Our NaNo in Gifs

So this year, we're Gif-ing NaNo in addition to writing for it. Hilarity will ensue! Check out our Cupcakes and Karma tumblr for our latest progress. Which, no doubt, will include sobbing under desks and copious amounts of wine.

Somehow, NaNo inspires me to drink by myself. Kiind of a lot.

Don't worry. You will be!

My Five Stages of NaNoWriMo

First, HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I hope your days are filled with pumpkin everything and chocolate most things and more treats than tricks!

I've been asked a few times: "Are you doing that whole crazy novel in a month thing again?" NaNoWriMo? Yes.

So this year, despite my life being insanely chaotic I'm doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month-- I'm going to call it NaNo from here on out because it's so much easier!). Jenny's post yesterday sums up pretty much exactly why I NaNo most years. I would add that usually November is a quiet month for me, but this year, Holy Hannah in a Hoop Skirt, it's a mental one.

I'm going into this process with a major time crunch throughout the month, a lot of evening events for work, holiday (yes yes yes!) and in general more commitments then I would normally take on while attempting to write this much in a month. However, it's been the kind of year that really needs a good kick in the pants and the best way to do that is to win at NaNo. I won't have a publishable book at the end of this month. I repeat I won't have a publishable or even very good book at the end of this month.This is my note to NaNo-ers, you might be able to write 50k in a month, but that is rarely an entire book and unless you are the 1% of writers who can pull off a first draft kissed by the gods, it won't be a good draft. It is not ready to send out to agents and publishers. It will need a full revision which will take you (I should think) more than a month to complete. For me, I know won't even have a full manuscript (about half a book, probably) and that book will need a serious rewrite. But what I will have is something that shows my dedication to improving my craft. Because NaNo is all about the writing, even if it at times it is terrible. It's about getting your butt in the chair for a solid month and creating something. It's about putting the writing first. I can't argue with that.

If you want to follow my progress or be my buddy (a girl can use more buddies!) then you can do so clicking the widget below.

Jenny and I will also be gif-ing out way through NaNo over on the brand new Cupcakes and Karma Tumblr which you can visit by clicking here. You can also Tweet me (@gennmcmenemy), if you want to let me know how you're doing. This year I'm writing a romance loosely set in Ancient Rome (in my mind its all about Romans and Revolutionaries) Angel has dubbed it-- "Centurions, Lions, Revolutionaries and Roman Hooters". It should be good fun and I doubt in the end any of those words will be accurate in describing this book.

Let us know if you are NaNo-ing. We'd love to hear how you get on!

My Five Stages of NaNoWriMo

1. Insane Joy

This is going to be the best thing ever! I'm going to spend a month writing like a fiend and it will all pay off. I'm going to write the best book ever! (Days 1-5)

2. Crushing Overwhelming Terror

Why am I doing this again? I can't plot my way out of a paper bag. Zombies! Zombies will fix any plot holes. What do you mean there were no zombies in Ancient Rome!! (Days 6-15)

3. Despair

I'm so over this whole NaNo thing. I mean, it's not as if this novel writing month was my only shot at proving to myself I can do this. I can do this. Oh God, I CAN'T DO THIS! Give me wine and a desk to sob under!  (Days 16-20)

4. Rally

You know what, I do this every year and SOMEHOW I manage to win. It's time to rally. Because this can't be the year I lose. It just cant be. I am so not doing this next year. (Days 21-25)

5. Zombie-Style Relief

This is the homestretch. I can wrtie 2k a day for the next five days. Eat. Sleep. Work. BRRAIIINSSS. I mean WORDS. I mean BRRAIINNSSS! No, definitely WORDS. Brains are far too chewy. 

And finally, that sweet sweet victory!

Welcome to November.

Why I NaNo

For anyone who doesn’t know, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo, or “NaNo” for short) is a yearly event that challenges writers to write a 50,000-word novel in one month. It’s a nonprofit organization, thousands of people do it each year—and it has both its supporters and its detractors.

