Ganymeder

The theme for week #13, Space Camp, will post to the 52|250 challenge site on Friday the 13^th. I didn’t realize the posting date when I originally wrote my story, also titled ‘Space Camp’, so the nature of the plot is oddly coincidental. Though the stories are appearing on the same days as #Fridayflash, I hope people check them both out. Two hundred fifty (or less) words isn’t a lot to read for a small chuckle. At least I hope! My stories at the site are always listed under the name Catherine Russell.

Also, I’ve been trying to be more regular about posting to my Audioboo. You can look for my stories and poems there, as well as check out other #SpokenSunday authors.

Finally, I’ve started reading a new anthology. It’s not exactly breathtaking news, but considering I’m already reading several books, I’m happy that I’m about halfway through this one already. ‘I Am Legend‘ by Richard Matheson is wonderfully written. Like I said, I’m halfway through the anthology, but I finished the story today. I absolutely love his writing style. What intrigued me about the story was that there’s been at least 3 different film adaptations (The Last Man on Earth, Omega Man, and I Am Legend), and they’re all different. I don’t really remember how the Vincent Price film version ended, but the story ends completely different from the other two movie adaptions. I liked the movie endings, but the story ended far better in my opinion.

Soon, Virtual School will be starting again and I’ll have much less time for reading and writing on my own. In the meantime, I submitted some microfiction last night as well as wrote a first draft of a story that’s been percolating in my head for awhile now. It flowed onto the page pretty quickly, which makes me wonder what I did wrong, but I’ll revise throughout the week. Since I’ve been rewriting some classic fairy tales, I decided to have them overlap slightly with some others I’ve already done or plan to do in the near future.

I also followed a story prompt and wrote about a girl who beats the crap out of her bullies. No superpowers, no special skills, not a fairy godmother in sight – just rage from being pushed just a little too far. I’ve also started and continued working on a few other stories and projects, which I’ll try to post to Audioboo as I finish them.

Have a wonderful day.

The weather is getting cooler, the leaves are changing, and Halloween is less than a month away.  That’s right, folks. Nanowrimo is just around the corner!

For anyone unfamiliar with the concept, Nanowrimo is short for National Novel Writing Month. Every November, thousands of would-be writers embark on a month long trip into literary abandon. Each participant challenges himself (or herself) to write a 50,000 word rough draft novel in 30 days.  The rules are few and simple.  You cannot write the same word 50,000 times.  You cannot begin before November 1st (a rule that is enforced by flying Monkeys according to Cris Baty’s No Plot! No Problem!), and you must finish by Midnight on November 30th.  That’s it.  The idea is that many people aspire to write a novel in their lifetime, but the demands of work and home and their own insecurity get in the way.  Nanowrimo seeks to help One-day-novelists (“I’ll write a novel ONE DAY) to write their books.  All that’s required is the magic of a deadline and permission to let yourself write badly.

That’s right.  You don’t have to worry about being perfect.  You don’t agonize over correct usage, research, or where to place that #@!!$*##! comma.  Just sign up at the Nanowrimo site and they’ll help you keep track of your progress, and give you tons of support through forums, a podcast, and a many other resources.  If you want to edit after you’ve finished your novel, you are free to do so. Several Nanowrimo authors have actually published their Nanowrimo creations… Sara Gruen’s Nanowrimo book, Water for Elephants, became a New York Time’s No.1 bestseller.  If you don’t want to edit and just wanted to get the novel down, that’s fine too.  Even if you write less than 50k, you still won because you wrote SOMETHING.

So there is my obligatory intro to Nanowrimo for the uninitiated.  I dearly love the month of November now.  I know it seems counter-intuitive, but I actually feel MORE productive when I start writing my novel.  I mean, productive in other areas of my life like housework, cooking, excercise, etc.  I seem to manage my time better because, with the deadline, I know I have to get certain things done by a certain time or else they won’t get done at all.  This has been the case, at least, for the past 2 years – both years that I won Nanowrimo.  In 2007, I wrote “The Wonderfully Exciting and Awesome Adventures of Monkey boy” for my little boy based on a character I told him stories about as he was growing up. I’d never written anything before, so of course I broke every single writing rule there was.  Even after I edited, it has tons of flaws, but I still adore it because it was a labor of love for my son.  In 2008, I wrote “The Crime Fighter’s Club,” which I am still editing.  It’s a speculative fiction novel with super heroes and an alien that I hope to eventually publish (either self or not).

