Category: Ruminations

NaNoWriMo Day 30: 50,011!

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations4 Comments

It’s the final day of NaNoWriMo…and I passed the 50,000 word mark earlier today!  During my lunch hour in fact, which felt a little odd (though not as odd as writing a character’s death scene during a lunch break earlier in the month…)  Microsoft Word thinks I wrote 50,274 words this month, and NaNoWriMo’s online verification counters comes in at 50,011…but either way, I’m happy to pass the goal line!

I’m not at the end of the novel, so I plan to continue on into December with a “half-NaNo” for 25,000 words…if it lasts that long.  I think I’m more than two-thirds through the plot, so we’ll see how long it takes to hit the end of the novel.

It’s been a lot of fun exploring a different writing world, and I especially loved writing an alien character who is very confused by Terrans.  Not to mention making up alien fairy tales…that was pretty great too. 🙂  I already know this draft is going to need a lot of revision, what with info-dumping and POV issues and some undeveloped themes…but that’s kind of to be expected in a completely new writing world (and new genre even!)   That’s something to think about some time later…and at least I feel like I have a workable first draft to revise.

For now, I’ll be writing to the end of the story…and here’s a recent excerpt for you!  From the point of view of Leilathya, who is definitely not Terran…

I had noticed that one of the chairs had a bundle of black fur on top of its seat, but I did not pay that any attention until I was walking past the chair. That was when the bundle moved, uncurling from a tight ball and lifting what was definitely a head, to blink at me out of green eyes.

“Oh!” I backed up a step. “I am sorry. I did not know anyone was aboard.”

The creature stretched its jaw apart, revealing a long pink tongue and many sharp teeth. This may have been simply a yawn, but it also may have been a threatening gesture, and it is not wise to take chances. I backed up another step. “I do not recognize your species,” I said. “Are you sentient?” Most sentient aliens were much larger, but this was another matter it was better not to take chances with. For example, there have been numerous serious diplomatic incidents caused by people mistaking Qwapli for something that ought to be wiped up off the floor.

The creature uncurled two paws, stretched and said, “Mrrrow?”

“I do not recognize that language. Do you speak Galactic Standard?”

“Mmrr.” The creature rose up on four feet, leaped down from the chair, and paced toward me, long tail waving behind it. “Myow?”

“Aza!” I called over my shoulder, trying to keep my gaze on the approaching alien. “There is a small furry creature on board and I do not understand what it is saying to me!”

Blog Hop: Reading Daily

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop2 Comments

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Do you read every day? If so, do you have a “page goal?”

I absolutely read every day. I doubt there’s been a day in the last…10 years?…when I haven’t read for at least a few minutes. Honestly, I don’t know what people do with themselves if they don’t read (although I say that as someone who is perpetually too busy!) I read every morning before I get up—and every evening before I go to sleep—and generally for some time in between, like waiting in line, during breakfast, break time at work…

I don’t set any page goals (that would make it like work), although I do get a bit bothered if I notice I didn’t progress hardly at all in a day, and feel especially satisfied if I charged through a big chunk of reading.

Blog Hop: Taking Time to Read

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop1 Comment

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question: How long does it normally take you to read a book?

It…varies wildly? For a short book on a good reading day, I could finish in a day. More typically, I’d say a book runs three days to a week. Three days used to be more the average, but my new job has cut into my reading time. About the longest I ever spend on a book is two weeks (Les Miserables and Gone with the Wind). If I spend too long on one book, even a good one, I get bored with it and itch to move on. Because there are so many other books to read!

Blog Hop: A Belated Bookish Halloween

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop1 Comment

book blogger hopThis was actually the Book Blogger Hop question a couple weeks ago, the same Friday my novel came out, but I was a little busy that day… 🙂  So I’m posting it this week instead leading up to Halloween, because I like the question!

You’re having a costume party with the theme “Book Characters.” Who would you go as?

September, from the Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland series! I actually did dress up as September one Halloween, in her orange dress, green coat (which I still have and still think of as the Coat of the Green Wind) and autumn leaves in my hair—because of the scene when September turns into an autumn tree. Absolutely no one recognized the costume, but I had fun with it!

I might also like to be Beauty from Rose-Daughter, if I could come up with something fun with roses—fake ones twined around my arms, perhaps.

I’ve also thought about being Susan, Death’s granddaughter from Discworld. I’d just need the right wig (white with a black streak), a dramatic black cloak, and a fireplace poker.

The challenge, I discovered when I was trying to come up with a bookish costume and landed on September, is that too many of my favorite characters simply don’t have distinctive enough appearances! Short of finding armor (and a red wig), I wouldn’t know how to dress up as Alanna from the Song of the Lioness.

Have you ever dressed up in a bookish costume? Or is there one you’d love to try?

2015 Reading Challenges – Three-Quarters Update

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations2 Comments

We’re just starting October, so it’s time for another reading challenges update!  My laid-back reading challenges are continuing along in a laid-back way, with more re-reading and a few more checked off on the random-criteria-challenge.

On the rereading front, I finished my reread (via audiobook) of Harry Potter.  It was a lot of fun, though I do notice some cracks in the story as an adult that went right past me as a kid…still a good read though!  I reread the Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld, plus Extras, the fourth book that may actually be my favorite, about the “reputation economy.”  Lost in Austen by Emma Campbell Webster was another good reread–the first time I read it, I’d only read Pride and Prejudice, so I got a lot more out of it on the second time, when I’ve read all of Austen’s novels.  I’ve just started a reread of the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace; I’ve about finished their childhood and am excited to go on to the high school years, my favorite of the series.

Then we have the random-criteria-challenge…

Goodwill Librarian Reading Challenge

I completed 29 of these in the first half of the year, and a few more these past three months:

  • A classic romance: The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer (published 1928)
  • A book with a number in the title: The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie by Kirsty Murray
  • A book your mom loves: Francis: The Journey and the Dream by Murray Bodo, O.F.M.
  • A memoir: Home, a Memoir of My Childhood by Julie Andrews
  • A book set in the future: Future Crime, edited by Cynthia Manson and Charles Ardai
  • A graphic novel: Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
  • A banned book: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

That puts me at 35 down, 15 to go before the end of the year.  I started actually paying some attention to this challenge in late August, and will need to do a bit more to hit those final, more elusive ones.

Let me know if you’re curious to know more about any of these books…and I’d love to hear if you have any reading challenges going on for the year too!