NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow

I've had a cold for a week. I've been so busy I haven't thought about my next novel for awhile. I still think I am in good shape though, since I had the whole thing planned out weeks ago.

It will be interesting to see if I can read and write at the same time this year. In the past I have had trouble doing that; reading affects my writing. I have to say that I am certainly more experienced now, but don't know if that will help.

I've had the usual second thoughts about my story. Do I really want to write this? It was Steve Barry that said you shouldn't write what you know, but what you love, since you will be living with it for years. Hopefully I can tell the story in a way that it will become something I like...

Let's test the NaNoWriMo supplied progress meter:



Or maybe this one:

Rejections from Glimmer Train

I entered two short stories in the Glimmer Train very short fiction contest and they both lost - "Syzygy" and "Spiritu Sancto". Oh well. I suppose I'll send them off somewhere else.

The 'Caine' Mutiny by Herman Wouk

A very good book. Unlike most Pulitzer prize winners, it is an exiting read. Of course, I had seen the movie with Humphrey Bogart. The movie focuses on the mutiny and trial, and the book is much more than that. It is the story of Willie Keith, and his life in the war. He goes from unexperienced ensign to Captain, and grows up in the process.

Although it is very good, I don't think it is as finely crafted as other Pulitzers. For the most part it is third person, using the viewpoint of Keith. But Keith can't be everywhere, and the author uses an omniscient viewpoint for other scenes, including the trial.

Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens

It only takes a few pages to impress the reader with the fact this is an expertly crafted novel. His use of dialog is excellent, and he flows in and out of multiple viewpoints easily.

He is also in it for the long haul. There is nothing hastily written here. It is also over 200k words. The reader needs to be in the right frame of mind - settle in and relax. I had to make a little note card to keep track of the characters.

Don't let anyone tell you it is about Black flyers in World War II. It's not. There are Black flyers, but they serve only as a source of conflict and problems for the major characters, who are all white. None of the Black characters are used as viewpoint characters.

It's a World War II novel, but it is not about a great battle or even about life on the front. It is concerned with those who are left behind, those in the States who are carrying on with training, resting after being at the front, providing support and public relations. In that sense, the "Guard of Honor" is really those military who serve behind the scenes. That is what the novel is about, how these average people cope with the difficulties and hazards of leadership in the Army Air Force.

An outstanding read, I highly recommend it.

NaNoWriMo Two Week Notice

A little less that two weeks to go, and I have managed to spend some time working out the problems that my main character will face. I have not done an outline in any sense of the word, but I have spewed a version of the story.

On the NaNoWriMo site things are cooking along. I am struck this year by how young everybody seems. I even saw a post from a thirteen-year old kid, who claims to have done it twice before. OK. I'm glad he's starting young. I'd like to see an age distribution of those who participate - I bet it is heavily weighted in the twenty-somethings.

As usual, I am laying low on the forums. I look at what others are saying, but there are usually so many responses to the intriguing topics that my response would just get lost in the clutter. Still, it's interesting to see what people are saying, although at this point (my third NaNoWriMo) I have seen it all before.

As usual, November is shaping up to be busy. I hope to go hiking for a week this year, if everyone's health cooperates and there are no family crises. I will have paper and pen along, of course. I'll probably get behind, but I'll make it up when I get back.

The last two years, the MIL (mother-in-law) has had some sort of crises in November. Hopefully we can avoid that this year. Two years ago we had to move her from Chicago to Atlanta, and last year was the big move into the nursing home. She's been there a year now, and recently has had some Alzheimer's related problems (forgotten how to dial the phone), bless her heart.

Anyway, I'm confident the novel will put itself on paper regardless of what happens. It probably won't be worth reading in that first draft form, but it will be created.

GWA September Contest - First Place

I got first place in the Georgia Writer's Association September short story contest with Earl Small. THis puts me, I think, into good shape for taking the overall prize for the year. There are still two more months to go, though (there's no contest in December), so I shouldn't start rubbing my hands with glee yet.

This months theme is cacophony, which was an easy one for me - Flash Mob will be my entry.

November's theme is ambrosia, which brings to mind that silly desert that my mother always made for Thanksgiving and Christmas. That and her "congealed salad" were not on the top of my list. Can I possibly make a story out of that?

Hunting Season by Nevada Barr

This is a mystery, a selection by the local book club I belong to. I don't usually read mysteries, or, to be more accurate, it's been a while since I read any. In the past I have read a lot of the Agathe Christie mysteries. In the last year or so I also read Jass by David Fulmer.

First off let me say that this was about as good as I expected it to be. It definitely fits in the mystery genre. It's not as good as Fulmer's Jass and I don't think I could compare it to the Christie novels since they are so different.

Since I am going to discuss this with the book club, I'll list the problems I had:

• The beginning borders on "lying to the reader." She starts with a wedding, and the main character is listening to the Priest, and silly me, I naturally assumed it was her own wedding. At least there was no clue that it wasn't that I could see. Several pages later we learn that it's not her wedding, but some other unlucky soul. Of course, I felt cheated, not a good way to begin the novel.


• And speaking of beginnings, the author spent quite a bit of time in that first chapter dwelling on the death of her main characters husband, and how suspicious it was. It's a mystery novel, the reader is looking for the mystery to start, the author supplies a mystery. Can you blame me for thinking that's what the book was going to be about. Well, it wasn't. It was never mentioned again. The real beginning of the novel is when she gets the call about the dead man - that's where the novel should have begun.


• Details, details. Several times things did not strike me as true-to-life. Mystery novels deal in facts like gold, they are essential to the aura of the mystery. If the reader doubts the author at any point, they are in trouble.




• Why didn't the interpretive ranger call the cops when she found the body at the start of the novel? Instead she paged her boss, and it was at least an hour later before any cops were called. Negligent. An ambulance should have been called first, then the cops, then her boss. Unbelievable.


• The good-old boys chasing the main character in the dark. As a veteran night orienteer, it was not believable. I suppose it would satisfy those who had never set foot in the woods after dark.


• You don't use a lathe to make a child's coffin. Lathes are used to turn objects like table legs, wooden bowls, staircase uprights, etc.


• You can't kill someone by squashing their car with a pickup truck. It takes a lot more force than can be delivered by a truck with tires to squash a car. There are a lot simpler ways to kill, and why use a difficult way when a simple way will do?




• Style - she uses a style that is not smooth, especially in the dialog sections. She seems intent on showing off her skills at finding alternate words and action verbs - to the point of distraction. She has overdone it.

As far as the mystery goes, there wasn't much of one. The red herrings didn't fool me. Eliminate the red herrings and the only other character with pages devoted to him was the bad guy. Not hard to figure out at all.

Characterization is OK except for the major character. I suppose that may be taken care of in earlier books in the series, but this book is supposed to stand alone. It does suffer from being one in a long running series. Many times the author alludes to things that have happened in previous books that a reader of only this book would find confusing.

One thing I did enjoy was the mildness of the crime. The death at the heart of it all turned out to be accidental. There were no blood and guts scenes. No sex scenes. Motive was simply hatred of women superiors and protection of retirement. Enough to kill for? Not really, I guess, but it was a refreshing change from some of the more gruesome genre novels around.

Will I read more from her? Probably not. Too many books, too little time.