November: The Crazy Times

And so we again arrive at November, AKA The Crazy Times. 

Why so? 

1. November is the busiest time of the year for all aspects of my day job so, yay...overtime. 

2. It's NaNoWriMo - 50,000 words in 30 days

3. It's Comic Con month - meaning there are 4-5 days I will likely not have any time or energy to write and also work will be piling up at the day job while I'm off signing books at cons. 

4. It's prep for Winter month. In addition to everything above, I'll have to find time to winterize the pond, hopefully pull out the goldfish that have survived the ducks and set up a tank inside for them, get the plastic up on the chicken run, and put all the yard stuff away before snow starts to stick around. 

Can she do it all? Tune in next month to find out.

You can find me this month at:

Nov 11-13 Grand Rapids Comic Con where I'll be doing two panels

Nov 19 - Fantasticon 

Nov 26 - The Bluestocking Bookshop

Which leads neatly to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group Question: 

Have you ever participated in NaNoWriMo?

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

This will be year 17 of NaNo for me. So a resounding YES on participation.

I've won 15 times so far. The only year I didn't (2014), I was in the middle of building our current house, as in doing the general contracting, installing cabinets, helping with wiring, and doing a lot of tilework. I was kinda busy, but I did manage to get 25K in on a project I haven't touched since. Someday, I'll get back to it.

10 of those NaNo projects have gone on to be published.

Knowing this is crazy times, do I intend to win again this year? Yes, unless something major gets in the way. 

What will I be working on? I'm spreading my 50,000 new words over several ongoing projects and one new one. Last year's half finished Urban Fantasy, a horror themed short story collection, the mysterious personal Narvan project, and a children's book centered around my tiny handicapped chicken.

This is Kaykay. She fits in one hand.

Tips for NaNo success:

Write something everyday. On days you have more time, write 2K instead of 1,667. 

Build a buffer in the first week while your ambition is high so when life gets in the way, you can squeak by with a few 500 word days and still be on track.

Know that you can pound out 10K (or more) a day if you really put your mind to it so if you fall behind, all is not lost.

Realize that the middle of the novel is often a slog for first drafts. Allow yourself to make notes in slow sections and jump ahead to where you're motivated to make words happen.

Don't have two or three consecutive hours a day to write? Write in 15 minute bursts scattered throughout the day. I often find this my most productive way of writing.

Do most of your writing NOT AT THE KEYBOARD. When you're washing dishes, taking a shower, are doing something mindless at work, in the bathroom, driving, or eating lunch, think about your next scene. Then, when you have a chance, sit down and write it. Get back up and go for walk, give the kids a bath, ride a bike, fold the laundry, and think of the next scene. Repeat = novel.

Get involved with your local region or, if you don't have one, connect with others doing NaNo and support/encourage each other. This is one of those times when peer pressure is a good thing. 

Good luck to those participating this year! Go make words happen!

Falling Into New Projects

Things are finally slowing down this month. More of a catch my breath before November hits sort of quiet than anything, really. Only two single-day book signings this month and an actual vacation! It's been a few years since I've had a real vacation and here's the big one, my husband and I haven't had a vacation with just the two of us since before we were married. That was twenty-five years ago as of this Halloween. We figured we were due for an anniversary trip. Okay, overdue. Looong overdue. We'll be heading off to the Smoky Mountains later this month.

On another fun note, since I'm semi-prepping for NaNo, I'm considering an idea for a book that might require the need to dust off my long neglected painting skills. I've been spending the occasional evening doing watercolor lessons for a refresher. 

If you are looking for books, I'll be at the Geeky Experience Comic Con in Holland this weekend but then I'll be off until November. Hooray!

I got to hang out with author Vera West in Kalamazoo last weekend.

Projects on the agenda for NaNoWriMo this year include:

    1. Actually, for really really sure this time, working on Frayed

    2. A horror short story collection

    3. A children's book

    4. Being entirely unproductive publishing-wise but working on my personal project if all else fails.

November's book signing schedule:

    Nov 11-13 Grand Rapids Comic Con

    Nov 19 Fantasticon 

    Nov 26 Bluestocking Bookshop Indie Author Day

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

And that brings us to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group Question: What do you consider the best characteristics of your favorite genre?