With less than a month til November 1st, I have been prepping myself for my novel.  For the past month or so, I’ve been writing Flash Fiction (stories of less than 1,000 words) on my blog for #fridayflash on Twitter.  I hope that the weekly discipline will help ease me into next month.  I’ve also started reading off and on from a free ebook, ‘Nano for the New and the Insane.’ I’m looking into other types of writing programs, though I’ll probably stick with Open Office running on Linux on my Asus EEE 701 (4G).  I no longer have my trusty Palm Pilot that I’ve used for the past 2 Nanos.  It’s been replaced with a shiny new Tmobile Android G1 phone, which I love for keeping up with emails, blogs, and twitter but isn’t great for actually writing imo. I’ve gotten another trusty moleskin notebook (‘moleskin‘ is not leather) to jot down ideas and inspirations in, but I’ll do most of the actual writing on my EEE laptop or our home desktop. I also use fingerless gloves because I like to keep my hands warm, I hate having my fingertips covered, and they look very cool and “writerly.”

I’m looking forward to writing using my laptop.  I got my first laptop (1 1/2 years ago) when my husband and I exchanged (fairly inexpensive) computers for our 20th wedding anniversary.  Yes, we are THAT kind of couple. :p  When hubby upgraded to a newer model, I got his other one and passed along my old one to my (now) 8 year old son… And so the magic continues.

The nice thing about the laptop is that I can carry it with me like I used to do with my Palm Pilot.  The keyboard and screen are bigger, which is nice, and I can sit on the couch or in bed at home to work.  I’m thinking that this (below) will be my primary work area, especially since it’s already my favorite reading spot.

I had planned on starting my outline for Nanowrimo on October 1st, but life got in the way.  The entire day was spent in my car, and the next day was Friday.  Weekends always toll the deathknoll of my writing plans.  So, I’m going to take what I’ve learned about my writing productivity and style from the past 2 Nanos and apply them this year.

The minimum daily word count for Nanowrimo would be 1,667 words, but I usually aim for about 2,500 words because I KNOW that I will not be able to write much on the weekends.  It never fails, so I bank extra words during the week so on the weekends I can get by with less.  Also, Thanksgiving day is a bust as far as writing is concerned.  It just won’t happen, so I automatically discount the holiday from Nanowrimo.

I set aside time during the day that I know I will not be interupted to attempt my daily word goal.  If I don’t reach my goal within that specified time period, I MAKE the time before the day is done. Seriously, I don’t go to sleep until I’ve at least written my minimum word goal for the day.

I am shameless.  I use the down and dirty tips from Nanowrimo forums, including not using contractions and taking up multiple dares.  I absolutely LOVE the Dare Threads.  They provide tons of interesting plots, ideas, twists, and challenges, and never fail to help me.

I compete with my writing buddies.  I add people I know from different forums and twitter as my “buddies” on the Nanowrimo site.  Then I use the green bar (that indicates percentage completed of 50k) to compete with them.  I’ve been known more than once to stay up and write an extra few hundred words just to “beat” a buddy that was close to me in wordage.

Before November, I make sure to complete any heavy reading I’m doing so that I’m not partway through a new book that I might need to put down.  If I finish way before Nanowrimo starts, I might start reading a book I’ve already read so that I can pick it up and put it down easily.  I also try to read some writing blogs and other research.  I’ve found I work better when I have an idea where I’m going, so I usually create a faily loose outline for my novel that I follow once I start officially “writing” in November.

I brag. I’m not kidding.  It’s not a “Look at what I’m doing” thing so much as making sure that I will be completely embarrassed if I don’t follow through.  Shame, at least for me, is a powerful motivator!

