Happy Thanksgiving!

If traveling, please be safe and take care!

I Love Your Blog Awards!

I got an "I Love Your Blog" award from my dear writing friend, Maddie James, so now what I have to do is present this to 7 blogs I love.

Like Maddie, all I can think is "Only 7?"

I have way more than 7 favorites and if you're curious about others, you can check out my favorite links further down my page here.

Here goes- In no particular order-
Maddie James's Life Unedited-

http://www.maddiejameslifeunedited.com/

Petticoats and Pistols-

http://petticoatsandpistols.com/

Witchy Chicks-

http://witchychicks.blogspot.com/

Michelle Willingham-

http://michellewillingham.com/blog/

Magdalena Scott's Magdalenaville-

http://magdalenascott.blogspot.com/

Cheryl St. John's From the Heart-

http://cherylstjohn.blogspot.com/

Yasmine Galenorn's Life On The Fringe Myspace Blog-

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=198522042

Love You All! Pass it on to 7 more when you get the opportunity!

Noveling, Sick Kid, Surprise Contact and a Birthday

Well, after I crossed the 50K mark, I slowed down- didn't write the day after cause I wasn't feeling well. Yesterday I wrote about 500 words, but that was it. I'm feeling sluggish, have a sick kid at home with me today (daughter has slight case of bronchitis and doctor excused her to stay home today to recoop after hubby had to go get her from school yesterday with a 102.7º temp and complaints of a sore throat).

This morning though, a surprising message awaited me in my email. A friend request for Facebook from a dear old friend. I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw it! I haven't heard from him in years, but apparently he found me, so it's a good thing I left my facebook up even though I rarely even bother with it.

I had been thinking about him, knowing I didn't have his new address to send him a Christmas card this year (or for the past few)...so hopefully he and I will be able to keep in touch now. I've sure missed him. He's my bud and once upon a time he was my very best guy friend.

Today is also my best friend's birthday- so Happy Birthday, Arlene!! Hope you have a wonderful day!

Well, I'm going to tend to my sick child and maybe get her to rest some more (5 y/o's don't get the whole "get some rest" stuff..LOL) Then I'm planning to work on my novel some more.

Have a good Hump Day!

Let's Have a Legendary Christmas!

Well, I did sleep well last night, though I woke up with pain in my chest, ribs and back. Not sure what was up with that...it almost felt like when I used to have my gallbladder attacks. I took an Alka-Seltzer and feel a lot better now. Perhaps it was something I ate last night- we had tacos and burritos, so I don't know- maybe the tomatoes I ate? I'm still leary of them, even though they've been deemed "safe" now...

Got a load of sheets in the washer and plan to also change the sheets on the kids' beds today. I haven't started writing yet this morning, but I've been surfing around the net and found out a little while ago that a book I've been eagerly anticipating in print was put up on Amazon this morning-

So of course, I had to jump right in there and get it ordered.

A Legendary Christmas Anthology by Maddie James, Janet Eaves, Magdalena Scott and Jan Scarbrough.

I already have The Ladies of Legend: Finding Home Anthology and I just love the little fictional town of Legend, Tennessee. These ladies know how to drop you in the midst of the small town and make you feel at home, make you feel like you've known the townfolk all your life and you feel welcome to pull up a chair and get the scoop on what's going on with each character.

I haven't even finished it, but I highly recommend it! LOL In fact, I got my nerve up to attempt making cloverleaf yeast rolls from a scene in Magdalena Scott's Midnight in Legend and I have to say- not only were they good (I use my great aunt's yeast roll recipe all the time) but they were really cute! Thanks Magdalena for the inspiration that made my ho-hum round rolls into something to talk about at the dinner table! Hehe!

So today I guess I'm doing a little promoting for a few ladies who inspire me. If you love romance, small town atmosphere and happy endings, I highly recommend The Ladies of Legend stories. You can find out more about them via the http://www.legendtennessee.com/ site.

There are also other stories in e-book format set in Legend I've yet to get to read (My hope, as a print book lover, is to eventually see each story based out of Legend in my hands) or you can purchase the anthologies via links on their site or by searching for them, by titles, on http://www.amazon.com/.

Can't wait to have my own "legendary" Christmas!

Unofficial Winner of NaNo '08

I crossed the 50K line earlier this afternoon. I was thrilled, did a little dance, almost wet myself....

No, I jest- about wetting myself anyway.