Some people claim that trying to write 50,000 words in a month is too fast—that people inevitably care more about quantity than quality, and NaNo’s main effect is the production of a lot of bad writing that’s then sent off to agents way too soon. There’s also the point that 50,000 words isn’t a novel—it’s half a novel. The NaNo organization tries to get you to feel like you accomplished something by finishing the challenge—it will even print your“book” for you if you do the allotted words in the allotted time.  Personally, I think that's really premature.

And yet I do NaNo, and I support it. Here’s why.

First, NaNo is a tool. Like any other writing tool, what you get out of it depends on how you use it. It isn’t bad or good in and of itself.  Sure, you can go around claiming you “finished a book” after completing the challenge. But really, finishing 50,000 words of your novel is only a tiny fraction of the work you need to do in order to get it agent-ready. A lot of writers know this. I don’t believe it’s a good way to get a finished book in a month. But I do think it’s a great way to kick-start a new draft.

Second, there is no “right way” to write a novel. Different methods work for different people. There may be a few geniuses out there who have produced amazing work at NaNo that needs little editing. I doubt there are many. But who am I to tell them their work is crap just because they wrote it during NaNo?

I’ve done NaNo every year for the past four years. I do it with friends, and so far, every year I’ve completed the challenge. This year, I almost decided not to do it. Mainly because of the time commitment and the fact that I currently have four novels in various stages of edit that are more of a priority.

But I changed my mind—because my friends and I came up with a new way to use NaNo this year. We’re all committed to writing novels that have strong romance components—yet we all feel that our romance threads in previous drafts haven’t lived up to what we hoped for. This may be because we keep trying to do too many things with our drafts. They’re romance, but they’re also fantasy. With a historical component. And zombies. You get the drift.

So this year, we’re all writing romances for NaNo. Just romance. Some of it is fan fic. All of it is going to be really, really simple. No zombies, no vampires, no complications. And personally, I’m not going to go nuts trying to meet the 50,000-word mark this year, because I’m also going to be editing an old project and querying another old project while I do this. If this NaNo goes well, I’ll get some much-needed practice in honing my ability to write romance. If it goes amazingly well, I’ll get a draft of a story I’ll actually want to finish and query eventually. But I’m not going to be bothering any agents with my NaNo story come December 1. Because for me, that’s not what NaNo is for.

I can't even SQUEE I'm so excited for CATCHING FIRE!

Seriously! I can't even begin to express how excited I am for Catching Fire. I am going to have to re-read the book. But, ZOMG look at the final trailer. What I love about the films is how they give the viewers a greater sense of what is going on in Panem. The books are limited to Katniss' first person narration, which makes the terror and the Games that much more powerful and immediate. However, you don't fully process the revolution that Katniss has sparked in the same way until much later in the books. But the films also look at the society as it begins to unravel and embrace the coming storm of revolution. Both are fantastic, but I love how the films really capture that 'spark' of revolution while juxtaposing the cruelty and barbaric nature of the Games.

 

Ariel: The World's Worst Roommate?

I always thought I was a terrible roommate. Even though I've remained close friends with two of my four roommates from college, I was convinced I was a terrible bunkmate. Maybe it was years of having my own room as a kid, or the fact that I tended to get not enough sleep (it's perfectly normal to function on 4 hours with a nap sometime throughout the day, right?), or maybe that I'm just not the tidest person? I present you with this case study from Cracked (yes, that is snark you are detecting). Is Ariel the worst roommate ever? You decide. Let us know your thoughts on roommates in the comments below.

Something Good This Way Comes . . .

I feel like 2013 has been the year of 'Something Good This Way Comes' for me. It's been a year of waiting for whatever that good thing is . . . I'm not quite sure what that good thing is, but the year is still youngish, or middle aged, I suppose.