I have fun.  You wouldn’t think that writing that much in such a short time would be fun, but it’s AMAZING.  Again, I know it seems counter-intuitive, but it’s like a vacation!  You get to spend time on your novel doing all the stuff you usually say you can’t find the time for, writing things your characters do that you’ve always wanted to, and it’s just the best experience.  I hope more people do Nanowrimo this year, and if you want…maybe we can be “Writing Buddies.”  Just remember, as almost always on the Internet, I’m “ganymeder.”  Look me up at the Nanowrimo site, and Happy Novelling!

This year, in honor of the ALA’s Banned Books Week, I will write a review of a challenged book I recently read. For anyone unfamiliar with Banned Books Week, the American Library Association uses the last week of each September to call attention to our right to intellectual freedom and the necessity of vigilence to keep that freedom alive.

Review of America by E.R. Frank
SPOILERS BELOW: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

The first thing I have to admit is that I can completely and totally understand WHY this book was challenged.  There is a ton of profanity and child sexual abuse throughout the book. But having said that, it’s also probably one of the most well written and thought provoking books I have ever read in my life. I would not personally recommend this book for children, because it’s very disturbing, but I would definitely recommend it to adults.

The story starts in the middle, told from the point of view of a young, disturbed, institutionalized youth.  It’s told in his thought patterns and memories, how he reacts to the people and situations around him, what he thinks is happening.  From the middle of this young boy’s life the story progresses in snapshot memories of his childhood until the end of the book when he’s older and a more adjusted member of society.  The way the story unfolds is captivating, if not heartbreaking, because you see how tragedy destroys his childhood and innocence, how he “got lost in the system,” how he blamed himself and what he thought about what happened to him. You think you know what messed him up even though he gets “rescued” from his neglectful mother, only to find out that the situation he’s brought into is both better (his Mrs. Harper) and much, MUCH worse. It makes the flashbacks to his early childhood that much more powerful, because you know that love and innocence is destined for a terrible end.

Luckily, the book does have a happier ending.  Lucky for me at least because otherwise I probably would have been crying for the next month.  This book gripped me like very few have, and I am not at all sorry I read it- especially because I think facing pain and trouble are an important part of life. It made me want to reach out to abused children. The only thing I could fault the book for is that in the end, I was left wondering “What can I do?”… and that was also it’s biggest strength.

Other Articles about Banned Books Week:

American Library Association: Banned Books Week

Mur Lafferty’s “I Should Be Writing” blogpost about “Banned Book Week.

“Stacked (blog): Thoughts on Censorship

Tablet: A new read on Jewish life (complete with a wonderful anticensorship poem)

Science Fiction, the misunderstood bastion of the nerd, is more than space battles and futuristic technology.  It’s the ideal medium for social commentary in a world that doesn’t welcome astute observation.  Where else could the evils of our everyday lives be addressed in a socially acceptable manner?  Modern Westerners might be bored to tears studying Greek morality plays, but many will happily while away the hours debating the morality of Star Trek‘s transporter or speciesm in Planet of the Apes.

The authors, the best ones imo, act as gadflies of our time, but long after their initial warnings their voices are still heard.  And many of them are warnings, whether it’s to watch out for the dangers of too much government, the erosion of personal liberties, or simply our own prejudices and weaknesses.  There’s nothing so disturbing as to see our foibles through the eyes of another.

Physicist‘s and Philosopher‘s alike have written non-fiction books about Star Trek.  Star Wars mythology deals with the Buddhist philosophy of non attachment.  Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse tells the story of modern day slavery with a technological twist.  The Puppet Masters (by Heinlein) addresses the Red Scare; Alien Nation – racial prejudice.

Our language has been enriched by the genre as well.  Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land introduced the term “grok.”  “Doublethink,” “Big Brother ,” and even “cyberspace” owe their existance in the English language to genre literature.

The ability to transcend time, whether a novel or other media, is the hallmark of a truly great scifi storyline.  Certainly, the same claim could be made for any classic, but the genre lends itself especially well to this criteria.  Many of today’s classic novels were written as science fiction, from George Orwell’s 1984 to (a soon to be classic imo) Corey Doctorow’s Little Brother.

