NaNoWriMo Starts on November 1

NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. Aspiring novelists can join the fun at the website and attempt to write 50,000 words in November. Now, the words don't have to be good or even spelled right, but they do have to be written.

I have the general idea of my story, along with a kind of synopsis/plot--all of fifteen double-spaced pages. Not much, but more than a pantser like me usually begins with.

The task seems almost hopeless now, but when I start, the words usually gush out. If anything, I wind up with lots extra. And however far I get by December first, which I intend to be all 50,000 words, I will have a first draft.

This novel will become Part One of my Regency comedy trilogy. I named the trilogy The Feather Fables because all the books deal with birds. I began Part Three, wrote Part Two, then returned to Part Three. Talk about going backwards, but I had to start somewhere. Parts Two and Three both need a lot of editing because when I wrote them I knew next to nothing about writing. But I did finish. Both are entire stories.

I didn't intend to write a trilogy, but with my reuse of characters, the books developed into one. Part Two is a Christmas fantasy containing a goose who understands English. Part Three has almost no fantasy elements and stars an ornithologist with an embarrassing secret. The ornithologist is present in all three novels, but doesn't achieve his happy ending until the end. Frankly, I adore the guy and want him around as long as possible.

Getting back to Part 1, my hero is fairly unusual--a were goose. A wise woman transforms the hero into a goose because he's acting like a fool.

When I told my husband the premise, he said to turn the hero into a turkey.

A turkey won't work because the story needs a large bird that can fly fast for long distances. Besides, the hero isn't a hopeless case. He starts out as an idiot but changes along the way and a goose isn't quite as unredeemable as a turkey. But, wow, a were turkey, now there's a concept.

Part 1 also contains supernatural spies, a lady mathematician, secret codes and evil shapeshifters.

And only 30 days. Progress reports will follow in the weeks to come.

Thank you all,

Linda

The Muse Conference Ends Today

The Muse Online Writers' Conference is a free week-long online writers' conference conducted every year by Lea Schizas.

It's composed of chats and forums on topics of interest to writers not only of fiction, but also non-fiction, poetry and screen-writing. This year's conference has fifty-three chats and sixty-four forums, by my count. I may have missed a few. And seventy-eight handouts.

What an undertaking. Authors, agents, publicists, editors and publishers, all lending their expertise for FREE to help others. And so much great information. I admit I acted like a kid in a candy store and signed up for practically everything. I did all I could this past week, but I'll still be spending the next month copying all the additional information the presenters wrote in the forums.

And if you missed this year's conference, don't worry. Registration for the 2009 conference opens on November 1, 2008. You can sign up here.

Now for some shameless promotion (did you really think I'd forget?). The conference is free, but it does require money to run. If you have a few pennies, donate them to Lea at this link. She'll put your money to good use. And if you have more than a few pennies, that amount would be even better.

A grateful thanks from this newbie to Lea Schizas and all the other generous people who donated their time and talents.

Thank you all,

Linda

More Shameless Promotion (Does She Ever Stop?)

Do I have a choice?
From what I can see, authors have to promote all the time. But it does take a toll on your writing.
Just this past week, historical romance superstar Loretta Chase left the Word Wenches blog so she could have more time for writing. As sorry as I am to see her go, I understand her dilemma. Although she is a wildly popular author, she has to keep writing books people want to buy. Good writing takes time. Writing blog entries can suck up a lot of that time, and you're not getting paid for it.
Lest we forget, the purpose of a writer's blog is to sell books. In my August 10, 2008 post I talked about how saturated the web is with blogs. They may not be as effective now as they once were, and an author could hurt herself if she lets her book suffer because she spends her time blogging.
But I'm a newbie, and I have to learn about promotion. Six months ago I knew next to nothing about it. Then I had this blog, but hadn't yet written a post. I didn't have a website, or know what myspace was, or how to upload a picture. I still have to work on the pictures, but I'm a whole lot farther than I was.
I'm trying. I certainly hope some of this stuff works.

Thank you all,
Linda

Shameless Promotion, Again

And I thought a website and a blog plus a million loops was enough promotion.

No. Now everyone also needs an account on a networking site. Some examples of networking sites are Myspace and Facebook.

Other networking sites I've heard suggested are Twitter, Red Room, and Booktour. I've never heard of the last two, but they are supposed to be ones that authors and readers frequent.

So, OK, I now have a page on myspace--http://www.myspace.com/lindabanche

There isn't much on it yet, but I'll add to it as I go along.

I also have an account on goodreads. goodreads is all about books. I can put up the books I like, and there are other people with the same tastes as mine. It's also hooked up to Facebook, so when I get my Facebook account, I'll have less setup to do.

I will probably also get an account on shelfari.com, another readers' and authors' loop. I've heard that publishers come to shelfari looking for people who read their authors' books. They might send you an ARC (advance reading copy) in hopes of getting a review.

OK, so here's the shameless promotion. Please go to my myspace and goodreads accounts and send me a friend request, or ask me to send you one.

I'm on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/lindabanche

and goodreads at http://www.goodreads.com/profile/lindabanche

And when I set up other accounts I'll ask again.

Thank you all,

Linda