NaNoWriMo Prep - I'm Ready, Kind of

I am participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this November! I have participated twice before and won once. With grad school this year I wasn't originally going to participate, but I have decided to try anyway. If my dream is to be a writer, then I need to make time for that, no matter how busy my life may get.

Prep Resources

Writing New Adult Fiction: I am reading through this book right now and find it full of helpful information. There is advice and exercises.

NaNoWriMo Website Prep Page: There are a few good resources on this page. It is worth a look.

Preptober Workbook: I have heard a lot of good things about this workbook but I haven't used it yet myself.

Susan Dennard Website: She offers a lot of great information for writers.

Pub Crawl: Another great site with an abundance of tips.

Swoon Reads: This publisher website also offers a bunch of writing and publishing advice.

My Novel

*This information is a work in progress, but here is a sneak peek at the novel I will be working on in November. Sorry it's kind of  a mess.*

Tite: Behind the Stacks (Working Title)

Genre: New Adult Romance

Summary: Mia just finished her bachelor's degree and has moved out of her parents house for the first time. She soon realizes that having her own place while working two jobs and taking grad school classes is a lot harder than she thought it would be. She is determined to get a full-time job and make it on her own, all while making sure her apartment doesn't flood, again. She didn't factor in any extra time in her busy schedule for romance, especially with a sexy fireman. It's too bad Wes has other plans for her. Wes and his sister are the youngest members on the local fire crew. Firefighting is hard work, but Wes always finds time for some fun, as long as it doesn't involve any commitments, until now. His new plan, break Mia out of her shell.

Will you be participating in NANOWRIMO?

The Bookish Report

Here are all of the top bookish stories, blog posts, pictures, and videos I found this past week. I put this post up every Sunday so come back again next week for more bookish awesomeness.Click away and enjoy your Sunday!

News

See what the "it" book of 2014 is on goodreads (I have read the book, it's good), and voting for the Goodreads Choice Awards begins on Monday.

Publisher's Weekly also has their list out of the Best Books of 2014.

Anyone who wants to participate, is participating, or just thinking about participating in NaNoWriMo may want to read this post about writing a novel in 30 days.

The cover forA Court of Thorns and Rosesby Sarah J. Maas has been revealed. I love it.

Fellow Book Blogger Posts

My Friends Are Fiction - If a book makes you ugly cry do you rate it higher?- I do take that into an account in reviewing. If a book gets me that emotional...

The Broke and the Bookish - 5th Annual Secret Santa Sign-ups- I may actually participate this year!

Harry Potter Crafts

I found this HP craft board on Pinterest. No regrets. I now want to throw an HP party and I want to figure out how to make this howler ornament.

Source

It's NaNoWriMo Time

I'm happy to say that I am officially participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) again this year! This is my second time participating. I feel like I should be more confident but really that isn't the case, but I better get over it because NaNoWriMo starts today!

Why am I participating in NaNoWriMo?

• I work better with a deadline and a dazzling finish line.
• I had fun last time so I am hoping it will be fun again.
• I won NaNoWriMo last year and it was a GREAT feeling. I actually went over the goal and I am hoping to do that again this year.
• I have so many crazy book ideas that float around in my head that I figured it would be good to put some of them down on paper so I can free up some more brain space.

What will my second novel be about? (What I know so far.)

• Zombies.
• It's going to be more of a comedy.
• The setting: a college campus.

What does this mean for It's a Book Life?

Nothing will change on the blog. Most of my posts are already done and ready to go for the month of November. It may take me a little while longer to reply to comments and read other blog posts but that is about it. So don't worry blogger buddies, I'm not going anywhere.

**Wish me luck! If anyone else is participating in NaNoWriMo let me know and I will totally cheer you on! My NaNoWriMo name is AKayR08 if you want to add me.

NaNoWriMo is Half Over and I'm Kicking Its A**

I can officially say that I am half way through NaNoWriMo and I am winning!

I was nervous about participating in Nation Novel Writing Month at first (I have tried to write a couple of novels in the past and never finished them) but I worry no longer.  Little did I know that if I had a deadline and a competition to compete in that I could write a (very rough draft) novel in a month. I am having fun writing, it's very interesting when my characters have a mind of their own and start doing things I hadn't planned. It's not always easy and fun though, I force myself to sit down and write at least 2,000 words every single day and sometimes this simple task will take me hours because I just can't concentrate. Okay, enough rambling. Here is my word count so far... drum roll please...

40,006 words!!!!

Now for some fun statistics to further explain how awesome this is.

Well as you can see I'm way above schedule! I'm feeling pretty darn accomplished right now. I'm hoping my novel will be around 80,000 words and I may even finish the whole thing this month. We shall see. Hopefully one day in the future after A LOT of editing my work of art will be good enough for me to share with everyone. Until then, carry on.

**If you are participating in NaNo please share your progress below! If you are not participating and you would just like to cheer me on feel free to do that as well. ;) 

Writers Unite Intro Post - I'm participating in NaNoWriMo for the first time!

I'm happy to say that this year I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) for the first time ever! I'm really glad I found Writers Unite so I will have some extra support on this adventure. Thanks Paola @ A Novel Idea and Charlotte @ Gypsy Reviews for creating this support group! 

Why am I participating in NaNoWriMo?

• I've always wanted to write a book. I have started two different ones now and I never finished them. So here is my chance to start fresh with a brand new idea and actually sit down and write a very rough draft of my first novel.
• I work better with a deadline and a dazzling finish line.
• I think it will be fun.
• NaNoWriMo is helping me face my fear. For some reason I'm super scared (probably because I'm pretty sure my novel will be crappy but practice makes perfect and I heard writing your first novel is the hardest) about actually writing my first novel from start to finish.
• Unlike October when I was crazy busy, November is a slower month so I have time to write.
• I recently went to a Veronica Roth signing and she gave me the push I needed to finally sit down and write my novel. 

What will my first novel be about? (What I know so far.)

• A blizzard survival story with some romance.
• My main characters will be around my age. (20's)
• There will be some awesome sibling interaction/squabbles. 
• There will be a dog.
• Not everyone will survive, no one is safe. (Except for the dog of course.)

What does this mean for It's a Book Life?

Nothing will change on the blog. I'm currently working on writing most of my posts in advance for the month of November. Which actually means I'll probably have more posts in November than October, which is kind of sad. It may take me a little while longer to reply to comments and read other blog posts but that is about it. So don't worry blogger buddies, I'm not going anywhere.

**I have two more days until November... wish me luck! If anyone else is participating in NaNoWriMo let me know and I will totally cheer you on!