(31) Days of Summer

Yay! I finished, after writing 5000 words in less than three hours. It's not very good, and needs some very heavy handed editing, but I am done, and I am so so so happy that I am finished. It's been really tough this year, but I think that I will like my novel, and maybe you will too! I will continue to comment on others blogs, and I wish you all good luck in these last few days, in this final push to the finish line. I know that you can all do it, and I know that all of your novels will be wonderful. I can't wait to read them! I'll just post a short excerpt. Mark is in an airport, waiting for a flight, and he meets a girl. He went to gate 132, United Airways flight 77 to San Francisco. He sat down next to a beautiful brunette.                 “Hi, I’m Mark,” he said with confidence.                 She turned to him, surprised. “I’...

So I haven't written since Saturday, but I plan on writing a lot today, and perhaps finish. But it is more likely that I will finish tomorrow. Here is a short excerpt, that I can't really put into context for the sake of keeping my ploit secret, but you might see something familiar take an unfamiliar shape: Leave the canoe behind and go to the bar in the middle of town. Ask for Chris Baller. You will know that it  is  him because he has quite a distinctive look. It has been said that he puts the ‘stink’ in distinctive, a lthough  your father and I would never be so rude. His clothes are always dirty, and he wears a pale pink  trucker hat  emblazoned with the disturbing image of a disembodied hand clutching a revolver, and the  words ‘I don’t dial  911.’ Don’t be afraid of this homage to vigilante justice, he is a friend.   Until next time, faithful readers!

I had a good writing day today. A long writing day, but a good one. Scott, Jill, Heather and I sat around eating samosas and M&Ms, drinking wine and coffee with Irish Cream. It was a lot of fun. Earlier today, I wrote this little diddy to incorporate Drunk Kiefer Sutherland into my novel. I can't really put it into context, but I think it can stand on its own pretty well. I should say that I have discovered the story behind the now infamous sans pants  incident! An image of Roy and his thugs from that day in the forest popped into Mark’s mind. At first, he shuddered at the memory. But then something struck him. Something hilarious. He realized that he recognized one of the thugs as the infamous Kiefer Sutherland. When Kiefer Sutherland decides to party, he doesn’t just let his hair down. His pants come down, too – and his underwear! During a drinking session at Dimples karaoke bar in Winigo on family night, Kiefer decided to show off a few dimples of his own. After a few ...

Here is a link that works to the article on men rolling up their pants. It's incredible. And below is how I incorporated it into my story. This excerpt comes from the morning after Mark arrived in Winigo. He is staying at The Queen's Inn, run by Miss Pettigrew, and he runs into some fashion road blocks. When it was 8 o’clock, Mark was showered, shaved and dressed. It took him an inordinate amount of time to do so. Mark realized when he opened his suitcase that his packing had been substandard. He was used to packing for business trips, taking only those necessities required for a few days in an office in a strange city, and a few business meetings. All he had were two suits, two cleanly pressed white shirts, and two cleanly pressed white undershirts, and, of course, clean underwear and socks. He wanted to dress more casually today since he wanted to fit in better. He doubted that there was anyone in Winigo who wore a suit and tie regularly.       ...

I had a lot of trouble writing today. Well, kind of. I wrote for a really really long time, but a lot of that time I spent a lot of time planning for the future, and I am set up for an excellent writing session tomorrow. I will be in Waterloo tomorrow with Jill and Scott, eating Curry in a Hurry and writing like a demon (or is it daemon?). I really want to start moving things along, which means that there are a lot of heavy writing days in the near future. Not sure what to post today, so I'm putting something pretty old. I'm pretty sure I haven't posted my "Man of the House" segment (sorry in advance if I have), so here it is, enjoy! This part takes place when Mark is in Toronto (before he even goes to Winigo!), and he is opening the box of Jake's personal effects (sometimes he calls him Coop, in case you get confused). He carefully cut the tape he himself had applied to hold the box together during the flight, and gingerly removed the lid, setting...

First, I have to say the Jessica Simpson needs to learn how to wear a romper like an Esmonde. There are too many problems with this to even begin. She really needs our help. Secondly, red wine is the answer. To what? you might ask. And my answer would be "To everything" Anyway, writing went well today, and I plan on having another huge writing day tomorrow. I figured a lot of plot things out, and I have set myself up for a strong start tomorrow. Can't wait. Shit is about to get real in 1986. The kids have figured out what has been going on, and they are about to start formulating a plan.  They did have a plan to begin with, but things change after the scene you are about to read. I was too lazy to come up with an actual plan, as you will see, and even though I, too, had five days to try to come up with something, this was the best I could do. And I know it's weak, and so does Mark. But I think it turned out to be pretty funny.  Mark and Jake go ...