Anyway, with all that in mind, when I heard this song I couldn't stop smiling. This is totally my new 'Swagger Song' and it's the perfect song for autumn as the last of the summer fades away. It's all about that something good coming. C'mon and get here already.

Genn, I Owe You an Apology....

So... a while back, Genn tried to get me interested in a series of books that she was obsessed with.

And having confused one author for another I read the book, said it was good -- genuinely enjoyed it -- but refused to read any others. See, the other author I thought this one was was atrocious and I didn't want to get sucked into reading a series to find that a book or two into a run of 20-odd, I was miserable. (It's happened before. There was this fantasy series that up and broke my heart. Great first novel. Everything else went down hill from there... Not worth harping on, though, more than 10 years down the line. :( )

I had enough good reads in the queue, why go for something that I was sure would be a disappointment.

Well, because I was mistaken. And the author couldn't have been more different. And since giving the books a new try, I've been enjoying the hell out of them. Dare I call them... Awesomesauce?

So, I'll admit it. I've become obsessed with Sherrlyn Kenyon and her Dark-Hunter books. In the last few weeks I've read 8 and counting (I'm in the middle of an 9th, I have another 3? 4? on the shelf to go before I have to go looking for more... And this is mixed in with other books that I've been tearing through like there's no tomorrow.)

But this change of heart did not start in the last few weeks. Oh no. It started when Genn gave me the Nick series to read. Yep, the YA spin-off of the Dark-Hunter series, Genn got me started with those last winter.

I love characters with some sass and SK definitely delivers.

Some characters so far have been sassier than others.

Nick, for example, is friggin' sassy. It's part of why I love Serena and Tabitha.

It also helps that while all of the men of her world are bad boys who exude auras of evil (and this is the only point I tend to wobble on if only because how can they all be like that...) that they're all kind of sensitive and gooey at their core.... (and yet, aura of evil...?)

Like Cary Grant's delicious... what is that?

Nahh... forget the wobble. That's about as sexy as it gets. ;) Like a dark chocolate lava cake. Yummy. I'll suspend my disbelief for a little while longer. Especially when there's cake involved.

And the Cake is Not a Lie.

Genn. My humblest apologies.

Holy Crap this KITTEN!!!

So I've decided Jenna Marbles is my spirit animal. And I discovered this amazing video through her site. I'm pretty sure this kitten wants to play a stringed instrument so much it is losing its sh*t. SO CUTE. Check it out:

Sail!

I've been hard at work editing my novel...and going nuts with it. I wrestle with editing as a process--for me, it's so much harder than writing a draft. I'll write a longer post on my editing struggles and what I've found works for me and what doesn't next week. 

This week, though, I'm up in Vermont visiting family (including my brand-new nephew!). And all this baby stuff has made me think about how much I want a kitty. (Because, y'know, my biological clock runs on cats). Also, I took a three-day sailing trip with my dad on Lake Champlain earlier this week. All this is to tell you why the following video is absolutely perfect for my frame of mind right now:

Brave

My friend Sara Cook-Raymond runs a fantastic 'Swagger Song' series over on her blog The Long Ride Home. I can't tell you the amount of fabulous song recommendations I've gotten from her blog. Quick, go have a look, we'll be waiting!

Regardless of how you feel about the Katy Perry 'Roar'  vs 'Brave' controversy I defy you not to love Sara Bareilles' 'Brave'. If there ever was a 'swagger song' it's 'Brave'. I'm a big fan of Sara Bareilles and 'Brave' is no exception.

I love the idea of being 'brave'. I love just how fiesty this song is. It's currently on repeat for my new WIP. I have a character who is reluctantly falling into the role of being 'brave' of taking on a fight for someone else. She's about to show 'just how big her brave is' in the next section I'm working on when she tries to plot how to save both her brother and a boy she hardly knows who, much like her brother, is bound by a very rash promise to a fate he can't escape.

 So, I'm going to go write in the corner and try not to tap my feet too loud.

