October 2011
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Day 29 - Name one thing in which you indulged as a...
It will probably be the assortment of liquor and red wine that I’m planning on imbibing throughout the month. I’m curious to see which types of alcohol will have the best (or worst) effect on my writing. So, I’ll most likely be starting with some Chianti, some martinis and eventually segueing into the Johnny Walker Black that the Boo and I picked up at the Duty Free when...
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NaNoWriMo Buddies is Up →
I may be late to game in noticing this, but the buddies function is up on the NaNoWriMo site. If anyone would like to add me as a writing buddy my screen name is Citymunkie on there as well. Good luck on Tuesday everyone!
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Day 28 - Name one thing you shafted all month in...
Well, sadly it will be shafting hanging out with my friends, and brunches on the weekend. I have already passed on a free spa night with a girlfriend because I knew I had other plans later that week with the Boo (NY Comedy Festival is coming up) and I want to make sure I can get my NaNo on.
The only other thing that I will most likely be giving up is some sleep, but that’s okay. Although...
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10 Myths About Bookselling →
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Which Bank Is the Worst? →
newsweek:
cheatsheet:
We’ve outlined the seven deadliest sins of the big banks. Read them here, and then tell us which one you think is the worst.
1. JPMorgan Chase kicks 54 military families out of their homes—despite a law against doing so.
2. Wells Fargo gives bonuses to loan officers to put minority borrowers into high-priced subprime mortgages—internally dubbed “ghetto loans.”
3....
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Day 27 - What’s your word count now? Are you...
Well, since it’s still not November my word count is zilch. But my outline is good, and I’m really liking how my characters are shaping up. This weekend some significant time will be spent on my outline and characters though so come Tuesday I’m all set to begin my story.
I’m getting really excited about this, and I can’t tell if I’m just really calm because...
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Day 26 - Was any research involved (historical or...
Sort of, I researched names in baby databases, and I made sure that the town name that I picked out doesn’t actually exist. But other than that I’ll be winging the rest of the details. I am already anticipating some chapters giving me a few problems so I know I’ll need to do some research on a few topics, but since my goal is just to get as much out of my head and onto paper,...
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Ianto Jones what are doing in this episode of Warehouse 13?
And you’re playing a Watsonesque figure to HG Wells while she references Sir Arthur Conan Doyle??
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“I think what takes me a long time is that the events that are happening to the...”
– Jeffrey Eugenides, author of The Marriage Plot, in the Powells.com interview (via powells)
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Day 25 - What are the names of at least two of...
Simone Clipse: I’m absolutely terrible coming up with names so I used a baby name database and looking up a name that would translate to a listener of some sort. Simone means to listen/to hear. Since she’s a listener of secrets I thought that would be a good first name. I gave her the last name of Clipse because I was sitting at my desk looking at a box of paperclips. Very creative,...
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Will Amazon Kill Off Publishers? →
This is an interesting “Room for Debate” from the New York Times about Amazon’s move into becoming an agent, publisher, and bookseller. Personally, I don’t believe my house (a large academic publisher) will be threatened by Amazon’s imprint any time in the near future, but I do worry about the livelihood of smaller indie houses.
The point that was made in Michael...
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Day 24 - Is religion featured in your novel at...
Yuppers, religion won’t be a feature, but it will be discussed. When most of the elderly hold onto their secrets they are unable to die/move on, and when Simone takes their secret they tend to pass on to the next realm. Some of the elderly will discuss with Simone what they think is awaiting them, and why they are either afraid or wanting to move on.
I would also really like to go into...
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More NaNo Challenge Questions
Day 22 - If you’ve participated in or won NaNo before, what happened to your other novel efforts? Still in the revision process/querying publishers/scrapped it immediately/etc.
Haven’t done Nano before, but I have pretty much either scrapped or shelved all of my other writing projects.
Day 23 - Do animals play any part in your story? If so, how do they add to it?
Not really, I was...
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Ahh, too tired to be reading such an emotional article. I’m sitting here at my desk trying really hard not to start sobbing about the 72 year couple, and the hand holding skeletons. Must focus on spreadsheets and number crunching to dull the big wad of tear pressure that is building in my throat.
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Day 21 - With about 10 days left to this arguably...
If When I complete the 50K threshold, I’m planning on finishing it up, and going through the edits and rewrites until this story can actually be considered for submission. If I don’t think I can get the fully story completely fleshed out properly, I’d like to take one of the secret shorts and maybe try and submit it to a literary magazine. Normally I don’t feel so...
“Characters are not born, like people, of woman; they are born of a situation, a...”
– Milan Kundera (via fictionfiction)
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Just caught up on watching American Horror Story. Wow. The stories behind the house just keep unfolding and it is so addicting. I was sitting with my hands folded by my mouth almost the entire time. I feel like I’m constantly struggling with pitying the characters, and despising them. Especially all of the players that seem to have been inherited with the house, I’m both intrigued...
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Day 20 - If you could meet one fictional character...
What an overwhelming question, so many characters pop into mind that I would be curious to meet:
Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights, Thursday Next from her titular series, Hercule Poirot, The Mad Hatter, The Caterpillar from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, really almost any of the characters from either Alice book, Behemoth from The Master and Margarita, Robert Langdon from Da Vinci Code,...
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Day 19 - Which authors or books have inspired your...
Good question, I’d say for this story it’s mainly Ray Bradbury. I enjoy reading short stories, and I really enjoy writing them. The format for this story is similar to The Illustrated Man in the sense that each time that someone is telling their secret, I’m aiming to write it so it could be considered its own self contained short story. But since I want there to be more to...
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Day 18 - Who is the antagonist in your novel? What...
I guess the antagonist in the story would be the truth. Telling the truth is what everyone Simone targets has been afraid of doing, and it’s an uphill battle for some (Nora especially) to finally give up her biggest secret. Whenever I think of an antagonist I always feel like there should be some sort of epic battle and there really aren’t any of those in this story.
“Money is like a child—rarely unaccompanied. When it disappears, look to those...”
– Lemony Snicket is one of the writers who has contributed to OccupyWriters.com, and his 13 dictums are all delicious. (via washingtonpoststyle)
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“To high school girls,
Please don’t worry about being super popular in high...”
– Mindy Kaling, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (via sailoroftheskies)
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Day 17 - In what time period is your novel set? Is...
It’s set in modern day, and the story will take place in the town of Barris, TX. Although, it doesn’t really matter what state the story takes place, and I don’t know if the rest of Texas will ever be mentioned in the story. There really isn’t anything out of the ordinary with the town. The story is more about the people who reside in the town, and Simone getting stuck...
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Day 16 - At around the half-way point, it bears...
Let’s see in November I’ll have work, GMAT class 3 hours weekly, studying for GMAT 5 hours weekly, running 3-4x a week, yoga once a week, tickets to see Sarah Silverman at BAM, 2 birthday bar outings, Thanksgiving beach vacation, keeping my house in order, and whatever random shenanigans pop up.
I’m attempting to disrupt only my sleeping patterns and weekend brunches with...
