skimming grassy knolls laced
with winter frost. a press of hoof
into soil, trending careful, flaxen-colored fur
blends to disappear. a still place, a murmur
of a brook moving under a thin sheet of ice.
golden eyes shine in the morning light.
Tag: writer
the girl outside the bar [a poem]
Crisp air pulls across chrysanthemum curls,
a glance, a brace against a rusted streetlight, smoke swirls
from plush lips, she is everything but what she is not.
Aqua moon sinks low into the mosaic Bay, night bleeding
into the fog to press against silky skin, wet and glistening.
A hint of liquor lingers on breath, a steady indulgence of
downers to saturate the ache.
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What Happened? I Didn’t Finish a Novel for NaNoWriMo2021
Here I am, on the seventh day of December, and yes, I failed NaNoWriMo2021. Last month was hectic. We ended up having to relocate to a hotel for almost two weeks while our apartment was getting worked on. During all the chaos, I kept working and didn’t have the energy to work on Jack’s Story. But that’s ok.
When we finally returned home, I started resettling into my usual routines. It is so nice not to spend $100 a day ordering takeout, and I won’t miss it.
As November sped away from me, I kept thinking about my novel that I completed back in 2018. I’ve done many revisions, had people read it and review it, and edited it to death. But I know it’s not even close to done.
So I broke down yesterday, set a timer for one hour, and worked on the first three chapters. I couldn’t get it out of my head. I feel the characters, the story, and the convoluted ending falls short of everything the plot builds up to. It needs to be rounder, fuller, more complete.
Now, I’m working on my novel again while I get ready for the Holidays. Of course, I’m behind in my Christmas shopping, and I’ve got a stack of cards that need to be mailed soon. But this is good. Working on my novel will help me settle down to relax and enjoy winter in San Francisco.
Did you participate in NaNoWriMo this year? Let’s chat, leave a comment below or send me a message. I’d love to hear about your experience.
Finishing a Novel for NaNoWriMo2021: How’s it going to end?
It’s another year, another November, and NaNoWriMo is here. I’m about nine days too late for writing this introduction post, but better late than never, right?
Around Halloween, I was starting to agonize over what I was going to write in November. Should I try short stories? Should I even try at all? On the first day of NaNoWriMo, I ended up writing about a thousand words of a nonfiction piece that turned into an assignment for an online workshop I’m taking provided by The Writer’s Studio. Oh well.
I decided I didn’t want to expand on that nonfiction piece for 50,000 words, so I scrapped it and wrote three hundred words about a teen girl being hunted by a coven of witches. I can’t shake witches; they’re in my blood.
No, I don’t want to write another novel about witches, so I chucked that idea out the window and started going over the novels I attempted to complete for NaNoWriMo’s in 2020 and 2019. Low and behold, the two novels I had failed to complete are still vaguely interesting.
I decided to pick up the one from 2019, titled Jack’s Story, and run with it. Now I’m editing about 17k words as I catch up in the story. It’s not that bad, I’m surprised, and for once, it appears I’ve written part of a novel that isn’t tainted by the supernatural…for now.
So that’s where I’m at; I’m going to work on Jack’s Story for this month and see where it takes me.
A brief synopsis of Jack’s Story:
Jack is a twenty-something downbeat guy trying to manage his mental illness when he finds out one of his ex-girlfriends was brutally murdered. As he reconnects with family and friends, his past comes back to haunt him.
Check out my NaNoWriMo2021 project here!
I think finishing this novel is a good challenge for me this month while I juggle the workshop. While I’m working on all of this, I’ve been revamping my Medium blog, prepping to post a selection of nonfiction pieces centered around San Francisco. So far, I have one piece published, and you can check it out here.
Stay tuned!
Are you participating in NaNoWriMo 2021? Let’s talk! Leave a comment below or message me. I want to hear from you!
Today is the Day Sirens Scream [a poem]
She slips into something more comfortable, a beaming
grin with sly eyes and slinks towards the edge of the
water. A toe in the icy blue, a shiver up her leg. Today is
the day the sirens scream will alert everyone. Today is
the day, the froth of clouds above will become the
canvass to a scene of despair below. She untangles her
bikini and inches into the water, drowning out the sounds
of the children playing, the people laughing on the beach with
each sloshing step. Closer, closer to the depths, another shiver races
up her spine to rest at the base of her neck like a necklace of ice.
She takes in a breath, but not too big, shudders, and dives into the black.