My 3 Motives for Participating in #NaNoWriMo18

Visit my NaNoWriMo page at: https://bit.ly/2zKwh6j

National Novel Writing Month begins each year on the first day of November. Each writer commits to writing fifty thousands words during the thirty days of this month. Whether a person completes 50K, 5K or 50 words in November, that's more words written than by those who set no goals and wrote no words.

Time moves at warp speed during November when you participate in NaNoWriMo (you will see it on Twitter also as: #NaNoWriMo18.) It's hard to believe this is already the last day of the first week of NaNo18. So far, my word count is increasing at a steady pace. I expect it to continue in the same vein. What is my plan? I'm glad you asked.

The obvious answer is to have a plan. Whether you write by the seat of your pants or outline each chapter, a clear pathway from 0 to 50,000 words is your best solution to a surmountable challenge. Each year my plan varies. This year, I made a game of writing my 50 thousand words.

Until the end of October, I hadn't fully committed to doing NaNo this year. I have two manuscripts ready for editing, ones written for NaNo 2013 and 2016. In July, I published the manuscript that I worked on during NaNo 2015 and 2017 which became the novel SHARDS OF MEMORY Oral History in a Heartbeat.


With that much of a backlog, I figured my attention should be directed at editing and marketing. Granted, writing an original draft feels far more creative than revising and checking facts to support a train of thought within the story. But what convinced me to join NaNo this year were three better ideas:

1.) I would write a string of short stories that blended in with the parts of the 2016 manuscript that didn't make it into SHARDS OF MEMORY.

2.) These short stories would then be used for the April 2019 AtoZ Blog Challenge that lures me in year after year, just as NaNo does!

3.) The final product would become a companion piece for SHARDS OF MEMORY.

I'm not one to count my chickens before they're hatched. For now, I am enjoying the pleasure of writing the short stories. Also, a lesson has emerged: I'm learning so much about getting the beginning, middle, and ending of the story set, regardless of the length. (Did you know the only difference between a short story and a novel/novella is all those words in the middle?)

So, how am I doing?

G etting

R eally

E xcited

A bout

T omorrow

 

How is #NaNoWriMo18 going for you so far this year?

 

 

If you are interested in any of my NaNo publications, you can find them here:

available at Amazon.com https://amzn.to/2D9ZeMg





Happy New Year #IWSG Measuring Success in 2017

 

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html

 

The awesome co-hosts for the January 4 posting of the IWSG will be

Eva @ Lillicasplace, Crystal Collier, Sheena-kay Graham,

Chemist Ken, LG Keltner, and Heather Gardner!

 

January 4 Question: What writing rule do you wish you’d never heard?

My answer to this question is backwards: I love the advise to learn the rules so you know which ones you want to break and then do so with professionalism.

 

 

Happy New Year, 2017, everyone.

 

Each year, it is tradition for me to compile a list of goals to take me through the upcoming twelve months. Goals concerning my writing projects lead the way, with reading goals close behind. Some goals appear year after year, not because they failed to make the grade the previous year but because they are so important that they bear repeating. Healthy lifestyle goals top this chart. Whether I reach or exceed a goal, my satisfaction is the same. Only when I totally miss a target, do I feel any measure of disappointment.

For 2017, I've set the bar rather high as I aim at more successfully marketing my published novels. I fear neither success nor failure. My concern is about setting a goal to accomplish something that is a questionable measure of success or failure: the sale of a specific number of books.

How do you measure your success as a writer?

 

 

 

Thoughts On 'A Reading Challenge,' October Cancer Month, and bonus Haiku

 

When I set my Goodreads challenge to read and review 71 books between October 22, 2015 and October 22, 2016, I saw no problem in reaching the goal. Reading is a large part of my life, never a chore or a drain on my time and energy. If anything, I should feel guilty for reading while the laundry awaits. But Stephen King gave all authors the green light by saying we should write for four hours and read for four hours every day. Thanks, guy!

