December to Remember.

So I haven't blogged lately, even if I do have a lot to blog about.  I haven't told you guys about YALLfest yet, which I still plan to do.  I haven't blogged about what I've read, which is just bad because I think we now know, if I don't blog it, I don't remember it.  Lots of things.

And we'll still have to wait another day for those because I have December on the brain today.

See, now that I've all but finished the first draft on my NaNoWriMo book, which is titled HOOD, by the way, I feel like I'm kind of floating in the land of unknown.  I always feel lost when I finish a book anyway but after writing one in a little over three weeks, I feel like my center of gravity is off.  You know how when you've been swimming for a while and then you get out of the water and suddenly you're all, "Why is walking so hard?!"  That's how I feel about stepping back into the world after being hunched over my laptop for a month.

It also just so happens that my life isn't going to be very busy in December.  My semester ends this week, NaNoWriMo is over... hell, even Sons of Anarchy's 4th season ends in two weeks.  Besides normal life stuff, my schedule is significantly lighter.  Which would be an awesome time to write a book, except that I just finished one.

So I plan on making December The Month Of Creativity!  First off, I want to do a few rewrites on HOOD before putting it up for a little bit.  Then I have revisions to do on MISFITS and some pretty big rewrites on KILLER CUPCAKES.  I'm literally going to be up to my eyeballs in my own books!  I'm pretty excited about it.

I also plan to brainstorm a lot, listen to a lot of music and write down every single idea that pops into my head for the new year, in which I'm hoping to write three books and jump back into QueryLand.  That's right.  Bring it, 2012!

So while I am kind of staring wide-eyed at December, I'm also really excited.  It will be nice to not have major goals and to just let the creativity flow.

So, to other NaNo-ers and No-NaNo-ers, what are your plans for December?

Brandy

The End and being thankful.

So I'm having trouble ending my current WIP.  Right now, I'm about five thousand or so words from finishing my NaNoWriMo project (3k from 50k!) and I've put it off for the last two days.  Tomorrow I'll finish it because I'm planning a major write-a-thon, but still.  I'm sad.

Because, you guys, I love my characters.  Oh boy, are they messed up.  They do things they shouldn't all the time and they have weaknesses that go for days but I love them SO much I almost don't want their story to end.  Seriously, my heart squeezes when I think about them.

But it does have to end, and I'm sure that if they were real, they would want it to end because I am a mean, mean writer who does horrible things to her characters and likes it.  I even have that whole evil laugh thing down.

But I still love them.

I was thinking earlier about Thanksgiving coming up in a few days and what I have to be thankful for, and obviously my family, friends, and especially my cats, top that list, but writing is so far up there as well. 

I joke with my friends all the time when they ask me what I've been up to and I tell them I'm creating worlds, what are THEY up to?  But it's true.  I create worlds, and maybe those worlds aren't published for everyone to read yet, but I live for the feedback and enjoyment from the people that do get to read them now, and most of all, I get to write them.  And love them.

I can't even tell you how thankful I am for that.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends.

Quick Monday post.

So, I would like everyone to take a minute to look over to the right at my word counter widget and see that I'm 40% DONE WITH MY NANO WIP!!  Eeeee!

Okay, seriously,  I'm under no illusion that a) what I'm writing is fantastic just yet or that b) I can keep this kind of writing up.  My eye twitch and nightly headaches are making me crazy but watching other people's word counts go up, paired with being excited about what I'm writing makes me pro-duc-tiiive.

I have tons of work to get done before I leave for South Carolina for YAllFest and a mini family vacation that it will probably be hard to write everyday this week, but I feel good that I've got a little stockpile of words to fall back on.  Also, I can't wait to listen to all of those awesome authors give out advice and then be able to post about it!

Back to NaNoWriMo for a sec: Being the person that I am, I'm excited about how much I've written but mostly, I'm suspicious about all of these words.  Clearly, none of them can be good if they're flowing that freely, right?  Surely at some point I'm going to hit a wall... or something.

I know I should just enjoy it, I do.  But it's strange, guys.  Very strange.

So, how's everyone else's NaNo going?  And the NoNaNo folks?  What's it like outside?