Answering for Speculative Fiction because I'm kind of an umbrella term author, the best part is the freedom of imagination. Followed closely by being able to write whoever and whatever best serves the story without being tied to real world rules or expectations. Spec fic allows us to shine lights on all kinds of real world issues, but through a more distant lens that often makes those topics more palatable and easier to digest. Getting out of our world and into an entirely new one is also a great escape from daily life, a vacation in book pages. 

 

Guest Post: Nick Wilford's New Release

 

Please welcome Nick Wilford, who is here to talk about characters and his newest release!

Today I’m going to talk a bit about what happens when good characters go bad and how it might affect the rest of your story. This can be really fun for both the author and reader because it can turn everything you thought you knew about your story, and your protagonist, on its head. That opens the door for all sorts of twists and revelations, adding layers of intrigue.

There are two main ways in which a previously good character can go dark: making that choice to cross over themselves, or being influenced by some kind of outside agency so their thoughts and actions are not entirely their own. In Reckoning, my main character, Wellesbury, falls into the latter category. (He’d been so determined to fight for what’s right the entire series, I didn’t think he’d ever make a conscious decision to go to the dark side.) But even if your character has made the move consciously, there’s room for a lot of nuance. Maybe they feel they don’t have a choice: for example, doing something bad is the only way they can get what they need for their family, such as something that would save a dying relative. Maybe they think what seems bad right now will lead to good in the long run. Use this as an opportunity to add complexity to your protagonist.

At the same time, think about how their actions affect everything and everyone around them. It’s going to have a chaotic ripple effect: those close to them might try to help them, or perhaps get sucked into this different way of thinking themselves. It’ll move the goalposts if there’s a villain your good guys are trying to defeat because the line between good and evil might now be very blurry. Or if you have a “sidekick” character to your protagonist, they might have to shoulder much more responsibility by both taking on the antagonist themselves and trying to bring their associate back on the right side. This is the position Ez, Welles’s partner, finds herself in in Reckoning.

Overall, this is a case of no character being completely black and white, to borrow the name of my series. Everyone has good and bad within them. Just as your villain will be much more rounded and convincing if they’re not purely, completely evil, so will your protagonist be if they’re not purely and completely good. Have fun playing with the boundaries and you’ll end up with a much more satisfying reading experience.

Title: Reckoning

Author: Nick Wilford

Genre: YA dystopian
Series: Black & White
Series #: 3 of 3

Release date: 20th September 2022

Publisher: Superstar Peanut Publishing 

Blurb:

The time has come for those who perpetrated wrongdoing and suffering on the land of Loretania to face their judgement. Lord Histender and the other members of the deposed Reformers’ Government are in jail awaiting trial for keeping that country in a state of disease-ridden deprivation, alongside other heinous crimes.

Wellesbury Noon and Ezmerelda Dontible, the kind and benevolent new rulers of Harmonia, are looking forward to seeing justice finally being done. But nothing is that simple. Lunkin, the psychotic former Chief Scientist, has one more trick up his sleeve and is wreaking havoc even from behind bars. Soon, Loretanians who have come to make a new life in Harmonia are falling victim to hate crimes and brutal attacks. And things take a turn for the desperate when Wellesbury himself becomes compromised.

Can Welles and Ez turn the tide of public opinion and secure justice for the people of Loretania before it’s too late?

Purchase Links:

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Smashwords / Barnes & Noble / Kobo 

Add it on Goodreads

 

Author bio:

Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Once a journalist, he now makes use of those early morning times when the house is quiet to explore the realms of fiction, with a little freelance editing and formatting thrown in. When not working he can usually be found spending time with his family or wrangling his six adorable dogs. His first traditionally published novel, a YA sci-fi adventure entitled The Becalmer, will release from Creative James Media in August 2023. His other books include the Black & White trilogy, a YA dystopian series, and A Change of Mind and Other Stories, a collection featuring a novella and five short stories, four of which were previously published in Writer’s Muse magazine. Nick is also the editor of Overcoming Adversity: An Anthology for Andrew.

