National Novel Writing Month 2007

Weekend Novelists Forum Index

The Free Dictionary.com

From The Desk of Liz Ensley:

What, you may ask, is National Novel Writing Month?

You there, in the back row, stop laughing, there are actually people who have never heard of NaNoWriMo. Be nice...

Anyway, it's one month, out of twelve, where you try to write 1,667 words per day for the entire month, to have a total of 50,000 words by month's end. At the conclusion of this month, assuming you reach the 50k, you get

1. A downloadable certificate exclaiming that you won by writing 50k for the month. Even if the novel's not finished, and you may want to write past that to reach the end, the 50,000 words makes you a winner. Why? Because look at how many words you wrote, and on the same book!

2. An icon you can use most anywhere, declaring you a NaNoWriMo winner.

3. You may be able to get a free copy of your book, at least in e-format, from Lulu.com. It was past my time (I won in 2004), but they started offering something like that. I don't know if they will do it again this year, but you can check on it at the site.

4. The camaraderie of other writers, plus meeting a lto of people on-site that you already know, only you didn't know they were crazy enough to NaNo.

Hey, you never know, after the revision/rewrite, if you go back over your novel at month's end, you might just have a best-seller on your hands. If not, well, hey, it was fun!

Sprinting

Weekend Novelists Forum Index

The Free Dictionary.com

From The Desk of Liz Ensley:

GAH! I need to make my coffee. I'm gonig to stat sprinting at 12 and do a couple before taking


A) a shower

B) the trash out

and (maybe)

C) up the laundry.


Gotta try to get this first book finished by the end of this month, so I can start on the next one.

I may be getting a new computer soon. Rose talked with David, who may be putting together a P4 system for me (I say "may", since it's hard to know if wires didn't get crossed, or anything). Regardless, though the cobbled-together system I'm using now works half-way, there's a lot I cannot access with it that I need to, when looknig things up (or even visiting bloody YouTube).
I mean, if you can't watch sometihng, and people don't get why you can't watch it, well, that's awkward.

Also, the way the hard drive is going on this system (used to be Terror's, but it's taken much abuse over the years), I'm not really sure how much longer it's going to last...

[Review] BEAR DAUGHTER by Judith Berman

The Free Dictionary.com

From The Desk of Liz Ensley:

Here is the review--comments are welcome. It's the first time I've written anything like this in twenty-five years. ;-)






      Cloud has spent the first twelve years of her life as a bear, the happy daughter of a human woman called Thrush, and a bear father, called Lord Stink, who is one of the First People. The book opens at some point after her stepfather, Lord Rumble, has killed, and eaten the heart of, her father, and taken her mother for his woman.

      A lot of people are surprised that Cloud became human. No one expected it. Cloud's lost her memories, too. The only things she remembers are glimpsed in dreams and images. There's an empty place in her, one that no food will fill. Her mother's forced to reject her, and Lord Rumble wants her dead. I mean, what's a girl to do, but run away from home when her stepfather tries to kill her?

      Thus begins Cloud's journey, a travel among and between the mortal and immortal worlds, in a search to find the bones of her father and brothers, and take them to the Edge of the World so that they can be born anew, even though she doesn't quite feel up to the task laid before her. It is a journey where she will learn to accept herself, her origins, and embrace both her past, and her future, while trying to learn how to live as a human girl.

      With Native American mythology as its base, Cloud's story engages you from the beginning, as you follow her quest, which is as much coming to terms with who and what she is, as to save the spirits of her father and brothers.

      On a more focused level, this is a story about one young woman's struggle to come to terms with herself, a voyage of discovery to find out who she is, what is her purpose in life, to stretch and surpass her limits. It is a story of acceptance, and self-acceptance.

      And, quite frankly, it's a good read.

      Bear Daughter is available on AMAZON.COM, and can also be found at, or requested by, your local bookseller.

A Book Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

The Free Dictionary.com

From The Desk of Liz Ensley:

Jim Hines was a guest author at brynsbookgroup this past week, and excerpts galore appeared. What appeared was, in fact, highly engaging, excerpts from this book notwithstanding. He also has some things up at Fictionwise, too, if anyone's interested. ;-)