Happy Wednesday! I hope this song brings a smile to your faces.

Book BINGE

Oh my word,  it's been a while. I can feel how long with every fiber of my being. I haven't had a book binge like this in YEARS. And, while I intend to go into it in greater detail (or rather, the books in greater detail), I am still reveling in the feel of FINALLY having gone through some books in the way that I was MEANT to. In the way some people reserve for punishment, chocolate, and bad TV, I am a glutton when it comes to books.

See, I've always been a voracious reader. Once upon a time, I would go to the library and take out as many books as they'd let me (anywhere between three and ten) and have them back in the next day or so. Limits to the books to bring home were especially cruel when I was visiting my dad because library visits were few and far between, sometimes once a summer. So, I'd read the whole stack several times before it got returned. And pretty much anything else I could find -- newspapers, medical journals, textbooks from my dad's premed years (mmm... nothing says "breakfast" like looking at abnormal spleens).

But, I haven't visited the library -- or my dad's house -- in years.

Time gets in the way for everyone, and for me, something else slipped in there. A lethargic sort of apathy, which was not helped, I'm afraid by my choice of reading. See, sometime recently, I got it into my head that I would go back and read a pile of books I didn't remember having read and couldn't remember what I wanted to do with them. Because, that's the thing. Generally, if I read a book, I remember what it was about, even vaguely. There will be a plot point or a character or a situation that stood out, even in those books I was "meh" about. If I really liked it or really hated it, I'll have even more vivid recall.

But this pile, I couldn't remember zilch. So, I've been trying to bang through them. I keep them in the bathroom, by the bed just so I have them there to work through. And for the most part, they're all pretty boring romances that are taking me FOREVER to get through. And perhaps that's part of why I don't remember. They didn't have enough connection for me between the characters, or they pushed a connection that didn't feel like it should be there (and repeated for good measure that it existed). Some have been about inappropriate relationships. But, none of this I could remember... except in a few. One of the last ones before the book binge, I'd gotten three pages in and remembered "oh yeah, the mother did it. I don't remember how the rest of it goes, but the mother was the murderer" (I generally like cross genre stuff, especially if I'm reading a romance. If you can't keep a plotline going... you lose my attention, regardless of how hot or frequent sex scenes might be. I want a story, People.). Got to the end and sure enough, Mom was the murder. Still going in the bye-bye-box, though. I just don't have enough love or enough space for it.

On the other hand, though, once through, I decided to switch gears and go with a series Genn has been trying to get me on for YEARS. Holy Moses. I have been through five books (sort of the first books) in less than five days. The series is huge. And while I haven't bought the rest of them yet, I've let the momentum carry me and I'm now half way through another book (as of last night). Completely different genre, completely different author, but I am FLYING through. And trust me, I'll write something up about these books soon. For now, I'm just reveling in it.

It feels like coming home to myself for the first time in a long time.

Hopefully, I can keep this going. And I think I'll be able to if I don't dip back in to the "should I keep these" pile....

Hopefully.

What's kicked you out of a slump?

Cupcake of the Week: BAMF GIRLS ARE BACK!

Your Wednesday just became BAMF awesome!

I forgot just how much I missed the BAMF Girls Club! I am so happy they are back for another series. For those of you that aren't familair with the BAMF Girls Club you are in for a treat. The BAMF Girls Club asks the question what would happen if you put Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hermione Granger, Katniss Everdeen, Lisbeth Salander, Michonne and Bella Swann all together in one house as roomates? It's the real world meets literary, pop culture, geeky awesome! The series is hilarious, super nerdy and good fun. I've loved the previous two series.

The first in this series (run by Comediva) features special guest star Veronica Mars. After Hermione's magical purse goes missing she turns to Lisbeth Salander for help tracking down the culprit. Lisbeth is a little indisposed with her brand new baking business (click here for that episode) so she hires the second best detective, Veronica Mars. Enjoy!

