My favorite things for NaNoWriMo

I am so excited for November and this upcoming NaNoWriMo season. If you don't know what it is, check out their website for more details.

For this post celebrating the FIRST day of NaNo, I thought I'd compile a post of things I find indispensable to make it through the month.

Favorite Things For NaNoWriMo

COFFEE

This may be a given...I mean, I think by now you all know how much I love my coffee, but I couldn't start my NaNo list without it. And, the best news? There is coffee made specifically for book lovers! My friend Shelly over at Book Lovers Coffee makes some of the most incredible blends. I'm telling you...this coffee is delicious and bookish. There isn't anything better in my opinion.

Go check out her website: www.bookloverscoffee.com

Pssst! This Pumpkin Spice autumn blend is AMAZING!

A good mug

Maybe it goes without saying, but what is coffee without a great mug? For me, I find a few things to be majorly important about mugs.
1) They must feel great in my hand. None of these miniature little handles that only allow two fingers in there. Nope!
2) They must hold an immense amount of coffee (or tea) and do so well.
3) They must inspire me. This last one is a personal thing and every person will find certain things inspiring over others. For me, I enjoy bookish mugs which is why I've made fun designs in my Society6 shop to reflect my love of books, reading, and writing.

Check out my shop mug designs here:
www.society6.com/emiliehendryx/mugs

Um....just incase you weren't sure, YES the 11oz is worth it. We're talking the perfect hand-hold for the mug 😉

White board

Now were getting into the nitty-gritty of NaNo. The writing! I love to plot things out on a white board because it's visual as well as easy to erase and/or add to as you go. Keep track of the scenes you're on, see your story arc, and jot down new ideas as you go.

Fuzzy Socks

This may not seem crucial, but it is! Those toes of yours will certainly get cold sitting around writing all day. Especially as the weather starts to take a turn for winter, you'll find these fuzzy socks as a necessity, not just a want.

A place

Whether it's your favorite coffee shop, couch, chair by the window, your bed, or your best friends porch, make sure you have a place (or more than one). It may seem like a silly thing, but if you think of going to a coffee shop as "your place" for writing, you're mind will become accustomed to writing there. It's not to say you can't write in other places, but have one spot that's your "special writing spot". Then use that after NaNo is over to keep the magic alive!

Friends 

This last one is probably the most important (and my favorite, favorite). PEOPLE! You need your people, whether that's locally or globally, you need to have friends who are struggling along in the writing trenches with you as well as those who may not understand this whole crazy writing thing but are willing to support you in it. There are lots of options for this - those in a writers group near you, those online in a writers group or support group (like mine linked below), and those on the NaNo website.

Then, for those non-writing friends, just take a few minutes to tell people in your life why you're doing this crazy 50k words in a month thing. Chances are they will be super proud of you AND will help to keep you motivated by asking you how you're doing.

So, go and write fearlessly!

Join my NaNoWriMo Support & Encouragement group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/nanowrimoencouragement/

Join the NaNoWriMo website and community: 
https://nanowrimo.org

Support Our Troops + Falcon by Ronie Kendig GIVEAWAY

As part of the blog tour for Falcon by Ronie Kendig, I'm excited to dig a little deeper into ways that YOU can help support our troops. In Falcon, we see a strong team fighting to protect against terrorists just as real life military services members fight every day to protect our freedoms. That fight shouldn't go unnoticed! I think it's exceptionally fitting that this post falls on Memorial Day. So, take a few minutes out of your day to take a look at these amazing organizations that you can partner with to help support our troops!

Adopt A Platoon

I've been a participating member in Adopt A Platoon for many years now. It's a great organization that connects you (or a group) with a platoon or an individual. You can send care packages to a platoon or write weekly emails to deployed soldiers. It's a great way to team up with friends to adopt a platoon or use your writing skills to send weekly letters to a soldier who may not get much mail otherwise.

Welcome Them Home

This is a little more limited in the fact that it is for photographers, but I love Welcome Them Home and the whole idea behind it. As a participating member, I have had the chance to get connected with some amazing couples to photograph their military home comings!

The site pairs up couples who are preparing for a homecoming with participating photographers who agree to do the session for free and include a complimentary 8x10 for the couple. Talk about emotion - it's such a fun opportunity and a great way to give back if you're a photographer.

Green Beans Coffee

I don't know about you, but I love me some coffee. I have to assume some of our troops do as well! Green Beans Coffee is an organization that takes donations toward supplying deployed troops with free coffee. Their website says, "...The freshly brewed cups of coffee are served at Green Beans Coffee cafes on the bases where they're deployed." You even have the chance to send a note along with your cup of coffee and often times the soldier will respond with a thank you!

Wounded Warrior Project

This is another popular way to give back and you have likely seen their logo at Under Armour, Amazon, or on shirts. They are an accredited charity that helps support current service members and veterans who have suffered from mental or physical injury. Their website has a lot of information and there are many ways that you can get involved!


