Apparently, when one is in the process of purchasing a business, one gives up any extra time away from the regular job and home duties in order to schlep through mountains of legal crap-ola, red tape, paperwork, and don’t get me started on our yearly taxes because that was three and a half hours of my life that I’ll never see again.

The shop has taken over my life for now, which means I need to get my butt in gear (or in the chair) and really make headway if I’m going to keep my deadline of July.

As much as I love the shop and am excited at the prospect of running it full time, it is standing directly in the path of my writing. I’m exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally with all the ups and downs, which in turn leaves very little for me to work with when I write. Don’t get me wrong, I have ideas and I’ve even composed a couple of short stories, but it is all still in my head and that’s probably where it will stay until such time that I can claim a weekend for myself and make things happen. Thanks to the schedule we’ve worked out, those weekends happen alternately between three-hour car rides to run the shop on “my” weekends.

Eventually things will work out. I’m going to leave my permanent position and go back to substituting. I have no worries of being kept busy doing that, I have experience and skills that will get me in where others fear to tread. It will also allow me to work at the shop, and a little more time for writing.

Writing and living, two things I enjoy a great deal.

And I’m still ok with it.

It took me a while, but I think I’ve figured out why I’m not weeping and wailing and gnashing my teeth. In the past, November was important to me as a writer because it was the one month where I could write with wild abandon and my family expected it. I could sequester myself at the computer, snack food piled around me, and a thermos of coffee with easy reach. With the exception of the holiday when we had to go up to my inlaws for Thanksgiving, I could write and no one would question why I was spending so much time buried in my craft. It was the only time I could honestly say I was a writer and able to do what a writer does. 

Then I get into a relationship where my partner is not only supportive of my craft, but insists that I write, encourages my art, and does everything possible to make sure I write when the mood and muse strike. That is one of the reasons I adore her, but it is also the reason I believe I’ve been able to grow as a writer and to feel more like a writer and not just some bizarre, smelly, cranky, 30 day hermit that dwells behind the monitor every November.

I like it.

I’ll continue to support NaNoWriMo, and I may even join in, but if I don’t finish, I won’t worry. I’ll have a rough draft of something that I can work on when the mood strikes, and I like that too.

Now that it’s December I’ll go back to work on the second book of The Citadel Chronicles much to my beloved’s delight.

Mine too, come to think of it.

I have little hope of finishing with 50,000 words, but I’m still picking away at the story and I like how it’s coming along. Even though it is a very slow coming along that it’s doing.

sigh

There has been no editing to speak of, but not because I haven’t been thinking about it, more like I’ve been thinking a great deal about it while I’m in the midst of the various emotional thunderstorms brought on by drama-loving offspring.

Then there’s the job, but I’d rather not think about that. The upcoming holidays aren’t helping any, but I still have my heart set on getting the second book out by July. Sometime around the first anniversary of the first book coming out.

Happy November. If you’re NaNo-ing, yay for you and keep up the good work. If you’re not, yay for you and keep doing whatever it is you’re doing that you want to be doing this month… uh… yeah.

Things in my personal life have decided to derail my desire to write, simply because I am not allowed to bitch-slap people who desperately need it. My hands have been tied and I cannot tell the loser liars to shut the hell up. Instead I must sit by while people whine and dramatize their angst in poorly written private messages and in other unpleasant ways.

This kind of thing really cripples my ability to relax enough to write, because I’m always sitting here waiting for the next “disaster” to fall into our laps.

The only good thing to happen this week was having our home state vote to legalize gay marriage. My beloved and I have been whispering plans for our special day.

And Friday. Friday is a good thing and it’s happening this week. That’s two things.

Believe me, those two things help. A lot.

But I will not lose hope just yet. I’ve been promised some good writing time. We have a day off on the 12th (although we’ll be getting the place ready for Thanksgiving AND a fireplace insert, so writing will come much later in the day, if at all), and conferences during the week so I could come home a couple hours early once or twice that week and eke out a few extra words. There’s the day after Thanksgiving that may or may not see us traveling to the beach, however I WILL take some time to get words in during that long weekend.

