tools and the know-how to do better than revel in such pointless depression. Life is a series of surprises, but it's really surprising where they can come from.

Anyway, I just thought I would post my experience. It was only a small one, but it's the small ones that matter.

Silence is everything.

NaNoWriMo Report

I am currently up to near 38,000 words. Should I keep it up, I will hopefully be done before the due date.

As for what I'm writing, well, it's a bit different from my usual stuff.

When I grew up there were a lot of stories about heroes transforming into powerful warriors to do battle with the forces of evil. When it wasn't episodic (as in, every week the good guys would defeat a new bad guy, but no plot would ever develop) the storyline always pulled me in with the twisting actions of the characters. I don't tend to see that too much anymore.

Sure there are TV shows and books for kids that feature good triumphing over evil, (or sometimes, regrettably, losing to it) there are few done in the style I'm speaking of. So, yes, this one aims broader with my audience intent, younger protagonists and all, but it still contains the type of story I like best. If I can ever get it done, I hope others will like it too.

Have a good Monday!

11/11/14

By Mr. John McCrae.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.

Neck Deep in NaNoWriMo

Yes, I decided to take the challenge this year since I'm inbetween stories.

So far I'm over 12,000 words in and still raring to go. This story is really jumping out of me and I'm still having ideas pouring out. This is the most inspired I've been in a while, so I'm hoping this turns out as well as I think it will. Needless to say, my updates will be brief this month.

Happy belated Halloween and All Souls Day, and have a good November! Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends if I don't get to it by then, as well.

Fall Cleaning

Expect a few short posts in the nearby future. Around here we're dealing with "Fall Cleaning" to prepare for the upcoming winter and making sure we aren't tripping over clutter when we're snowed in.

In other news, I've been watching CW's new Flash series. Great stuff. I'm really hoping this makes it to Arrow's level soon enough.

Well, until next time!

Odd Thomas & The Long Walk

When we last left Odd Thomas, his life wasn't going very well. Sure, he saved Pico Mundo from a horrible disaster and prevented many deaths, but it cost him dearly in the end. Forever Odd is in many ways an epilogue to the original novel and an expansion on the original concept, making it an overall better book.

Not only dealing with his "success" from the original book, Odd's life is falling apart. After not succeeding in saving everyone from the last story, he is haunted with his failures further when his best friend is kidnapped after the step-father is murdered, and it might be his fault. See, Odd is something of a celebrity now, which means he attracts all kinds of unwanted attention.

This builds the concept of this very welcome sequel that is also quite different from the original.

You see, each Odd Thomas book is not quite the same as the one before it. They frequently involve different elements of different genres with the only real constant being Odd Thomas himself. In Forever Odd, we find Odd acting more like a sleuth (think MacGuyver) in order to foil a kidnapper's plot and save a friend's life. It's not as big a threat as the one from the original, it's far more personal, but one that is very effective, nonetheless.

One aspect about this story that was done very well were the villain characters. Koontz never explicitly tells you what their deal is, but as the story goes along it is quite clear they aren't human, and by the end it is confirmed.

That's probably my favorite aspect of this book. Most everything not mentioned in the main plot is implied through dialogue or character action and the story flows from there. It is a neat touch that really sets it apart from the original novel.

What deserves mention is the ending. Odd finds himself at his personal worst in this book, continuing on from the first book, and ending in a rebirth of sorts by the end. This rebirth coincides as the plot draws to a close and Odd makes one last decision which will end up changing his life and, if futurue books are to be believed, the world.

If you've read the original, give Forever Odd a read. It's even better, and points the way to better things ahead.