(31) Days of Summer

You can't see it, because the image is tiny, but my final word count it 52,803. And I am done. It may need a lot of work, but I am done the first draft!!!

I just crossed the 50 000 word finish line...but my novel is far from complete. But I'm so close!

This is probably the last excerpt I will be posting. It's short but sweet. As you will notice, I am now in the home stretch. I am so excited to see what happens! I woke up that morning like it was any other day. I had barely cracked my eyes open and seen the offensive time of 5:15 on the clock before I realized that this was the single most important day of my life. In recent memory at least. But I am getting ahead of myself. My name is Julie Christine York. I am 29 years old, and I live in London, Ontario. And today is my wedding day.

Last night, I wrote about the Sons of Ipswich and their magical stripping. It was OK, but nothing compared to today. Martha's beachiness is catchy. Today, I finished the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner, and I had So. Much. Fun. because of Martha and her beach crafts. Be prepared to be overwhelmed by beach-themed crafts. It;s a little long, but it's only because I had to incorporate a total of TWENTY (!) beachy crafts. And I am so close to finishing, now at 48,573 (!!!) with only the wedding and the reception, plus they morning-after breakfast to write about. I'm going to have to slow it down. The caterers were already there, and had been busy at work for what appeared to be hours. On the porch, this had been set up with a table, chairs and a couch, clearly set out for the guests to enjoy the beautiful evening after the meal. The couch was adorned with seashell print pillows, and the table had on it a tray filled with sand and oversized lion’s paw shells with candl...

...is like what happened to us with Emilio Estevez. She has come unhinged. Her craft of the day today is printed SEASHELL pillows. I bet she has a tattoo of a seashell on her bicep. Or maybe her ankle. I haven't written anything yet, and I really don't have an excerpt I am interested in sharing. I will write today after I watch select scenes from The Covenant to inspire the strip act of the Sons of Ipswich.

Final Word Count:44, 188. Almost there. Julie's bridal shower, which she believes to be her bachelorette party finally is under way, and I am in the home stretch! Moments after the game was over, we all sat down for a lovely dinner of spring vegetable pot pies. There was a delicious puff-pastry blossom, filled with asparagus, carrots, onions and potatoes. They were absolutely delicious. As we were eating our dessert course, ice cream in waffle cups, there was a knock at the gate. Before anyone could get up and answer it, four of the most attractive men I have ever seen walked into the backyard. The first, the leader of the Sons of Ipswich roving stripper troup, was tall and medium built. He had lovely chocolate brown eyes, with short curly brown hair. But as soon as I saw what he was wearing, I could not look at his face. He had on a black peacoat, unbuttoned, with no shirt on, and jeans that were a mite too tight. But it didn’t matter, because he had the best abs I had e...

Final word count for yesterday: 42,279. But that was really just from transcribing what I wrote on Saturday to my computer. Almost there! All we had left was wedding favours and finalizing the guest list. Until a horrible even that occurred later that afternoon. The remainder of the payment, with a finalized head count, was due in just a few days, and I could not wait any longer for RSVPs. I was sitting at home, working at calling all the invitees that had yet to respond to the invitation, when the phone rang. “Hello?” I answered. “Hello. May I please speak with Julie York?” a familiar voice asked. “This is she,” I responded, “with whom am I speaking?” “This is DJ Scrubber, Ms. York. I’m afraid I have some bad news. I will no longer be able to provide entertainment at your event on the 28th of August.” “What do you mean, you can’t do it anymore? We had a contract!” I said, getting angry. “I understand that, and I am willing to give you a full refund on your deposit. In fact, t...

I became bored with describing all the minute details of Julie planning. It was the middle of July, and I decided to breeze by everything, landing Julie at the beginning/middle of August. Here's an excerpt of Julie planning a few things. I would like to note that her and Enid are friends now! I was so busy making all the plans people normally make for a year in advance that I barely had time to take care of myself. But I made sure that I hit the gym every day, even if it was just a prenatal yoga class with Lily. And I was so thankful to have all of my friends helping me. Lily was my rock, Reggie was my insider, and Enid was…well, Enid was Enid. She was there when I needed her, and was always willing to go out for coffee. She had apparently taken a real liking to vanilla bean lattes. The stress and difficulty of everything was compounded by the fact that invitations, as well as gifts, had started coming in and I had yet to develop an adequate filing system or order thank you...

