I started NaNoWriMo with the best of intentions; a notebook full of them, in fact! I had goals! I was going to finish one of the many half-finished works-in-progress sitting in my queue, but then I spent the first week sick with one of my gastric flares and fell horribly behind. I didn't officially start until November 6th.
For those first few days, I was doing okay writing at least 2000 words a day, but I can't always keep up with that daily minimum due to chronic pain in my wrists. I've fallen behind again, and according to the NaNoWriMo word counter, I'll hit the 50k mark on December 3rd...unless I manage to catch up. I'm not throwing in the towel yet, but I am being gentle with myself. This year has been crazy and even if I don't "win it" and hit that 50k mark before the end of the month, I'm proud of what I have accomplished.
I've written 28,429 words this month! All in the second Forgotten Flounders book. That's pretty neat, considering I haven't been feeling very productive lately. Inspired? Yes...the ideas are constantly flowing, so much so that I've filled up several plot notebooks and have years worth of stories to tell. But it's a lot harder to write full-time when the boys have been home since March. Balancing virtual learning and work has not been as easy as I thought it would be.
However...I got my first break in months this weekend! A miniature "work" retreat at my friend's house. It was almost like the coffee work dates we used to have at the local cafe; we spent the evening working on writing (me) and editing photos (her) in front of her wood stove.
I didn't hit my daily minimum that evening, but the cozy retreat was just what I needed to refresh my spirit and mind.
This week, I'm not going to worry as much about daily minimum counts: I'm just going to write and see what kind of magic I can create.
The countdown is on! The cover reveal for my twelfth novel, Off Beat is happening in just eight days! If you are a book blogger or reviewer who would like to sign up to help with the reveal: click here.
Readers: be sure to add it to your Goodreads to-be-read list so you can receive release updates!
The pre-order is also live, so you can pre-order it and have it delivered wirelessly on release day (December 15th).