NaNo Update #2 - Scatterbrained

Life loves to get in the way of writing.

I got sick a little over a week ago, and then I started to get better right when the Thanksgiving prep time hit, and after Turkey Day, my husband and I needed to wind down. This means, I have no new words to add to my total.

My goal for before Friday is to at least finish the rough draft of the second Fate story. It's not a crazy goal, likely only around 5,000 words max, so it should be doable.

The holidays have my head spinning, and I have a lot of other things that need to be taken care of outside of writing, so we'll see when I find time to start making progress on the word count.

Who decided it would be a good idea to have NaNoWriMo in November? One of the worst months for it!

In any case, as you can see, this is a brief update. I'll have a monthly update on Saturday, and you'll find out what I plan to do for another blog series. =)

NEXT UP: Monthly Update

NaNo Update #1 - Behind

You thought I already gave up, didn't you?

Well, life has gotten in the way. Some personal stuff cropped up last week that made it impossible for me to concentrate. But I still haven't thrown in the towel. There's still plenty of days left in November, and I'm at least making some type of progress!

I finished writing the rough draft associated with The Magus card on Monday. The new tentative title is "Reversed". And yesterday I started in on The High Priestess card's story. Right now, I want black hole somewhere in the title, but beyond that, it's still up in the air. I'll leave you with a snippet from the beginning of the story (and my current meter at the bottom). And even if I don't hit 50,000 words this month, I'll at least have some more Fate stories churned out to revise and submit. ;)

Note: This is rough draft material.

Flick, flick, flick.

What was that noise?

Cecilia walked down the sidewalk, almost gliding, her long summer dress brushing the tops of her bare feet. But it was dark, so dark she could hardly see. The moon shown full in the sky, yet everything around her was a blur, even her hand when she waved it in front of her face.

Flick, flick, flick.

A single object came into focus, heading toward her. The reflector of a bicycle caused her to squint. It passed by her on the street, no rider to steer or keep it upright. There were cards in the spokes of the wheels--that's where the sound came from.

Flick, flick, flick.

Cece only saw the backs of the cards, green flashing by as the wheels turned. No, purple.

Oh, no. It was one of those dreams.

The bike came to a stop just behind her, an unseen apparition setting the kickstand. Knotwork wove across the backs of the cards. Green, yes, definitely green. How could she ever have seen purple?

She lost focus again, the bike and cards disappearing into a blurry mess.

That's right, a dream. And it was the type of dream Cece had worked so hard all her life to keep away from. She thought she had finally eradicated them from her nights--it had been well over a year since she'd had one. But here she was, the cards a tell-tale sign that this was no normal nighttime romp, not just her subconscious working on things she experienced throughout her day.

This dream had things to tell her. These dreams wanted her to listen and heed them.

Cece refused to listen.

NEXT UP: Either a SFFS Snippet or another NaNoWriMo Update.

SFFS Snippet - 11/3/12

Note: This is rough draft material from the short stories I am working on during NaNoWriMo.

After nibbling on some hard cheese and stale bread from his pack, Darney pulled the cards out of his pocket and spread them in front of him, far enough away from the fire that no sparks would jump on them, but close enough so he could see part of the images on their faces.

Per usual, the Magus card stalked him at the center of the heap, reversed, staring up at him, accusing him of not being who he was supposed to be--labeling him a charlatan. The confidence of the mage on the card was wiped when reversed, like something had drained the vibrant colors surrounding him. Blue cat eyes glinted in the backdrop, but they looked miserable upside down.

The mage had escaped the fire, and it seemed to call the damaged cards to it, so it could protect them. What Darney should have done.

He scooped the cards up and stuffed them back in his pocket. His own guilt was enough--he didn't need it from that card too.

Darney shut his eyes, yearning for sleep, to forget what had happened. But the screams wouldn't let him.

From "The Magus" (placeholder title) in the Fate series (rough draft)

About the Fate series:

A story for every Tarot card. A connection to the world of Fate for every story. The three world-hopping cat sisters find themselves at home in the purples of Fate, yet still drawn to the greens of Earth, sticking their noses in the stories of inhabitants of both worlds.

"The Magus" follows Darney on his quest to heal his damaged deck of Tarot cards--cards that have their own heartbeats.

Please visit Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday (SFFS) to read more great snippets!

NEXT UP: NaNoWriMo Update #1

NaNoWriMo 2012!

Yes, I am attempting NaNoWriMo again this year. Last year I had no hope of hitting 50k, but this year I seriously hope I can finally reach that goal. Most of my writing will likely be done on the weekends. I plan to write a little bit each day though.

I'm approaching NaNo slightly different this year, though. I'll be working on short stories, mainly ones from my Fate, Tarot card based series. I have a couple stories started in that series that need to be finished, plus plenty more that need to be written (I mean, I do need to write 78 stories, and I only have 2 done!).

And I hope to keep updates going on my blog when I switch over stories! I will have my first excerpt from the story I'm working on now ready for Science Fiction and Fantasy Saturday tomorrow. First up is "The Magus" card. I likely won't have titles for the stories until a later time, not unless some slap me across the face - lol.

My current tracker is at the bottom of this post, and I'll make sure to have a new one in each NaNo post for the month. So the previous tracker will stay at the word count I ended at before the next post. =)

Also, please don't forget that my short story, "Dancing in the Wind" is now available for purchase! If you go back two posts, you'll even get to read a snippet, and the purchase links are there as well.

And even though it's NaNoWriMo this month, I am still running Writing Quest - November! So, come on over and join us, whether you are NaNoing or working on other writing goals.

Good luck to everyone undertaking NaNoWriMo! May we all reach 50,000 words!

NEXT UP: SFFS Snippet - 11/3/12