It's The Night Before NaNo

It used to be I celebrated the 31st of October because of Halloween. Now I celebrate because, at midnight, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) begins.

For those who don't know, November has become a month when people all over the world concentrate on producing words, 50,000 of them to be exact, in the shape of a novel. It's not a competition in the traditional sense, everyone wins who completes their goal before midnight November 30th.

You'll never find a more supportive opportunity to write a book. The community offers tons of support, from meeting in live groups to write together, to an incredibly helpful forum where all sorts of questions are addressed.

I was so excited to start this year (my second) that I penned a short poem in celebration:

It's The Night Before NaNo

By Genta Sebastian

It’s the night before NaNo and all through the house

Every creature is scrambling, including my spouse

The Halloween costumes had filled me with dread

But now my three munchkins are all Living Dead

Out the door they go bravely, three kids and adult

Upon their return, I’ll be deep in the cult

My fingers will twitch while I watch the clock

Unable to start until midnight will knock

It’s then that their nightmare begins to grow real

I’ll be like the undead to them, that’s our deal

They all are on warning, they all know the curse

The Nano attack will have Mom in full verse

I’m not doing laundry, I’m not cooking meals

I’m not driving errands, no matter who squeals

Instead I’ll be dancing with plot twists and devices

Not caring one bit about pre-Christmas prices

I’ll stop for Thanksgiving, but just for that day

My family comes first, and besides I can pray

That my muse breaks her silence, or gives me a peek

So my word output doubles during the last week

And just when they think that I gave up the ghost

From the office I’ll shamble, but ready to boast

“I did it,” I’ll say, “fifty thousand words, plus!

“The novel is finished. We can all readjust.”

For NaNo I give up a month of my life

The children will suffer, and so will my wife

My eyes will be bloodshot, my back wracked with pain

As I make plans for next year, when I’ll do it again

I hope you'll join us on this adventure into the world of your own creativity. I'll be putting up posts as the days roll along, hoping for your words of encouragement and support.

Write On!

 

A NOVEL APPROACH

I've been floundering around trying to figure out what the dickens I'm doing with a Blog. And I've realized that I need this space to try and communicate more about the writing processes I go through, how well they work, and seek comments and advice from readers.

So be forewarned. My Blog's name is likely going to change to A Novel Approach or something like that. I'll always be Rainbow, and I'll always tell the Rainbow Truth, but I think this blog needs to be more about my work as an author, and less about my political beliefs.

I've started my new novel, and am very excited to see how it develops. The working title right now is: Ghost of a Marriage

No - it's not in the Romance genre. It's my first attempt at Paranormal. I'm excited to try out a new genre, and I'm sure I'll be learning as I go along. I plan to use the elements of fantasy, humor, and erotica to whip up a juicy bit of eye candy. I hope you'll follow along with me as I wrestle this baby onto paper.

The first chapter fairly wrote itself, and the outline is intriguing. So I'm off to see what Chapter Two offers me today.

FREE TODAY 10/12/12

FREE 10/12/12: The Boxer Rebellion. See for yourself what all the talk is about. A horror story of surviving high school and the internet. 

 CAUTION: People who were bullied in their teens report being triggered by this story. The novel contains language that is frank, and portrays brutal, even horrific behavior at times. This book is intended for mature readers and is not recommended for children or the very sensitive. 

MR. VICE PRESIDENT - TAKE NOTES FOR THE DEBATE

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard

This, ladies and gentlemen, is how you deal with

hypocrisy from the opposition.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has called out the leader of the opposition party. In the heat of a scandal surrounding the parliamentary speaker's sending crude, sexist text messages, Prime Minister Gillard took the opportunity to dress down the opposition party leader, Tony Abbott, for his own long history of sexism and misogyny.

In doing so, she was speaking not only for herself, or her fellow Australian women, she was speaking for the women of the world. The time for men treating women as second class citizens is over. I won't deign to explain why, the reasons are obvious to everyone with a mother. Women are half the world, and we're tired of being treated as if we're not equal to men.

What struck me immediately as I watched PM Gillard, was how impressed I was with the power of the woman. I've seen powerful women speak before, not nearly as many as I should have, not for lack of looking, but lack of opportunity. However, today I was treated to a powerful woman speaking the bald faced truth to the very bullies (yes, sexism and especially misogyny are bullying) who have tormented her every day since her election, in front of a room of her peers, and being cheered for doing so.

The first thought I had was, "Every woman should see this." For that reason alone I was going to share it with you all. But then I thought, "Everybody should see this, not just women."

And THEN I thought, Joe Biden needs to see this! Before he steps out on that stage he needs to watch this woman shred apart the lies and denial of deliberate cruelty, because he can use the same techniques to call out Paul Ryan on his, what is politely known as, mendacity when it comes to Social Security, Medicaid, women's reproductive rights, health insurance, and everything else he's been baldfaced lying about over the course of the election.

Of course, I hope Barack Obama will also watch this video. There are two more debates with Romney, and this is a political stance that is seen as strongly assertive, rather than politely removed. It's time to take the gloves off, Mr. President, and call the opposition leader OUT.