Happy Esther Day!

I don't think its too much of a stretch to say we are big fans of the Vlog Brothers here at Cupcakes and Karma. So, when this video popped up in my email this morning (what? If you subscribe you get emailed when they have a new video! It's totally not stalking!) I felt like we had to share it here on the blog. Happy Esther Day!

Esther Day (August 3rd) is a day the Vlog Brothers set up to honour the memory of Nerdfighter Esther Earl who passed away of cancer in 2010. This is a day to tell your family and friends just how much you love them. I honestly can't think of a better day or a better way to honour the memory of such a courageous girl.

You can find out more about Esther Earl here.

Cupcake...: Mental Floss... I Wish I had Some Right Now....

So, I have an unabashed love for trivia, and since Genn got me onto the Green brothers videos, the MentalFloss videos featuring the Green brothers is like chocolate covered crack.

But, it's been a few weeks since I'd watched one and I was catching up and I figured that if this was going to be indelibly burned into my brain, it should be in yours, too.

Mind you, I knew some of this already thanks to some conversations and questions flung between us three, but as he recommends in the video, don't look things up if you're squeamish, or if you're at work.

So, I do have two questions for anyone out there for the comments:

1) It doesn't have to be in relation to anything about the video, but do you have a piece of trivia that gives you the heebie jeebies you'd like to share?

2) I'm looking at a reading stretch in the near future and I'm looking for some recommends. I'll offer some of mine, but what would you recommend?

Living Alone is a Skill

I was knocking around the Internet the other day and I found this quote from Elizabeth May’s Tumblr:

“Living alone is a skill, like running long distance or programming old computers. You have to know parameters, protocols. You have to learn them so well they become like a language: to have music always so that the silence doesn’t overwhelm you, to perform your work exquisitely well so that your time is filled. You have to allow yourself to open up until you are the exact size of the place you live, no more, or else you get restless. No less, or else you drown. There are rules; there are ways of being and not being.”

It’s from Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente. And every word of it is true. Painfully, gloriously true.

I live alone.  I love where I live and how I live. But it isn’t always easy, and there are times when I do have to work at it. There are times when I feel myself opening up larger than the place I inhabit; it’s a small apartment, and this isn’t hard. I feel myself getting restless, impatient for the next thing, whatever that is.

I fill my life with projects. Acting projects, writing projects. I never have a second that isn’t full of purpose, unless I want one. I’m never at a loss for things to do. This is a coping mechanism, sure. But it feels right. I wouldn’t replace it with a home centered around kids, a husband, family. That doesn’t change the fact that I love my family more than anything, or that I want a husband someday. But right now, my life is all about me: my own ambitions, my own dreams. I love it like that. I’m not the self-sacrificing type.

There are times when I wake up and it’s too quiet and I have to have NPR on. But there are other times when I’m coming back from a busy night out, and stepping through the door into my empty apartment is like slipping into a warm bath. It’s liberating and comforting at the same time. This place is my shelter, small as it’s becoming, and it’s mine.

What I've Been Reading - The Old Book Pile

I'm back into the old book pile and I'm still super surprised at how little I remember some of these books I've been rereading. I'm almost wondering if I read them at all. Which is strange because I'm usually pretty good on read-recall. I'm not going to name names, though. Mostly because the books in question of the last couple of weeks have been both out-of-print and (embarrassingly) god-awful romance novels that I've been hanging on to for I can't remember how long.

For some of these books, I don't even know why I've been holding on to them. Even though I love a well written book, several of these are not. And like an earlier complaint of mine the relationships kind of suck. I don't see the attraction between our protagonists at all and/or some of these people are just plain ridiculous.

