November is finally over and with it, NaNoWriMo. For those who participated and were able to finish, congratulations on your win! For those who didn’t make it but still churned out some stellar work, way to go. Creating something is a whole heck of a lot better than doing nothing.
For me, I managed to barely squeak by with my 50,000. I’m not sure how it happened, but I ran out of story before I had generated enough words. Part of it stems from never fully fleshing out characters or places in my first draft until I am certain they are going to stay. I spent yesterday returning to earlier chapters and adding much-needed description to push my word count over the finish line.
Tah Dah!
And now what you’ve all been waiting for, the book jacket back synopsis.
Sandra Roberts never wanted an exciting life, she left adventures to other people. Everything changed when the Amulet of Nefertiti claimed her as its guardian. Now a fanatical collector is hunting her and will stop at nothing to take it from her. Sandra must prove her bond to the Amulet before the collector turns violent. Not all hope is lost, being a guardian comes with privileges. Sandra has also attracted the aid of the mysterious Lapidary Society, a secret group of historians whose sole purpose is to keep the Amulet and other artifacts like it out of the wrong hands.
It’s hard not to write a teaser without thinking in the voice of Don LaFontaine. “In a world where Sandra Roberts thought she was safe…” The teaser still needs some work, but you get the idea. The story itself will need extensive work to clear out the large sections of text which derailed mid-draft and left giant heaps of twisted wreckage. The great thing about writing without an outline is that it is easier to embrace and pursue moments of brilliance. However, chances are those moments might not jive with earlier chapters. I tend to have more than my fair share of these train wrecking moments, at times I wish they were easier to ignore.
I beg forgiveness for being a bit of a hermit these last few weeks. Now that the month is over I will be coming back out of my hole and stopping by everyone’s blogs. I can’t wait to see what you have all been up to! Here at Literary Quest the normal blogging schedule will resume after today.
My Literary Quest 
Well done 🙂
Congrats!
Fantastic! So proud of and awed at your accomplishment! Perhaps I will try it next year. Owing to my long-windedness, 50,000 words should be a snap! But I wonder what I’d do with myself the other 29 days! ROTFLMAO.
Now you’ll have the time to read my 5-part treatise on the anniversary party to end all anniversary parties – or perhaps any and all parties! 😀
Congrats again Jodi! WELL DONE! And, I can’t wait to read it. The book sounds like fun, and you’re right, I can hear the late, great Don LaFontaine, may he rest in peace! I can even hear his voice doing the voice-over for a movie biography of himself! Can’t you?
You should, it’s a bit of a stress but at the end you get a book out of it. This story is something very new for me, I normally don’t touch mystery or suspense so I had a lot of fun figuring out a story that would work.
If I’m crazy enough I might start seeking representation next year after a few rounds of editing and revision. Believe me if that happens you will be the first to know!
Congratulations! Sounds like a great story. I’d definitely read it from that synopsis you wrote 🙂
That means a lot to me! Hopefully one day you all will have that chance.
YIPPPPEEEEE!! congrats. Any injuries? I made it to 50,000 last night with an hour to spare nursing a sore s/w ring finger. At one point my characters were at a fair talking to a dwarf about his infant daughter. Yes, characters go deep..or off the deep end during nanaowrimo!
I think I will have a permanent knot in my right shoulder from trying to type and curl up in my chair at the same time! I wore off a few of the letters on my keyboard in the process. Now I’m really interested to hear why your characters were talking to a dwarf.
Congratulations, Jodi. I never doubted for a moment that you’d make it. But then, you knew that. ))
You have always been a super cheerleader for my efforts, I appreciate your support. Will there be a NaNo report from you somewhere, or did I miss it?
Sounds likea very fun story. Welcome back to the normal world. It’s true you may have to chuck a lot of what you consider “great” writing, but no one can take the experience away from you. Congratulations on the 50k+. Next year I’ll be on board!
With the launch of your first book I can’t blame you for not diving in this year, I’m so excited for you. (and jealous, but in a good motivational way)
Lucky for me I’m not considering any of what needs to be chucked great, or it would be a whole lot harder to do!
Congratulations!
Great job!
Yay! You go, girl! 🙂
Welcome back.