Out of the Blue

Word Count: 30,842

As the leaves closed in around them they heard Blake's scream, "I'll get you Ainsley. I'll find you and your brats and hang each and every one from the nearest tree!"
Kira shivered, and urged her horse to go faster, realizing that she also was included in that statement.

So, how have I been doing with NaNo? Well I'm no longer as far ahead of schedule as I was a week ago. I am now only one day ahead, and trying to work my way up to more so I won't fall behind during Thanksgiving.

I've been surprised at how easily everything has been coming together, I haven't truly been stuck once. There was a day, or two when I had to stop and think about where I was going, but I never got that frantic writer's block feeling, I was just pondering. The other days I haven't written it was simply because I didn't feel like it, not because I couldn't.

I know November isn't over, but so far it's all gone incredibly smoothly. Maybe it's because I'm not crazy busy like a lot of my other friends doing it?

Whatever the reason, I'm glad my first NaNo hasn't given me to many challenges. Yet.

Nov. 10, 2009 - NaNoWriMo Day 10

Word Count: 20,903

"How could anyone throw away this happiness? How could anyone reject such joy?"
~ Wynn Ainsley

Well I'm still plugging away, boosting my word count by the thousands every night, and every day when I wake up setting myself an impossible goal I know I can't reach, but I do anyway.

The plot is coming along nicely, I've been rather surprised at how easy this story has been to write, then again it's been waiting for November for the last seven months.

Its been amazing discovering more about my characters, and the places they live in. Each day of writing I find out something knew and exciting about one of them.

I expected to grow tired of my book title, my names, and my characters, but instead they have gotten even more interesting to me, and I'm still totally in love with the name Wynn Ainsley.

There have been moments of stress, in fact just the other night I was in near panic because I couldn't get the NaNo website to load, therefor making it impossible for me to update my word count. Since I had just breached the 20,000 mark it was rather disappointing I couldn't do it right away. After a few more tries however, all was well.

So, that's how my NaNo has been going. If your interested in reading the progress of other NaNoers here are the links to friends of mine who are doing it as well.

Nov. 4, 2009 - NaNoWriMo Day 4

I've been pretty happy with my progress with NaNoWriMo so far. I'm three days ahead of schedule, and my plot is coming together rather nicely. I wouldn't say it's one of the best things I've ever written, but I didn't expect it to be. That's what second, third, fourth, and so on drafts are for.

Before NaNo started I had this idea in my head that I wouldn't have time for anything else this month. I would just be writing. My reasonable side however kept telling myself this can't be true since people with full time jobs and children have succeeded in the challenge.

So I was not all together surprised to find out I still have time to live. It's a good thing too because I only have two weeks till my first big choir performance and practice is a very good thing. I've also been working with Kekoa on selling Christmas wreaths. We haven't sold one yet, but we haven't really done to much attempting. Not because of NaNo, but because of other things in the schedule.

An hour, or two everyday writing and I am above and beyond my word count goal for that day. Before November I thought the people shooting for 100,000 this year were crazy. Now I'm beginning to see they are simply giving themselves more of a challenge. I've been challenged, it's juts been an easy one.

So far.

Nov. 2, 2009 - NaNoWriMo Day 1

Well the first day of NaNoWriMo has come and gone leaving me with a word count of 6,066. Since this is a good almost three days worth of writing, I decided I would be done for the night.

I am incredibly pleased with the way things are turning out so far, and was amazed to discover how much this story would write itself. There are way to many turn of events I didn't expect to count them all.

I tried to add a word count widget to my sidebar, but for some reason I'm having trouble with it. I might try again later, but for now if your interested in following my word count you can at my NaNoWriMo profile.

Now I'd love to stay and talk, but I've got a word count to keep up, and my characters are calling.

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Oct. 30, 2009 - 1 Day...

This is the cover art I made for my NaNo novel this year. Georgianna Penn is my pen name.

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Oct. 29, 2009 - 2 Days...

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Oct. 28, 2009 - 3 Days...

Once again I thank Kylie for the beautiful photograph.

Oct. 26, 2009 - 5 Days...

Wonderful photograph taken by Narniagirl

Oct. 24, 2009 - 6 Days...

Oct. 23, 2009 - 7 Days...

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Oct. 22, 2009 - 8 Days...

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Oct. 12, 2009 - NaNoWriMo Here I Come!