It feels strange to be this far behind on something I love as much as I do NaNoWriMo. There are some folks out there who poo-pooh the idea of writing like this, and some who don’t like the “win or lose” mentality associated with it. But I’m of the opinion that anything that gets a writer to write, to unclog any blocks, is a good thing. The win/lose aspect of it does kind of bother me, but I look at it as a goal and if I achieve it then I’m pleased, if I don’t… well, I’ve not had to deal with that yet, so I’m hoping this won’t be the year I get to experience it.

The manuscript I’m working on this year is something new, so what I’ll have is the first draft/outline that I’ll be able to use later on. But at least the idea is down and won’t be forgotten. Barring any ugly technological catastrophes, anyway.

So, if you’re working on NaNoWriMo, I hope you’re doing well, and if you’re not, I hope you’re happy with what you have and that you’ll keep working on it even after November ends.

I know I will. 

Not that I don’t have anything else to do; after all I am working on editing the second book of my series. But I have a story planned out for November with different characters in a different setting doing different things…

I wasn’t sure if I would be able to participate, or even should join in the fun with everything I’m SUPPOSED to be doing, both writing and non-writing related, but NaNoWriMo is something I love and I’m loathe to give up. Even if it sets my editing back a month.

Will you join the fun?

Now the second book is going in a different direction, but it’s one that I kind of like. There are more answers to be found, and more color for the characters, both old and new. But it is difficult for me to accept these changes, after all, it means a lot more work and after this round of revision, I’ll simply be ending up with another first draft of the same thing… just different.

“It’s ok to let go of the old draft” has become one of my editing mantras. Quite often I can be heard muttering, “it’s ok. It’s ok. I’M OK!”

That last bit really does happen because surgically removing passages that I really liked, but don’t move the story in the right direction, is painful and I must remind myself that both the manuscript and I will survive. Post Op can be such a drag, but once the healing is over, you feel much better. Right?

RIGHT?!?

Be not afraid of changes, they make the writing better! (Now, imagine that in Charleton Heston’s voice, and it REALLY improves it!) Sometimes moving forward means taking a few steps back in order to make it better.

So, I’ll keep chugging away. My resolve to work on the manuscript every day is holding fairly well, with only a couple no-shows on my part. I think I’ve made progress toward becoming a real writer!

How about you? Are you moving forward as well?

Especially the part where I’d be able to hear best-selling author, J.A. Jance speak. It’s something I try not to miss whenever I have the opportunity. My friend and I got to the event in plenty of time, not realizing that we were missing one of the seminars I’d wanted to attend, but had we been there, we wouldn’t have made it to see Ms. Jance, so…

The Bookfest itself wasn’t quite what I expected. They’ve had to change the venue several times, going from an old Naval base hangar, to an elementary school, and finally to Peter Kirk park in Kirkland.

I liked the first two places much better. While the park is lovely, it’s inconvenient if you have difficulty walking; getting from one place to another to see everything is next to impossible. At least when it was in one place, you could go from one event to another and only miss a few minutes.

We also missed several vendors because we weren’t exactly sure where they were, and by the time we had it figured out, it was time to head home.  But I did get a nice holiday gift, and I got to visit with a few very nice people before leaving. At least parking was free, even if we did have to walk around the block (which may not sound like much unless your knees are in need of replacement, then it’s quite the hike).

Signage was almost adequate, but there were volunteers that roamed freely, guiding lost souls looking for books. Unfortunately their directions did not always mesh well with my ability to follow them, considering I’d never been to the park before and knew none of the landmarks.

Still, it was a good time that I was able to share with a friend, and I got to shake the hand of an author I admire as a bonus.

Maybe next year, I’ll see about getting a table of my own to set up…providing I can find my way around again.