I am a NaNoWriMo Winner!
I just have to take this opportunity to shout to the world that I have WON NaNoWriMo! Yeah! Yippee! Hooray!
It was such an exciting moment when my husband and I verified our word count on the NaNoWriMo web site at the same time, and this came up on our screens:
I cannot explain how amazing this experience has been. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Seriously. Next year, do it. I didn't think I would be able to pull it off, and honestly I'm still a little amazed that I did. I am not ashamed to say that I am proud of myself for completing this.
I have decided that I will take a week and ignore my novel. I'm not going to open it read it or anything. I want to read it straight through, mistakes and all, after I've distanced myself from it for awhile. I have no idea what it's going to be like. I haven't had time to read through it, and I'm curious what it'll be like to read through it start to finish. After I've done that, I'll do a little housekeeping and clean it up a little bit before I will release it to the world. My plan is let anyone who is brave enough to read through my rough first draft be able to do so by Christmas. That will be my present to all three of loyal blog readers.
Here's another excerpt to tide you over until then:
(disclaimer: very rough first draft)
. . . . . . . . .
Chapter One
Lexi felt the despair she had been trying to fight all day wash over her. She felt the need to sit, and found the curb beside her car. Desperately seeking something to distract herself, she focused on the problem she had been thinking about on the way to her car. “for i=1 to 100 do... for i=1 to 100 do” she repeated in her head a dozen times. She felt herself calming, and although she still didn't trust herself to think about anything else, she moved on to what the next line of code should be. She didn't get much further than that when a new shadow appeared at her feet.
She turned around to find a pair of wide blue eyes looking concerned down at her. “Sheesh.. is that your car?” the mouth below the eyes asked.
She forced her lips into a half smile. “Yeah,” she replied
“Dude, of all the tires to slash in this lot, why pick the beetle? That thing is awesome.”
Lexi looked over with a sigh at the 1977 beetle her parents had just gifted her. Even with four slashed tires, he was right. It was a thing of beauty.
“I'm Everett, by the way. Do you need a ride somewhere?”
“Hi. I'm Alexis – Lexi. ” she replied, then focused her mind to the car problem. “No thanks on the ride. I have AAA. I'll just have it towed to the tire shop.” As proof, she reached into her purse and pulled out her AAA card. This time she managed a full smile. Everett returned her smile, revealing two slight dimples under his cheekbones. He sat down next to her as she arranged for a tow truck to come.
“They said it'll be here within an hour” she relayed after the phone call ended. Everett looked at her for a moment than said “Tell you what, I'm done with all my classes. I'll help you wait for the tow truck, and then I'll give you a ride in my car. It'll be a lot more comfortable than the cab of a tow truck”.
Lexi felt the draw of the blue eyes, but her mother's voice in her head was louder. “No, thanks,” she answered, “you don't need to do that. Really, I'll be fine”.
Everett was quiet for a moment with his brows crinkled. “I know this sounds ridiculous, since I'm don't know you, and you don't know me, but I just feel uncomfortable leaving you alone with slashed tires and some unknown tow truck driver driving you around.”
Lexi debated whether to act annoyed or flattered by his chivalry. In the end her nerves took over and she let out a few giggles. As she strove to control those, she found her giggles turn gradually into deeper and fuller laughs until finally she fell backwards into the grassy median to release several full belly ones.
Everett looked down at her with a confused smile, and as her laughter turned into sighs, she elevated herself up onto her elbows. “I am so sorry,” she explained, with a smile still on her face, “I have had one crazy day, and I guess my body needed to release some tension. Tell you what,” she continued, “I'll let you drive me, but I'm going to text my mother your license plates number, so if I come up missing, she'll know where to look.”
As they waited for the tow truck, Lexi tried to find out as much about Everett as she could. Not only was she interested in what he was doing at the 'U, but she was unsure what exactly she was going to reveal about herself. She so badly wanted to fit in here, and to play the part of a normal freshman college student on her first day of classes. Unfortunately, she was anything but normal, and she knew that the longer she waited to tell the truth, the more awkward it would be to bring it up.
Everett concluded his story about how he had started as an English major two years ago, found himself taking more and more computer science courses as electives, and finally deciding to switch his major to computer science with a minor in English, despite the fact that it would add at least one extra year to get his degree.
“So, how about you?” he asked, “What brought you to north-east side of campus?”
”Well... I guess the first thing you should know is that... “ Lexi took a deep breath and felt her brain groan as she released the words, “I'm only sixteen years old.” She could see the shock first register in Everett's eyes and then quickly move to the rest of his features.
“No way, you're kidding, right? You totally don't look sixteen”
“I know”, she replied, “I get that a lot.” Unsure of what else to say she added “How old are you?” She did some quick math in her head. Even though the math added up to it, his soft features and large bright eyes didn't match the number she guessed: “20?”
“Yep, I'm 20. So you're sixteen and in college. How exactly did that happen?”
