NaNoWriMo Progress

We've passed the mid-point of November which means NaNoWriMo is more than half over. I can report that my novel, Beyond the Night, is also more than half written. I'm exploring deep emotions in this book, dark places of my own past. The incidents in the story are not the same as my own personal life, but the feelings and pain are. I have lost sleep because the thoughts didn't want to rest. I'm heading into some of the darkest parts of the book, so I'll put on my virtual seat belts, drink some coffee and hold on.

NaNoWriMo - My Start

I started my book, Facing the Darkness. The first day I excitedly penned my first 1600. Throughout November, I'll write 50,000 words. It's going to be a momentous task, one that I've spent several months planning. The characters were in my imagination, now are coming alive on the page. In a way, it's like a birth of a child, or in my case several children.

The book is about Nikki, a popular high school senior who has to deal with a past rumor. She loses her popularity and has to regain her confidence in order to help find her missing sister.

Life is Like a Shopping Cart

A friend messaged me on FaceBook and asked my opinion of a particular speaker. I told her I felt the speaker was excellent and had a great message. My friend went on give specifics as why she thought he taught incorrect doctrine.

Thinking of that exchange led me to the title of this post. Let me explain.

I'm not a fan of frozen meals. I have two choices.
1. I could rant, calling the store a dangerous promoter of health.
or
2. I can choose not to put the item in my cart and continue to get other items.

Same in life. Whether it's Billy Graham or Hillary Clinton, I have the same option. If I agree and like something, it goes into my cart, if not I pass by it. But, I do not entirely disregard anyone.

Imparting Knowledge

My profession is Freelance Writing. Over the years I have acquired knowledge that I'd like to share. My goal is to add wisdom to that knowledge.

If knowledge were an engine, wisdom would be the starter.

If knowledge were a bird in flight, wisdom would be the brain in action.

Everyone has something to give to the world around them. Each has a different vehicle to deliver that supply.

My vehicle happens to be writing articles and books. So, I think like a teacher, but act like a supplier.

What is your vehicle of delivery?

+Personal

Little is Much

I like progress and I believe in little is much. You might be saying, "What are you talking about?"

Let me explain.

I divide my time and part of that time, I've allotted twenty minutes a day to house projects. Right now the project is to take off the old wall paper in the living room and repaint. I've kept this schedule for the past months and now I'm at painting stage. -- Progress.

It's beginning to look really good, and I'm enjoying the process. It should be finished with the living room next week then I'll move to the bathroom.

Bumps in the Road: A Lesson in Writing & Life

I'm thinking of the Yankton Bucks, a football team. A couple seasons ago, they felt defeated, but not out of the game. A talk on the bus, after a loss, changed their entire perspective. They determined to win.
Win they did. The next season they won every game and even the championship. What if they didn't have the bump in the road?

When writing a novel, the book needs a bump in the road or two. A defining moment when everything changes. The lie the protagonists believes is challenged, and now he has to face it. In my book, Night to Knight, Mark has to face the fact he has failed, his teen daughter is in trouble, and his marriage is suffering. -The bump in the road. What he does after this will determine success or failure.

Same with real life. Bumps in the road need only be a season change. View them as such and your life will be enriched.

Looking into the Past

I called a lady in New Jersey, who was trying to find some history of the two boys she had adopted. The boys are now in their mid-twenties. She had originally called my church. I knew the boy's birth mom. I know the boy's biological sister. Years ago I picked up the girl (biological sister) on the church bus.

The conversation with the New Jersey lady was very interesting. She told me the background of the boys.  The biological mother picked the adoptive parents for one boy. During the process, the mother became pregnant and decided to give two boys away in adoption.