The Importance of Book Reviews

 

Book reviews are helpful to authors but are especially important for readers. A review can help a reader decide whether a book will be worth their allotted reading time. It can also raise their awareness of a story that will thoroughly entertain them. Your review can save another reader from thinking, "It wasn't at all what I expected."

 

Setting goals gets me a lot farther than not setting them. Although my bar for 2017 won't be quite as high, I'll never stop reading and reviewing books. 

 

Book #71 of my 71-Books Goal for 2016

 

During the Makiki Community Library 40th Anniversary Celebration in September, a local author introduced herself to members of the Sisters in Crime/Hawaii Chapter. We were holding discussions on various writing topics over a two-day period. Janet attended a couple of the sessions. During open forum, she shared her experience about being diagnosed with terminal cancer -- twenty-five years ago. She told us about the short memoir she had published on Amazon as an e-Book. After hearing about her ordeal, along with everything she is doing now to enjoy life to the fullest, I couldn't wait to read the book. My 5-Star review follows.

 

 

SURVIVING "TERMINAL CANCER"
by
Janet R. Shaw

 

The amount of information included in this short book is amazing. The author shares her experiences, from the time her doctor informs her that she has terminal breast cancer and will soon die, through the emotional upheaval to the life-saving decisions she made on her own. I purchased the book after meeting Janet at the Makiki Community Library 40th Anniversary celebration in September. She didn't stay long because she didn't want to lose her spot in the community pool where she swims on a regular basis.

Nothing overtly supernatural presents itself in the author's story of SURVIVING "TERMINAL" CANCER, but she gives readers enough information to form their own opinion as to whether there is a miracle involved.

 

 

Pink hibiscus smiles
Greetings on my autumn walk
 Honolulu style


 

 

 

October

is

Breast Cancer Awareness month

 

Why not treat yourself to Janet's book today!

 

 *****     *****     *****

Link to my Goodreads Challenge list and Janet's book:

https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/show/3890-2016-reading-challenge

 

 

 

 

The LITIGATORS and AMERICAN PAIN: Two Books About Pharmaceuticals

 

My goal is to read and review 71 books between October, 2015 and October, 2016. I have posted 31 reviews through April, covering 38 books read since October 22, 2015. Some posts cover two to more novels, including the January post for the first four John Sandford's Virgil Flowers police procedural/thrillers. For the April A-to-Z Blog Challenge, I posted two reviews per week.

Today’s post covers two books. The Litigators is a novel; American Pain is non-fiction. Both books deal with pharmaceutical companies.

 

John Grisham’s legal thrillers need no introduction and offer a challenge for the reader to describe something as yet left unsaid about the author or the novel, The Litigators.

The novel begins in the vein of other “lawyer leaves the fast track of a large legal firm to find happiness” tales. This story includes the humor of two over-the-hill ambulance chasing back street lawyers and their self-declared office manager. Add to this the obligatory big, bad pharmaceutical company pushing drugs that allegedly make people dead.

Into this mess staggers the above-mentioned, fast-track deserting lawyer after sobering up from a celebratory drunk, san safety net and sans courtroom experience. With a few unexpected twists, and a satisfying climax, The Litigators was worth my time to read. An additional benefit was the interesting peripheral case handled on the sly by the fast-track deserting lawyer who himself benefitted from an unexpected windfall of information.

Varrick Labs and the drug Krayoxx are part of Mr. Grisham’s world of fiction. But there are real stories about real drug companies in the business of making money off the suffering of others. Fellow human beings quickly become addicted to the pills these companies pedal as safe and “non-addictive.” This is accomplished not only under the guise of relieving those burdened with unbearable and unrelenting pain, but also under the protection of the law.

 

American Pain by John Temple has a 2015 copyright. In it, the author lays bare the facts about pain clinics and “pill mills” in the United States. Addressed are the loopholes that led to the widespread use of oxycodone and the brand-name drug OxyContin, in Florida and Kentucky, and around the nation. Meet users and abusers and losers. But don’t jump to any conclusions about “druggies” just yet. 

