And it's Friday once again! I thought I'd tell you a bit about what I'll be doing for the next month. Of course I'll be writing my IAN diaries, and taking care of the house and the kids and the animals. Bit still has her library groups three days a week through the end of July. But I'm also going to be participating in Camp NaNoWriMo.
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It's also so we can find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. Members come here to check in. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a PM to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime! We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone who reads IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
Ok, we do have a diary schedule. But, when you are ready to write that diary, either post in thread or send FloridaSNMOM a Kosmail with the date. If you need someone to fill in, ditto. FloridaSNMOM is here on and off through the day usually from around 9:30 or 10 am eastern to around 11 pm eastern.
Monday:
BadKitties
Tuesday:
ejoanna
Wednesday:
Caedy
Thursday:
art ah zen
Friday:
FloridaSNMOM
Saturday:
Dave in Northridge
Sunday:
loggersbrat
Basically I'm going to attempt to write a novel, or at least most of a novel in a month. I've set my goal at 30,000 words in case I have a few bad days when I can't get to the computer to actually write, or I don't have the focus to do so. My book does not yet have a title, hopefully one will come to me as it progresses, or FlSNDad will come up with something as he reads it. He and Caedy are writing as well.
Now officially National Novel Writer's month is in November, but only Caedy participates in that one because with home schooling, Thanksgiving, and getting ready for Christmas plus weather changes and the ensuing health issues that always crop up that month, November just doesn't work well for FlSNDad or myself. Bit however is going to do a mini-Nano this year, with a much lower daily word count. They even have a lesson plan available which we'll start in October in preparation for Nano.
So FlSNDad and myself are going to do Camp Nano this year, which runs in the month of July, which is much more friendly to our schedule and our health. We've each set our goals at 30,000 words. Traditionally the word count is set at 50,000 but for Camp Nano you can alter that.
I have the first four chapters and a prologue plotted out, some basic character descriptions written and some backgrounds, especially for the main family. The antagonists are still in shadow yet. I have a vague idea who they are and what they represent and want, but I'm still filling them in. That may be because they are still on the periphery of the first four chapters, just hints of what they are. I'm hoping to have a better idea before July 1st gets here. Four days to go.
My novel synopsis:
Urban Fantasy YA:
Nora's life has been challenging. Her family has always been different. Her father restricted to a wheelchair, her mother a therapist sometimes viewed as a 'hippy' by neighbors. An incident in elementary school prompts her parents to home school her so they can teach her how to control her burgeoning abilities. Things seem to be going well for Nora by high school graduation, she's gotten control of herself, her 'special skills', her life.
College looks bright: new job, new school, new friends,new plans. New evil.
FLSNDad's Novel synopsis:
Welcome back to Mariner Key, a small community off the coast of Florida, where things, aren't quite normal. Joe Carter sees this as an unexpected, but very welcome fresh start, a chance to get his life back on track now that he is finally crawling out of the bottle and back into the sunlight. But how much sunlight will he actually see, even on the gulf coast? Something new has washed up on the shores of this little slice of paradise, something that the former big city cop hasn't seen before, and has no clue just how to handle.
So what are your plans for the rest of the summer? Are you doing something special in July? Do you have a novel floating around in your head waiting to get out? Could you write 1000 words a day?