Why I'm Going To Complete Nanowrimo This Year

I know, every year I do it and every year I fail. I think the last time I did it I got about three days of writing before I stopped.

But this year I'm going to complete it and for entirely different reasons that before.

1. I'm not writing a romance novel. I love romance and love reading romance but it's not what I ever planned on writing. And it's not my first love. I love general fiction and that's what I'm writing. Just a story with no HEA but an interesting main character and a theme that intrigues me.

2. I'm not planning on writing 50,000 words. Nano is based on writing 1,667 words a day and at the end of the month you'll have written a 50,000 word novel. Except my intent is to aim for 80,000 words with this story. Not all written in the month of November. But as much of it as I can do. So I'm aiming higher.

3. My friends are doing it. Lea, Cheryl and Clark are signed up and what's better than nano-ing with friends? Completing nano with friends.

4. I need this. My life has changed so much in the past year and in the past month it's changed even more. I've become a caregiver to my family in a greater way than ever before. And this is how I plan on taking care of myself. I need to concentrate on doing this for me because I deserve the time and energy devoted to something I love.

5. I've been planning. I have an hour lunch daily and if I bring my laptop, that will equal a solid 45 minutes of writing and 15 minutes of eating. I can get up a half hour earlier every morning which will give me time also. I need to accept that I don't really do much writing at night because I'm tired after work and cooking and cleaning and need to zone more than I need to write. So I have to compensate for it in other places.

So Happy Nano-ing to everyone doing it this November. Remember: Write Or Die is killer successful at making word count appear (cause it deletes your words if you start slowing down). I think I'll be on Twitter this month for writing sprints and I'm always here and there on FB to sprint also.

Let's do this folks. A successful month to us all!

The End of My KA Glom

Sorry... the glom has died. Her last novel, a Chaos novel is basically going to take everyone in the Chaos world and make them unlikable while pretending to be something else.

I'm done. I cannot read her again.

And calling your friends 'bitches' and men calling women 'bitches' while pretending that isn't demeaning just will never work for me.

Done. Sorry. End of story.

Cold Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas

So, Lisa Kleypas has a new historical romance out, the first in five years. I really can't imagine any Kleypas I wouldn't like, but this one won't make the top of my OMG it's amazing! list. Also, I don't like the cover. 

Have a cover:  

I don't like the dress - why would a lady be outside with her dress hanging off her, especially when she's in mourning and wore black for the whole damn book! I don't like the pink or the weakly colored background; the whole cover is insipid.

Now have a blurb:

A twist of fate . . .

Devon Ravenel, London's most wickedly charming rake, has just inherited an earldom. But his powerful new rank in society comes with unwanted responsibilities . . . and more than a few surprises. His estate is saddled with debt, and the late earl's three innocent sisters are still occupying the house . . . along with Kathleen, Lady Trenear, a beautiful young widow whose sharp wit and determination are a match for Devon's own.

A clash of wills . . .

Kathleen knows better than to trust a ruthless scoundrel like Devon. But the fiery attraction between them is impossible to deny—and from the first moment Devon holds her in his arms, he vows to do whatever it takes to possess her. As Kathleen finds herself yielding to his skillfully erotic seduction, only one question remains:

Can she keep from surrendering her heart to the most dangerous man she's ever known?

Okay, I suppose this is a ....................   SPOILER:      The heroine is a virgin widow, a trope I hate. The hero "vows to do whatever it takes to possess her", except offer marriage. Frankly, I liked his brother West better.

I didn't like the way Kathleen treated her SIL Helen, deciding what would be 'proper' for her, when she's the same age and Helen's guardian is Devon, her cousin and the new Earl. Kathleen rode roughshod over her, without even listening to Helen, but I suppose it was necessary for the next book. 

However ...

I did not particularly care for Kathleen. 

Actually I didn't particularly care for Devon either.

So, that didn't leave me with much. The writing was good as per usual, the plot was not out of the ordinary for a Regency except for all the pre-marital sex. And boy, were they obvious about it. They had sex in the carriage house where any stable-hand/groom/coachman could find them, sex in HIS bedroom during the daytime, sex all over the place.

