Archive for April 5th, 2015
Hello everyone! I’ve been busy on my self-directed vacation from writing for the past month-ish since I finished writing A Royal Risk! In that time, I’ve read a bunch of great books, including the Dorothy Must Die series by Danielle Paige (it got me hooked right away!). As of today, I’m at 50 books out of my goal of 100, which means I’ll probably blow that goal right out of the water in no time. I’ve spent my time thinking of other ideas, which I haven’t been writing down because this was supposed to be a vacation from it all!
But I guess writing is more than just something I do as a hobby — I think writing has truly become a part of my DNA. I will make every attempt to take a break, but then an idea comes along and I can’t help but start on it. I get almost a tingly feeling, like an itch you can’t scratch, if I don’t set aside time and write sometimes. It doesn’t have to be the next great American novel or anything, but sometimes I just need to get started on a project — even if it just sits unfinished for me to come back to one day.
As a result of the subconscious need to start something to write, I began a new short story on April 1st, for Camp NaNoWriMo! I’ve never done Camp before, but I knew that it was a lot more relaxed than the big event in November. You can set your own goal for Camp — mine is 10,000 words — and you’ve got the 30 days of April to bang out your story. I realized a little early on that 10,000 words would be a piece of cake for me, especially since I’ve done 50,000 in 15 days before, but I figured that 10,000 would let me lay the foundation for something that might end up around 20,000 one day that I could sell for either 99¢ or even maybe distribute for free.
Speaking of free, I put my book, Roads to Love, on sale on this week for free. The sale started today, and it’ll run through Thursday the 9th. So far, at last check, I’ve moved 26 units today alone. That’s definitely a daily record, though I wish more people would have picked it up when I ran the 99¢/$1.99 sale previously! Either way, I’m just glad people are picking up my work and might spread along to their friends to pick it up if they enjoy it! If you didn’t catch that subtle link earlier, I’ll hit you in the face with it now:
Anyway, back to Camp NaNo – I wrote 2,010 words on day 1, which put me at nearly a quarter of my goal right away. I was a bit busy the next day, so I only got to 3,001 words, but was now more than a quarter finished with the goal. The next day was even busier, so I did what I rarely do — allowed myself a day off. I rebounded yesterday and hit 5,026 words, so I’m now past the halfway mark! I’ve got an idea where this story is going, and I hope that it turns out what I’d like it to. The idea came to me slowly on the first, but once it did, I realized that this is a love letter of sorts to my travels and some of the people I’ve met along the way.
My summer should bring lots more ideas for stories — in July, I’m taking a road trip to Canada to visit my best friend and be there for her wedding! It should definitely be interesting, since I’ve never driven that far on my own before. After that, I’ll be home for a month (and visiting with my friend Kassie from Chicago, the one whose mother I wrote about a good few posts back now!), then I’m off to Reykjavík, Iceland! I’m very much so looking forward to all the new things I’ll be exposed to this summer, since they will only serve to strengthen my writing.
Anyway, I hope you’re all having a good weekend — and Happy Passover and Happy Easter to those who celebrate these holidays! — and I will be back to write soon, hopefully when I finish this presently-unnamed story!
Until next time,
Kate
