Let me tell you, friends: It feels pretty darn good.
While I'd love to tell you I've written an amazing novel this month, that would be stretching the truth a bit. I'd even love to tell you I followed the guidelines set forth by NaNo (i.e., write a first draft of a new novel), but that would also be a lie. I did write some new stuff: I've got two and a half episodes of Shifted (mostly) written. Though they are, in many ways, even rougher than the first episode was despite the fact I only had a day to write the first one, I'm still excited about them. Tomorrow begins December, which is the month for revising (NaNoReMo?). In addition to these brand new works, I also did the final fixes on Becoming. Since I was already to the point where I was basically rewriting the scenes at the end anyway, I figured it fit in with the spirit of NaNo: writing new stuff.
So, do I feel like a winner? I do indeed.
I'm glad I took on this challenge. I mean, sure, it's fabulous that I was able to actually accomplish the goal I set, but it was also nice giving myself the option to fail.
Now that November is over, what's next? Well, moving forward, I'm officially down to half time at my day job, which means I suddenly have 3-4 hours a day to write. This upcoming week, I plan to see what kind of daily word count goal is attainable and sustainable, and then I want to make plans based on that. How often will I put out an episode of Shifted? How often will I put out a new novel? I don't know the answer to either of these questions for sure yet, except to say that it will not take me a year or more to put out something new.
That alone makes me do a happy dance.
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Speaking of Becoming: It is finally done and for sale on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo. It is not yet up on iTunes because for a reason unknown to me, iTunes takes FOREVER to publish stuff.
And this Shifted thing I keep talking about? So far it's just one episode of a larger piece. Since its publication at the end of August, it's been exclusively on Amazon, but that exclusivity has ended. I'm in the process of getting it up on Kobo, B&N, and iTunes. Kobo is giving me sass (though I won't complain too much since Becoming went on sale relatively quickly); iTunes is, as I mentioned, a bit sluggish; and I need to make some modifications to the cover to upload it to B&N. So, I'll let you know when Episode 1 is available for people who don't buy their ebooks through Amazon.
You can find links to all my books here.