Linktree

Book signings, Breathing, and IWSG

As I mentioned last month, this is the crazy times. I'm in the middle of a four weekend book signing frenzy before things start to settle down for the rest so the last few months of the year. Relatively, anyway. I'd make this a longer, more informative post, but my brain is jelly. 

Currently up on my schedule:

Charlotte Frontier Days - Sept 9 & 10

Monroe Pop Fest Sept 16 & 17

Kalamazoo Expo Center Craft Show October 1

Geeky Experience Comic Con October 8

Where I've been: 

Newaygo Logging Festival with Laya the chicken

I finally got to use my newly modified tent cover at the Michiana Renaissance Festival
This was a super show and I'll be back next year! 

I also got to wear my newly modified blue dress on a very hot day.
It fits much better now and is more comfortable.
I was super excited about being very very hot. Does it show?

What am I working on? Breathing mostly. It's allergy season. On the bright side, I've figured out my publishing goals for 2023, but that's a blog post for later month.

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

Let's get to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question of the month: What genre would be the worst one for you to tackle and why? 

Historical Fiction. As much as I enjoy reading it. Writing it requires research. Research of that magnitude requires focus and detailed notes and keeping everything accurate to the period. My head hurt just thinking about it.

Yes, I keep detailed notes on facts and characters in my books, but there's a lot more freedom when you create your own world rather than having to maintain the accuracy of history and knowing all the things. Yes, that's my detailed description of, you know, the things: the stuff that makes historical pieces entertaining but also educational. 

I'll stick to enjoying the hard work and diligence of other authors in that genre.

Goodbye July, Hello August

 I spent July traveling across Michigan meeting readers. From Lansing, to Lake Orion, and then back to Grand Haven in West Michigan. Whew! It was a fun filled month of books, dragons, presenting writing panels, and even superhero wedding! 

Kogan Con - Grand Haven, MI

Michigan Medieval Faire - Lake Orion, MI

Capital City Comic Con - Lansing, MI

July was also Camp Nano, in which I plugged away at a book I'm writing for me at this point, wherein *spoiler alert* I'm killing people, crying about it, and processing the fact that they are dead. In theory, this may free me up to delve into other non-Narvan stand-alone books...like the pile of them on my hard drive glaring at me to be finished. As of the end of the month, I added 40,000 new words to the novel. Since my original goal was to add 20K, I'm calling that a definite win. Yes, Seeker is still the last book of the core series. If this tragic tale eventually gets to your eyes, it will be a companion novel like Minor Years.  

Oh, and dammit, I already have ideas where I could go after this. But no! No! Must, concentrate on stand-alone books for a while! 

I'm also still percolating on the last 2/3 of Frayed, which is slowly making its way through my local writing group chapter by chapter and finishing it is currently slated to be my project for NaNo 2022 unless I can make this Narvan book shut up and work on it before then. 

After such a busy July, I'll be spending August resting. Right? Ha. You're funny.

You can find me:

August 6 - Holland Art in the Park

August 13&14 - South Haven Blueberry Festival

August 27 & 28 Michiana Renaissance Faire 

If you're not familiar with 

the Insecure Writers Support 

Group, check it out here 

and find links to all the other 

participating writers.

That brings us to this month's Insecure Writer's Support Group question:  When you set out to write a story, do you try to be more original or do you try to give readers what they want?

The first draft of everything I write is for me. Sorry, readers. But hey, I'm a reader too and I have to wait for the words to leech out of my fingers onto the page to enjoy them. Trust me, you're getting the far better end of the deal here. Once the story gets to you, it's a smooth ride (hopefully) and far more coherent (definitely). 

Readers get much more consideration once a draft enters editing. I often move things around or cut bits entirely to make the story flow better, faster, or be more engaging for everyone who is not in my twisted head.

As far as being original, I would think that's something we all strive for. Originality comes with adding your own voice to any story. All the plots may have been done before, but its what you do with them that makes them unique.