I wrote last night for the first time since Friday. I got in my 1667 words, but it was pretty boring and now I'm pretty far behind. But I had to set up for something much more interesting which I will be writing about today. Hopefully I will catch up quickly on both my writing and on all of your blogs! Sorry for not blogging for so long! Between the Clarke wedding, the wedding shower, and not sleeping anymore, I have just been so tired. I thought I would get a good night's sleep last night, but Lucy wanted to share my pillow with me from the moment I went to bed until 4:30, when she determined that it was time to wake up! but she's being super cute today to make up for it. I'll post a little excerpt today from what I wrote last night. It is from the beginning of the summer of 1986, before Mark meets any of his other friends. He is playing explorers by himself and wanders a bit too far into the forest. This will become very very important for what I am about to writ...

I feel like the Esmondes should get the August cover of Poets and Writers. Just a thought. I was ready to give up yesterday. With the stress of the wedding setting in (I probably won't sleep well for the next 30 days, FYI), and the stress of NaNoWriMo, something had to give. I figured that the wedding was a necessity, so I might just give up NaNoWriMo and save my sanity. But then I called Katie, probably delayed her writing a lot, but we talked for a long time. And it made me feel better about novel writing. So thank you Katie! As soon as I hung up the phone, I wrote 2700 words in an hour and half. But it was very painful , very disturbing, and I cried. But I fixed a very important problem. I know that we are not supposed to do re-writes, but I was having a lot of trouble understanding my characters' motivation. Why were they trying to rid Winigo of evil when it was not affecting them at all? So I went back and added a particularly disturbing scene that gives these kids mo...

I reached 25,151 today, but it was painful. You would think that because I know what is going to happen that it would be easy to write. But, sadly, no. There is a huge amount of pressure because I know that this story is good (or at least it is good to me), and the only thing standing in the way of this story being told well is me! Hopefully week 3 will bring some revelations, and some much needed confidence! Not going to post an excerpt today, because I feel like people are getting very confused by my story. I really don't want to release very many plot details because I don't want to give away my story on my blog before people get a chance to read it in its entirety, but I will try to clarify: 1986 - Strange things are happening in Winigo, Ontario. People are going missing, and no one is talking about it. No one even seems to notice, except three eleven year old boys: Mark Stanton, Jake Cooper, and Tom Sullivan. Mark meets and falls in love with a girl named Sally Anderso...

Totally unrelated to my novel, but I was perusing Look at This F*cking Hipster.com and found this gem. It seems as though this person may be walking back from an emergency bathroom trip to the woods, involving a plastic Zehr's bag, and another person not caught on film. I didn't have as epic a writing day as I had thought I might. I know now everything that has to happen in my story (all of the major stuff, at least), but I had no idea where to start. Luckily, I had Scott here to help me out with that. I can't reveal very much, but here is an excerpt that occurs after Mark overhears his parents talking about something the night before.                 Mark sat for awhile by himself on a bench in the sunlight, waiting for his friends to come. While he waited, he thought about what his parents had been talking about the night before. When he got too hot, he moved to the grass in the shade of a tree. Sadly, the shade provided little com...

I took it easy writing today because of the heavy day yesterday, but I feel like I need to start taking off on my word count some time soon or I will get to 50 000 words on day 30 and my story will not truly be finished. I want to write more, and I have so much to write about. I recently had an excellent revelation about the plot in my novel (i.e. why this is all happening), and I am really excited to get things moving along. Here is an excerpt from yesterday's writing session (all of today's revealed too many secrets!), and you may recognize a certain someone. Mark is pulling into the only bed and breakfast in Winigo, The Queen's Inn. He pulled into the long driveway, parking at the end of it. It was still dark out, so he could not see the beautiful landscaping, but he could see that there was only one other car parked there. Good, he thought, they must have rooms available. Mark looked at the clock in the car, and it read 3:34. He felt bad arriving at such an ungodly...

I have written over 5 000 words today, and am now caught up with my word count. It was not easy, and definitely bolstered with some questionable methods, including writing out all of the lyrics of Summer Girls, and a Martha Stewart craft. Not very much happened in these 5 000 words. Mark travelled from Toronto to Winigo, but he is about to have another flashback. And I think I was just setting up for a lot of things to happen quite quickly. Here is an excerpt with a familiar character joining the fray: He opened the door to Bandito, which was blessedly cool inside. A rather overweight woman wearing a grey pencil skirt that was several sizes too small, and was pulled tight over her formidable thighs, and a cheap-looking black T-shirt she appeared to have spent some time ironing stood behind the counter. He looked down and saw the piece de resistance of her outfit: zebra-print loafers. Each item taken on its own would have been horrible, but the overall effect of the outfit was plea...

I am woefully behind, having taken the entire weekend off. But, I have already written 2000 words today, and if I write 3000 more I can be back on track. I was really struggling for words, and decided to include all of the lyrics to "Summer Girls" by LFO. I will not post them all here, since my blog is not good enough for such lyrical genius, but the title of this posting will give you a teaser. Mark is heading back to Winigo. In fact, he boarded a plane, rented a car and is currently driving there. I will post a short exerpt, with a longer one to follow this evening once I have reached my word count quota! When Mark was listening to "summer girls", he could see the classy and classic video in his mind. His favourite part was the brief clip in which Rich mimes spinning a disc on Brizz’s shoulder, then it switches to Brad holding up a rather hungry looking girl, gesturing towards her sweater to make sure that everybody knows exactly what is meant by Abercrombie...