Lately I've been filling my brain with writing, writing, and more writing. After all it's only nineteen days till November first and NaNoWriMo begins. I'm really excited although a little worried my plot won't make it to 50,000 words. We shall just have to see. I have been doing a few things in preparation for this exciting event.

I have joined the HSB NaNoWriMo group, and I've been loving it! The forums and such have been a lot of fun, and a ton of help! It's been great.
I've started working on the outline for the novel I'll be writing in November. Incidentally I've come up with the working title Rejected Joy. It's slowly been growing on me though so it could become more then just a working one.
I've been trying to finish the novel I'm working on now. I'd like to have first draft done and out of the way so it won't try to capture my attention while I'm busy with NaNo. I'm at 16,000 some-odd words... somehow I don't think I'll make it.
I am going to start shrinking my stomach. During NaNo I won't want to take the time to go downstairs and eat so in order to put a restraint on the hunger pains I'm miniaturizing the appetite. Kidding people, kidding.

In other words it looks like I've been busy, but I really haven't. The last few days I've pretty much just spent laying around because I've been sick. It's just a cold, but it's totally put my head into ache mode.

Sep. 5, 2009 - I've Just Did the Craziest Thing I've Ever Done Before

It wasn't until after I said it that I realized a phrase like, "Mother I've just done the craziest thing I've ever done before," could worry so mentioned Mother. The look she gave me helped that realization to come. I quickly put her mind at ease. "I signed up for NaNoWriMo." Because I didn't hear about NaNo till a week before it started last year, I thought I would be sure to let all my readers know well enough in advance.

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. The goal. Writer a 50,000 word novel in a month. From Nov. 1st, to Nov. 31st since 1999 people have been taking on this challenge. Many have died in the attempt... okay not really, but it sounded cool.

Anyway, the website explains much better then I ever could so be sure to head over there if your a writer.

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Sep. 3, 2009 - Afternoons in the Neighborhood

As I sat at my desk and looked out the upstairs window I smiled. Four children were in the street playing kick ball. I was still getting used to town life, but in just the few short weeks I had been here I realized this was their backyard.
It still startled me to see the skinny, little, neighbor girl flop down in the middle of the road to rest when she was tired.
At first I had wondered about her getting run over, but found out the kids had a system. Whenever the danger was spotted the cry, "car!" was heard up and down the street and the road was cleared.

As the game of kick ball progressed other neighborhood children came to take part. They would sit on the curb until the end of a round, then run to their teams side when the time came, ready to play.
Even with my noisy air conditioner on I could hear the shouts..
"Out!"
"Run home, run home!"
"Catch it, catch it!"
Then in the heat of the moment someone would see the shiny paint, or hear a warning from up the street.
"Car!" They would make way, ready to go right back to the game when it passed.

As the sun moves on through the sky, time passes and Mothers come sit on their porches, watching with smiles on their faces. Enjoying the game as much as their children, till the timer on the oven goes off, or the phone rings. Then they rush back into the house to do Motherly things.

Finally as the light begins to fade from the sky someone is called home, then another, and another. No longer enough players to continue, the remaining children say "so long," and go home themselves. Already looking forward to tomorrow when it will all begin again.

Aug. 14, 2009 - Sneak Peak of the Soon World Famous Author's Newest Novel

Living in a motor home I obviously do not have as much space, and that means I can't bring all my stuff, and that means I have to find different things to do. Well, a lot of what I've been doing isn't different, but I have been doing a whole lot more then I used to when I had the other stuff to distract me from it. What am I talking about?

Writing!

Somewhere back in the beginnings of this whole move/trip I dreamed up a story plot one night. Normally when this happens I write the plot down and continue with the book I'm writing, waiting for the day when that's finished before I start a new document of jumbled characters and twisted plot lines.

However this time the plot was so complete, so pretty nearly perfect, I just had to start writing it while it was still fresh in my mind.