So why does popular media seek to stupefy us with a continual barrage of inane nonsense?  Why do network producers air great shows like Firefly only to sabotage them?  Why tell creators that they shouldn’t spend too much time on character development?  Why insist on more violence and less plot?  Hasn’t it already been shown that the lasting appeal lies just as much in the plot and characters as well as the technology and special effects? Where is their respect for the aesthetic and intellectual taste of the masses?

Indeed, there is plenty of bad scifi to go around.  But just as you shouldn’t judge the merit of English lit by a dime romance novel, neither should the merits of Scifi be judged by cheap special effects and sexy green skinned women.  Producers, publishers, and network execs should, if nothing else, respect the interests of a segment of the population that spends an incredible amount of money on anything related to SciFi – namely NERDS.

Nerds typically come across as socially awkward though rather intelligent people, or, in the words of Merriam-Webster: an unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person ; especially : one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuit.  The social awkwardness may be true in many cases, but intelligence is nothing to be ashamed of.  The pursuits of technological prowess or academic excellence are worthwhile ways to spend time.  Despite network producers and movie makers that seek to dumb down our entertainment choices, scifi continues to bring in some of the biggest money too.  Just ask George Lucas or Joss Whedon.

Let’s face it.  People want a story that entertains AND makes them think.

There’s one more point I’d like to make.  Scifi is relevant to ANYONE who’s interested in stimulating their mind as well as their satisfying their thirst for action and adventure.  And if you are a nerd, so much the better. Nerds, despite the pencil-protector-glasses-wearing image, are in.  So grab a Heinlein novel and wear your pointy ears with pride.  Nerds rule the world.

While perusing the shelves of the closest used bookstore, I was lucky enough to find this little treasure.  The edition I read was about 30 years old, the pages yellowed, and when I’d read about halfway through the book the spine split.  Nevertheless, I count this as one of my best lucky finds.

The book hooks you from page one.  Asimov drops you into the middle of a far distant and unfamiliar future, and you are left to figure out the situation from the protagonist’s activities and thoughts.  At first I was reading sheerly to figure out what was going on.  But the more I found out about the situation, the more I thought I understood as I attempted to unravel newer tangles in the web.

I have to admit, I didn’t find Technician Harlan to be a very sympathetic protagonist. He starts off as very stoic and committed to his work as an Eternal, but very quickly reveals himself to be an emotional idiot.  I know that his love for a woman and desire to save her might excuse some of his behavior, but I found him consistently irrational and overly emotional.  He jumped to so many conclusions that it made me dizzy.  Nevertheless, I wanted things to work out for him.  Hell, I wanted things to work out for everyone.

The basic premise was that Technician Harlan was an Eternal, a member of an elite organization that time travels to maintain the greatest good for mankind.  They make small changes at critical points along the time line to affect history in a beneficial way for humanity.  However, the price for this power is that they are personally cut off from their own times as well as any others.  They belong no-when.  So I suppose it’s to be expected that Technician Harlan, when he does connect with a “Timed” woman, goes a little over the edge.  In fact, he has to choose.  Will he break his Eternal’s oath and manipulate time, possibly damning humanity in the process, in order to save the woman he loves?

Despite Harlan’s roller coaster emotions, the story progresses at an unbelievable rate.  A quarter of the way through the book, I thought I knew what was happening.  A quarter more I realized that I had been completely wrong, but now I had a better grasp of the plot.  The third quarter of the book I just kept reading because I couldn’t help myself; twists and turns every other page.  Did I really understand what was happening?  And the final 40 pages?  Forget it.  I would never in a million years guessed where the story was heading, though Asimov doesn’t cheat when it comes to plot twists.  The clues are there.  But you don’t realize until the very last few pages what the ultimate struggle was REALLY about.  I didn’t even know who to root for until the very end!  But I couldn’t wait to find out.

