I'm Freaking DONE!

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I did it. I'm done with NaNoWriMo 2011! Two days early! I wish I could be more excited, but I'm pooped. Seriously, my back and my fingers are freaking out with the pain and the cramping. I'm going to have a drink and a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, I begin revisions, but tonight, I'm chilling.

(An hour ago, I decided to see if my count was off - to see how much more I had to write - I figured I needed another 2,000 words, but I discovered I already had 53,326)!

Thanksgiving, NaNoWriMo, Golden Heart - I Need Sleep!

Photo of James Marsters (Spike) taken by Denny S. Bryce at his concert in London, 2004.

I read today that Joss Whedon is making a fuss about the new Buffy movie he is not involved in. It brought back all of my Whedon love and disdain in one big rush. His shows are the reason - seriously - that I'm writing fiction today. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (mostly) re-ignited my long, love affair with vampires, dating back to the first time I saw a Dracula movie in which he sensuously bit the neck of a lovely woman while she rived (is that a word?) in her bed (yeah, I was six, but still, I thought it was hot).

I didn't love Buffy the character as much as I loved the people surrounding her. I thought her bland and very young and fickle. It bugged me to no end how she mistreated vampires (Spike, in particular). The best episodes always included a vampire/slayer paradox (episodes like Beneath Me, Amends - brilliant, Angel, Something Blue)...

Anyway, my fellow Whedon-ites, what's your take on this new movie? Gonna give it a chance, or dump it before it airs because of its lack of respect for Whedon (by not putting him at the helm)?

NaNoWriMo - I may just win this sucker this year - I've got more than 42,000 words and counting!

Golden Heart - it's going to be tight...I may send it in knowing it's not ready - a good idea or what do you think?

Thanksgiving! - A great weekend, but I ate too damn much. Also, shopped on Black Friday. It wasn't pretty - fun, but not pretty...:)

What Did I Learn Today? I'm An Introvert...

Photo taken by Denny S. Bryce on a flight...

I haven't blogged in a while and I feel bad about it. I really do. But what I learned today is that I work obsessively and sometimes you've got to raise you head from the computer in order to give your life balance. I've been preaching about balance lately. And like I've said, when you keep harping on something you can bet you are the main culprit of the issue you're going on and on about.

NaNoWriMo is part of the reason for my introspection. The other is I was reading about introverts and extroverts - trying to infuse more conflict in my WIP - I discovered (or decided) I must be an introvert.  Here's the scoop...(taken from another source)

Personality Traits - introverted, Introversion is "the state of or tendency toward being wholly or predominantly concerned with and interested in one's own mental life”. Introvert likes reading, writing, music, drawing, tinkering, playing video games, watching movies and plays, and using computers. Is not necessarily a loner, very selective about their friends.


An introvert is likely to enjoy time spent alone and find less reward in time spent with large groups of people, though he or she may enjoy interactions with close friends. Trust is usually an issue of significance: a virtue of utmost importance to an introvert choosing a worthy companion. They prefer to concentrate on a single activity at a time and like to observe situations before they participate, especially observed in developing children and adolescents.


What are you?

Word count on NaNoWrimo...a bit low at 14669 - but that's from last night. I should hit 20,000 by tomorrow AM - if not more!

What's at Stake? I Think I Need to Know, You Know?

More Fun Graphics available at NaNoWriMo.org!

Before diving into today's topic, I need to spend a moment on November.

Yes, I"m on board for 2010 NaNoWriMo. Are you? I want to expand my buddy list - need all the support I can get:). So please find me (Denny S. Bryce); or just reply here and I'll find you! If you've never done NaNoWriMo before - this is the year to get it done! (Note: I always say this and haven't finished once in the past four years. But, never say die!)

In other news: I'm on a mission and here it is: I have to figure out what's at stake in my story? I also must nail down the premise and the story question. Sounds simple? Well, apparently not in my book (double-meaning is deliberate:).

What put this top of mind (because I've been down this road before, read all the right books, took all the right workshops and writing classes, so why now?) Because getting better ain't easy. But the impetus for this focus is The 2010 Heart to Heart Contest at SFW-RWA.

I came in second place in the final in the Paranormal category! Hoorah! However, I didn't get a request for the manuscript - full or partial. In the score card arena, I received mostly 4s and a couple of 3s, but it's the 3s that made be sit up and pay attention. And although I should, and although I thought I had, I didn't have a clear picture of the answers to the following questions regarding my manuscript: What's at stake in the world? What's the story premise? What's at stake for my heroine? I keep thinking I know this, but not always...

So, I found this article - click here - by Bill Johnson.  I know I've read this before in dozens of books and heard it any number of times, but this article (an oldie, too) is working for me now. I'm also excited about a class I signed up for with Gotham - multi-time published, romance writer, author, and teacher, Leigh Michaels is the instructor for the online romance writing course at Gotham Writer's Workshop. So this will be fun!


Finally, check out some Steampunk links below. When I was at Phauxcon two weeks ago, I got some great info from the folks there you might enjoy!

Edgar Allen Poe and Steampunk

http://ageofsteam.wordpress.com/

Jennifer Jackson

 http://steampunkscholar.blogspot.com/ 

Day After Thanksgiving - Whew!

New Orleans & Hot Sauce! Photo by Denny

Well, I had quite the harrowing pre-Thanksgiving experience - which may not be over yet. I ended up in the hospital after a very scary incident, which left me in pretty bad straights. But I'm home now, and hopefully, won't be back in the hospital anytime soon, but we're playing it by ear.

Enough of the scary though.

Except as it relates to my finishing NaNoWriMo. Not happening at all! I will get 30,000 words completed, and that's really good since it is all about the middle of my current manuscript. So I've got to be happy about it, right? I wish I'd stayed focused earlier in the month, but as I've learned in the past few days, the best laid plans...

So to keep it simple and short today, happy day after Thanksgiving, and enjoy the shopping frenzy. I'm going to miss it:). Staying curled up on the sofa with my laptop in my lap, chilling, baby.