The day the notice was sent out in the land of Aanoor was a happy one. The King and Queen finally had a child. A son. Prince Trillian they called him. The royal family rejoiced with them, for everyone loved the King and Queen and their son was precious to them as well. The one who took the most liking to the baby was the Kings brother, Teine. Teine loved the boy as if it was his own and spent as much time as possible with the baby Prince who slowly grew to be a toddler, then a little boy. The boy loved his Uncle as much as his Uncle loved him and did not wish for another friend. Teine taught young Prince Trillian how to ride, and hunt. Shoot, and fight.
When Trillian needed help he found his Uncle and all was solved, and when he wanted to have some fun he did the same.
One day though when Trillian had turned ten not a week before, three strange men came to the castle. They were friends of Teine’s and they had come to stay. Prince Trillian soon found that his Uncle did not have as much time for the boy as he once had and very soon he hardly saw his beloved at all.
One day as the royal family began to eat Trillian reached down and gave his new dog a leg of meat. Trillian watched happily as his dog chewed on the food. His happiness soon turned to horror as the dog began to writhe on the floor and soon lay dead at his feet. The food had been poisoned.
Three more times traps were laid for the Prince, and three times he survived. The boy could not escape death forever though and one night his Uncle came to him and asked if he would like to view the stars. The boy agreed thinking his Uncle had been missing his company. The Prince never returned to his home, and his Uncle spread lies that wolves had eaten the young boy. King Transin and Queen Searlan mourned for many days and nights, and Teine prepared himself to be King, for he was next in line to the thrown.

I'm big on the preface kind of thing, starting questions from the beginning, and making the reader what on earth that had to do with the book. Then at the end *bang* all is revealed.

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Jun. 2, 2009 - Writer's Block

Writing for me is not just a hobby, it's a passion, and a love that I can't seem to get away from. I enjoy my writing so much, and thank God every day for giving me this awesome gift, but every now and then I get to a point where I can't write. Everything I was working on seems to come to a stand still, and it all started with one thing.

Normally it's the thing I've been working on the most. A story, article, novel, doesn't matter, I come to a place where I don't know where to go next and things start falling apart. I put it away and try again the next day with the same results. So I try to write something else, but I can't keep the other thing off my mind, and I end up writing myself into a corner on what I am working on.

Before I know it I have a hundred little writers blocks made into one big one "the size of the grand cannon" as a lady at a writers meeting I go to put it.

Now is when I start going crazy, trying to write, but thinking everything sounds terrible. Not writing at all for days on end, and going insane because I can't figure out what to do. Then one day something happens, a phrase in a book I was reading maybe? Something a friend said? It could have been something I saw while out and about in town, it does not matter what it is, but it always feels like someone handing me a chisel. Then before I know it something else has happened that makes me feel like I now have a hammer in my hand. Small things start to happen that make me start working away at that writers block, till one day I see light on the other side. The next I can stick my hand through it. A week later the whole thing crumbles down around me and I can walk through the rubble triumphant. My computer is waiting on the other side with the document this whole thing started with on the screen. I sit down, and write the scene that I thought was so hard. Hit myself on the head because it was so easy... and start the whole thing over again.

Jan. 5, 2009 - When the Dark of Night Closes In

What is it about the late night hours that make a young, female, want-to-be authoress mind go wild?

Was it the hundreds of quotes about books and reading she had read the night before, or was it the book she had read before turning out the lights and crawling under the covers. After all, the Bible is the best book ever written. Surely it could have inspired something.

It couldn't have been the trip to the library earlier that day, or the hours spent reading the sequel to one of her favorite novels.

Why is it she must find the perfect wording for the end of her work in progress at that moment, when her eyelids are heavy, and all around her, her family is sleeping.

Then, just as the words click together. Just when everything falls into place, her dreams take over, and in the morning when the light comes on and the sound of the house screams morning in her ears. Why is it she has forgotten those magic words? Why is it they have run away from her mind, never to come home again. Perhaps make their way into another novel, another teenage girls late night thoughts.

Gone forever... the perfect phrase that would have made her novels famous. The big one that got away.

Dec. 8, 2008 - Author Tag

I have seen this tag floating about, and as it looked like fun, I decided to do it.

Do you have a pen/pencil collection? How many of those are chewed? I have a collection of both that I don't use. They sit very nicely in my little tin on my dresser and look very jealously at the green mechanical pencil that has an honoured position by my notebook, sitting on my hope chest, next to my bed.
None of them have chew marks because I hardly ever pick them up, and it is really nasty and uncomfortable to chew on a mechanical pencil.

Do you prefer handwriting or typing furiously? Right now I would say handwriting. Just because it's uncomfortable for me to sit at the computer desk for hours on end while trying to write. When I get a laptop, the answer to this question will most likely change.

How often do you get inspiration? All the time. When I read a good book, when I read a horrible book, when I see a good movie, when I see a horrible movie, when I see interesting people at the store. When the wind is blowing through the trees.... the list goes on.

Are you blogging this on a computer or laptop? A desktop computer.

