Nanowrimo | Perle Champion

To Write or to Paint?

01 Nov 2015 Leave a comment

by Perle Champion in Art for Sale, NaNoWriMo Tags: Art for Sale, Nanowrimo

Well NanoWrimo (National Novel Writing Month) is here and I rose early to get my wordcount done (1773 done). I could write more and will probably do so later in the day, but I’ve been sidetracked.

What is it about me, that I’ve barely touched a paintbrush, pencil or pen to draw or paint all summer long. I blame my ennui on the sweltering summer heat. But now on this cool rainy Sunday with the Nano challenge of writing 50,000 words before me I’m working on unfinished paintings.

Madness to dilute my time in one of the socially busiest months of my year. What can I say. Here are 4 that are finally ready to post to Etsy unless they disappear via Blog. Acryllic, pencil and/or pen on rescued (I gather wood from construction sites and upcycle it and lessen the burden on our burgeoning waste)

Psykhe (9×11-1/2)

Meowling at the Moon 1

Sundrenched Village (3″X9-1/2)”

Meow Amour (3-1/2″x16″)

Do you do errands on Saturday?

31 Oct 2015 Leave a comment

by Perle Champion in NaNoWriMo, Perle Champion Tags: Nanowrimo, Perle Champion

Forget walkabout, today was all runabout.

PepperPlace Farmers market (goat cheese and Kale); Western Market (last 2 marked down pkgs of drumsticks); corner of 11th n 19th on Southside/ checked PO Box (bills, party invites – no checks – sigh), scored a cozy mystery in a series I’m reading, Rachel Rays new cookbook and 2 mini snickers from trick or treat bowl, returned one overdue book and paid fine across street at library, picked up mint at Golden Temple on other corner to go w parsley n mint from my potted garden for tonight’s tabouli salad to go w leftover kibbee dinner(courtesy of mom); Kangaroo and CVS for weekend’s cheap beer n wine.

Whew. Then home to cozy corner of couch with balcony door open behind me a

nd new fleece throw and Jazzmine across my lap against the chill. I will sip and read and pat cat until time to put dinner in oven w side of tabouli.

Tonight @ midnight 01 I’ll begin my 2015 nanowrimo novel. Later y’all.

Write a Novel in 30 Days

29 Oct 2015 1 Comment

by Perle Champion in NaNoWriMo, Perle Champion Tags: Nanowrimo, Perle Champion

It’s that time again – National Novel Writing Month. Every year thousands of the aspiring sign up for the challenge – write a novel of at least 50,000 words in the 30 days of November.

Begun in 1999:

“The very first NaNoWriMo took place in July 1999, in the San Francisco Bay Area. That first year there were 21 of us, and our July noveling binge had little to do with any ambitions we might have harbored on the literary front. Nor did it reflect any hopes we had about tapping more fully into our creative selves. No, we wanted to write novels for the same dumb reasons twenty-somethings start bands. Because we wanted to make noise. Because we didn’t have anything better to do. And because we thought that, as novelists, we would have an easier time getting dates than we did as non-novelists.” -Chris Baty – NanoWriMo.org

In 2014, over 350,000 signed up for NanoWriMo. I’ve been doing it since 2004, and although I’ve written the requisite words, I’ve never pursued the pen and sword 2 arduous task of editing a final marketable draft. I had the excuse of a full-time job and life, but as I retired from Dilbertville early in 2013 I could not use that excuse that year or last.

Now, it’s 2015 and I’ve signed up yet again. I’m still painting, but I’m determined to get my daily word count in before I pick up a brush. I may have to do what I did the first time – leave the house and write at a coffee shop, the corner bar and anywhere that’s not my studio. The library is far too quiet for me. I need noise. Noise makes me focus harder on what I’m doing.

The hardest part is all the parties and family functions that are strewn throughout the month of November. I’ll be trying to exceed the daily 1667 words per day so I can bank enough to make up for those days, that just don’t make the mark.