It was such an exciting moment when my husband and I verified our word count on the NaNoWriMo web site at the same time, and this came up on our screens:
I cannot explain how amazing this experience has been. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Seriously. Next year, do it. I didn't think I would be able to pull it off, and honestly I'm still a little amazed that I did. I am not ashamed to say that I am proud of myself for completing this.
I have decided that I will take a week and ignore my novel. I'm not going to open it read it or anything. I want to read it straight through, mistakes and all, after I've distanced myself from it for awhile. I have no idea what it's going to be like. I haven't had time to read through it, and I'm curious what it'll be like to read through it start to finish. After I've done that, I'll do a little housekeeping and clean it up a little bit before I will release it to the world. My plan is let anyone who is brave enough to read through my rough first draft be able to do so by Christmas. That will be my present to all three of loyal blog readers.
Here's another excerpt to tide you over until then:
(disclaimer: very rough first draft)
. . . . . . . . .
Chapter One
Lexi felt the despair she had been trying to fight all day wash over her. She felt the need to sit, and found the curb beside her car. Desperately seeking something to distract herself, she focused on the problem she had been thinking about on the way to her car. “for i=1 to 100 do... for i=1 to 100 do” she repeated in her head a dozen times. She felt herself calming, and although she still didn't trust herself to think about anything else, she moved on to what the next line of code should be. She didn't get much further than that when a new shadow appeared at her feet.
She turned around to find a pair of wide blue eyes looking concerned down at her. “Sheesh.. is that your car?” the mouth below the eyes asked.
She forced her lips into a half smile. “Yeah,” she replied
“Dude, of all the tires to slash in this lot, why pick the beetle? That thing is awesome.”
Lexi looked over with a sigh at the 1977 beetle her parents had just gifted her. Even with four slashed tires, he was right. It was a thing of beauty.
“I'm Everett, by the way. Do you need a ride somewhere?”
“Hi. I'm Alexis – Lexi. ” she replied, then focused her mind to the car problem. “No thanks on the ride. I have AAA. I'll just have it towed to the tire shop.” As proof, she reached into her purse and pulled out her AAA card. This time she managed a full smile. Everett returned her smile, revealing two slight dimples under his cheekbones. He sat down next to her as she arranged for a tow truck to come.
“They said it'll be here within an hour” she relayed after the phone call ended. Everett looked at her for a moment than said “Tell you what, I'm done with all my classes. I'll help you wait for the tow truck, and then I'll give you a ride in my car. It'll be a lot more comfortable than the cab of a tow truck”.
Lexi felt the draw of the blue eyes, but her mother's voice in her head was louder. “No, thanks,” she answered, “you don't need to do that. Really, I'll be fine”.
Everett was quiet for a moment with his brows crinkled. “I know this sounds ridiculous, since I'm don't know you, and you don't know me, but I just feel uncomfortable leaving you alone with slashed tires and some unknown tow truck driver driving you around.”
Lexi debated whether to act annoyed or flattered by his chivalry. In the end her nerves took over and she let out a few giggles. As she strove to control those, she found her giggles turn gradually into deeper and fuller laughs until finally she fell backwards into the grassy median to release several full belly ones.
Everett looked down at her with a confused smile, and as her laughter turned into sighs, she elevated herself up onto her elbows. “I am so sorry,” she explained, with a smile still on her face, “I have had one crazy day, and I guess my body needed to release some tension. Tell you what,” she continued, “I'll let you drive me, but I'm going to text my mother your license plates number, so if I come up missing, she'll know where to look.”
As they waited for the tow truck, Lexi tried to find out as much about Everett as she could. Not only was she interested in what he was doing at the 'U, but she was unsure what exactly she was going to reveal about herself. She so badly wanted to fit in here, and to play the part of a normal freshman college student on her first day of classes. Unfortunately, she was anything but normal, and she knew that the longer she waited to tell the truth, the more awkward it would be to bring it up.
Everett concluded his story about how he had started as an English major two years ago, found himself taking more and more computer science courses as electives, and finally deciding to switch his major to computer science with a minor in English, despite the fact that it would add at least one extra year to get his degree.
“So, how about you?” he asked, “What brought you to north-east side of campus?”
”Well... I guess the first thing you should know is that... “ Lexi took a deep breath and felt her brain groan as she released the words, “I'm only sixteen years old.” She could see the shock first register in Everett's eyes and then quickly move to the rest of his features.
“No way, you're kidding, right? You totally don't look sixteen”
“I know”, she replied, “I get that a lot.” Unsure of what else to say she added “How old are you?” She did some quick math in her head. Even though the math added up to it, his soft features and large bright eyes didn't match the number she guessed: “20?”
“Yep, I'm 20. So you're sixteen and in college. How exactly did that happen?”
This entry was posted
on Sunday, November 30, 2008 at 1:38 AM.
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Kristen, I thought that the excerpt sounded good, and now I'm really intrigued. You'll have to send a copy my way.
Congrats on completing your novel! I don't think I would have the patience to even try! I definitely enjoyed reading your excerpts. I might have to steal Ben's copy!
I love the little snipets. I'm sure the rest is fabulous. Tons of work. You should definitely finish it though and share.
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