A NaNo Discovery
I've been going back and forth on NaNo.  Has it helped me get closer to my goal? Harmed my writing style? Done nothing (because really, the true issue is not the month or the word count but my unwillingness to sit in one spot for several hours at a time)? Jury's still out.  One major discovery, though:  I much prefer the words that I struggle to produce than the ones I

The Rain In Spain
I can smell the skin and blood of clementines on my fingers. Image courtesy of http://www.cookinglight.comClementines are satisfying in so many ways: your fingers take on the scent of orange without the stickiness of it; sometimes, if you peel them in just the right way, that little white spine down the middle of the fruit comes popping out, a sign of destruction gone right; you get eight little bursts of sweetne

Distractions -- Any Tips for Overcoming?
My mind has been elsewhere this past week. Oh, my mind is often not where it should be (though thankfully my brain is... I had the misfortune to be in the den last night when my DH flipped the channel to show Hannibal Lecter serving someone his own brains). This past week, the usual distractions (Twitter, Google Reader, Facebook, Twitter again) haven't held much appeal to me. I've just been busy with life away from this computer, and even then, I feel like I'm looking at the world from the middle of a thick patch of fog. So, when I sit down to write, the words feel especially distant.Still, I've told myself to keep writing, even if only 500 or 1000 words, even if

Writing Speed -- Your Thoughts?
So, we're a week through NaNoWriMo, and I'm way behind.  I have been leaning on the excuse of illness, but the fact is, I have plenty of time to write and my illness, while fatiguing, hasn't kept me from the computer. Over the last few days, I've been relatively happy with my writing -- but I'm still not writing enough words to make up for my slow start.  I'm not giving up on getting the 50,000 (and most of the rest of my novel) done by December, but I know there's a good chance that I won't make it. I feel pathetic admitting this.  Most people partic

Recommendation: The Book Thief
I meant to go to sleep early last night; I have a cough, sore throat, and some aches (yay!), so I figured I could use a good night's sleep.  Instead, I read the last 150 pages of The Book Thief.  Not only did I not get to sleep early, but I also cried through the final 100 pages, which did nothing to help my congestion problems.  But lack of sleep and sniffles ... so worth it!