We had our kick-off for the Birmingham Region last night. Big shout out and thanks to The Homewood Public Library for hosting us along with weekly write-ins and our Municipal Liaison, Jared “Tycho Brahe” Millet. Anyone looking for me on Nano, my handle is perlesrose – my close friends will know it’s shorthand for perle(alias)rose.

NanoWriMo Novel Excerpt – 1

13 Nov 2014 Leave a comment

by Perle Champion in Blogher NaBlo, NaNoWriMo, Witch on a Witch Hunt Tags: Blogher NaBlo, Nanowrimo, Witch on a Witch Hunt

I’ve been working on my NanoWriMo novel in process, Witch on a Witch Hunt, and too busy to think about my Blog, so I’m posting a small excerpt. Critiques welcome.

They drove away in silence. James driving and Jade deep in her own thoughts wondered how Chadak fit in and was startled by her thought. Chadak. Chadak? Why had his name come to mind? Bits and pieces of whispered conversations from her youth drifted unbidden to the surface of her mind.

“Unnatural, they are – evil. They play with life as if it has no meaning and she was playing with that dark child of hers.”

“Shhhh, she’ll hear.”

“No, she sleeps. She must leave here soon”

“But, she’s so young, she’s my baby, her father will be devastated. Surely they are no threat.”

“I have spoken, it is law, and you have known the day would come. Jadeah has reached the age of reason. It is time, and not a moment too soon.”

“Yes, Nana. When?”

“Soon. soon. She is strong and she bested him. Would you risk her life to the ire of those without conscience? No, – not yet. It is too soon. She is better at the School. It is time.”

“But Nana, you’re strong, you’re on the Council. Why do you fear Morana and this boy of hers?”

“Fear? No, child. I know her and knowing her and her kind, I prepare me and mine and protect them from the dark side. That boy is but a child, but a child raised in the dark is destined to walk dark paths. ‘As the twig is bent…’ Ask me no more. To speak of evil feeds its power.”

James’s stared at the road and mulled over the interviews at the university. This Kane wasn’t really intimately known by anyone. He was a loner. He spurned social invitations. None of his colleagues knew what his experiments were about. They could only point to his published papers. James would review those tonight. He glanced aside at Jade sitting beside him. A small crease above and between her eyes were the only signs that some deep thought disturbed her. “What is it, Jade?”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry, I was a million miles away. Did you find anything out at the University? How does research on nanotechnology fit in? I reviewed all his papers. The possibilities are endless if his theories are correct.”

Do You Use the Excuse of Writer’s Block?

06 Nov 2014 Leave a comment

by Perle Champion in Blogher NaBlo, e-book, Get Published, Journaling, NaNoWriMo, Poetry Tags: Blogher NaBlo, Journaling, Nanowrimo, Poetry

I’ve often wondered about those folks who use the excuse of writer’s block for not writing. Yes, I think it is an excuse akin to a certain in-law of mine who opines, I can’t cook. My response to her is if you can read and follow instructions, you can cook. My response to writers or wanna be writers. If you can put pen to page, fingers to keys, have a thought in your head, you can write.

I write everyday in my journal – that’s a start, and then there’s the Blog challenges, NanoWriMo, and poetry contests, etc. They all have deadlines, so I make the commitment and on top of my daily journal, I write.

It’s day 6 of the BlogHer Blog-a-Day for November (note: they throw that gauntlet down every month), and I’m on track.

And

I’m still plodding away on my NanoNovel and have 17,545 words to-date, so I’m on track to get my 50,000 words done by and hopefully before November 30. I plan to do heavy edit by/before December 15, so I can take advantage of Amazon’s offer to NanoWriMo winners (anyone who reaches 50,000 words) to publish 2 free hard copies of their novels. I planned on uploading my finished novel to their Kindle platform anyway, but oh, to see the actual book in print (every author’s dream).