Final Word Count: 37,019 I have been struggling with my novel lately, as I think we all are. In our own ways, at least. Today, I was saved by the return of Enid and the introduction of Reggie. Let me set the scene: Julie makes and appointment at the Wallflower, Reggie's flower shop. She is supposed to go with James, who had some cancelled appointments. When she arrives, Enid is already there, and is an asshole, to Reggie and to Julie. Reggie tells Enid off once, but that's apparently not enough for Enid. “Well, then, Julie,” Reggie started, “what is your favourite type of flower?” “To be honest, I know very little about weddings, and flowers and all of that. But I was browsing through a lot of wedding magazines last night, and I found this lovely bouquet, and I need to have it,” I said, pulling the photo I had taken from the magazine out of my purse. “I’m actually really excited about it. I especially love how the stems are wrapped up with the clean wh...

I have been pretty lazy this week, and I've decided to start incorporating Martha's craft of the day to pump myself up for writing sessions. Here is an excerpt in which I seemlessly coalesce Martha's ideas with my own. Just kidding: Saturday morning I woke up early. When I was in the bathroom, applying mascara and blusher despite myself, I realized that James and I were running low on soap. Since I had a few hours before I was to meet Lily, Brooke and Blair at Jealous bridesmaids, I decided to decorate some soap. In my mind, it’s not acceptable to have plain white bar soap in the bathroom. There should be a decorative motif, Japanese motif is particularly attractive, and a favourite of mine right now. A guest should never be bored when said guest finds themselves in your perfectly decorate bathroom! I always find it’s important, when making Japanese Motif soaps, to create extra sets to have on hand for unexpected guests. Also, you may recall, that Julie had 3 brides...

Most of you know that I had convocation yesterday. A few thoughts I had over the course of the day: - I felt like I was joining a cult/was a part of Harry Potter - How do these people pull of 'serious academia' in decidedly foolish robes, carrying medieval weapons? - Hoods = choking hazards - Free food = great - There, sadly, is no prize for runner up - I need new friends, who are not ridiculous overachievers who make me look stupid by compairison Also, Dad and Scott came with me. Thanks! It was a really boring day, and they didn't even complain! Due to my busy-ness yesterday, I had no time to write. Well, I did, but I decided I was too far ahead and could afford some time off. Instead of writing, I watched Enchanted, a great movie! Since I didn't write anything new yesterday, I will introduce you to the engagement/wedding photographer: Jim Jimerson. I brewed a pot as I drew a bath, and went in search of the lists at the same time. Once the bath was drawn and I had ret...

Final word count:27,367 Julie has gone online! She has started blogging, in a blog entitled (drum roll please) The Reluctant Bride. She started this after Lily told her she needed to start blowing off steam, and airing her grievances. Lily suggested Julie start a blog, and Julie thought it was a great idea. That very night Friday, she started blogging. But before that, she booked 3 appointments over the course of the weekend at various bridesmaids dress shops in London. She will be going with Lily (her maid of honour), and James’s sisters Brooke and Blair (her bridesmaids). Also, she booked an appointment with “the best wedding photographer in southwestern Ontario”, Jim Jimerson. Here is Julie’s first blog: “All You Need Is Love” I have changed the names in the following to protect the innocent. Or not so innocent. I am a reluctant bride. I have never wanted to get married. Though I have never been particularly offended by the wedding industry, I simply decided quite young th...

Whoa! I'm half way there! Final word count for last night: 25,098. Which means, as previously stated, that I am half way there. And living on a prayer.

I have been writing some tough sections of my novel for the past couple of days. It was rough, and this stuff was really holding me back. I just had to deal with if before I could move on. Just like Julie, I guess. I was so inspired by Katie's inclusion of the Boo!-bie Mansion that I had to have my own. After a tough weekend with very little sleep and very many Coors Lights, Julie finally tells Lily what went down with her parents. It's horrifying, and hard to deal with, so I will never post. You will have to read it, if you dare. It was very hard to write, and have been informed that it is very emotionally difficult to read. Be warned. On the say the school year ends (a Thursday) Lily decides that she needs to blow off some steam. She asks the one person she knows is always up for the strip club: Rene. Rene and Julie head to Boo!-bie Mansion, run into Gordon and get locked in for the night. Hilarity ensues. During a booze-fuelled session of Truth or Dare, Julie tel...

Final word count: 19,510. Today was a hard day. Things were looking pretty bleak. Then Dr. Shitty Pants appeared and made my life worth living. Today's event involved making the guest list, in which at least on character from all of your novels is discussed, and picking out the invitations. On tap for tomorrow: putting all the invitations together. Luckily, James picked everything out, so it remains a mystery to Julie, who will have to address and mail out the invitations, hopefully with the help of Lily. This event will lead Julie to create a wedding blog entitled "The Reluctant Bride", basically to allow her to bitch about weddings. Hilarity will ensue. Sorry about all the long posts! This one is important to read to the end. The entire character started from a real life typo, in a real life wedding planning guide. Trust me, it's worth the wait! But first, meet Dr. Shitty Pants: As I was scanning the invitations, Kathleen Hill walked into the lunch room. Ka...

