One Thing Leads To A Sequel

I started my summer writing journey in June with the fabulous JuNoWriMo and introduced my character, Corinna, to the world of Juno. It was so much fun to explore seemingly disjointed dream stories, much like I post here, within a broader arc. Corinna is a character who is genetically different from her peers, a fact which causes much misery in her life and carries nearly fatal consequences. But once she receives a visit from one of her DNA donors across nearly a century, things begin to change as Corinna’s dreams have healing power both for her and for those whom she meets in her nightly adventures. 

For July CampNaNoWriMo, I’ve decided to extend Corinna’s story through the eyes of one of her newfound friends, a young woman named Charlotte. Like Corinna, Charlotte is also different and is hiding her true identity from everyone except Corinna. What is meant to be a fun weekend turns more than challenging as a third person who shares Charlotte and Corinna’s differences, a young child with a gift for writing, shows up on Charlotte’s doorstep, having run away from home. What follows is what keeps me writing about these characters every day! 
I think my characters are all looking for a sense of home, belonging and family. All three of them have lacked each of these things in the traditional way but try to find it with each other. The July project has a different kind of energy than the June introduction because Corinna was battling life and death and finding the meaning in an existence which most people had told her was futile. This month, she’s empowered and ready to allow others to benefit from her journey even more than was possible in the first installment. 

One Year Of…

Completed wrimos! I’ve reached my goal of winning twelve wrimos in a row, creating an entire year of my life that I’ve dedicated to writing months, aka wrimos. For some reason, this month seemed to go very slowly and I was a little concerned about not finishing on time. But I approached it one writing session at a time and it worked out. 

Next vines JuNoWriMo and I’m so happy and humbled to be on the crew this year. I’ll be handling social media for the group, so when you see more about JuNo on Twitter and Facebook, that’s me! 

I wish every writer would try Juno because it’s truly unlike any other wrimo I have ever joined. Because it’s still a small group, there’s a level of intimacy and community that one simply does not find during NaNoWriMo. It’s great that it’s huge, that’s what makes it what it is. But I craved a closer relationship with my fellow writers and JuNoWriMo provides exactly that. If you would like to join me three in roughly five weeks, please go to the JuNoWriMo site and also visit JuNoWriMo’s Facebook page to learn more. 

April Again!

Is it just me or has the year already started to pass all too quickly? Today was the beginning of the April session of Camp NaNoWriMo, which marks a very special milestone for me. It’s my twelfth writing month, meaning I’ve spent a cumulative year participating in them! I’ll never forget my first wrimo back in November 2005. I hadn’t written anything 50,000 words long in my life and I didn’t begin to know how to approach the challenge. So I merely dove in and hoped for the best, somehow managing to surpass my goal despite starting a full week late because I wasn’t convinced that I had the courage to try! I nearly missed verifying my word count at the end because of a blizzard induced power outage. But the most important thing that occurred as a result of my first challenge was the newfound proof that I could indeed write something that long! 

I didn’t participate again for several years, but when I came back to it in 2012, the goal didn’t seem much less daunting than in the first year, but I decided to start and keep going. This time, my daily quota of between 2000-3000 words became easier as the month wore on. It just kept going as more opportunities opened up, such as the relatively new Camp sessions, as well as JuNoWriMo. Each session encouraged me to try another. Before I knew it, I was counting down to the twelfth time! 

As you know from my first session, it’s never too late to start, so if you’re interested, visit the Camp NaNoWriMo page and begin your writing adventures!