I’m encouraged by the sales of my non-fiction e-book published on Amazon in late 2012 – How to Journal and How to Publish from Your Journal. While not a best seller it is selling and yay! It’s making money. I opened my P.O. box this morning and amid the bills, 1 rejected manuscript and the detritus called junk mail, was the check – a royalty check from Amazon.com on my book. It was not large, but oh it’s such a nice feeling to get paid for doing something you enjoy. As I have not promoted the book except for a few Blog posts and an Amazon affiliate link on my Blogs, I’m rather amazed and more than a little pleased.

I like the Amazon affiliate link, as it allows me to link all to the books I review and even those I just like and think everyone should read, and in return I make a few cents commission for having done so. It adds up over time.

How busy are you in November?

04 Nov 2014 Leave a comment

by Perle Champion in Blogher NaBlo, National Novel Writing Month, Poetry, Thanksgiving Tags: Blogher NaBlo, Nanowrimo, Poetry, Thanksgiving

November is shaping up to be a roller coaster ride of

To do

To do.

First off, November means a bunch of holiday open house events and gallery openings, and other parties and I try never to miss a one. Then there’s Thanksgiving holidays, which in my family is a 4-day marathon of gathering, cooking, eating, etc.

Add to that:

NanoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is always a challenge. In order to write 50,000 words by November 30 I need to write 1667 words per day minimum.

Solution: I’m banking words by writing as many words over 2000 as possible on a daily basis, because there will be days I won’t be able to manage more than 500.

BlogHer’s November challenge to post one blog per day for 30 days (NaBloPoMo).

Solution: I’m banking blogs, buy writing 2-5 at a time and scheduling them to drop on the appropriate day; cheating and posting NanoNovel excerpts; dashing off a quick haiku or plain poem…

Two poetry contests.

One was due Sunday at midnight, and I got it off @ 6pm that day. Cross your fingers for me – the prize is $500.
The second one is due November 30 same day as NanoWriMo, so I’ve already started on it in my ‘spare’ time.

Later gators. Tomorrow is my day out with my Mom, soooo I’ve got to write tomorrow’s blog and at least 1667 words on my novel.

What does your November look like?

Women’s History Told

03 Nov 2014 Leave a comment

by Perle Champion in Blogher NaBlo, Journaling, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Poetry, women's history Tags: Blogher NaBlo, Nanowrimo, Poetry, Women's History

“I prefer the pen. There is something elemental about the glide and flow of nib and ink on paper.”
― James Robertson, The Testament of Gideon Mack

Paean*

praise for the paeans
flowing from a woman’s pen
that told their story

quietly they rail
assail anonymity
filling silent pages

pen in hand they stand
long lines of women through time
countless pages writ

journals letters more
words telling the history
men tend to omit
© Perle Champion

*Paean: It comes from the Greek παιάν (also παιήων or παιών), “song of triumph…

So much of history is about men by men, but there is a rich history of women if one is willing to look. It exists in journals, letters, and more. So much has been lost or tossed as of no consequence. And, some has been preserved for us if we know where to look.

Southern History Room of Birmingham and the microfiche archives of the Linn Henley Library are rich with such histories. To pluck any journal from a shelve and begin reading is like stepping back in time and experiencing a life lived.

I’ll be spending some more time there in the next few weeks as I have some research to do. Birmingham has one of the best library systems I’ve encountered and I’ve known many.

Note:
Day 3 of NanoWriMo – Novel Wordcount is 8,449
BlogHer Blog-a-Day challenge 3 for 3

How to Make November a Marathon

01 Nov 2014 Leave a comment

by Perle Champion in Blogher NaBlo, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Thanksgiving Tags: Blogher NaBlo, Nanowrimo, Poetry Contest, Thanksgiving

Talking to a friend on the phone this past Monday, she commented that omg it’s practically November. I looked up from my coffee to the kitchen calendar and noted that in my Kitchen, it already was November and it was already booked solid – omg indeed.

I had turned the page early Sunday morning to jot more than a few items down for November and as I could see from Sunday the 26^th all the way through to November 1, I just migrated the few events left in October to the November page.

Yes I still use a real calendar, two actually. I have one in the kitchen for day to day life and one in my Aerie (that’s what I call my office/studio where I write and paint) for various deadlines and some duplication of the kitchen calendar. Later I will put everything into my Google calendar which syncs with my iPhone calendar. If they aren’t already there that is.

