Catherine Stine's IDEA CITY

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Friday, November 22, 2013

How's your Nano experience? Or if you're not Nano-ing, what are you up to?

Are you Nano-ing this November? For the few who have no idea what I'm referring to, it's National Novel Writing Month, and to "win" Nano one must write at least 50 thousand words in 30 days. Are you on track? Not even close? Way far ahead? Whatever your speed it's a great way to fast draft!

I'm working on the second in my new adult novella series. The first novella, Model Position, comes out with Inkspell (under my pen name, Kitsy Clare) in January or February! I already had an idea for the second story, so I figured why not strike while the iron is hot. Pretty soon, I'll reveal more about Model Position, but I'm keeping you in suspense just a little bit longer, at least until the cover's ready.

Just know that it's about an artist, Sienna Karr who lives in New York City, and is experiencing the spice, glitz, peril and sexy temptations that are part and parcel of that world. I know it intimately, having gone to art school and shown my paintings in galleries for at least 12 years. I find that writing about the experience is wicked fun. Because there is so much narcissism, bad art, posturing, and a whole big mess of bizarro art dealers. Get this, one of my friend's dealers actually had a physical altercation over my friend's painting, and he grabbed my friend's shirt and tore it. How's that for three scoops of crazy? 

Oh, sure, there are visionary artists, and many of them are hot as anything. Artists can be quite the sex-bombs! Like Sienna's Erik, and in novella 2, the great and terrible Casper Mason...
But I'm getting way ahead of myself!

So, tell me, are YOU Nano-ing? If so, why? If not, why not? And what are you up to instead? If you are, but not totally sweating the word count (like me) why? Any Nano food obsessions? New writing habits? Dish here!

21 comments:

  1. No NaNo for me, unfortunately. Novembers are insane as the semester winds to a close. That, and I'm up to my eyeballs in editorial revisions :)

    Totally can't wait for Model Position!!

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  2. Sometimes artists can be a bit eccentric.
    Not writing for NaNo, but I am working hard on my outline!

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  3. Thanks, Meradeth, and good luck on those edits. Alex, I wish you luck on your outline! Good to know that folks are working hard regardless of whether they're doing Nano or not.

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  4. I'm doing Nano once again, and so far managing to stay ahead of schedule. I'd love to be done before Thanksgiving dinner! (Then, it'll be many months of editing....)

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  5. I'm a Nano rebel - working on two stories I already started. Finished the one and am now working on the second. Combined, I've written over 63K so far this month. :)

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  6. I'm not participating in NaNo. I had too many client edits. But I did just revise two of my own books, so if there's a revising version of NaNo, I nailed it! ;) lol

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  7. I'm book releasing and revising the sequel. That's enough for a single month, right? I'm supposed to have book 2 out to beta readers as of December 1, so I better get cracking. Hey! There's two scoops of crazy for me!

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  8. Your novel sounds like so much fun! Looking forward to when it's edited so I can read it!

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  9. No NaNo'ing for me, I'm writing my butt off, but no word count daily goals. I won't be finished by the end of November seeing as the last time I checked (Sunday) I only had a total of 21k, but hey, it's progress. Best of luck on your writing, Catherine!

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  10. I'm NaNo-ing, although I'm behind in word count. I love NaNo though (this is my fifth year participating), so I'm hoping to catch up and still win. *crosses fingers* Good luck to you!

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  11. Nicole, being a Nano rebel sounds productive in your case!
    Kelly, revision Nano, ha!
    Crystal, yes, I thin a book release and tour is plenty of work.
    Thanks for the kudos, Jessie.
    CandiLynn, 21K is nothing to sniff at.
    Cherie, I'm "behind" in word count too, but I'm loving my novella so far, and making solid progress. Good luck to you too.

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  12. No, I don't NaNo. I write like a snail and revise as I go. I can't move forward knowing there's a pile of crap behind me. In NYC, I spent several months with a friend going to club and gallery openings. Yes, they attract the weirdest of the weird, so I know exactly what you mean. They were their eccentricities like badges. I tired of it pretty quickly, but you're right, it's a great milieu for a novel! I can't wait to see the cover! :-)

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  13. Wow! Some artists actually get violent, huh? Guess they're just temperamental. No NANO for me. I'm too slow.

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  14. I have under 4000 words to go. I've found this to be an experiment in filling the page with words more than filling it with the right words. The flip side is that I've learned some more about the process that works for me.

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  15. Lynn, wow, good for you!
    Lexa, you cracked me up with your NYC art experiences.
    Yes, Beverly, unfortunately that one dealer did get violent. I told my friend that he could have pressed charges, but he mainly wanted his painting back!

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  16. My Nano has been completely derailed when I took my brand new car (only 6 months old) for its first service this week.

    I discovered that they didn't service the vehicle properly, overlooking potentially dangerous problems and informing the condenser in my car is wrecked.

    Spent the last few days screaming and shouting to get a refund for the service fee, which YAY I did! But my air con is still broken, so I'm down $600.

    Yes, my writing state of mind completely derailed. Bye bye Nano 2013! It's been nice knowing you! :)

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  17. Tuan how terrible! At least you got some $ back. Hopefully your December writing will pick up.

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  18. I'm deep into NaNo right now. 46K and heading toward the finish line. Go, us!

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  19. Julie, you're on fire, way ahead of many!

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  20. For the second year in a row, November 1 found me in the middle of a novel project that I very much wanted to finish. So here I am again, in the middle of Dispelled Illusions, the sequel to Discarded Faces. This is the book where we find out what happens to Kanath after she's taken away by the SS (which in this case stands for Seventh Secretariat). Turns out overthrowing the dictatorship was the easy part. What are the people of Danallo going to do with their hard-won freedom? What does it mean, anyway? Freedom to do what? I will answer these questions, never fear.

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  21. Well, Betty, it's great that you're in the middle of crafting a novel, Nano or no Nano.

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