I lied.

Not intentionally. I just changed my mind.

A couple of weeks ago, I told you about my plan to write Mia’s memoirs as a part of NaNoWriMo. My grandmother and I worked on them for years, and she died before I was able to finish interviewing her. But I have stories and interviews and other family members, and I’m determined to finish them.

For those of you familiar with National Novel Writing Month, you know this breaks some of the rules.

1. The work is supposed to be fiction.
2. The work is supposed to be new, not a project you’ve started prior.

But I was gonna go for it anyway, because I thought the deadlines would help me.

But the more I think about it, the more I think this project needs something more than a month of furiously writing, trying to squeeze out the word counts just to finish. I love Nano, I’ve done it twice now, but I’m thinking the rules are there for a reason and it doesn’t necessarily make sense to try to bend them.

So, I have a different idea for Mia’s memoirs. And I’ll create a new deadline. One that makes more sense. I will be finished with the book by her birthday, which is August 17. That gives me almost a year. I am going to need that time, because I’ve got bigger plans. And I will keep you posted every step of the way.

So, keep me honest next time, will you please?

Such a rebel …

Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her, wish I could talk to her, want to see her. I miss my grandmother, Mia, like crazy, since she passed away in June. If there was anything she taught me, it was to make my own way in this crazy life. That rules are [...]

Something you hope to do in your life

Note: I’m writing the 30 Days of Truth topics, not necessarily in the next 30 days, but in at some point, eventually, I will get all 30 days done. Write with me! On your blog if you have one, in the comments here if you don’t or if you don’t want to put it on [...]

The shortest blog post I’ve ever written (but there’s a good reason!)

National Novel Writing Month update: 34,885 words. I have less than 16,000 to write by Monday, and I am determined to “win” this year. For the record, I am happy with how the book is going, too – it may even be better than last year’s book! Ok, back to writing my novel …

Thank you.

Today I am about to run 4 miles (I love tapering!) in my preparation to run 26.2 in a couple of weeks. I will attempt to write 7,000 words in a last-ditch effort to write a novel for this year’s National Novel Writing Month. I made marathon training a higher priority this year than novel [...]

Writing designing running hiking traveling – let’s just all move to New York City!

Time to update my bucket list. I wrote this a little more than a year ago. Here’s what the list was then, and how it’s going (items in green are in-progress or done!): 1. Write a novel. How it’s going: I have written the first draft of a novel. And I am working on the [...]

Bring it on, November

Today is the 13th, which means November is almost over. I’ve got 2 more long Saturday runs before tapering starts before my marathon (tapering is running lesser distances to give my muscles a chance to recover before The Big Day.) Tomorrow I run 15 miles, next Saturday 20 miles (gulp!), then 12 miles the following [...]

I’m writing a book and I have no idea what it’s about

Well, that’s only sort of true. I am writing a book, for National Novel Writing Month, and this will be my second time doing this. Last year, I had it all figured out – plot outlines, character sketches, a title and even a book cover design, all before NanoWriMo started in November. This month, I [...]

This weather makes me want to write …

Ah, autumn. It’s that time of year again. The days get shorter, the leaves get colorful. There’s a bite in the air and the sun gets a little kinder. It’s bittersweet, welcoming the end of summer but knowing the cold is coming. It’s October, which means I better start narrowing down my story line for [...]

Update on my novel (no, I haven’t forgotten about it)

I say I haven’t forgotten about my book that I have written, but I have regrettably put it on the back burner this year – but it’s not to stay there for long! My intent was to go through an edit on screen, and add scenes as needed, and then make a proof copy and [...]