Do you get inspiration more in the early morning or late at night? Morning, afternoon, late at night! It flows in at all times.

Do certain movies/books/music inspire you? Um... I think I just answered this two questions ago.

How do you incorporate God into your stories? I normally don't. I admit, it is not easy for me to write about my faith, and my God in books. Short stories are a different thing.

Do you kill off your villains or make them repent? Well... the one book I have finished really did not have a villain. It was not that great.
The book I am writing right now, he is going to survive at the end to come back as even worse in the second book, but I can't decide what to do with him after that. I can't stand the though of killing him!

Is the majority of your characters magical beings, humans or halflings? Or something else? Humans.

What genre of writing are you most comfortable in? If you were to step out of your comfort zone, what would you write? Fantasy. I don't have to just stick with the facts. I can do what ever I want.
If I stepped out... I really have no idea what I would write. I think the one I would have to most trouble with is historical fiction.

Do you work better alone or with someone else? I can do both.

Do your stories make sense, or do they ramble wildly? I think every writer hopes their books make sense.

Are your characters mostly Renegades, Peacekeepers or a mish-mash? mish-mash.

Are you a sucker for good grammar? Grammar? What's Grammar? Oh yeah, that think I really can not do?

How is your handwriting? It could be better, but it's not that bad if I really try to write nicely.

How evil are your villains? Um well... in the book I am writer the villain is really a nice guy with the wrong ideas on who should be in the seat of power. In the book I am writer with a good friend of mine, he is really evil. Really.

Are you long-winded or succinct? Well, I'm not really sure. I think probably a little of both.

Do you have typical writer traits such as ink stains on your fingers or a pencil behind your ear? Um, I can't think of anything, unless taking what would be a normal sentence and changing the words to mean the same thing, but having every one around me in tears.... No I don't go that far. Every once in awhile I spout a rather dramatic sentence, but not that often.

Would someone walking past you on the street consider you normal? Um... um... I would hope so. I guess that depends on who I am with, and how I feel.

Do you write mostly poetry, stories, novels or a mixture? Well, I write mostly novels, but I also write a lot of short stories.

Do your characters vary in accents, appearance and attitude or are they mostly the same? My biggest challenge as a writer is making my characters different. They are all the same, describing them in a nutshell, perfect.
I have started to get better at it though and they now look as well as act a little differently. Most of my female mainish characters have green eyes though.

Do real people and/or places inspire your writing? The answer to this one would be yes.

How many blogs/websites/internet haunts do you have? A lot.

What is your favorite character? Or do you choose to remain unbiased in case of a revolt? Well Heskith may beat me over the head for it (he really is a nice guy) I would have to say Dugan. The villain of sorts in the book I am writing right now. I think he will turn into my biggest challenge as well.

Do you talk to your characters? Do they talk back? I always talk to my characters. They always talk back.

Are you more comfortable with girl or boy main characters? Boy. Did not even have to think for this one. I have always had trouble with my girl main characters. They either turn out perfect, or little brats.

Do you follow basic overused plot lines with new twists thrown in or do you depart from the norm all the time? Almost every writer uses the basic plot line, Good vs. Evil. Other then that, I wouldn't know.

Do you feel God has called you to be a writer/poet? Will you grasp the power of the pen? God has given be the gift of writing. If he wants me to develop that talent into becoming a published author, I don't know.

Feel free to grab it.

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Nov. 18, 2008 - My Characters are Turning Into Dogs

I decided not to do the NaNoWriMo challenge this year. I really thought about it, but came to the conclusion that keeping my mind on the book I'm writing right now would be the best thing.

I set myself the goal of finishing it by midnight Jan. 1 2009. Even if I have to furiously scribble, as my family is watching a movie while they wait for The New Year to come.

This book is not turning out the way I had in mind (none of my books ever do)

This time when I sat down to write it I told myself to let my characters run wild, let them tell me who they want to be, and let them do what they think will be best for the story.

My problem is that it's not happening. I'm holding them in, keeping them on a leash.

One of my main characters is perfect. She is beautiful, gentle, kind, and loving. She has no flaws, and because of that she has become unreal.

My other main character is doing better, although he is quickly becoming perfect as well, he knows he shouldn't be. He reminds me constantly. To let him go and do his own thing.

The only thing that's happened that I didn't plan from the beginning, is a few extra characters who shoved there way into the story.

However I doubt they will save it.

So if you don't see me till the New Year, it's most likely I'll be teaching all my characters to heel.