Of course now that I've updated my word count goal, I can see that I'm 58% of the way to the finish of my novel, so I must keep trucking on. Still, it's exciting to know I've won my 3rd NaNo in a row. The thrill of self-imposed accomplishment never gets old, I don't think. I challenged myself all year with each novel I started and completed.

I finished 4 this year, though I know they all still need beefing up. When I finish this one, that will make 5 I've completed in a year's time, 9 in total in the past two years.

This is not a feat I take lightly. I'm really proud of myself. For years and years I let my story ideas sit and collect dust and at least now I'm producing more than dust bunnies and a continuing sense of disappointment that I started stories but never finished them. I used to beat myself up over the fact that I wanted to write but didn't have the determination or confidence to do so.

Writing is a boost to my ego- which isn't a bad thing. It gives me hope for my journey as a writer. It gives me fulfillment and self-confidence to know I'm doing what I love, even when I stress over story lines and plot hurdles and research- which gives me headaches. I hope to someday enjoy research. LOL

Among all the things that stress me though, there are those clear shiny moments when I find my groove, when my characters tell me more about themselves and their stories. When a new character pops in to chew my ear off and when the writing flows like magic from my fingertips, painting beauty across the screen in philosophical artistry. That's the thing I hunger for, the reason I continue to write like a mad woman, putting pen to paper, fingers to keys and pouring out all the words that circle my head and release all those extra personalities that live within me.

I think I'll sleep like a baby tonight now that one goal is down and I only have a short journey to The End.

Have a wonderful Sunday evening everyone.

The Great Christmas Tree Tour '08

I interrupt my regular blogging to encourage anyone who happens by here to check out Cheryl St. John's From the Heart blog each day through the holidays if you would like to enjoy the tour of Christmas trees. Mine is already up there, along with several others.

I'll be checking back in to see all the lovely Christmas trees. Feel free to join me!

http://cherylstjohn.blogspot.com/

NaNo Day 14

I haven't much to say for myself as far as yesterday's writing went. I barely wrote over 1K, just so I could cross the 40K mark.

I'm ashamed...but yesterday my thoughts just didn't want to sit still or concentrate on writing. I emailed back and forth with my best friend, checked amazon for gift ideas to tell my MIL about for my hubby- who doesn't really want much of anything and what he does want, I've already ordered for him.

I talked to my mom on the phone and then put out my wooden snowman decoration in the yard, in the rain...along with my solar snowflakes, though they are having to charge before I can turn them on. Hopefully tonight.

It's raining today, so I doubt I'll be putting the rest of the decorations out like I had planned. So, instead, I'm going to try- really try- to get my head back in my novel and get at least 3-4K written today. Hubby is cooking today- cavatini, so I don't have to worry about cooking, so I should be able to get something done.

I've got less than 10K to go now. It would be lovely if I could get in the groove and get to 50K today. Wouldn't that be something?

I do have some laundry that I need to take care of, but I can balance laundry with writing.

Well, I hope everyone has a nice Saturday- if you're getting rain or snow flurries- I hope you're enjoying the day indoors, relaxing and staying warm.

~T

NaNo Days 9-14- Rollercoaster Riding

I didn't realize how long it had been since I posted about NaNo'ing. It's been sporadic bursts and lulls this week.

9th- 2,517
10th- 4,000
11th- 3,227
12th- 1,804
13th- 2,003

Of course today is the 14th and it's still really early, so I don't have a word count yet. My current total is 39,336, so I'm going to be bouncing over the 40K mark today in no time. I've got just over 10K to make it to the 50K goal. Yay me! My 3rd NaNo win!

Once I'm over the goal, I'll be changing my word count goal to 85K on my progress meter, so I can continue toward the other main goal- finishing my 9th novel in 2 years.

This past week has been up and down for me. I feel like I'm getting somewhere, but at the same time, I feel like my wheels are spinning and spinning and I'm not getting anywhere. Anyway...not much else going on besides writing and taking care of stuff around the house. Hope everyone has a great Friday!

NaNo Days 7 & 8

NaNo Day 7- Slightly less productive- 3,182 words. Got the grocery shopping done in the evening and relaxed.

NaNo Day 8- an off day- I wrote 1,954 in the morning before lunch. After that, hubby was online watching stuff on YouTube for a while, so I didn't complain cause I'm ALWAYS on the computer writing or checking email, etc. Later in the afternoon, after talking to my sister I got a wild hair and decided to take down the fall stuff and clean the shelves where the Christmas Village goes.