So, I’ve been looking at November since last Sunday, and still November 1 surprises me with all that I have committed to do this month.

Write a 50,000 word novel for National Novel Writing Month – NanoWriMo.org
Post a Blog a day for Blogher.com’s NaBloPoMo.
Enter 3 poems in the Two Sylvias Press competition for the Russell Prize due tomorrow.
Write a brand new poem and submit by the 30^th to Hermeneutic Chaos Literary Journal competition for the Jane Lumley Prize.

Oh, and lest I forget,

Luncheon lecture at Lister Hill next week – History of Medicine thru the Ages.
Three open house events I never miss in the little neighborhoods which make up some of Birmingham: Homewood, English Village, and PepperPlace.
Three or four of my favorite art galleries all have November Christmas shows.

Oh, and then there’s

Thanksgiving – the family gathers and cooks and it all starts the day before and runs through the weekend.

What’s your November look like?

Are You Ready for NaNoWriMo?

14 Oct 2014 1 Comment

by Perle Champion in NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Writing Tags: Nanowrimo, National Novel Writing Month, Writing

It’s almost that time again. National Novel Writing Month is a mere 16 days away.

The gauntlet has been thrown down, and I’ve picked it up again. Every year the good folks at NaNoWriMo invite novelists and wannabe novelists all over the world to write that novel they’ve been ‘gonna write some day’.

Not only do they challenge you to write the novel, but write it now or at least 50,000 words of it within the 30 days of November. I’ve never had a problem with writing the 50,000 word first draft – Whether any of them qualify as a ‘Novel’ is another question entirely. I have a few in a drawer somewhere that I edited from time to time. The best of the lot was my 2012 novel written in early 2001 or 02, which I procrastinated into obsolescence. Yep I was still editing and rewriting when 2012 didn’t happen

Ever the optimist, I’m taking a few of my characters from that 2012 novel and my Murder

is a Primary Color novel from last year and involving them in a mystery. I’m bringing a lot of the backstory forward as it informs the characters.

I’ve got a working title (Witch on a Witch Hunt); designed a quick cover on PowerPoint; and I’m clipping pix from magazines for my storyboard for different characters, rooms, locations, etc. I need pictures in my storyline.

A shout out to Nathan Bransford’s for Blog post on the One Sentence, One Paragraph… Pitch. I managed to construct one of my own and here it is.

Here is my one-liner: A real bewitched teams up with a Sam Spade wannabe to solve a series of anomalous murders in the year 2025.

I’m Ready for NaNoWriMo.

31 Oct 2013 Leave a comment

by Perle Champion in NaNoWriMo, Wadenhoe House, Writing Tags: Nanowrimo, Wadenhoe House

It’s all Hallow’s e’en; my altar’s candle is lit; the aroma of incense mixes oddly with aroma of dinner in the oven and wafts through the apartment and out to the warm Fall evening air.

There’s a moonless night beyond my aerie’s window, and I’ve written the title of my Book on page one of my notebook. That’s all I’m allowed to write before midnight by the rules for my NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writering Month).

Yes, I write all my first drafts stream-of-consciousness by hand on a 5×8 black spiral notebook (the same kind I journal on). I have refills ready for my favorite gold PC pen. Each notebook can hold roughly 28,000 words, so two should be sufficient (I have 4).

I may actually begin writing tonight at midnight:01, then again I may begin early tomorrow after my 5 a.m. walk.

I usually write early when the muse is fresh. I transcribe later in the day into msword. I find this process adds an extra hundred words or so to my daily word count and effortlessly produces a better second draft.

For now, the kitchen timer is telling me my dinner is ready. I’ll pour a glass of Cabernet and eat my dinner as I watch a rerun of Downton Abbey to get in an English mood for my NaNo Novel based in England.

More tomorrow as I’m also doing the odd spin off called NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) and I’ll be posting a Blog a day. Yep, glutton for punishment here.

Night y’all.