Welcome to the morning after. I know some folk probably wrote like mad last night, trying to get the last bits of words in. I cleared some things off my plate, put in my final count (I totaled 36,473, which I’m quite happy with under the circumstances), and relaxed by watching the latest edition of The Fashion Show. Seriously, the show is pure cheeseburger...

“Victory belongs to the most persevering.” — Napoleon Bonaparte Word counts are due to the NaNo site tonight by 11:59 PM. Do yourself a favor and get them posted early because the site will start seeing some heavy traffic. We’re here. 30 days and however many words you’ve written, if you’re still here and pounding the...

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead We’re almost to the home stretch — at least for those folks still doing NaNo. I’m moving into a different mode, working on characters, figuring out what’s going on in their...

“You can have it all. You just can’t have it all at once.” — Oprah Winfrey How’s NaNo going for the rest of you? I slept well after making my decision, and spent a good afternoon with my knitting and wallowing in the glorious schmaltz of the Judy Garland version of A Star is Born. The high point, naturally, is Garland’s...

“Decisions are made by those who show up.” — Aaron Sorkin The upshot of of Wednesday was that we managed to come up with a solution that didn’t take a large amount of time away from my writing that evening. However, over the past could of days, we’ve had some talks about the incident. My writing has been put on the back burner a lot...

“Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.” — Author Unknown A joyous thanksgiving to you all. No matter how desperate times may seem — and I have known some truly desperate moments in my life — if you dig down deep, there will always be something to be thankful for. It may be a small thing; a warm, fluffy cat, a book...

Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans — John Lennon You might have noticed (for the few of you that are reading and aren’t spammers), that the meter’s clicked up again. Didn’t do as well last night as I’d hoped — and it looks like tonight’s not going to be a winner, either. A friend has a crisis and...

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” — Jack London I surprised myself yesterday and managed almost 3,000 words while hacking up a lung. I’m not working on what I’d planned as my NaNo project, though. Instead, I happened on the file for a NaNo book from several years ago and figured out what had...

“Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.” — John Wooden Still sick, and I’m reaching the point where I’m having to admit I may not make a win this year. If I write an average of 3,237 words a day, I can cross the finish line before December 1, but...

“The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not.” — Mark Twain Today, I want to write, have a good dinner, and go see the latest Harry Potter. I’m doing none of those. I’m resting, eating bland food, taking cold medicine and not doing the...