I realize this is a very old book, and my review is redundant for most die hard scifi fans.  But since this was a new discovery for me, I just had to share what a pleasure it turned out to be.  If you love scifi, time travel, adventure, or love stories, I’m sure you’ll love The End of Eternity as much as I did.

How do you save children, fight breast cancer, feed an ape, and help children learn to read in less time than it probably takes you to finish your morning cup of coffee or tea? There is a very simple way. Donate. With a click, you can donate for free every day. There are a lot of charities out there that get funding this way, and the only cost to you is a few minutes of your time.

It should be noted that most Free Donation sites are sponsor driven and limit the amount of clicks per page (or button) to once daily. The exception in the below list is the Free Rice site which allows multiple clicks (because it’s a game). Also, Good Search allows multiple searches because it is a search engine.

Care2.com - This is a social networking site for the socially conscious. Just click on their “free click to donate” link which takes you to tabs for each of 10 charitable giving sites. Just “hit” the button, it will take you to a “thank you” page that displays ads from sponsors. Then go on to the next tab. It takes only a few minutes to work your way through them all. *

In addition to the tabbed charities, there is also a Daily Action site that highlights a particular action for the day. You can also join the Care2 community for free which entitles you to a free webpage, email, messages, and participation in groups.

If you like to blog about issues, you can “share” your Care2 blog entries with others in the Care2 Community by posting to a group. It’s an easy way to expose your blog posts to a wider audience. Just be sure that the posting is relevant to the group (a poem about AR to the poetry group, for example).

The Ecology Fund – It’s just what it sounds like – a charity site focused on environmental issues. This one has clickable buttons (for several environmental causes) located on the same page. It should only take a minute or so to donate at this site.

The Literacy Site – (from their site) The Literacy Site is dedicated to funding free books for children. (…) To date, more than 87 million visitors have helped provide more than 1.6 million books to children who need them the most. Another free donation site.

FreeRice.com – This may seem out of place, but how’s your vocabulary? This free click charity raises money with word quizzes! For each correct answer, a portion of rice is donated to the UN World Food Program. For each wrong answer, you simply have to try again til you get another correct answer. But be warned…. this game is addicting!

Good Search – This search engine site works very simply. Just type in the charity you’d like to benefit from your search (I donate either to Farm Sanctuary or Free the Slaves) under the question “Who do you Good Search for?” Then do your normal search. Please only use this engine for genuine searches. If people use the site fraudulently, the charity will be delisted and no longer benefit.

*I should note that at the Care2 free donation site, I click on almost all the charity buttons. I do not click on the donation button for HSUS (the “Pets” tab). I don’t support AR organizations that kill the animals whose interests they are supposed to represent.

While in the Nanowrimo chat, another poster recommended I read Little Brother by Corey Doctorow. I’d heard of his work before through the “I should be writing” podcast by Mur Lafferty, so I was curious. My fellow chatter described the book as a modern day 1984. I think they were pretty close.

While not quite as extreme as the society envisioned by Orwell, the book raised questions about our not too distant future. Technology is more advanced, but not so much that it’s unbelievable. High school kids still deal with peer pressure, cut classes, and play games both online and off. A terrorist attack happens and suddenly the heroes of the story, high school kids, are caught in the middle.

In November I had promised myself I wouldn’t start any new books. I wanted to use all my free time for my Novelling and nano related activities. Once I downloaded the book, I put it on my palm and thought (mistakenly) “I’ll just take a quick look at the intro.” BIG mistake. The story grips you from the very first paragraph. I couldn’t put it down. Every time I had a spare minute, I wanted to find out what was happening in the book. Marcus, the hero of the story, has to decide what to do when the Republic (the United States), through fear, becomes the oppressor. The book deals with really tough issues, but mostly the book is about freedom. Freedom from tyranny. Freedom of information. Freedom of expression.

One of the things I really enjoyed about this book, apart from the plot, was the information given about Creative Commons and various Independent bookstores around the country. The book was an adventure story, information portal, and future warning all wrapped up in one. You can even get the book for free in various formats, though after reading it I’m sure you’ll want to buy a print copy both for yourself and to support the author. You can also purchase it as a DRM free audiobook.

