In the distance I see the finish line

Well it’s not at all what I was expecting to be writing on, but when the muse strikes you certainly can’t shrug it off regardless of your best efforts. Most of my writing update today comes from two fanfiction pieces I started. Yes I know, shame on me! But when I’m this close to the end of NaNo I’ve all but given up on the event. If I do get my word count in time this year, trust me – I’ll be more surprised than anyone. 😉

If I don’t, I’m not really that upset. My wordcount for the entire year I think is pretty impressive. This is only the second year I’ve been writing on a regular basis like this and that I’ve participated in NaNo. I won Camp NaNo in July, so I’m just not too upset. Doing two NaNo’s in a single year is tough work I’ve discovered! Especially if you’re an easily distracted pantser like myself!

Expect much nerd-talk about Arkham City in the weeks to come as I start getting into the blogging groove again now that NaNo’s almost done. There is sooo much to talk about!

Project: The Secrets of Leekston (Working)
Deadline: End of 2011 (Preferably much sooner)
New words written: 126 *sadface* More stuff is in my journal written by hand, but I haven’t had time to transcribe it yet.
Present total word count: 52,230

Project: Black Friday
Deadline: End of December – fic exchange with a friend.
New words written: 1,298
Present total word count: 1,298
Synopsis: While setting up for the Black Friday rush, Crane runs into some well-known faces at an unexpected time. Great minds think alike?

Project: Crane’s Mom
Deadline: End of December, might toss this in for the fic exchange I’m doing – just for fun. 🙂
New words written: 1,134
Present total word count: 1,134
Synopsis: Crane thinks its just a regular day of therapy at Arkham Asylum again, even though his doctors know his true beginnings in Georgia. However when Dr. Bartholomew tells him that his mother will soon be visiting, Crane finds he can’t hide his rage.

Total Word Count for 2011: 137,158

Slow & Steady

Well this isn’t even close to the amount of writing I wanted to get in today, but it’s at least meeting the basic minimum requirement. Hopefully when I have Tuesday and Wednesday off, I can dedicate a bunch more time to catching up on my word count. And maybe *gasp* even getting my NaNo word count in!

As I was telling a friend of mine earlier, I really don’t have a good reason for being so behind. Work put me back a few days and really threw me off from my rhythm. Since then I’ve never quite been able to catch up again. The fact that some amazing games have come out this month, and that Thanksgiving is quickly approaching certainly doesn’t help matters either. I just need to sequester myself away in the office over the next few days and just get the words out.

Project: The Secrets of Leekston (Working)
Deadline: End of 2011 (Preferably much sooner)
New words written: 1,966
Present total word count: 52,104
Total Word Count for 2011: 134,600

Elijah Wood + Stephen Colbert = Lulz

Woot! Finally got my writing in today. Yikes, I thought for a little while there that I wasn’t going to be able to get it done in time. Between allergy shots, a late dinner, and having to rush home to help my sis who got locked out of the house – it’s been a busy day! But the writing will flow (much like the spice), and it turned out great by the end of the day.

I wanted to be able to get some writing in while I was waiting at the allergist earlier, so on a whim I grabbed a notebook and found time to write. I realized just how ugly my cursive writing is though. It’s bad when sometimes you have to look at a word for a while so that you can figure out what you meant. x) Oh well! That’s part of the fun of writing by hand, right? The interpretation?

And here’s the hilarious video of Elijah Wood dueling versions of Sting with Stephen Colbert. I just love the way Colbert just practically gushes nerdiness here. And I have to admit, I probably wouldn’t do much better if I was in his shoes! What I wouldn’t give to hear the conversation they have at the end of the show though – darn it!

Elijah Wood on The Colbert Show

Talking about my novel, Suzie just came face to smirking face with Brakkis, the novel’s top baddie. They ended up having their confrontation in a wine cellar of all places – who knew that was going to happen? Certainly not me! I guess that’s part of the charm to writing from the seat of your pants – you get to be as surprised by the events of your novel as your readers are!

Project: The Secrets of Leekston (Working)
Deadline: End of 2011 (Preferably much sooner)
New words written: 2,721
Present total word count: 50,138
Total Word Count for 2011: 132,634


What’s that? I’ve hit the original 50,000 on my novel? Woot! Now just to continue on until my NaNo has the same word quota filled. 😉

An action-packed mystery and a Cillian Murphy update

Got quite a bit of writing in for NaNo today – yay! Still coming along slower than I’d like, but I did skip three days in a row there. And apparently that really hurts your word count. Hopefully I can keep this up until I can completely bridge the gap over the weekend! Also getting closer to my two storylines meeting, and I’ll admit I’m looking forward to it! It’ll be interesting to see how my two main characters react to each other, and you know you just can’t tell until you get there. 😉

By the way, I have a sneaking suspicion that Cillian Murphy might play a big role in The Dark Knight rises, but I’m just not sure. Rumors are going around like crazy online, but I won’t spoil you here. Let me just say that Cillian is one of my favorite actors right now, and if he’s on to be Scarecrow again, I’ll be going to the midnight showing of TDKR when it comes out. Either way, I’ll let you be the judge!

As far as my novel goes, some really devastating news was just delivered, and some precious journals were found. After that a strange piece of machinery was found as well – it connects to another world you say? And just when you’re starting to get curious, remember that werewolf mob I mentioned? Well they’re at the door, and they’re not happy to see you.

Project: The Secrets of Leekston (Working)
Deadline: End of 2011 (Preferably much sooner)
New words written: 3,327
Present total word count: 47,417
Total Word Count for 2011: 129,913

Long time no see!

So it’s been a few days, hasn’t it? I can’t say it’s entirely my fault though – I was unexpectedly hijacked by work for a full day earlier this week. And yes, I do mean a FULL day. I went into work at 8 AM, and didn’t leave until 7:30 PM. After the drive home and a quick bite to eat, I was working remotely until 1 AM. I guess I don’t have to mention that I was completely exhausted after this, do I? And then because what I was working on was rather urgent, and folks would have questions the next day, I had to be up bright and early working from home Friday. That was one day I was so incredibly happy to be able to WFH too… I was exhausted.

So follow that up with a day-long LAN party yesterday, and there you have it: where I’ve been the past three days. I guess that’s not too weird though, I’m sure lots of folks have work + parties that tend to get in the way of NaNo. However I at least knew the LAN was coming up though. Work I hadn’t quite intended that to be so… draining on me. And my creative juices. It took all I could muster to get myself to settle down today and do some writing. I found I kept putting it off. Likely because I felt guilty for missing it for days. Yet here I am after I got my regular update in. Not *too* bad I suppose, but goodness do I have a bunch of writing ahead of me.

In other news, I put up our Christmas tree today! It’s a bit early, I know, but it’s always sad to take down Halloween decorations and not have anything to put up in it’s place. Besides I felt pretty satisfied with our Halloween this year. By the time we started taking it down, I was ready for the holidays to come. How about you all?

So we had a frightful showdown with a less-than-pleased leader of the pack, but Terry survived. Now I’m switching gears to focus on Suzie and Fred now, who are currently bored out of their minds. I guess that’s what happens when you’re in a poorly organized protection program.

Project: The Secrets of Leekston (Working)
Deadline: End of 2011 (Preferably much sooner)
New words written: 1,897
Present total word count: 39,579
Total Word Count for 2011: 122,075