NaNoWriMo & a little known fact

It's coming...

Actually... it's only 4 days away!

Maybe you guessed what I'm talking about and maybe you didn't, but I'm talking about the biggest event to hit my life every November.  National Novel Writing Month!!
*insert cheering and fist throwing*

It is possible (especially if you aren't a writer) that you've never heard of NaNoWriMo (as I will refer to it).  Well, if you haven't, check out their site and get familiar with what they are about.  I'll give you a brief intro here for fun.

NaNoWriMo started with this really cool guy named Chris Baty who, as an author, decided to write a novel in a month.  At that time he chose July and brought a few of his friends in on the fun.  They challenged themselves with writing 50,000 words (their definition of a novel for this event) and come July 1 at 12:00am they started on their quest.  I regret to inform you that many of them did not cross that invisible finish line on August 1st but they were a heck of a lot further in their novel than they had been before - in some cases, only a page, but still!

Since that time Chris has gone on to write a book called No Plot No Problem (book review coming as soon as I finish it...) and has moved the event to November - which I'm completely happy about!  Though it is one day shorter than July, it's in the fall which is just better all around in my humble opinion. 

Enough about all of that though.  My purpose for writing this post regarding NaNoWriMo is two fold.  First of all, I am challenging myself to write more often on this blog.  It's hard because it competes with my photography blog for my time.  That is an excuse, but it is legitimate since photography is something I'm passionate about and interested in furthering my skills in. 

Writing, however, is also a passion.  As of late (I'm sure brought on by the semi fall-like weather) I'm remembering how much I love to write.  That does seem to happen to me each and every fall!  Grey cloudy skies and rain seem to infuse creativity and inspiration into my veins!  This time it's a little different though.  My second reason for writing tonight is to say that I'm seriously considering pursuing publishing.  Yes, you heard it here first (well, first media wise).  I have 3 books completed, 2 more very much in the works, and about 100+ more ideas... can you tell I have an active imagination!?  It has always been in the back of my mind to publish - I mean, if I'm going to consider myself an author I should have readers, right?  And if I want readers I'll definitely need a platform to get them the material to read.

Publishing is scary.  It's not some cut and dry process that guarantees you anything.  It's also not something to be taken lightly.  Because of that, I am refining my current books while trying to forge ahead on my unfinished manuscripts as well.  Oh, did I mention I work full time and do photography part time among several other things?  To answer your question - yes, I may be partially crazy.  But I'm an organized, motivated, passionate crazy person so it just may work out.  With this season in my life I think it's possible as well as something the Lord is prompting me in.

So, you have been fully briefed on my life at this point.  Come November 1st (probably at 12am...) I will start my next novel!  As a treat to those who actually read this blog and care about what I write - that may be a very small number of you ;) I'll give you a little taste of this novel.

I was just falling asleep one night when, out of no where, I had a dream/vision?  No, nothing like Mary and the angel, but I definitely saw the beginning to this new story in full color with vivid clarity.  It's set in the future and titled Worlds Tour.  Now, I'm not sure on this, but it may be classified as Sci-Fi... but if there are no aliens and little science does it still fit in that genre?  Maybe it's just like what I normally write but set in the future with a  little more action?  Either way, it will be following the story of a woman, Serafin, who is searching for her brother Graeme.  She stows away on a ship headed on its Worlds Tour (to be explained in the book) in order to find him.  As I've been planning out this book I have come to the realization that it's in fact a trilogy!  Lots of action, a bit of romance, and of course, the fight for good vs. evil.

Please feel free to ask me how NaNoWriMo is going - those 1,667 words per day wont write themselves - your accountability will be greatly appreciated.  I will try and post more here to keep you all updated on Serafin's story.  If you write, I'd highly suggest you try writing a novel in a month with me!   Let me know if you decide to join and we can become buddies :)  It's so fun and challenging and nothing feels better than making it to 50k in 30 days!  And let's be honest, even if you don't make it you'll have started something great!