I was just wondering how you guys finished up? And if you guys plan on continuing your novels now that it’s past due?
13,427
I know, I’m way behind, but life stuff has been happening, so it’s been a stretch. I’m planning on another 3,000 word day tomorrow. Maybe more, if I’m not too tired.
Where are you guys?
Here’s a little excerpt from my novel!
xoxox
Clarity
“Sunny!! So glad you made it, little girl. Come here and give my a hug,” Jack Smith said as he tromped down the steps to greet his niece.
Sarah stepped past Jude, who had opened the door for her again.
“Uncle Jack! I’m so sorry I put you through all this worry and I swear, I meant to call, and —”
“Do not even mention it, Sunny girl. You’ve made me proud. Who knew such a little rebel lay beneath your steady demeanor,” Jack said, giving Sarah a bear hug.
Sarah just laughed. “Oh really? And what would you know about rebellion?”
“You little — All right you. Inside, and we’ll get you settled so you can get a shower. You don’t smell so great,” Jack said.
“Yeah, about that —,” Sarah said, but Jack had turned to Jude.
“Thank you, my friend. I owe you one,” Jack said.
“Think nothing of it. Next time she runs off, I’ll try not to club her before I bring her in,” Jude said, shoving his hands in his pockets as he backed down the steps. “I would stick around, but uh, I need to get back to the store before Wolfman destroys it.”
“Good call,” Jack said. “If I had known what I was getting into when I hired that boy, I would have thought twice. But he has a nose for finding the most obscure albums. My profits would drop like a stone if I let him go now.”
Jack and Sarah waved Jude off, and headed into the house through the screen door.
“Well, first things first. The door here is always open, so just come and go as you please,” Jack said. “I always forget the keys, so it doesn’t make much sense to lock things up. And I figure if someone needs something that badly that they would steal it, they are welcome to it. Stuff is stuff, and it roams in and out of our lives as we need it. That’s a pet theory of mine,” Jack said as he led Sarah through the living room, rolling her suitcase as he went. “I have a lot of theories, you’ll find, Sunny. Heed them or ignore them, but keep in mind that sometimes we have to come up with our own theories in order to make things more tolerable.”
“That sounds like something Tony the butcher would say,” Sarah said, trailing behind her uncle. “He worked at my grocery store, and was always giving me good advice.”
“A philosophical butcher, eh? Butchers always tend to have an interesting perspective,” Jack noted. “Working with dead things all day will do that to you.”
Jack paused at a door near the end of the hallway. “When I bought this house, I made this your room. I found out you were coming, so I got it ready for you. Had to make a scramble, but it’s cozy enough,” he said.
“My room? I have my own designated room here?” Sarah asked.
“Yep. I figured you would be the only one of my relatives to come visit me here in Drake, so I designated it as your room. Had no idea you would be coming to stay here for more than a week, though,” Jack said.
Sarah was touched that her uncle had thought of her like this. Jack pushed open the door to the room.
It was perfect. The walls were painted a soothing sage color, and there was white wainscoting around the bottom half. A double bed sat in the center, covered in a complicated, patterned quilt. To one side was an overstuffed armchair and a lamp, and on the opposite wall from the bed, a roll top desk with a dark finish.
Sarah took at all in. Just threw it together, did he? “Uncle Jack, this is amazing. There’s no way you put this together in the three days it took me to get here,” she said.
“Yeah, I did. But I admit it. I had some help. As I was telling everyone to keep an eye out for you, they kept offering me things to put in this room. They know that this room wasn’t finished, so they started offering things,” he said. “Melda at the thrift store found this old bedstead for me, and the chair comes from the Hills, who go to my church. The quilt came from Mrs. Pierce, who insisted you would get cold at night in ‘that old ratty blanket’ I had first laid on it. The desk I already had. I thought you might like to have it, since it was your mother’s.”
Sarah stopped short. Tears began to fill her eyes, and she walked over to the desk, running a hand across the faded finish. “Uncle Jack, this is all too much. I mean, here I am, barging in on you, the recalcitrant rebel, and you go through all this trouble just so I will feel at home. Thank you.”
“Ah, think nothing of it,” he said, accepting her offer of a hug. “While I make jokes about it, I am really glad you took a step out and did something to shake up your life. I’ve watched you shrink over the years, from being a gregarious girl to a buttoned-down adult. Not all rebellion is good, but there’s grace for those who do it with a good cause in mind.”
Sarah laughed and wiped the tears from her face. “I was just about to say, rebel that I am, I don’t deserve all this. I deserve bread and water rations, and a hard bed, even if it’s just for a few days penance.”
“A good girl like you? Never. All right, well, I’ll leave you to get settled. Bathroom is down the hall, and if you’re hungry, there’s plenty to eat in the kitchen. Just nose around until you find what you need,” he said. “And, um, don’t bother calling home for now. I’ll call and let them know you made it safely. I don’t think your aunt has cooled off yet.”
Sarah nodded, and silently thanked Uncle Jack. He had the gumption to take care of it right now. Sarah didn’t think she was ready to stand up to the barrage of whatever Aunt Lily might throw her way.
Instead of settling in her things, Sarah immediately reached for her toiletries and headed down the hall to the bathroom. Three days of road grime clung to her, and whatever else she did today, this had to be first.
Down the hall, she could hear Uncle Jack talking into the phone — “Lily, calm down. She’s here, she’s safe.”
She closed the bathroom door, shutting out the conversation. That was the truth, more than Uncle Jack knew, Sarah thought. She would be safe here, safe to grow and be the person she was longing to be.
And counting. The plan is to do double the word count and then some today. Getting there. Getting there.
-Clarity
Hope you’re still going! I’m a little behind but I’m pushing myself forward, doing that little bit over the daily word count each day so that I can climb back up that ladder. Keep at it folks!
-Jax
Where are we at here? Who’s still participating? Only 18% of NaNo folks finish, but let’s be part of that 18%.
Here’s something my friend Noelle sent me. “Double Your Word Count” is a day to get back on track. Let’s do it!
“Synthetic_jesso over in Texas discovered this little very unknown holiday, and since it seemed like such a fun one, I decided that we absolutely had to celebrate it. Thus, I announce Double Your Daily Word Count Day.
What is “Double Your Daily Word Count Day”, you ask? It’s a day where you write at least double your average daily word count, and thus give yourself a hefty boost to propel yourself through the ever dreaded week 2.
It works like this: Whatever your end-of-day word count is tonight (Tuesday night), you divide that number by 10. The result is your average daily word count, and your goal on Wednesday is to write twice that many words. If your average is less than 1,667, and you are behind, then I challenge you to up that goal so that you hit at least the goal you should be at at this point in the challenge. Just FYI, you should be at 16670 by the end of today (Tuesday) and thus at 18337 by the end of Hump Day #2.
Use this thread to post your magic number, the number of words you’ll be writing tomorrow. Then, when you finish writing those words, post again to let everyone know that you are victorious.
There are no prizes for winning this challenge other than a virtual high-five, because this is a shoe-string operation after all. But you will have bragging rights, and you will get that warm fuzzy “Yeah I totally won that challenge” feeling. And if you don’t get that feeling, then just keep writing until you triple your daily word count. Or quadruple it.
Remember, we’re in the middle of a whole lot of word wars as always, and we’re LOSING to just about all of Australia. Do you really want to admit defeat to AUSTRALIA??? Get typing!!”
I was doing so well. Then this weekend, I was out doing some of my do-gooding, and I have fallen behind on the novel front. But I’m not giving up!! I’m gonna catch up.
Featuring Pamuk, Ishiguro, Powers, Atwood, McCann (via @WSJAE)
