Scattered Snippets from a NaNo-Obsessed Brain: ROW80 Update

My brain is so wrapped up in my NaNo project that each time I open up an empty blog post page, it freezes in some sort of rebellion.

"The words must be used for NaNo," says the strange, eerie voice in my head.

Then, I realized something. The voice was that of my main character. Guess she's the jealous sort. Good to know.

So this is quick, before her voice gives me an intense headache.

Do your characters ever try to control you that way?

First to share some writer news...

Every once in awhile, an author's work is so good that it will stay with me. Such was the case with Shauna Kelley's Max and Menna. I am not ashamed to admit I did a little Twitter- and blog-stalking after reading it. To my giddy surprise, Shauna lives in my town. In my town! When she asked me to review Don't Wake Up, I jumped at the chance.

Then, I worried. What if I didn't like it as much? What if I didn't like it all?

My worries were premature and unnecessary. It was amazing, and it launched November 1st. Here's an excerpt from my review (full review here) on Mom in Love with Fiction:

Thought-provoking and intense, Don’t Wake Up shows the slow decline of relationships under the stress of dishonesty and miscommunication. A line from the book keeps echoing in my head, “Sometimes, when something is broken, it simply can’t be fixed.” Too often, determining if it’s truly broken is intense and uncertain.

I highly recommend this book to readers who appreciate flawed characters who are finding their way and real life endings.

Then, on November 1st, Tribute Books featured Depression Cookies as well as an interview with me. (The full interview can be found here.) An excerpt:

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Appreciate reading… books have always been a very important part of my life. They have been my counselor, my friend, my imagination, and my inspiration among other things. I can’t imagine my life without books. One of my favorite quotes: “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” Charles W. Eliot 


Okay, my time's up.

Oh, I guess I should update on my only ROW80 goal right now... NaNo. As of 9pm on Day 4, I have 7,078 words. Not bad. And, I'm about to start writing for the first time today. We had quite the fun family day, so I'm feeling rejuvenated.

My apologies for being off my social media game. I plan to spend some time reading posts tonight, after writing time is over, and root everyone on in their goals.