Hello, again! I did not write yesterday as I was too busy, and it was too hot outside. But I caught up today, in a writing session with Jill, Katie, Scott and Heather. I introduced a new character today. Here is an excerpt introducing her: Sally Anderson was not your classic beauty. Her long, light brown hair was mousey, as was her pale, freckled face. She was slim, and short for her eleven years, and her clothes were always way too small (the ones she had out-grown), or way to big (hand-me-downs from her older brother). But her deep brown eyes revealed her kind heart and sharp intellect. She was always quick with a joke, and made everyone around her at ease with her calm, cool demeanor.                 The only reason Mark and Sally had not met sooner was due to the rather unusual school system of Winigo. The only formal schooling that children got before the age of thirteen, when they were sent away for ...

I have two pieces of good news: 1) The heat finally broke today, at least for a little while and 2) I bought PEANUT BUTTER M&Ms at the grocery store :) I was having a lot of trouble writing in the present today. I had to get Mark going, he has to get back to his childhood hometown, and I wasn't sure either of how to make him do it, or how to give him more modern information about the town. I spent a good long time thinking about it before I figured out that I had already given myself all that I needed, and all that Mark needed - we had both just forgotten about it. Not really sure what to post, but I'm putting something older so I don't reveal too much of the plot. Here is an excerpt from when Jake and Mark first meet Tom Sullivan. One especially hot afternoon in July, about a week after what Jake had dubbed “That Thing We Don’t Talk About”, Jake and Mark welcomed a new member to their club.  A club bonded together by their mutual experiences with evil.   Almos...

Today was a good day. I have stopped writing in the middle of a story that I am really into with the hopes of having a super-productive day tomorrow. We'll see what the heat has to say, though, about the mental acrobats I intend to partake in. I guess I will try to fill everybody in on what my novel is about before posting this next excerpt, because I realized that I have never really made it clear to anyone except Scott. I am writing kind of two stories, on taking place in 1986 one taking place in 2010. The 1986 story is that of young Mark Stanton (my main character) and his childhood friends, Jake (who we meet again in 2010) and Tom. There will probably be others, but for now it is just three. They live in a very small town (less than 1000 people) in Northern Ontario, called Winigo. Scary stuff happens. The 2010 story is about Mark. He has pushed away the scarring memories of his childhood, especially those of the summer of 1986. He is called to the hospital in the middle o...

Writing is going much more smoothly than it was at first. My book, as it turns out, has it's own ideas about where it wants to go. And as long as I don't fight it, it will allow me to write relatively quickly and relatively easily. I have written the first part of my novel which attempts to be scary. Not sure how well it turned out, but I don't really care. It is done, and that is really all that matters. I will post a short excerpt of this scary scene for your perusal.  He closed his eyes, struggling to remember his father’s handsomeness, warmth and the cheeky grin he always wore on his face; struggling to remember his mother’s beautiful smile, her vitality and her kindness. When he opened his eyes, the gruesome monstrosities were both before him, his mother lying in the bed, his father by her side in the chair, their decaying hands linked together in a horrific sign of what would have been companionship in less grisly subjects. These things stole all happy memories h...

It is 42 degrees in London. And I don't have air conditioning. Sorry about my absence. I was at the cottage for the weekend, and although the cottage has internet, I feel that this is a crime and decided not to use it. I am back, reading and writing blogs, and attempting to make comments. But it is so hot that my brain has stopped working. I will soon retire to the air-conditioned refuge of the gym, then the air-conditioned refuge of the grocery store, followed by the air-conditioned refuge of the movie theatre. Scott and I are seeing Toy Story 3 tonight. I have been writing, and I have currently written 6,751 words in my as yet untitled novel, with plans to write more tonight after the movie, after it has cooled down a little in my apartment. My first chapter, entitled "Out of the Frying Pan", has turned out to be much different than I thought. And much longer than I thought.  I am still stuck in the middle of it. The significance of the title of the chapter is tha...

Here we go again.  Jill, Scott, and I started writing at exactly midnight. Our snacks of choice? Almonds, cashews, M & M peanuts, and veggies and dip.  It was perfect.  At least, the snacks were perfect. From the moment I started writing, it was slow.  At quitting time (1:30), I had written 1,101 words.  And every word was painful.  Hopefully my second writing session later today will go more smoothly. This is so different from last year, when the writing seemed to easy and natural.  I didn't think very much about what I was writing.  It didn't make for a good novel, but at least it was fun.  I am still hopeful, though, that things will get better.  They have to. I hope the rest of you had more successful writing sessions than me.  I have no excerpts today, nothing worth posting. Til next time, faithful reader.