Pippa's Journal - 8/1/12

Campnanowrimo starts today! Can you hear the screaming? Well, it's only day one. The screaming will probably come in the last week when I realize how far behind I am in my word count. :-P For those who are wondering what all the fuss is about, and what the heck nanowrimo is, read on.

Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writing Month, a fun event to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. Every year it runs from the 1st November until the 30th. There's no time for editing. The idea is that you sit down and churn out all those words until you hit the target, hopefully on or before the deadline. This is a challenge for new, seasoned and aspiring writers. Wanted to write a book but never got around to it? Got into bad habits with your writing? Need something to spark a new idea? Finish a WIP that's been hanging around forever? Do Nanowrimo. You can read more about it here.

I've only known about Nanowrimo since I first came onto Facebook back in November 2009 and met a Nanowrimo winner. I'd already missed out on that one, and didn't know enough about it. The following year I was studying my Creative Writing Course with the OU, and last year I had the edits on Keir. November didn't seem to be a good time for me to do it. But this year they introduced two Campnanowrimo events, one in June and one for August. It was too close to the June one for me, but the August one seemed feasible. I wanted a challenge and something to kickstart me back into writing after doing what seems like endless editing. But I needed to plot an outline (torture for a confirmed pantser) because I couldn't rely on muse to provide 50K's worth of inspiration in the time scale. So, with a little help from Sonya Clark and Misa Buckley, and a weird idea and desire to write a superhero romance, the plot and some copious notes to When Dark Falls... were born. Today I have to start writing it. I may be gone some time...

Blurb -
In a city where Dark Technologies Inc. runs the show after the fall of their guardian superhero - Blaze - Kadie Williams has more personal concerns than who's in charge. Every morning for five days in a row, she's woken up with fresh cuts on her arms, and no idea how she got them. As just one of thousands of civilians conscripted to slave away in the labs of Professor Dark on a special project, her injuries couldn't possibly be work related...could they?

Meanwhile -
Krystal Brookes did an interview at my blog for the release of her sfr Bounty. I also have the fantastic UK author Rayne Hall guesting on my blog tomorrow, with some great tips on stepping up the excitment of fight scenes, and the opportunity to 'chat'. I can highly recommend her book Writing Fight Scenes after reading it myself, so please take a moment to stop by and see if there's anything she can help you with. Last week I asked for help in giving the sequel to Keir a new title, and there's still time to come vote here if you would!

In the meantime my co-bloggers should be back from their Anaheim adventures with lots to blog about. I'm going to take a break from the Lounge for August, but I've another new sfr author - Angela Renee - guesting on my blog here on the 14th August, I'll be celebrating Keir's third birthday with a giveaway on the 17th, and starting the Romancing the Hop blog hop on the 31st with a surprise chat with Keir himself. Trust me, it's a hard thing to get him talking!