And that reminds me - there's too damn much sex in some of these historicals. These women were watched like hawks, chaperoned everywhere and even a widow did not screw around where she'd become fodder for gossip and certainly not with three unmarried young women in the same house. I know historical romances are not necessarily historically correct, but c'mon now!!

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how Ms Kleypas handles Helen, Devon's shy, young SIL, who is the heroine of the next book. She didn't even like it when her hero kissed her for the first time. 

But the book I really want is West's book, because I really, really like West. Hope I'm still around. ;-)

Just Breathe

So Planned Parenthood is under attack again and this might become the defining fight of the next election. They want to take away our choice. They want to say what we can or cannot do with our bodies. They want us to have babies we don't want and might not be able to support but they don't plan to increase the programs and funding to take care of those children.

In fact, they want to decrease the help that's made available.

Who are they? Unfortunately, it seems to be the loudest mouthpieces in the Republican party. And men like my brother who believes that Planned Parenthood is selling fetuses and will not/can not hear any rebuttal.

I've never before felt like an election was as critical as this one feels. This country is so divided, so completely at war with one another that those who don't vote are doing the greatest disservice ever. If we don't make ourselves heard, we're going to be facing the hardest years we might know.

My brother is concerned that the democrats want to take away his guns and that matters to him. I'm terrified that the Republicans want women to lose everything and become chattel again.

Do I dream of a Hillary Clinton presidency? Oh hell no. But I'd embrace it over anyone the Republicants choose.

Ben Carson said he'd like to see Roe V Wade overturned. Huckabee thinks Kim Davis is a hero. Trump mocks women he doesn't like. Even Carly Fiorina is parroting the Planned Parenthood lies and refusing to admit the truth.

If we don't all register and vote, we can see the end of the rights we cherish. And do you want your daughter living in a world where she has no say in her body or rights equal to men's? I don't. And I think this will be the first time in my life where I'll be joining a candidate's team and working to get them elected.

I've never been more scared for the loss of our rights.

Autumn Beauty

Nature is a wondrous thing.  >3

That Deadly Ennui

So Carolyn's computer got tired of not being used for more than searching out tentacle porn and it died, leaving Carolyn with nothing to do but hang out in fields at night hoping to be abducted. She looks adorable with the tin foil hat, I must say.

I'm still not reading but thankfully still am writing. Doing an Il Divo fanfic on WattPad with Cheryl and Lea (Carolyn's out since her computer shuddered to its untimely death) and it's been tons of fun. Maybe I'll post it here too for fun.

Working on my non-romance. Lea pointed out that Nano is next month so I'll use that as an impetus to write a lot for about three days before I crap out on it. (#notjoking)

Had a pretty cool birthday. Saw the movie Trainwreck with Amy Schumer which was funny at first (John Cena is a naked God, let me point this out) but then it went with the love of a good guy makes life wonderful shit and both Mollie and I rolled our eyes. I'm waiting for the movie where the happy ending for the woman isn't getting the man but rather making a dream come true. The man would just be incidental.

Have been slowly working on my bedroom, planning on turning it into a gypsy haven. Oh yeah. Color everywhere. I'll do posts of my big projects and I have 2 big ones planned: making my own headboard and stripping and painting every piece of furniture (as well as reupholstering 2 chairs).

Let's see what happens when I glue myself to something embarrassing.

Otherwise, I realized this morning that living with Republicans who love their guns is warping my point of view. Their views have encroached on my good sense and I really don't believe a lot of what I've been parroting. I need to figure this out for myself. It's hard.

And since I'm writing this while at work, I need to get back from lunch and to my desk so let me say... I wrote a line yesterday morning whereas a character thought of another, 'how vulnerable we are when love disappears' and it resonated strongly for me. Of course it would since it was my words, but more than that, those words said a lot about my life and my emotions right now. I miss a lot of people and I'm watching my daughter get older and start planning for when she leaves.

We are all vulnerable and so dependent on being loved and loving. Facing the end of a relationship is devastating. Change can be heartbreaking. Isn't it amazing how strong women are as we lose parents, lovers, children and sometimes pieces of ourselves and just keep going?