For more great ways to support the troops, check out the website: SupportOurTroops.org

Lastly, I'm excited to offer a copy of Falcon by Ronie Kendig as this weeks giveaway. I'm so excited for this because I really loved this book and I'm happy to offer it to one of my lucky readers! So, use the Rafflecopter to enter (below) and make sure you check out some of these ways to support our troops! If you missed it (or want a window to my thoughts on Falcon, check out my review here).




a Rafflecopter giveaway

2014 NaNoWriMo Support

As writers, we face our glowing screens more than we see human faces sometimes. Our fingers get accustomed to the clicking of keys, and our bodies to occupying chairs.

It's not a bad life, really. Especially if you're like me - and introverted extrovert ;-)













BUT - relying solely on ourselves for all things writing related gets difficult. No matter how introverted you are, you still need people. Say it with me: People are friends, not food. Oh wait--that's something different....

Anyway, back to my point. We need friends to make it in this world of writing. Especially if we're going to put ourselves through the torture fun of writing a 50,000 word novel in a month.

Enter...Exhibit A: A Facebook NaNoWriMo Support group! Come on...you know you want to cheer right now! 

Exhibit B: Yep, that's the digitized you.

Exhibit C: A cheesy graphic representing all the fun people you'll meet in this group! Don't worry, we won't be holding hands...

So, what more do I need to do to convince you to join the group? Probably not much, right? It was the photos, wasn't it?

If I have indeed convinced you to hop on the Nano train, then let me convince you to join the Nano support group. Right now we're in the brainstorming stage and I'm posting some helpful things to inspire, encourage, and insight enthusiasm about Nov 1.

Once we hit "go time", we'll be doing things like word count checks, word sprints, communal complaining, and maybe even some fun video sharing of "writers in real time". The possibilities are endless as is the encouragement you'll find among a community of writers all facing the same thing - lack of sleep, over use of caffeine, and the voices in our heads telling us what to do.

Request to join the group today: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1512704232311934/

Setting The Bar High

I'm not one to take risks. 

Calculated ones maybe...but flat-out, don't-look-before-you-leap ones--no way, no how. So, moving to DC is very out of character for me. Granted, I'm not leaping off of any tall buildings to move, but I am taking a step of faith without knowing where my foot will land.

You see, I'm a very planned person. I'm talking calendars filled out with multicolor, highlighted sections, lists made, and every angle possible covered in thought and preparation. Even considering moving across the country without knowing where I'll live has been a little...um, unsettling?

But, I think that's the way God wants it.

When the future isn't planned out in my mind, I'm more apt to live life where I'm at here and now. When I can't see tomorrow, the next day, or even a month away, I am forced to remain in the present which I think is ultimately much better for me.

Redeemer City Church Vision Night

Probably one of the hardest areas of this move is the financial aspect. Yeah, in addition to worrying about the details of this whole situation I'm also anxious about how it will all happen. To me (and I admit this with shame) being 'self-sufficient' in funds is a form of security for me. When I decided to move to DC with the Redeemer City Church plant, all of the sudden all of that false security fled and I was left bare and exposed.

The question remained:Who are you really trusting?

I've had to answer this honestly and found that, a lot of the time, I'm trusting in me. In my current job's paycheck even. That's not the way it's supposed to be. How can I place blind trust in a silly, created thing that is addicting, deceiving, and all to easily spent?

Why all this talk about money, you may wonder? Well, as much as the Lord is teaching me a lesson about trusting in Him, He is also humbling me and creating a job position that is in large part funded by support from friends and family. You see, everything within me recoils at that thought. What? I ask. You want me to ask for help? Noooo!

But, as part of learning this lesson, I have decided to own up to what's going on in my heart. It's not easy and it's not something I like doing, but I recognize it as a huge step for me. So, here it is in plain terms:

Moving

What: I'm moving across the country, leaving July 15th and trail-blazing with some of my close friends through the vast United States in search of adventure and safe travels.

How: If you'd like to donate to the "move Jenn and Em" fund (so I've termed it) you can go to this helpful link set up by my lovely roomie. All funds raised here will go toward the shipping costs for our things, gas for the road, and any other expenses accrued from moving across the country.

My Job

What: I have the incredible opportunity to step into the role of Creative Arts and Communications Director for Redeemer City Church. What!? I know, such a cool title ;) But, since I am moving to D.C. as a missionary, this means most of my paycheck comes from support from my friends and family. Yeah, it's crazy, but again - I'm trusting that the Lord knows what He's doing and will provide for me as well as the church.

How: We have a pretty sweet website already set up for the church and you can donate directly to me through there (click here) and choose EH Support. All funds will go toward supporting me to work with the church. We recommend a monthly supporting option because then it also helps to remind you to pray for the church (and me).

Thank you (if you've made it this far in reading my post haha) for being willing to even spend some time with me today on the blog. I am continually amazed at the Father's gracious and loving heart that is so good to remind me that relying on Him is the best thing I can do.

If you'd like more info from me about this, feel free to email me. You can also sign up for my DC Newsletter from the tab above (DC Bound).