November Madness

Happy November Everyone!
Brand new month, brand new chance to make me number one best seller for the month of November and beyond. I read about Amelia Earhart (pronounced airhart)today when I was reading my Biography of 100 Most Influential Women of All Time – was her name a foretelling of her future – her destiny or a coincidence? A woman of many firsts , especially in aviation, it makes one pause to wonder.

Then there was Murasaki Shikibu first woman novelist from Japan in C. 978 – 1030 Deborah G. Felder says of her...masterpiece is the crowning acievement of a period in Japanese history notable for the predominance of literary women. It would take another eight hundred years before the distinctive voices of women would again be heard as clearly in fiction as was Murasaki Shikibu's in The Tale of Genji." She compares Shikibu's efforts to other great novelists that deserve to be read such as Proust. She had a dream, she had a vision, she stepped toward it.

Fascinating how these diverse individuals made their mark in history. It would appear they never planned for any notoriety only finding ways to do what they wanted to do. Perseverance, determination, vision all of it directed their steps. They did not leap the Grand Canyon in one step – they knew they needed to take that first step and the next and the next in order to get where their vision was.

I also received my boxed set (in a treasure chest type box) of Harry Potter books. Never Mind what JK Rowlings announced about one of the characters, the fact that she wrote these books and the mind boggling sky rocket to the top of the charts that these books took--is enough to amaze anyone. I have not read any of the Harry Potter books yet, but I plan to. I have a friend who hates to read and wants to be a writer (she has since published two books) She has read very few books since she left high school--but she read these cover to cover, beginning to end, book one through book seven. If JK can do that, I must discover her secret - I must read them. And so I will as soon as...my small step to becoming famous is over.

Today my small baby step was to begin my novel for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo – to those in the know) a 50,000 word novel in a month. That’s only a little over 1,600 words a day for 30 days. It’s an exercise in commitment. Not being committed to an insane asylum for daring to try, though during my first attempt three years ago I thought I was vying for that option. {grin} As it turns out, I could do that and more.

So far I have published two of the novels I wrote during former NaNoWriMo challenges – So this year January Flannel (Working title of the book and name of the accidental sleuth) will unfold as the owner of the small gift shop The Capricorn Goat and mystery writer writing under two pseudonyms Dixie Dakota – and Amber G Store. I’m off to a good start.

If you are interested in the challenge check out http://www.nanowrimo.org/ and see what you are facing. There are only 90,000 other writers participating according to my last visit. Imagine all the incredible energy put forth by such a large community of writers. My 1,989 words today is a drop in the bucket, but I’m still counting and one drip at a time that bucket will get full. WRITE ON! I say.