Happy Monday readers.
My wonderful TWRP sistah (as she likes to say) Peggy Jaeger is with us today to explain a little more about what NaNoWriMo is and what it means to her. Read on to be inspired.
I love a personal challenge.
Since I’m an only child (and have all the ridiculous baggage
that goes along with the title) I’ve never been one to go out for team sports.
Competitive contests are just not my forte. But a personal challenge, well, there
you have something else entirely. Trying to best no one else but myself, knowing the reward for winning will be a boost to my fragile
ego and failure won’t make me look like a loser in front of people, well, bring
it on!
One of my favorite personal challenges is the annual NANOWRIMO contest for writers of all
genres. Every November 1 thousands of writers from all walks of life and phases
in their writing careers signup for a month long on-line event inspiring them
to write a minimum 50,000 word novel by November 30. The acronym stands for
National Novel Writing Month and the name says it all.
There’s an on-line community of Nanowrimo-s who help you
achieve your goal, encourage you through the process, and even offer cyber Badges of completion when you get through
another phase of the contest. The only
commitment you need to make is to write everyday. You can track your word count
on the Nano site, and it will even given you an estimate - based on how many
words you are doing per day - when you might actually finish the challenge.
I’ve written – and had published – my last 3 NANO manuscripts. Not too
shabby. Last year, after the 30 days was
done I had an 86,000 word novel. That book released this year on 9/23, edited down
to 75,000 words. But still…It’s a very rewarding experience to commit to
something, follow through with it every single day, and then see the fruits of
all your labors at the end of the challenge.
Perhaps the best thing about NANOWRIMO is you are competing
– for lack of a better term – against yourself. You don’t need to train to beat somebody else. The end result is up
to you: your effort, your determination, your aspiration to come to the finish
line a winner. Once the month is over, and you have your 50,000 words
documented, you even get a WINNER certificate. Love that.
But the real reward for me is the lift my desire and love of
writing gets. Like a dead car battery needs an electrical jump to restart it, I
consider November’s NaNoWriMo contest my writing jump. It gets me jazzed about my work, energized to continue with
it long after the challenge date has passed, and fills me with a sense of
tingly expectation about what is to come for my writing career. The completion
of the event, for me, is a huge endorphin-releasing rush of accomplishment.
So, if you love a personal challenge where you don’t need to
train, eat a certain diet, or wear specialty clothes, but simply write for the
love of the craft, the NANOWRIMO challenge has your name written all over it.
I’ve signed up for this year’s event. Have you? Well, what are you waiting for?
Blurb:
Family Practice Doctor Clarissa Rogers’ first impression of Padric Cleary is biased and based on gossip. The handsome, charming veterinarian is considered a serial dater and commitment-phobic by his family and most of the town. Relationship shy, Clarissa refuses to lose her heart to a man who can’t pledge himself to her forever.
Pat Cleary, despite his reputation, is actually looking for "The One." When he does give his heart away, he wants it to be for life. With his parent’s marriage as his guidebook, he wants a woman who will be his equal and soul mate in every way.
Can Pat convince everyone – including Clarissa – she’s the only woman for him?
Except:
“Have
you ever been friends with a girl before?” she finally asked.
“Friends?”
“Yes.
Friends.”
“Have
a beer and shoot some pool friends? Or the kind with benefits?”
She
laughed out loud, shook her head and grinned. “Have you ever been friends with
a girl without having sex mixed into the equation?”
“Not
since I was sixteen,” he admitted and then felt his neck heat. “Why?”
She
cocked her head again. “It’s no secret I’m attracted to you, too. I think my
reaction to the way you kissed me proves it.”
“Why
am I hearing a ‘but’?”
Her
lips twitched at the corners. “But I don’t jump into bed with a man
because I’m attracted to him.”
“I
never thought you did.”
“Good
to know.”
He cocked his head. “So, what’s being friends got to do with
anything?”
Clarissa
sighed and settled back against the doorframe. “Can I be honest?”
“I
would hope so.”
“I’ve
been hearing about your reputation with women since I moved here, and I’m not
looking to be the flavor of the week.”
He
stared at her for a second as hurt washed through him. “When you say honest,
you don’t pull any punches.”
Buy Link
Bio:
Peggy Jaeger is a
contemporary romance author who writes about strong women, the families who
support them, and the men who can't live without them.
Her current titles, available now, include
SKATER'S WALTZ and THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME, and FIRST IMPRESSIONS books 1 through
3 in her 6-book The MacQuire Women Series, published by The Wild Rose Press.
Peggy holds a master's degree in Nursing
Administration and first found publication with several articles she authored
on Alzheimer's Disease during her time running an Alzheimer's in-patient care
unit during the 1990s.
A lifelong and avid romance reader and writer,
she is a member of RWA and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.
Website/Blog: http://peggyjaeger.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/peggy_jaeger
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/peggyjaeger/
Angela - let's hope you and I inspire manymanymany writers and want-to-be-writers to enlist in NANOWRIMO this year. Thanks heaps for hosting me and this NANOWRIMO event. PJ
ReplyDeletePeggy, you are welcome anytime. I'm so excited about NANO, I can hardly see straight. You are so right about it giving you a 'jump'. I feel like my creativity level has increased by a huge amount, in just getting my research, background, and outline, etc. ready.
DeleteAngela - let's hope you and I inspire manymanymany writers and want-to-be-writers to enlist in NANOWRIMO this year. Thanks heaps for hosting me and this NANOWRIMO event. PJ
ReplyDeleteHi Peggy, Definitely inspiring! I'm thinking of my doing my own version of NANOWRIMO. I've got 11K words of my WIP written. I could finish the first draft by the end of November. Joanne :)
ReplyDeleteI am getting ready to do my 13th year. Or maybe 14th. I think I've lost count! I published two of my NaNoNovels, but not in a year. Fairest of the Faire came out in June. I first wrote it as part of NaNoWriMo in 2009. I'm slow. :) But I love the process, and swear by it to get finished works. I am also the local ML (Municipal Liaison) for the Boulder County Colorado region. So I am extra-busy in November!
ReplyDelete