Brandy

A few things...

First off, I didn't do a reading post last week and so when I went to post about what I've read this week, I was completely lost.  My life and this blog are way to entangled now.  I have no idea what I've read because I didn't post it here.  Ridiculous!

Right now, I'm working my way through Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter.  I feel a weird connection to Ally because when I first started writing seriously years ago, she was one of the first writer blogs I actually followed to see how this whole thing worked.  At that point she was just putting out her first Gallagher Girl book and it did pretty well but then her series blew up and now she's a bestseller! It was so fun to see that happen to her and it's no surprise at all because all of her books, whether it's the Gallagher Girls series or the Heist Society books, are so incredibly cute.  Really the only reason I haven't read it all yet is because of NaNoWriMo. 

I'm sure... no, I know I've read something else in the last two weeks but for the life of me, I can't remember.  I've got writer brain, so I'm sure it will come to me at a random time, like while I'm brushing my teeth or something.  I'll make sure to update it here when this happens.  Probably more for me, than for you but whatever. :)

So... NaNoWriMo!  Since my characters were beating on my brain to get out, I decided to do some midnight writing on November first, and I'm happy to announce that I've written over 4000 words since then.  I felt a little wishy-washy on my story as I was writing it, but today on my way home (while listening to Band of Horses) I was thinking about the WIP and how everything would unfold, and or at least what I know right now, and I fell in LOVE with my characters.  Like that tight chest and butterflies feeling.  I'm so excited!  Selfishly, the main point of me writing these stories is because I want to love these characters... it's just that I also want to get published so tons of other people can love them to.  But first, I have to love them and I do.  I totally, totally do.

This WIP is a little bit of a struggle for me though because I'm trying something that I've never done before.  I've written about bad people, or people that do things that everyone knows they shouldn't but my main characters aren't normally the ones who do them.  My MCs tend to be funny, smart and overall, very good and moral.  Sure, they mess up, but in the kinds of books I write, there is a pretty big line between good and bad and they are securely on the good side.  This book, not so much.

I've always found stories where the MC is very flawed and on the wrong side of life very interesting because most of the time, we the reader, watcher or whatever, are still pulling for them.  So I wanted to play with that line a little bit, to see if I could create someone who isn't necessarily good but still someone the reader can pull for.  We shall see!  I love her, so I figure that's a good start!

Oh and a quick little update/Brandy is crazy moment:  In my last reading post, when I talked about Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, I wrote that the next book, Crescendo doesn't come out for another year.  Imagine my surprise when I was in B&N today and see it staring out at me from the book shelf.  Not only is it out but it's been out for a looong time.  Like, since last year.  I have no idea how I messed that up because I know I googled it but whatever.  I'm happy I'm wrong.  So go read that too.  I know I will, but first I have to finish what I'm reading and then I'm finally starting Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern! 

One more thing:  For those of you NaNo-ing, this is my profile come and be my buddy and yell at me if my word count doesn't move, k? Thanks!

Happy NaNo Eve! Oh, and Halloween too!

So while everyone else is eating candy corn and celebrating Halloween, I am completely focused on NaNoWriMo.  I'll go ahead and admit that I did all of my Halloween things this weekend, which mainly included watching documentaries on Vlad the Impaler and eating WAY too much candy, so it's not like I wasn't festive.

My NaNo idea is bubbling over the top of my brain, so I'm ready to write, but as always, I have to walk the fine line between letting the story play out in my head to plan a little bit and letting it play out so much that I don't feel like writing it anymore.

I'd love to say my pantser quality is all about letting the story flow freely from my brain, through my fingers and out into the world but that's not entirely true.  While planning stories does make me jumpy in a way that only a person with commitment problems can, my main problem with plotting is that if I let the ideas flow too much and I see the whole story in my head, I don't feel like writing it anymore because, to me, it already happened.  I know that's probably weird but that's just how I am.  My very first book took me a year and a half to write and I firmly believe that it's because I, trying to plan like I saw so many awesome writers talking about online, got tired of that story and it slowed me down. 

