'Twas the Day Before December

'Twas the day before December
And all through the house
I've been reconciling November
And I've had my doubts.

My NANOWRIMO shot
may have fallen a little short
Instead of writing the whole ending
I left the ball in their court

The characters took on
A life of their own
Changing my well planned plot
and deepening the tone.

But I'm not disappointed
in how everything went.
It just means I have to
Creatively end.

November had even more
surprises in store.
One of the best was more family
closer to my door.

The snow didn't wait
to make it's grand entrance this year
And thanks to a friend's furnace skills
It's warm again in here.

Now dentist, now doctors, on optomotrist, on visits,
on appointments and papers and forms and more visits.
December is coming in a whip of cold air
And if we're lucky, Merry Christmas soon will be here.

Black Friday Winner

Congratulations to Nebraska Filleman, the winner of the $50 gift card to CSN. Thanks to all of you who stopped by.

So, it's Black Friday. My husband came home with a bag full of socks at 8:00 this freezing cold morning. He told me it wasn't that exciting. His report included inconsiderate shoppers and sleeping men on benches. Hmmm.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.... we had a Thanksgiving surprise yesterday morning around 7 AM. The furnace went out. We have tried to heat our house with the woodstove, but so far, there is still much to be desired. In other words, the office where I'm typing this is probably 45 degrees. I'm thinking of finding some gloves.

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving and are having a great weekend.

Gift Card Giveaway

You may not be thinking about Christmas yet, but I'm thinking about you. To help you find the perfect gift, sling backpacks, stuff for the kitchen, backyard, living room, closet, office, toys for the kids, baby gear or literally thousands of other ideas, CSN has you covered.

And they want to give away $50 to use in their online store.

There really isn't anyone who couldn't benefit from the selection available. Truly. I've been lost in their web pages for hours at a time.

Here's the gig. The contest starts today and ends on Black Friday-- November 26, an unofficial American holiday where people flock to the stores to buy gifts for Christmas.

This is where I confess that I am not a Black Friday shopper by nature. I generally avoid crowded stores when possible. I hate waiting in long lines. I don't get up at 5 AM to be there on time, standing in the freezing cold, waiting for the amazing doorbuster sale.

My husband, on the other hand, is the king of Black Friday sock sales. Not kidding. He's been known to sneak out of the house early in the morning and come back with treasures.

So, back to the exciting part where you win $50. All you have to do is tell me something you like to do the weekend AFTER Thanksgiving. It could be Black Friday, or the days to follow.

And, since the gift card is electronic and send via e-mail, please leave your e-mail address in your comment.

Finally, be A VERY COOL PERSON. It's easy. You just follow this blog.

Have a good one. I'm looking forward to reading what you have to say.

Yeah Write

I've spent a lot of time the last two and a half weeks on mostly two things....

Being sick and writing.

Now that the being sick part is finally trickling away from our home, I have the most delicious part left for the whole rest of the month.

Writing.

I am loving it. Honestly, I haven't spent as much time on the internet because I'd rather be working on my novel than anything else.

I thought the beginning of a new story is where authors were madly and deeply in love with their work, but I'm finding that the more I dive into this, the less I want to climb out. Like water clinging to my swimsuit, this story follows me around. My character still surprises me, making choices I never saw coming.

And I thought I knew her better than anyone.

Alas, I am taking a few minutes to share with you my strange passion. If you see me driving down the street or at the grocery store and I don't even notice you, it's probably because my head is still in my book. And, uhm, sorry if that actually happened to you.

As for a useful writing tip.... I decided last night that a favorite CD playing quietly outranks Veggie Tales as background noise. I love quiet the most, but was surprised at how the music made my words come to life in my head almost like a movie.

Another tip... when writing an especially emotional scene, be sure that no one is going to walk in while the tears are still streaming down your cheeks. It takes way too much time to explain and honestly, it only confuses people. And check your makeup BEFORE you leave the house.

If I go MIA for a few days, you'll know why. I'm living inside a story right now with some reality on the side.

Someone won two books today

Congratulations Lena!

Thanks to Random.org, Lena is the lucky winner of the double book giveaway.

Oh, but stay tuned. We are jumping right into another giveaway VERY SOON. This time, be looking for some CSN money.

Details to come.

In other random news.... *this is where you read about my real life stuff*

*I officially think it's ridiculous to have a chest cold and then contract the stomach flu. Apparently my body didn't think I'd had enough or something. Thought I was through being sick.... ha ha ha...

*I had the NICEST e-mail today from a high school senior from Negros Occidental (the island she lives on) Here's a few words from her...

We have a lot of butterfly gardens and farms. They're kind of our specialty, and now whenever I see them around, I think, "Alvor!" So thank you for giving me the pleasure of reading your book.

I would so love to see those butterfly gardens and farms. Can you imagine? That would be amazing.

*NaNoWriMo- or my alternate approach to it, is going GREAT. Side benefit of being sick is having lots of time to write. I really am going to get this book finished this month.

*And thanks for sharing your thoughts on spicing up November. I loved reading them. All your comments make my day brighter.

See you soon for another giveaway.

Spicing things up

Okay, we need a giveaway. It's been too long. Since it's five months before the second book of Alvor is released, I'm going to do a double book giveaway.

Meaning.... the winner gets Alvor and another YA book of my choice. Ha ha ha.... I'm not going to tell you what the other book is. But I will tell you that I read it and I liked it. It's clean, funny and has a touch of romance without being mushy.

So... do you want something new to read?

Here's the scoop. You have to leave a comment- give me something that spices up your November days. You know, cinnamon in your cocoa, watching the latest flick with a bag of popcorn, painting your nails orange, whatever. Just give me some spice.

And, of course, you need to be a "Very Cool Person" ( a follower of this blog for those of you who weren't completely sure what defined you as one of those) AND make sure your e-mail address is in your comment so I can find you if you win.

That's it. Now give me some spice. Starting now.

Contest ends Friday November 12- and I'll use random.org to choose the winner.

Raking, Writing and Arithmetic

It's November. Need I say more?

Raking: Yes, you can have 7 inches of leaves in your front yard, it turns out. And the two hour power outage today was the perfect time to get out there and rake it up. I can't write if there's no power, right? Well, technically I could have used my laptop battery. But when I realized I was going to have to rake the inside of my house soon, I decided today was the day.

Writing: When I'm not writing, I'm thinking about writing, feeling guilty for not writing or planning my next space of time when I will get to write.

Arithmetic: Goal: 4 pages a day, at least 5 days a week. Making up for lost time due to parent/teacher conferences, babysitting kids, raking leaves and other necessary-for-living obligations allowed. That means writing ten pages at least one of the days of the week.
I will write 80 pages before November is over. I will.

If I say it enough times, then it will happen...right?

Seriously. What's not to love about November?

Okay, getting back to work now...