NaNoWriMo: I Did It

This is the fourth year I've done National Novel Writing Month, but the first year I actually succeeded. (Unfortunately, I can't personalize the certificate with my computer stuck in safe mode.)

What I can do is the things you can't do when you're writing at a blinding pace, like edit chapters in a way that might shorten them, or plan out the parts of the book you're still a little vague on. Not that I'm going to be completely inactive — I also plan to finish Year Four of Altered Seasons by the end of this year, and there's a large Dead Skunk post I have to finish as well. I have two more things to share with you. First, a short story, Brenner's Christmas Tree Farm, the first of the Reenie the Giant Christmas stories. It's very short — just over a thousand words long, as Reenie looks back on a little job she once had. Second, an announcement from a fellow author. Gina Azzi has revealed the cover of her forthcoming book All the While, Book 3 of the Senior Semester Series, coming January 17.

Consumed with grief for her twin brother Adrian’s death, Maura Rodriguez is spinning out of control. To cope with Adrian’s loss, she numbs her pain with bottles of vodka and sex with random men.

Harboring guilt over his best friend Adrian’s death, Zack Huntington is yearning for a past that no longer exists. Reaching out to the familiarity and comfort an ex-girlfriend offers, Zack aims to recreate what once was but can never be again.

When their worlds collide while running on the trails along Boathouse Row, Maura and Zack find comfort in each other and in the memory of their shared connection—Adrian.

An unlikely friendship brimming with undeniable attraction blossoms into an unexpected romance. While Maura and Zack struggle to heal, to forgive, to accept, they also learn how to let go and allow themselves to fall in love, a truth they’ve both known but resisted all the while.