 

OxyContin became the top-selling brand-name controlled substance. Ironically, the instructions for usage were the handbook for how to modify the drug to get very, very high. Increasing the potency as addiction bled in was only a matter of logistics: when “this” stopped working, do “that”; when “that” stopped working, do “this other thing”. When users began dying like flies in the noon day sun, the death rate outnumbered cocaine and heroin overdoses combined. The prescription drug was being marketed legally and the marketing department was doing a bang-up job of selling their product. (Tobacco companies come to mind?)

 

It occurs to me that John Grisham’s The Litigators may have

more in common with American Pain than I first realized.

 

J is for JUSTIFIABLY EQUAL TO HOLMES?

For this year's challenge, my theme is The Fun in Writing. Each of my 26 posts for April is aimed at
illustrating fun parts of an author's day. A writer doesn't only write.
Creating a story or an essay requires research, revision, editing, and lots and lots of coffee and chocolate.



J is for JUSTIFIABLY EQUAL TO HOLMES?

 

Could my title for today's post be more cryptic? (I'll explain below.) Matching posts to alphabet letters sometime feels like trying to strike a Kama Sutra pose, lots of angling.

The Beekeeper's Apprentice is the 33rd book on my list of 71 books to read by October, 2016. Setting goals is another of those fun activities that writers enjoy.

 

During the writing process, my goal's outline looks something like this:

1. Write 2k words per day
2. Do not edit while writing
3. When falling short on words, reset goal to catch up tomorrow 

My latest reading goal, on the other hand, is much more fun. By setting the goal  to read 71 books in 12 months, I've given myself permission to spend a lot of time reading for enjoyment. The second part of this goal, to "write a review" for each book, helps me to keep writing without running out of ideas.

You won't experience writer's block if you have

several different writing projects in the works.

 

When you're at a loss for words with the novel, skip over to the book review project or the next blog post; or write a poem.

The title of this post refers to Mary Russell, a character in The Beekeeper's Apprentice. The author created Russell with the brain power and deductive reasoning of Sherlock Holmes. I believe the novel proves that Russell is justifiably equal to Holmes. Have you read the book? If so, would you more likely give a negative or an affirmative answer to the "J" question?

 

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King

(my review for Goodreads)

Laurie R. King is scheduled to be Toastmaster at the 2017 Left Coast Crime Conference: Honolulu Havoc. During a discussion about the conference and the author, a library assistant at Makiki Community Library in Honolulu recommended The Beekeeper’s Apprentice to me. I was hooked by the “Editor’s Preface” in which King sets an inviting stage. 

The Preface gives the reader an opportunity to transition from the preconceived idea of reading the author’s story to the delightful idea of immersing ones’ self in an early 20^th century memoir. I was eager to suspend disbelief and enjoy the tale as experienced by narrator and co-protagonist, Mary Russell, during her formative years. That those formative years were spent under the tutelage of none other than the inimitable Mr. Sherlock Holmes only emphasizes the sheer pleasure presented to the reader. 

The opening sentence of the synopsis explains the book’s title:

“In 1915, Sherlock Holmes is retired and quietly engaged in the study of honeybees

when a young woman literally stumbles into him on the Sussex Downs.” 

 

The book’s contents are labeled Books One, Two, Three, and Four. The stories cover several years of Mary’s early life and describe her interaction with Mr. Holmes. They collaborate on several cases, including a through-line investigation, after he discovers and is impressed with the intellect of the fifteen-year-old “gawky, egotistical, and recently orphaned girl.” 

The feistiness of this young lady, along with her eccentric thoughts, mode of dress, and sympathetic history, endeared Mary Russell to me from the first chapter. The author’s ability to incite reaction from the reader with succinct emotional description and colorful passages had me laughing, frowning, and cringing in turns.

 

In my opinion, reading such a well-written book as The Beekeeper’s Apprentice is a better learning experience for a writer than participating in a creative writing course. And more fun!

