The Purple Bar: Nirvana

NaNoWriMo Soundtrack song that was playing when I validated the win: "Come As You Are" by Nirvana. I came with no plot. No plot? No problem! ;)

On Nov. 1st I had absolutely no idea what to write. I knew Lily's story wasn't finished, but didn't have any ideas about where it was going to go. This month has been a series of discoveries and moments of amazement as I watched her story unfold on the page before me. I started this journey last year with other writers from all around the globe. I've 'met' some wonderful people, and received so much encouragement from everyone. I can't tell you how much of a 'wannabe' writer I felt like when I started my first NaNoWriMo last year. Could I do it? Was I just fooling myself? Could I do this and dare to call myself a 'novelist' when I had yet to publish a novel? (Notice I said 'yet' to publish a novel. I'm a firm believer in mentally manifesting what you desire. The universe usually delivers. It will happen, hopefully soon.)

I'd wanted to be a novelist ever since I was fourteen years old and read "The Shining" by Stephen King. I didn't sleep for three days and was constantly nervous. I startled at the slightest noise, for certain Jack Torrance was after me with an axe.

I had my "Aha!" moment right then and there. I wanted to be a novelist. I wanted to write novels that made people lose track of time. To forget the dishes in the sink, the bills, their problems. And look up at the clock amazed that they had been reading for hours. That's the kind of writer I wanted to be. And I still want to be a writer on that level of skill. I'm not comparing myself to Stephen King. That would be insane on my part. He's the Master of Horror, and always will be in my book. But it's his level of skill and ability to take me out of my own world and put me in his that I admire. And it's a world that I don't want to leave once I'm in it. That's what I want to achieve as a novelist. To take my readers out of their world and put them in the one I've put down on paper. And make them want to stay in that world I created, and be filled with regret when they reach the last page and have to leave.

But last year when I finished "Cast the Circle Widdershins" and not only tied up the plot in the ending but also a sub-plot, I was amazed. I couldn't believe I had tied up all the loose ends without even thinking about it very much. I thought, "Maybe I can do this again. Maybe I can tell a story, and it be good."

And I must say that this story is really getting good, even if I did write it. I'm anxious to find out what happens myself. :)

"Cast the Circle Widdershins" isn't finished. And neither is "Call the Four Corners". I've yet to type "The End" on this second novel in a series of four.

Stay tuned. It's going to be a wild ride.


P.S. Happy Birthday, Toney. I miss you.