It’s NaNo time! Maybe…

Hey everyone,

How you all doing? Thankfully, life is calming down for me and I don’t run around saying I’m busy all the time! ((I was getting bored of it to be honest. I mean, I didn’t even feature in the last blog. I’m not surprised your website stats have gone down. You know I’m the best thing about you, don’t you? Don’t you…)) I didn’t think I’d ever say this, but it’s nice to have you back, Brackets. ((Please don’t get all gushy, Peachy. You know we don’t do emotions)) Fair point, well made and don’t think I didn’t notice the song lyrics!

Okay, now me and Brackets have re-bonded I wanted to talk about writing! ((About time, this is supposed to be a blog about your journey as a writer. I’ve told you time and time again, people do not want to hear you moaning.))  Monday 1^st November was officially the start of NaNo. ((Tell the people about your rubbish word count, Peachy?)) For those not in the know – I literally had no clue what anyone was on about when I first heard this term. It’s also referred to as NaNoWriMo or full name – National Novel Writing Month. The idea is that you write 50,000 words in the month of November. Sounds a lot but break it down and that’s 1,666 words a day and if you work well to deadlines or with a community of people encouraging you, then you can achieve it. Brackets has called me out and no I haven’t managed many words on my NaNo project, mainly because I’ve been editing the project so it’s taking ages! I have 32k to edit before I can get stuck in and write new chapters and really make a dent in my word count!

This will be the third year I’ve taken part in NaNo. In 2019 I wrote my fantasy novel: Festival of Time: Escape, which I then went onto publish in January 2021. I wrote book two of the series in 2020 NaNoWriMo, which I aim to publish this December or early 2022. My book has been sent to my (self publishing) editor – eeekkkk. I’ve already written 31k in book three as I said above and the final book in the series, so my aim for NaNo is to finish this project. Book one had a word count of 66k, book two I think will be about 69k so I will aim for the same for book three.

((I ain’t brilliant at Maths, Peachy but even I know that doesn’t add up to 50k!)) Yes, okay clever clogs. Although the idea of NaNo is to write 50k, the way I look at it is you can use it as a target but if you don’t achieve it, then don’t beat yourself up about it. ((Well, unless you start cleaning the skirting boards as an excuse not to write!)) As well as NaNo in November, I also have the possibility of the edits for another novel i’ve written for my digital publisher, Saga Fiction being returned to me in, as well as releasing another story Decisions, Decisions (published yesterday!) and finishing the edits on book two my self-published fantasy series. So, between all those projects I will probably reach 50k! ((You’ve confused me by waffling again, Peachy! You authors, always have to have the last word and have an excuse at the ready in your writing mittens!))

Right, that’s me. I wish you a wonderful month of writing, whatever project you’re working on. Find me on Twitter if you want some support with NaNo or join me doing some writing sprints. At some point soon I will be on Instagram talking about my latest story with my publisher Saga Fiction… I don’t think I will ever get used to saying, ‘my publisher’!

Over and out x

P.S. Featured image is a throw back to staying Wanaka in New Zealand – a moment of calm and happiness which I finally feel is returning to my life. 🙂