Tis the Season...

I love the holiday season. I enjoy staring at the colorful lights, ooh and aahing at a variety of nativity scenes and wishing my friends "Happy Chanukah", "Merry Christmas", "Happy Kwanzaa", and "Happy Boxing Day" for whichever one they celebrate. Saying "Happy Holidays" is much too impersonal for me. As for me, Jesus's birthday celebration is the one I grew up with. Oh, how I love to celebrate birthdays!

Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in two vendor fairs, one at a high school and the other for Circle of Ten. I had a great time at both and met some neat people, including Dr. Stanley El, with whom I will have a radio interview (89.7 WGLS FM) at Rowan University on December 21st at 5pm.

In the meantime, and noteworthy for the fans of A Beautiful Girl, Rick (one of my main characters) has been flooding my mind with conversation and scenes. Sara (the focus of the story) has not been silent either. I believe I'm on the path to writing a sequel.

So, now I'm off to immerse myself in all the good this holiday season has to offer.

Be safe!

Radio Interview was a Blast!

Talking to Elisa was so cool and I'm so excited I got to meet her, if only by phone...so far. I hope many of my family/friends got to listen in. I had fun sharing my gift and hope that many can benefit from the story. I wonder what's next.

Another radio interview

So I just got a message on FaceBook inviting me to a radio interview with Elisa O'Keefe-Smith tomorrow, December 1st, at http://www.wdkkradio.com/programming/the-melbadelphia-show/ around 8:30pm. Totally amazing. I hope many people can listen in.

The Day After I Won NaNo 2011

So after spending the last 27 days writing at a sprint pace, I miss my character Danny R.O.S.S. It a kind of mourning really, but no one warned me. Images of the story dance around my head, but nothing new (at least not yet) to write down. So I suppose I better move on quickly to the story I was editing/updating before NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) began. I miss those characters too and their story isn't finished (at least not yet).

I conquered the Crazies (Winner of NaNoWriMo)

So I started writing my newest novel on November 3rd (2 days late) and just finished today, November 27th (3 days early) with a whopping 51,163 word count. Amazing and Unbelievable! I'm excited and surprised. With a full month, I never thought I had a chance. Now, I have a story about a Navy SEAL that I thoroughly enjoyed writing, though some parts were tough to get on paper. Can't wait to publish this novel someday.

Pausing to Give Thanks for writing and meeting with Circle of Ten.

On a day when most Americans eat turkey and remember things for which they are grateful, I will also be writing. Yesterday, I came within a few hundred words of catching up with the word schedule for NaNoWriMo. Although finding time during the busy holiday weekend will be tricky, I am grateful to God for giving me the ability to write a story in a month.

I am also grateful to Him and Cheryl for giving me the opportunity to meet the girls of Circle of Ten this past Tuesday evening. Their enthusiasm for the written word brightened my day (in spite of the heavy rainfall). I totally enjoyed reading them parts of my novel A Beautiful Girl and answering their many wonderfully detailed questions. I can't wait to meet with them again to discuss the story after they've read it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yeah...I'm crazy

I really wouldn't be attempting this if I didn't love writing stories I make up in my head. I wouldn't be spending whatever spare time I could squeeze out of my already packed schedule to forge ahead toward a 50K word book. Even though I've only written 27K when it should have been 33K as of 11/20/11, I keep writing because the story has grown on me. I'm writing about a Navy SEAL, and with all the talk about members of our military returning home for the holidays, my character has become more than just a name in my story. He is filled with the strength and struggle that embody the men and women who defend our country. So, yes, I am crazy enough to keep on writing. I don't want to let him down now.