And the topic for November is...

So I spontaneously decided to jump on the band wagon and participate in NaNoWriMo this year. (Click here if you don't know what that is.) I'm very nervous about this because not only have I only finished about three stories in my life, all of them have been worthless and very short. I've never written more than 20,000 words in a story, and even when I was on a roll it took me all summer to get that far. It's a good thing I don't have any school work to do, because other than work, I'm going to be writing a lot. Hopefully this will be a good exercise in accomplishment.
The reason I didn't sign up for it a long time ago was becuase I knew that there is no way I could write 50,000 words in a month, much less a year. But then I told myself, I guess I will never know until I try. So here's just another reason to put off "Into the Flames," because it's almost done so I can't use it for NaNoWriMo. Instead, I have chosen "The City of Orphans," a tale from the fantastical land of Pocatello. Which, in case you were wondering, was named after a random city in Idaho that I found while perusing my states puzzle when I was younger.
And so, into the melee!

Writing update

Yesterday I read through my whole "Into the Flames" manuscript and made notes about what I want to add. I did not, however, get a breakthrough on the whole "major conflict" issue. I ultimately decided to reject the "Bracken's sister in trouble" route because that would focus to much on him and his inner struggles. This book is about Ray. Bracken can have his own book to work through his own issues. Mom, this is a reminder that I need to give you a copy of my manuscript. Yes, I will give you my hard copy since I know you don't like to read it on the computer, but that means you'll have to wait until I've finished with the notes I made on it. I'm sorry I didn't think to give it to you during Fall Break.
I'm also working on another story with the Door Closed--i.e. you can't read it, but I wanted you to know my reasoning for being distracted from Into the Flames.

Thought of the Day: sometimes I wish I had become a singer instead of a writer. But then, I can still sing, it's not like my voice has been taken away from me, so I can really do both at the same time. But doing it for "real" would have been nice.

the work of an author

Thought of the Day:
The great thing about being an author is that it's okay to get our ideas from ordinary activities. In fact, we're encouraged to take every-day things and turn them into extraordinary stories. It makes me not feel quite so bad to just sit and watch people pass me by...I'm formulating, really! It's my job! I could talk all day about the wonder of imagination and the joy of watching a story grow and flourish out of nothings, but I don't want to bore you. I'll just go and give you more time to do something useful.

Quote of the Day:
"I just gave you three minutes of your life back."
"Thank you. I'll use them wisely."
--Martian Child, with John Cusack

Christmas at Rumpole Mansion

It's starting to be that time of year. For those of us who have lived in Texas and Oklahoma our whole lives and think that this weather is really freaking cold, it smells like Christmas. For me, this means being in the mood to drink hot chocolate, take pictures in the frost while stomping around in bright galoshes, and philosophizing about unimportant matters like snowflakes and reindeer.

Today I heard something really amazing. I was reading at Starbucks waiting for Sean to get out of class, and these two girls next to me were talking about their Christmas plans (after having exhausted their Fall Break plans). One of the girls told a story about how she knew a man whose wife divorced and left him with six children. This girl's family decided that instead of giving each other Christmas presents, they would "give" Christmas to this other family. She said, "Once we did Christmas for somebody else like that, I couldn't imagine doing Christmas for myself."
Here is somebody who really understands what Christmas is. I wish I could be that selfless and give freely to others instead of finding myself wishing to receive things I don't really need.

On a completely unrelated note, I finished Ivanhoe today. I wish we could have read it for Brit Lit sometime. I have a feeling that there is so much in that novel that I don't even notice. Also, I wish I could know if Walter Scott was trying to jab at his own political and social happenings of the day and how his novel related to his life. And what does it really mean that the King of the Norman conquerors tried so desperately to save the life, and even respect the life, of the Saxon who was trying to overthrow his government? And did the characters in the book really think the jester was stupid, or did they just let him pretend to be stupid so they could keep him around for his sage commentary?

Quote of the Day:
Books are not moral or immoral. Books are well written or poorly written. That is all.
--Oscar Wilde

A few things from my day

One: I hate it when people judge other people based on the consequences of previous actions rather than who they are. I must confess that I'm guilty of the same thing, but when I see my friends being judged by others who don't even know them, I get angry.
Two: I forgot what else I was going to say, because I am angry.
Three: I had like fifty people tell me today that they couldn't believe that I was skating, that I was very brave, how terrible that you have to be out in the rain, that they wanted me to be careful...etc. I had one person tell me that I shouldn't skate and I was being stupid. No matter that my boss told me I had to plus I haven't EVER fallen so maybe I'm a good enough skater to be skating. Oh, and I had one person tell me that I had to throw away their trash (which is a health code violation, by the way) because they didn't want to get wet using the drive-thru trash. Didn't notice that I was wet or have been in the rain all day.
Four: I'm in a very negative mood. I should get off here before I find something wrong with every aspect of my life.

Song of the Day: "Love story" by Taylor Swift