Last Post for November 2009

Books I’ve finished this month: (alas, nothing new to add, yet)

The Saga of Hugh Glass—Pirate, Pawnee, Mountain Man by John Myers Myers

Revenge of the Paste Eaters: Memoirs of a Misfit by Cheryl Peck. For an excerpt of this most delightful book go to: http://www.enotalone.com/article/4974.html .

Books I’m taking with me to Orycon:

Practical Taoism Translated by Thomas Cleary

The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace by Jack Kornfield

What’s going on in my life:

I managed to get 52,500 words written on my NaNoWriMo novel (Jiang Li and the Fall of the Jinn), filed the scrambled ms, and am now a 'winner.' The novel has been filed in my computer until I return from Orycon, and then I shall finish the draft and then hunker down for the reworks.

Thanksgiving is here and Jackie is in the kitchen slaving away roasting a turkey, and whatever else she’s doing. Oh, no, she’s in the other room on her computer. Well, the smells coming from the kitchen are wonderful, and I’m staying out of the way!

My idea of a perfect Thanksgiving Day meal is one in which I do not have to shop for, prepare, clean up afterwards, or deal with leftovers. Jackie, blessings upon her, is taking care of everything. (I do hope Aaron will help in the KP department ;-)

As I dropped off to sleep last night, I started thinking of all the things in my life for which I am truly Thankful. The obvious ones – my daughter is staying with a good friend in NM, and has found a job; my son and Jackie are here with me instead of living out of a cardboard box someplace cold and wet. I have more friends than I can name here for which I am extremely thankful, not to mention cousins and biological siblings scattered across the country, some of whom I met for the first time on my road trip last spring. And on a three dog night, I am so thankful for a very warm kitty who stretches out next to me!

Truthfully, I found counting my Thankfuls a most delightful way to drop off to sleep.

Getting Ready for Orycon:

Packing is almost complete. Just a few last minute things to toss into the suitcase before my ride comes at 4.45am tomorrow. Now that is something to be Thankful for – my Ol’ Same who volunteered to get up at 0:Dark:00 to drive me to the Amtrak station! I have some stories to take for my reading, plus, of course, I will read a bit from Brother Rat (that is, obviously, the main reason I’m going – to schlep my book;-)

Projects I’m currently (still) working on:

Several Winter Gifts (sewing—finished 2, 4 to go, hand work only)

Jiang Li and the Fall of the Jinn (working title of the novel)

The Weather Outside:

Cold (32 degrees) and gray, slight breeze.

The Weather Inside:

Warm; filled with love and the aroma of a roasting turkey.

The (Almost) End of November

Books I’ve finished this month:

The Saga of Hugh Glass—Pirate, Pawnee, Mountain Man by John Myers Myers. I believe it is published by Bison Press; however, it is available through Amazon.com Hugh Glass has been a hero of mine since I first read about him in fifth grade, and this is by far the best biography of him I’ve read.

Revenge of the Paste Eaters: Memoirs of a Misfit by Cheryl Peck. For an excerpt of this most delightful book go to: http://www.enotalone.com/article/4974.html . I love a good memoir, one that isn’t filled with angst and woe, unless that angst and woe is somehow humorous to the writer and therefore to the reader. This memoir is filled with chuckles and outright laughs. Cheryl Peck is on my short list for Writers I Would Like to Meet.

Books I’m currently reading:

After the Ecstasy the Laundry by Jack Kornfield
Jedediah Smith and the Opening of the West by Dale L. Morgan
Practical Taoism Translated by Thomas Cleary (kinda makes one wonder about IMpractical Taoism, doesn’t it?)
Journal of a Trapper by Osborne Russell, Edited by Aubrey L. Haines
The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace by Jack Kornfield

What’s going on in my life:

November, and NaNoWriMo, are almost to the end. I reached the 50,000 words on my novel; I have more chapters to write and expect it to reach at least 64,000 words before I finish the first draft. This draft is sorely lacking fillers and descriptions; but it has a lot of dialogue (read: talking heads).

Thanksgiving is almost here and my defacto daughter-in-law is going to do all the cooking, and cleaning afterwards. I will spend most of my day doing laundry and packing to leave the next morning at 0:Dark:00 to catch a train to Portland for Orycon, the Oregon Science Fiction Convention. After that, I will spend a few days visiting friends in Portland, before returning home at a far more reasonable hour of the day.

Projects I’m currently working on:

Several Winter Gifts (sewing)
Jiang Li and the Fall of the Jinn (working title of the novel)

The Weather Outside:

Cool (42 degrees F.) and sunny at the moment, slight breeze.

It's November - NaNoWriMo

Hooray, my ISP is back up and running!

Holy moley! It has been a bit since I’ve been here, hasn’t it? Is anyone still out there reading this blog?

Number one, another review has come in on Brother Rat (full disclosure here: Lee is one of my Sisters of Choice ;-):

Lenora presents us with a winning combination. Brother Rat is a delightful tale I couldn’t putdown once started. True, it is for young adults. That shouldn’t stop the more mature from picking it up. If you work hard in the corporate world, it is an entrancing escape. The bonus is that some of the insights that you can take back to work…. be confident.

And what do you do with a book once you’ve read it? One of the best things possible, give it to a kid. DO IT!

And, the primary reason I’ve not been updating my blog: I’ve been busy researching my next novel, which I will begin writing 1 Nov 09 as part of the annual NaNoWriMo challenge. (National Novel Writing Month – http://www.nanowrimo.org). I have partaken of the challenge twice, and both times I have succeeded in writing a novel. True, when one only has 30 days to write a minimum of 50,000 words, they aren’t the most polished words, but the story is told, and one then has time during the rest of the year to polish those words. The whole idea of nanowrimo is to get one to write and turn their internal editor off. It works, at least for me. So, it will be a bit more before I add much to the blog.

The other reason I haven’t been updating is my service is down, and I can’t connect to the internet. I wish I could claim that as the primary reason, but, alas, I can’t.

Sigh.

My Gratefuls:

1. NaNoWriMo

2. People willing to read and comment on my story and novel drafts

3. That I live in the time of computers

4. That I live in the time of television, and DVDs

5. That I live in a time, and a place, where education of females is not just the law, but expected and encouraged

My Wonderment:

That people can actually operate a DVD player without reading the instructions each and every time.

Quote for the duration:

“It's better to send in the Peace Corps than the Marine Corps.”— Sen. Ted Kennedy