Finished Nano!
by V.E. on December 1st, 2009
filed under nanowrimo
Well, well, well. Fancy meeting you here, doll.
*cough cough hack cough*
I mean, I finished NaNoWriMo—and with a few words to spare!
Final word count: 51,019
Times participating: 3 (2005, 2008, 2009)
Times won: 1 (2009)—third time’s the charm, apparently
This year’s title: A Great Actress or a Great King
The easiest scene to write: the Valentine’s Day rape talk between Bennett and me (don’t ask)
The most difficult scene to write: the stuff immediately after the thing that happened with Nathan
What I did while procrastinating: talked to friends online; anime; RL; sleep
Will I try again next year?: ask me again next year
Was it worth it?: the way I did it, yes
Excerpt:
I visited Bennett in late March for his birthday. His birthday was actually in early March, but I hadn’t been able to get away from school before the third week for a weekend in New York with him. I visited on the pretense of seeing my little brother, John, who was in New York City for a choir tour with the high school Concert Choir. I only did get to see Johnny once that weekend because of what I discovered in Bennett’s room. But, before that, I wanted Ben to know that I hadn’t forgotten his birthday.
“Happy birthday,” I said, handing him a small present shaped like a book.
“Thanks, doll,” he replied, ripping open the wrapping to reveal a science fiction novel set in the Star Wars universe. He was always reading them, so I figured I should get him the next one in the series. “Just what I always wanted.” He grinned and tossed the book on the bed beside me. Taking my face in his hands, he pulled me close and kissed me hungrily, making me aware of his immediate desires. He took one of my hands in his and pressed them both into his lap so I could feel his erection. I blushed under the kiss, but I wasn’t so shy as to pull away.
It wasn’t going to happen, unfortunately. Just at that moment, his younger brother, James, bounded into the room without knocking and said, “Bennett! There’s something on the computer I want you to see.”
He’d gotten me started, but I managed not to growl as he broke the kiss and bounced up after his brother, saying, “What? Is it about…” before the words were lost in the next room, and I was alone. I knew he’d be back and would make it up to me, but it was frustrating to be turned on like that and not have a… resolution, if you will.
Not that it happened often. He was usually more attentive.
I didn’t suspect anything until I found a photograph of him and another woman. Actually, it was a photograph of their hands intertwined with a poem she’d written in a frame stuffed under his desk, hidden from view. I read the poem—I don’t remember now what it said—and I knew.
Day Three hundred eleven
by V.E. on November 10th, 2009
filed under nanowrimo, powerof5
01 Received two Postcrossing postcards today! (I’ve sent ten.)
02 I hit over 10,000 words in NaNoWriMo! Only 40,000 to go! *dies*
03 Working hard on The White Horse review.
04 Today’s my mom’s birthday. Happy birthday, Mom!
05 Have all but one winterthing gift figured out.
Remember, if you want a holiday card, email me your address!
Yeah, I know you want some
by V.E. on November 5th, 2009
filed under nanowrimo, personal, school
This is from pages 11 and 12 of my manuscript, which I’m working on for this year’s NaNoWriMo. Not exactly kosher, but I’m working it for my benefit, so I still think it counts.
————
That counselor and I never really had a good relationship, either.
There was an after school festival with carnival-like activities, and each kid in daycare handled one of the booths; the more difficult-to-handle booths (and the more difficult-to-handle kids) had adult supervision, but mine wasn’t one of those. I started eating the candy I was supposed to give out for prizes—Tootsie Rolls, mostly—and the same counselor walked by and caught me slipping a piece into my pocket.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her eyes narrowed like she already knew.
“Nothing,” I said. “Sitting at the booth, like I’m supposed to. Waiting for someone to come by and play.”
“No, I saw you just take a piece of candy.”
I rolled my eyes. She didn’t like that.
“Did you just take a piece of candy?”
“No, that was a piece I won before.” I rolled my eyes again like it was obvious.
She pulled me out of the booth and into the shade off to the side of the festival. “Don’t lie to me. I saw you take that Tootsie Roll. You haven’t left that booth since the beginning; there’s no way you could’ve won it ‘before’.”
I rolled my eyes again. “It’s my candy.”
“I saw you steal it, you little—” She stopped and took a deep breath to avoid calling me some bad name. “And if you roll your eyes at me one more time, I’m going to pull you from this festival and call your parents.”
I rolled my eyes before I could help myself. She growled, pulled me by the arm back toward the daycare classrooms, and set me in a chair while she called home. I don’t remember what she said, or what they said. I pulled the Tootsie Roll out of my pocket while she was across the room on the phone and gleefully unwrapped it. She watched me, warning me with her eyes, but I ignored her. I put the candy in my mouth and tossed the wrapper on the floor. She hung up the phone.