 

I DON'T WISH I WERE PERFECT

Perfections isn’t a goal of mine. But it seems plenty of other people wish this of me, or at least that I wasn’t so imperfect! 

That got me thinking about perfection and the need to strive for the impossible (my opinion on achieving it.) Is it necessary to have such a goal? 

Is a goal of perfection detrimental to a person’s mental health? 

A case in point is the manuscript of a novel. The cover of a book is of major importance. The credibility of plot and depths of characters, and a steady rise in tension are required to hold a reader’s interest. Misspelled or misused words, poor punctuation, and sloppy formatting are all distractions. 

But why would it gnaw at a reader to find a typo sprinkled here or there? Enough to make them stop reading? To write a scathing review? 

Why would anyone have such a strong reaction to a small blemish?

Because we want perfection for ourselves. And we expect that perfection from others. And those who expect perfection from others should know others expect the same from them. How would you react to water-logged pasta at an Italian restaurant; smudged polish on one freshly manicured fingernail; scuff marks on a Manola spiked heel; no galley margin in the first chapter of your brand new John Sandford novel; a grease spot on the foyer carpet of a Tiffany & Co. store; or dropped stitching on your Victoria’s Secret pink thong Valentine’s present? 

Perfection may be overrated. But if my manuscript has flaws that readers can’t overlook to enjoy the story, then lack of perfection becomes a big problem for me. I can deal with less than al dente pasta if the sauce is magnific; a scuff on a Manola if it is on the inside of a spiked heel (maybe), or a missed galley margin on page 214 of a new novel. But smudged nail polish on French tips, grease spots at the entrance to Harry Winston, and dropped stitching . . . well, just about anywhere on Trousseau lingerie wouldn’t make the cut. 

Yesterday, I read a WIP memoir that appealed to me for several significant reasons.

That appeal carried me through the unpolished manuscript beyond any misspelled,

misused, or missing words, because the story had me hooked from start to finish. 

The lesson I learned? When it comes to appeal, if I miss the mark in one area, it becomes imperative that I shoot for the bulls-eye in another. Striking a perfect balance, not perfection, is my goal. 

I do, however, still aim for the red center . . .  every time.

 

 

REWARDING YOURSELF for GOALS MET

It takes a while for me to compile a list of goals each year. The list isn’t just a Jack Sparrow “guideline” of wishes and hopes and dreams, but of specific plans to accomplish tasks and projects. I need to know where I’m going and how I plan to get there.

There are major goals interspersed with small, quickly accomplished goals on the list, so I don’t get discouraged by lengthy projects that require weeks or months to complete. The lengthy projects are broken down into bite-sized steps, also to keep frustration at a minimum. The purpose is to keep moving forward, even when something seemingly drags me backwards. With an eye always focused on the end results, even when moving backwards I don’t lose sight of that Hawaiian Heritage bracelet.

What does a Hawaiian Heritage bracelet have to do with my 2014 goals? Ah, but everything.

When I decided to write my Pepper Bibeau mystery series, the name I conjured up for my protagonist was Kai-Ena Lehua Bibeau. To cement the name, I purchased a Hawaiian Heritage bracelet with the name “Kai-Ena” scrolled in black on its face. After I published my first novel, FOR EVERY ACTION, I purchased a second Hawaiian Heritage bracelet. One of my favorite flowers, the hibiscus, highlights the band’s design.

One thing that is true of Hawai'i, and of women's fashion, you can never have too many bracelets!

In 2013, after publishing my third Pepper Bibeau mystery, WITH FIERY VENGEANCE, which is set in Hawaii, I wanted to purchase another bracelet. After all, along with 13 other authors, I had also compiled and published MYSTERY IN PARADISE 13 Tales of Suspense in November, 2013. But other goals for 2013 eliminated the possibility.

That means accomplishing my 2014 goals must include such a reward, and therefore becomes a goal within itself. A win-win situation!

You do reward yourself for meeting your goals, don't you, major as well as small or quick accomplishments?