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So, remember that whole "I'm going to get back into writing shape by writing every day before Nanowrimo" thing I was planning on?  Clearly, that didn't go as planned.  That's OK!  I have plans and schemes and...we'll see what happens. I decided to scrap my original plan, as it simply wasn't gelling for me.  Instead, I'm pillaging an idea from my husband.  He's an incredibly imaginative person and comes up with great ideas for settings for role-playing games, so I'm taking one of those settings and running with it.  The more I write the outline, the more I'm realizing that watching all those episodes of NCIS and Castle are going to come in handy.  At least, I hope they will. Anyway!  I hope to post fairly regularly with stats, if nothing else.  Happy Halloween/Samhain/Dia de los Muertos for those that celebrate!

It's been a while since I've done a book review, and since I've just finished this one, it seemed like a perfect time to review it.  I've been reading  The Bloggess  (Jenny Lawson) for several years, and thoroughly enjoyed her first book,  Let's Pretend This Never Happened .  When she started discussing her new book,  Furiously Happy , I knew I would pre-order it. The author has had more than her fair share of struggles with mental illness, including anxiety and depression, and this book includes several essays that deal with those struggles.  There are moments of hilarity mixed in with serious discussions of self-harm and suicide, and the balance feels like what you would expect when a fantastic author allows her brain to run wild.  Even when things are at their darkest, she still finds some glimmer of light; even when things are at their brightest, she subtly points out the shadows in the corner. I've been in a pretty rough spot the last cou...

So, what happens when your writers' group includes at least one person with lots of project management experience?  You get together with a list like the below to plan for Nano.  Memorializing it here, so I can refer back to it. 1)       Talk about what we might want to do a.        Genre? Spec fic b.       Conflict type? (Man vs Self/Man/Nature) Man vs Self and Man c.        Character based? Location based? Thematic? Character based, with some theme (superhero/villain) d.       Specific details, scenes, locations, or characters? Eliza Jimenez - main character, admin at Serrano Transportation, new-ish (moving up from the mail room, doesn't realize that the company is a front for the Company of Miscreants Colin Serrano - CEO, 3rd generation of Serrano Transportation, AKA [VILLAINOUS NAME] e.       ...