The Girdle of Melian

es, that’s right, it’s the 27th of November. There are three days left in the month. And what happens at the end of the month? Drum roll in the distance... NaNoWriMo comes to an end! Now, guess who completely forgot about NaNo in the last few days? That’s right! Me! Having pushed myself through Jen’s marathon (with perhaps not the highest number of words I could have obtained, but at least I was writing everyday and getting entire scenes on paper) I then accepted an editing task at work, for overtime pay, and devoted the next few nights to that, with a resulting sleep deprived headache occasioning an early night last night. Which brings me to today, three days before the end of NaNo, with only c. 30000 words; it’s hardly worth bothering to have anyone verify my handwritten word count (see Luddite clause in the post below). My loftiest goal was to have the SFD completed by the end of the year. This may or may not happen, but what I really need to do now is head for the l...

discovered this giveaway in roundabout fashion. Here are the steps to follow: 1. Go to the giveaways blog to find out which bloggers are hosting contests and giveaways. 2. Follow the link to Audrey's Giveaway Blog , where she's featuring a draw to win greeting cards courtesy of Stacey, whose a crafter on Etsy . 3. Check out Stacey's own blog and her Etsy site as part of the giveaway. Here's a cute snail magnet for Snail's Tales !

riting marathons, where would I be without them? Jen 's marathon on the forum wrapped up today; without it I wouldn't have had a word written all week, between our trip to New York City to see Blue Rodeo (as the border guard asked, "what's a blue rodeo?") - where we met Jim Cuddy! - friends visiting from out of town, and family and friends hosting parties for my birthday. But when Jen cracks that whip, you'd better get writing, and I did! Is there a provision in NaNo for a notebook full of handwritten scenes? Perhaps I can scan them and add them to my total word count... Only one week left and I've got lots of overtime coming up at work in the next few days. Not to mention more bread to bake. Hey look - I just found out, there's a Luddite clause! "Invoke the Luddite Clause! What you do is write your 50,000 words, then have someone you trust verify that it is, indeed, 50,000 words. Then using something like the Lorem Ipsum generator, su...

ery excited! Born of Hope , the story of Aragorn's parents, is coming on the first of December!

ere're some of the items for which I need to hie me to the library: The Inquisition - hierarchy, major dates, etc. The Ottoman Empire and its welcome of Jews during the Inquisition Travel in 1492 - overland? ships on the Meditteranean? passports, papers, etc. between countries? Foods readily available when travelling on foot across Spain - loquats? oranges? berries? fish? Flora and fauna in Spain in 1492 Columbus' journey - ports and dates Judaism in 1492 (other) Major events in 1492 - art, books, etc. Cistercians vs Benedictines (I've got a monk, and don't know what order he belongs to yet) Daily schedule in a monastery Holy days in Judaism and Catholicism throughout the year If I have the energy, I might even look up moon phases. I was pleasantly surprised to see that, after I had written it as taking place on a Tuesday, I found out that Columbus really did sail on a Tuesday!

ictoria's hosting her first contest . eaturing a vlog about her bookshelves. in a free book! hanks to kcdyer for the drop caps!

Jen's hosting a writing marathon on the forum, starting today and running past my birthday, into Sunday. As if NaNo wasn't enough of a push - I'll take all the nudges I can get. Rose's story is moving along but I'm still missing the crux of the tale, the point of the major scenes; I know her reasons for doing the things she does, but the eucatastrophe and the denouement are still lost in the haze. Writing every chance I get, every day, will, I hope, reveal more about Rose's future.