Next thing I know, I've dusted the shelves, rearranged the shelves to clear off the bottom two and hung clean curtains along with the pale blue with white snowflakes panel my mom found for the backdrop to the village. Next thing I know, hubby is cutting the "snow" sheets to fit the shelves and I'm hunting village pieces.

I'm about a week ahead of my normal decorating, but I felt like I "needed" the warmth of decorations- that little "umph" that lets me know I'll get to enjoy my decorations instead of throwing them up and pulling them down in no time flat. I'll be able to get back to writing once I've gotten things "squared" away.

After I put my daughter to bed, I put the Christmas tree together while we watched Sweeney Todd. I tried to get it to fit in the corner a little farther back because this year my stepson is in the room past the tree. Normally the tree nearly blocked the doorway when it was just the spare bedroom, but now that it's his room, I gotta make sure the path is clear for him to get in and out of there so I bent the limbs upward a little to tighten the tree up a bit.

I also put the treetopper and lights on it last night. Today will be to tackle the garland, bows, ornanments and other decorations. I'll probably wait to do the outside lights and decorations till next weekend, but for now the spirit of the season has gotten hold of me. Going to try to get some writing done this morning and then work on decorating some more.

I'll post pictures later, once I've gotten it done.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

NaNo Day 6 Recap (crosspost)

Yesterday ended up being more productive than I had hoped for. I finished out the day with 4,617 words added to the story bringing me up to 20,649 words.

I got to enjoy Ugly Betty and Supernatural and got a lot pumped out on the novel front. What a wonderful thing to feel like I got something accomplished.

Today I've been writing already and have almost written 1K. It's coming along which is always a good thing.

Another good thing- I feel a little better today than I did yesterday. I don't want to speak too soon, but hopefully (fingers crossed) I'm starting to get over this cold or whatever it was.

Well, back to the grind. Hope to reach 25,000 before this day is out.

Have a great Friday!

NaNo Day 5 a Bust, NaNo Day 6 a Struggle (crosspost)

Yesterday was a major bust on th writing front- after cleaning my daughter's room for about 6 hours, and having hubby home not feeling well and fixing supper and watching Bones and Ghost Hunters, I just wasn't up to writing much at all. My head was in a fog. I wrote 628 words before I had to shut it down and go on to bed feeling groggy and sluggish.

I woke up this morning feeling no better- I could barely wake up and was dozing off as I helped my daughter get dressed this morning. Usually the sleepyhead- she kept clapping her hands and making me laugh to keep me awake. She's my little sweetie.

Today has been a little more productive, but the words are coming as slow and as sluggish as I feel right now. I've got vapor rub on my neck and chest and sipping tea and sucking on a cough drop. It's not very conducive to writing, that's for sure.

Just why I had to get sick the week before NaNo started I will never understand. It's doing a number on my ability to get any writing done even though I am ahead on my word count. Every word, sentence and paragraph comes like I'm bleeding them out, slowly, agonizingly.

Frankly I'll be glad when I get to feeling better, but just when I thought I was feeling better yesterday evening, I turn around and feel worse today. I napped earlier today, but that didn't help, just left me feeling more exhausted than before.

Hope everyone else is having a wonderful day!

NaNo Days 3 & 4

Monday I got 4,720 words and yesterday I got 4,008 words written, bringing my total to 15,404.

I wasn't sure I would get much written yesterday because I was feeling drained and I still had both the kids home with me. They drove me up the wall.

But I still managed.

Today though...I haven't written anything yet (besides this blog.) Instead I tackled my daughter's mess of a room and got it pretty well straightened, decluttered and organized. We'll see how long that lasts.

Now I need to get some writing done though, so I'll report back later with Day 5's word count.

Have a great one!

Day Two: NaNo

Yesterday- Day Two of NaNo was a splendid day- coughing my head off, sore throat, body aches and pains. Yeah...I'm NaNo'ing sick. I started getting sick last week and it seems to have escalated as the days went on. Seems to me I was sick last year when NaNo began. Lovely...just lovely.

But...the bright and shiny moment came last night when I jotted down my word count for the day. 4,914 words- Grand total so far- 6,676 words. Already into Chapter 3. I'm actually 2 days ahead- even though I felt like crud yesterday and was writing in between laundry and cooking. Dave did the dishes for me though, which was just so sweet.

Have the kids home today. They're watching Bee Movie on HBO. I've got some more laundry to do- but I'm going to get my hiney in this chair and type away!

Have a wonderful day! I'm off to NaNo....