“Spit that out right now,” she said, holding her hand out underneath my chin for me to comply. I chewed, chewed, and swallowed before spitting Tootsie Roll juice into her hand. She pulled away in disgust. I rolled my eyes; she was such a teacher.
She’d about had it. “You’re not leaving this seat until your parents come to pick you up.” That was fine by me; the festival was boring anyway. I crossed my arms over my chest and hunkered down to wait.
NaNo 2009
by V.E. on November 2nd, 2009
filed under nanowrimo
You may follow my progress, as outlined here, by clicking the pretty picture (to the right).
Why the hell is this in November again? Why not… April or something? I’m off to a slow start, but it’ll get better as the month wears on, I hope.
Having to type in the “total word count” every day is irritating, though, because each of my chapters is in a new document. I don’t think linearly, so I work on each piece as it comes to me, which means I could very well write in three or four sections per day.
*sigh* That’s just the way it is.
It’s… NaNoWriMo TIME
by V.E. on November 2nd, 2009
filed under nanowrimo
Yes, it is indeedy that time of year again; a time when we all come together and…
WRITE OUR ASSES OFF FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH
…in an effort to get down on paper an entire novel (50,000 words or more).
It’s NaNoWriMo: November 1st-30th “thirty days and nights of literary abandon!”
I will be doing things a little differently this year.
Here’s the thing. I’m working on an MFA… finishing it up (in theory) this semester. I’m writing book reviews and working on my manuscript like a crazy woman. I will be using NaNoWriMo this year to FINISH once and for all my manuscript and top off my book reviews and what not. That said, I will be keeping track of my word count (reviews + manuscript) and will consider it a success if I write 50,000 words all told.
Not technically participating, I guess, but I think it’s for a good cause, and if I tried to do NaNoWriMo the old fashioned way—writing 50,000 words on top of what I already have to do—I’d just keel over and die half way through, probably.
Irregular Roundup #9
by V.E. on October 27th, 2009
filed under entertainment, nanowrimo, work, writing
This is gonna be fast and furious because I am tired of all the crap awesomeness in my Firefox tabs.
The LCHS Band/Colorguard website a’la Spring 2000. Haha, check out the old school.
Hahaha this is awesome: TranslationParty. Pretty self-explanatory, and pretty addicting.
A course on sex-trafficking with only one hurdle.
As if I needed more bad news: graduating during the recession has long-lasting negative consequences.
Electron Band Structure in Germanium, My Ass. That is all.
Japanese lessons in English from NHK World, one of Japan’s leading broadcasting stations. Also, how to get a Japanese scholarship, 8 ways to win unlimited Japanese lessons, and Is learning Japanese not popular anymore? Also, the Tokyo Filter.
I want an Underground-Sign. *pout* “20th Avenue” would be awesome, thanks.
Gearing up for NaNo (cough*yeahright*cough) part 1: How to write a novel in 30 days.
Novel-Ts… I think I want the Poe one with the heart on it.. because I’m morbid like that.
Singing horses from the guy behind Owl City. He just found it somewhere, I think, but it’s still cute. Click to make them sing; click again to make them stop.
Project Implicit will let you know how racist you really are (among other things). We’ll see. I may give this subject its own post after I take some of the tests there.
Going abroad for me has always meant Japan, Germany, or Great Britain. Unfortunately, I don’t know enough non-English to really get around, and I’ve heard Australia’s beautiful, so I may put it on my list.
R.A. Heinlein’s This I Believe essay for the radio series of the same name from the ’50s hosted by Edward R. Murrow.
A fellow MA/MFA student from Wilkes wrote this short piece about the small things and I love it.
In ‘N Out’s secret menu and the Bible verses on their containers.
Main page for the National Writers Union.
California motorcycle safety program… for people who want to earn a motorcycle license in Cali. If I move again soon, I’ll have to figure out the requirements for where ever that is.
—Jedem das Seine
Tom [Cruise] to eat [Katie Holme's baby's] placenta
by V.E. on April 19th, 2006
filed under entertainment, ladyamedeus, nanowrimo, politics
Cruise’s fiancé is due to give birth in the next few days.
According to the Mirror Tom said: “I’m gonna eat the placenta. I thought that would be good. Very nutritious. I’m gonna eat the cord and the placenta right there.”
The actor has even been carrying out his own medical scans on the foetus after buying himself an ultrasound machine.
Tom also revealed he and Katie have been preparing for the birth by studying at their Beverly Hills home.
He said: “We’ve been studying what a woman goes through. What happens to her body. It’s just kind of becoming this fun game of learning.”
Cruise said his sex life with Katie had made him realise one-night stands were “horrible”.
He added: “Great sex is a by-product for me of a great relationship, where you have communication. It’s an extension of that. If you’re not in good communication with your partner, it sucks.”
From: http://www.news24.com/News24/Backpage/HotGossip/0,,2-1343-1344_1918150,00.html