It doesn't help that some of the plot lines seem to go along the lines of this:

Actually, that may have been why I saved them all these years. It would have been lovely, right? ;) I've had most of these for about that long. I'm still weeding through them, mostly because I figure I need to decide if I'll ever read this popcorn again. Especially since I have books that I've read both more recently and had for a really long time that inspire me to feel like this:

I suppose I just can't figure out why I can't remember these books as well as some others. (Including that high fantasy book I disliked in high school that got me banned from a friend's house because I gave it to him and warned him that there were some parts his parents wouldn't like and I wasn't particularly interested in having just lying around my house -- not that I recommended the book at all, just that if he wanted it, it was all his. I'm just glad my sisters and brother never read it -- there's just something about a woman getting flayed alive, leaving nothing but her face recognizable and vividly described that just struck me as something I didn't want my sibs to get their hands on.....)

Maybe it's because they're fast reading? I don't know. I'd get rid of the lot, except that I know there must be some reason I've been hanging on to some of them forever.

I dunno. Does anyone else have the same issue?

Cupcake of the Week: Dalek in Love

So I've been getting into Dr. Who lately. I started watching at my brother's house in Utah, and I kept going after I got home. The unabashed nerd in me (the same girl who adored the original Star Trek, especially the bit where they swirled glitter in water to get the teleport effect) loves it.

So, here's your cupcake for the week. It's
Dr. Who-themed. Whee!!

What I'm Reading: Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

This summer marked the end of an era: specifically, the end of the Sookie Stackhouse era. (By which I mean t  I’ve lived with these books and these characters for a long time, and I felt the need to write a review.

he books. The television series, as far as I know, won’t be stopping anytime soon).

[Warning: Tharrr be spoilers below.]

I’m a romance reader at heart. And with a series like this, I always look for the romance thread and latch on—because that’s what thrills me the most. To be honest, I’ve had a bit of a bone to pick with this series ever since Bill and Sookie didn’t work out. Bill was a passionate Southern gentleman (in a good way)—genteel, smouldering, and exactly perfect for Sookie in so many ways. The other guys in her life—including Alcide, Quinn, and even Eric—just didn’t make as much sense to me.

I’ve never been a big fan of the Eric / Sookie pairing, to be honest. From the sneaky way Eric married her without her knowledge to the equally sneaky way he dissolved that marriage in this last book, he never truly seemed to have Sookie’s best interests at heart—as far as I could tell, he was always just out for himself. And as he grew more distant in the last few books, their relationship started looking increasingly one-sided.

But I started to realize that this isn’t a series about love. It’s a series about survival. Sookie has been tortured, beaten, almost killed, and almost raped as a result of her involvement in various supernatural communities—and as a direct result of her love for supernatural men.

And she’s had to seriously compromise her values. The men she’s loved throughout the series have put her in positions where she’s had to do terrible things to other people, including murder. Vampires in particular seem to be particularly unhealthy to human lovers. And as romantic and passionate and seemingly perfect for her as Bill was, he was no exception.

Despite her bloody past, Sookie seems to want stability, love, and family—and to revel in the happy glow of these things from the more stable lives of her friends and family. But she’s like the troubled girlfriend we all have (okay, some of us have been that person) who keeps saying she wants stability, and keeps going for the unstable relationships. The more bad dating choices she made, the farther away she seemed to get from the warm glow of that love.  

I was happy to see her move toward a more stable relationship in this book. But I wasn’t sold on the idea that her one true love has been Sam this whole time. Sam has been a good, stable friend for the most part. But maybe I just missed the spark between them. Sure, Sam might have had feelings for Sookie at one point—but she’s always been quite firm about putting him in the friend zone. So this ending was bittersweet for me: was she really suddenly into Sam, or was she just settling in favor of finding that stability she’s always wanted?

I think I would have felt more comfortable with an ending that left Sookie alone, but feeling good and happy and empowered—and excited about what life would bring her next. After all, we don’t all need to be in a relationship to be happy. And given the bloody and dangerous nature of her past relationships, I feel like I would have wanted to see Sookie find that stability and happiness within herself—before moving on to a new man.