The one where I talk about NaNoWriMo

I participate each year in NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo, in a nutshell, is a 30-day challenge to write at least 50,000 words. Frenzied, hurried, fun. And a complete adrenaline rush.

I've done it for the past two years. It appears to be the only way I can get a novel done. Maybe I thrive best on deadlines, I don't know. Maybe it's one of my spiritual gifts (haha!) But I do work best under a deadline. Really. Have I mentioned I won four Hoosier State Press Association Awards for News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure? Yes, I am that good.

So in 2009, I decided to tackle NaNoWriMo. At that point I was a stay-at-home mom, and thought I could use the distraction. My husband was very supportive of the idea, and took care of Lucas and the house (and dinner), for the most part, for the entire month of November, 2009.

I ended that year with 50,932 words. After revisions and editing, my word total came to 51,339. The "novel" is called popKandi. Funny story with it is that I came up with the title before coming up with the plot. Or the characters. Or anything. It's about this girl, Kandi, who is a little bit of an anti-social workaholic who is an assistant to a Hollywood agent. One of the agency's top clients gets murdered, and Kandi decides to play Nancy Drew and investigate. But she's not a very good detective. Like, a seriously bad one. So is her investigating partner, Brendon, another client of the firm - whom Kandi thinks is shallow and conceited and pretty much annoying. Yes, it ends up where it sounds like it's going to go with them.

So I didn't know at the time to started NaNoWriMo that if you meet the 50,000 word goal, you get a free proof copy of your "novel" from Createspace.com. Yes, I do actually have a paperback copy of popKandi:
My husband took the photo for me. I used Createspace.com's template designer for the cover. If I wanted, I could click the little "approve" button on the website and have it uploaded for sale on Amazon.com. But I don't want to do that.

So...............when popKandi was in my head, I kind of imagined a trilogy. So last year I wrote the sequel - rockKandi. This time, one of Brendon's co-stars is being stalked - a very pretty co-star who makes Kandi jealous. So Kandi, being the awesome detective she is, decides to try to figure out who the stalker is. But all she succeeds in doing is making the stalker come after her.

I ended the 30 days with 50,853 words. After editing and revising, 51,181. I just ordered the proof copy this morning.
I had planned to start work on the third one in November when NaNoWriMo rolled around - but then I heard that there might be a summer session of NaNoWriMo! I can't find any concrete details about it, tho, so I'm kind of bummed. BUT...if there is a summer session, I will be out of commission for most of the month - because I can't resist NaNoWriMo!