This will be the last of my update posts. I realized I forgot to introduce Julie's dad! My novelling is not as fun as it used to be. Mainly because things are actually startinng to happen, and they are not as great as I thought they would be. Except wedding dress shopping and the Emilio reference. That was genius. It's almost week 2, and I am worried that I will get too down. Luckily, with No Plot, No Problem , snacks, and last year's novels (as well as this years) for inspiration, I should be able to slog through. Not sure if slog is a real world, and frankly I don't give a damn. Here is the sequence where Julie speaks with her father on the phone. To put it into context, she has just gotten off the phone with her mother. I went to the kitchen, and downed another steadying shot of vodka, as the recent conversation with my mother had negated any of the steadying effects of the first. While in the kitchen, I got out my little black book. I looked up the number,...

On the weekend several strange things worked their way into my novel, and Katie's novel, for that matter. Jessie (Scott's youngest sister, she's 6) decided that everything needed a moustache. Inclding butterflies. These worked their way into my novel. One was spotted on the Labatt mansion grounds, the other you will find out about soon. Wedding dress shopping! Enid appears to be intent on controlling every part of the wedding. She calls Julie on Tuesday, while she's at school, to tell Julie she made an appointment at a local bridal gown shop, Nicholas and Elizabeth that coming Saturday. By the time Julie arrives, Enid has already been there for an hour, pulling dresses for her. We learn that Enid has questionable taste. Julie wanders the store and finds a beautiful gown, then enters the dressing room. Hilarity ensues: When Enid led me to the large, well lit change-room with a full length, full wall mirror, I was stunned. There were so many dresses. And all o...

Reader, it has been far too long. I took Friday off, wrote yesterday, and up to final word count of 16,863. I have not yet written today, but I plan to I have a marathon session tonight. It has been too long since I had a great writing session. So much has happened since I last posted that I decided to break this posting up into multiple sections. In section 1, Julie is planning on getting a great night's sleep, and is woken up at 5:15 AM by Enid (who always gets up with the sun in the summer to tend her gardens) with news that she has a meeting with the wedding coordinator at the Labatt mansion, where Enid has booked the wedding. I decided on the Labatt mansion (even though it doesn't exist in London) because I feel that Enid would have the societal connections. I also threw in the fact that Enid's garden club designed the landscaping. I found a place to park and pulled in, seeing that Enid had already arrived. I silently cursed myself for not arriving 16 minutes ea...

Final word count for the day: 12, 546. Which means I am 1/4 of the way done, and the plot has barely advanced. Day three, while just as prolific as day 1 and 2, was different in terms of what I was writing. My book took a bit of a serious twist. There is something dark in the past of the York family. Something which has yet to be addressed fully, just alluded to. Which means that I have no idea what it is. But I am sure it will reveal itslf to me in time. But I talked a lot more about feelings and emotions. Tried to convey how much James and Julie love each other. It was hard. It is much easier for me to write funny things than it is to write serious things. So it took awhile, and a couple of silver bullets to get it out of me. With some success. But it wasn't all work and no play. Some decidedly hilarious events took place. I was inspired by Katie's unicorn reference, for one. But I don't have enough room to put both references I make into this blog...You...

I've learned many things since starting NaNoWriMo two days ago. And I have decided to share my knowledge with my faithful Readers. 1. Snacks are the most important part of writing. So far I have determined which snacks make for good writing, and which are terrible. - Banana chips are bad. It was my nmisguided attempt to have something more healthy than, say, normal chips. But they don't hit the spot. - Coor's Light is essential for getting creative juices flowing. As is Crystal Light, Tangerine Grapefruit flavour. Yum. - M & M Peanuts get a thumbs up. - Party mix is good news. Variety is key. - Trail mix is a no go. For many reasons. While I love a good trail mix, it is not suited to consumption while typing at a computer. All those small sunflower seeds, not to mention those pesky peanut skins can get caught in your keyboard. And, the creative brain needs instant energy, such as the energy found in pure sugar. Healthy foods should be avoided at all cos...

I haven't written yet today, but I feel that my blog is not comprehensive enough in terms of excerpts from my novel, "The Reluctant Bride". Yesterday, I downgraded this to the 'working title', instead of the 'firm' title it used to be. We'll see how that works out. Yesterday, a few things happened that surprised me. In a good way. I was struggling with a few plot points, and the details worked themselves out in the writing process. I had always wondered what James' job would be, how it would happen that he would not be able to partake in the planning process even though he was somehow involved in the wedding industry. The answers to these questions, and many more, invited themselves to me yesterday. SPOILER ALERT. I decided to make James a wedding photographer, with aspirations of becoming something more. But as it turned out, I didn't need him to have any such aspirations. All I needed was his mother to be more of a controll...