No matter what format you prefer, start Little Brother as soon as possible. You won’t be able to put it down!

I know it’s December so I should probably be writing about the upcoming holidays, lessons learned, New Year’s resolutions, and so on. But I’m not going to. So there.

It struck me that Nanowrimo and Vegan cooking have a lot in common. It might not be immediately obvious, but there are definite similarities. In Nanowrimo you have an extremely limited amount of time to do an enormous amount of writing, and in veganism you cook with only plant based foods.

While veganism might initially seem limiting to someone on the typical omnivorous diet, it really isn’t. You have an incredible selection of things to choose from the plant kingdom – hundreds and thousands of fruits, vegetables, legumes as well as tasty condiments. By freeing yourself from habitually drowning things in dairy and animal products, you force yourself to think outside the box. Why use bacon, cheese and sour cream on a baked potato when you can top it with salsa and cilantro instead? Why drown your pasta with a heavy cream sauce when you can make a tasty basil walnut pesto?

Nanowrimo also seems limiting due to the short time period, but because you have so little time to write you give yourself permission to write whatever you want. Just make sure you meet your daily word goals. The deadline allows you to free yourself from your inner editor. You become creative in ways you normally wouldn’t allow yourself. Plot bunnies such as flying saucers abducting Victorian ladies don’t seem so far fetched during the November novelling craze.

What’s my point? Well, perhaps everyone should learn to think outside the box by limiting themselves. When you’re less limited, you tend to fall back on familiar patterns and not bother thinking of something new. You never know what you’ll come up with unless you try. So my suggestion this holiday season is… try. Try something new and different, and don’t be afraid to think outside the box.

Late nights, early mornings, caffeine binges, and brownie overload. Sadly, the end of Nanowrimo is upon us.

What I’ve learned from Nanowrimo this year.

(This only reflects my opinion, though others might have similar outlooks)

1. Nanowrimo is not just for adults and teens, but for much younger children as well. I had heard of the Young Writer’s Program for Nanowrimo, but I had thought it applied only to teens. YWP is for 13 year olds and younger who want to try to write a novel in a month. The biggest difference is that the site is more protected and the participants set their own word goals for the month. My seven year old surprised me by asking to do Nanowrimo this year. He was able to go to his own YWP webpage and watch his progress bar progress through the entire month, and he finished his 1,000 word novel on Saturday (11/22) – over a week early!

2. Packing more into your schedule actually increases productivity. At least, it seems that way for me. I should probably say I remembered this or rediscovered it, because I believe Chris Baty said basically the same thing in his wonderful book “No Plot! No Problem!” I wasn’t really sure I could do a nano this year. I had more going on in my personal schedule, and I wasn’t sure I could make the time for it. Amazingly, the less free time you actually have, the more constructive you are with how you use it. I found myself writing during 10 minute breaks between housework. I would write when I’d wake up a little later or earlier than usual. I carried my notebook and eee pc around with me so I could write when I had to wait somewhere or if I got a sudden burst of brilliance. Instead of having less energy and feeling overwhelmed, I had fresh bursts of energy and inspiration that carried over into other parts of my life. I’ve gotten more done during this month of November than I usually get done in two months around the house.

3. Clearing out all the temporal clutter in your schedule really pays off. This is something I already knew, but it’s worth stating again. No new books. No web surfing. No compulsive email checking. It’s amazing how much time and mental energy that frees up. It’s really quite liberating to put all the unnecessary stuff on hold and just say, “I’ll get back to you in a month.”

4. You find inspiration in every little thing, when you’re looking for a good story idea. I found myself constantly thinking along the lines of what would be good material for my nano. A Super hero using her veganism for the forces of good? Sure! Caffeine addiction in main characters? Sure! It’s funny AND relevant since my novel was written primarily on soda, tea, and several batches of brownies.