Knowing exactly what happens in my story takes me out of the game very early, so I try to keep the planning to a minimum (who the main characters are and the conflict), which is what I'm fighting right now waiting for NaNo to start.  I actually think I'm going to jump in at midnight because these characters are screaming at me!

I'm ready! And nervous.

I didn't do my regular blog posts last week, because I was trying to take a break from the computer in preparation for NaNo as well.  I developed a really awesome eye twitch while writing MISFITS, so this time I'm trying to be really careful with my eyes.  But I do plan on keeping the blog updated in November to document my breakdown experiences during NaNoWriMo.

Happy Halloween/NaNoWriMo Eve!

Brandy

Monday Meme, except not really.

I was going to do my normal Monday Meme about writing today, but my mind is totally, and completely full of NaNoWriMo.  So I thought that instead of answering questions about writing, I would talk about my game plan for writing 50k words in thirty days.  *deep breath* No, I'm fine.  Totally fine.  Not overwhelmed at all. *deep breath*

So last night I realized that there was not only a week left in October but that November, does in fact, come after October.  You do the math, people.  NaNoWriMo is coming up fast.  So, being the list person that I am, I sat down with my planner and figured out, with my schedule for November (which is nuts) what I'll have to write to make my goal.

November is the month where school work piles up in preparations for finals in early December.  It's also the month of my birthday and my mom's birthday.  It also includes a trip to South Carolina for YALL Fest and my niece's softball tournament, Thanksgiving and a midnight showing of Breaking Dawn.  Plus ALL OF THE OTHER THINGS.  But I figured it out!

All I have to do is write no less than 2k words most days, and on non-busy days, crank out 5k words, which I did every Wednesday while I was writing MISFITS.  That will help make up for the days, like the SC trip, where I highly doubt I'll write at all.  If I keep up with my schedule, I should actually hit around 60k before the end of the month, which is pretty much my norm for first drafts.

Besides being overwhelmed to the point of dizziness, I'm still SO excited.  This is my first NaNo, and it's something I've always wanted to do but my work schedule never allowed.  This year though, I'm in!

So, is anyone else around here doing NaNoWriMo?  I'd love to have a few people to keep up with, and hopefully help keep each other motivated.

-Brandy

Reading.

So apparently I've been in one of my I'm-just-going-to-watch-TV-instead-of-reading-a-book moods, because up until a few days ago, I hadn't touched a book all week.  I blame this on a few things: Number one, I was busy and using my brain to read felt like a huge deal and I wasn't into the idea of it, and Two: I'd been plowing through a lot of books and I think I burned out a little.  Either way, I've made a nice recovery the last few days and this was helped by really good books.

Honestly?  I completely imagine you all groaning and clicking the red X every time I mention the Vampire Academy series because it's all I talk about, but I can't help it this time!  I finally gave in and read Bloodlines by Richelle Mead this week, which is a companion book to the VA series.  I'd put off reading it because, while every book in the VA series was out when I started reading them, this book is brand spanking new and I knew I'd have to wait for the next one.  And I also knew what the last line of this book was and understood that I would be in physical pain if I read it now and had to wait until summer 2012 to read the next book.  But I'm a masochist, so I read it anyway.

Fantastic.  Just fantastic.  I was worried that I wouldn't enjoy this book as much because I was never a huge fan of Adrian in the original series and thought I'd be bored with him, but not so!  I mean, sure every time I saw the name Belikov, I giggled and Adrian isn't giggleworthy for me, but it's still very, very good.  Can't wait until The Golden Lily comes out next summer.

Last night I sat down to read the first few chapters of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick just to see what it was about and whether I should be excited to read it.  I. Read. The. Whole. Thing.  Granted, I got very little sleep last night, but still.  I'm pretty interested in the whole nephilim/angels thing being a big fan of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare but I haven't actually read that many books about them.  This was good.  Yes, it's very Twlight-esque, and some things the main character's best friend did made me want to slap her very hard, but in the end, I read the whole damn thing in one sitting.  That says something.  Also, this book probably has one of the most kick ass covers I've seen in a along time.  And of course the next book in the series, Cresendo, doesn't come out for another year.  *forehead slap*

Soooo, what are you reading?

Brandy