5. Time is strangely warped when in writing mode. If you have tons of inspiration and the ideas are just flowing, you find tons of time to just write, write, write like crazy. When you aren’t sure what to do or where you’re story is going, suddenly everything else needs to get done first before you can possibly sit down and spare a minute to write. But, this leads me to…

6. Even when you’re stuck, if you just write whatever pops into your head, you’ll get past whatever perceived difficulties arise.

7. Deadlines are essential. No matter how many dishes need to get done (point #5) or difficult parts you come across (point #6), if you have a deadline, you MAKE yourself cross it.

8. Apparently, when taking a break from writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days (or less), writing on a blog is a stress reliever. Who knew that writing nonfiction could be a way to relax from writing fiction?

9. Reaching your word count early is less satisfying when you haven’t reached the actual end of your story. Conversely…

10. The end of your story approaches more rapidly when you’ve already reached your overall word count goal.

11. When you’ve reached the end of your novel, you experience total bliss. Let me just state that again. Just to be clear. TOTAL. BLISS.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to reward myself for my literary achievement in high speed novelling by having a nice meal, starting a new book, and watching Stargate Atlantis.

Okay, first things first.In the interest of not neglecting my obligatory mini activism for the month, you may print out your free flyers here. The Thanksgiving one is very simple. You print out both sides and then cut the paper in half. When you see it, you’ll understand. You should get 2 flyers out of each sheet of paper. They have enough simple vegan recipes to make a nice Thanksgiving meal.

If it’s in your budget, for $20 you can “Adopt a Turkey” at Farm Sanctuary. The money helps the sanctuary care for the animals. The sponsored turkeys get a nice Thanksgiving meal before they are taken to their new adopted homes.

***Now on to NaNoWriMo!

To be honest, I had no intention of doing this for 2008. I had decided in the past month that I just had too much on my plate to squeeze it in. I had no definite plot ideas like I did last year, and I was not feeling particularly motivated. However, after reading about the people who squeezed it in despite working on doctorate thesis and working another job, I felt a little guilty and so I decided to go for it.

It’s fun. I just didn’t feel like I had a right to make time for myself when I had other things to work on. But you know what? Everyone needs some time to themselves. Plus, I remember that last year I actually felt more productive overall when my time was constrained working on Nano.

Oh, wait… You don’t know what Nano is? I’m sorry, let me rewind a bit. NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. For the month of November, you challenge yourself to write a complete 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Start at Midnight the beginning of the first day and finish by Midnight of the last day of November. The novel cannot be something you’ve worked on previously. It has to be from scratch and have a beginning, middle, and (hopefully) an end. Other than that, the sky’s the limit. Want to write about aliens kidnapping Queen Elizabeth and replacing her with Herbert Hoover? That’s fine! As long as it’s begun on November 1st and (hopefully) the plot is resolved with at least 50,000 words by the 30th, you’re gold.

The Office of Letters and Light created free programs such as National Novel Writing Month to help spark a lifelong love of writing in children and adults around the world. If you would like to sponsor my Novel, the proceeds would go to this wonderful organization. Please go here to sponsor my Novel.

I’ve stocked up on sugar and caffeine, soda and chips, and fingerless gloves. I even have my Typewriter Snoopy to inspire me. Never underestimate the power of large amounts of caffeine and a writing mascot. Once this blog is posted, I’ll be off participating in the literary abandon of high speed novelling!

I usually try to update this webpage weekly, but holiday season is the exception. This post will probably stay up for the month for 2 reasons. Reason One is to highlight the Thanksgiving flyers so more people will be able to download them. Hopefully, at least a few will use the recipes and save a turkey’s life. Reason Two is that I’m devoting my extra time to increasing my word count for NaNoWriMo instead of posting here. The two issues of this post are relevant for the whole month anyway. If I can either figure it out or ask hubby to do it, I might add word count widgets to the page (just in case anyone other than myself is interested). If not, you can always check my word count at my Nano page here.

Happy Thanksgiving, and see you in December!

***

For past posts concerning last year’s Nano novelling experience, please check out:

Nanowrimo 2007 Next Month!

Nanowrimo 2007 Winner!

Writer’s Cafe (the program) and other technical writing tools.