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NaNoWriMo 2020 Day Twenty-Eight

  • Words written: 3,700
  • Total words written: 46,385
  • Stories written: 7
  • Character interviews written: 5
  • Total words behind: 282

Only 3,615 words to go! I won’t be writing tomorrow, since I don’t generally write on Sundays, but with how close I am to beating this challenge, you can bet that I’ll be pounding out those words on Monday!

The seventh story for the challenge wasn’t too bad. Needs a lot of cleanup, including naming some characters and making their dialogue a little less cliche and straw-mannish. But I’ll take care of that later. In the meantime, I’ve got one more character interview to do, and maybe a flash fiction piece if I can pull it off.

NaNoWriMo 2020 Day Twenty-Seven

  • Words written: 3,140
  • Total words written: 42,685
  • Stories written: 6
  • Character interviews written: 4
  • Total words behind: 2,315

Catching up in the home stretch! Here’s hoping I can pull through the next few days to the end!

NaNoWriMo 2020 Day Twenty-Six

  • Words written: 2,682
  • Total words written: 39,545
  • Stories written: 6
  • Character interviews written: 4
  • Total words behind: 3,788

Catching up! Slowly, but surely. We’re in the home stretch now, and with just over 10k words to go, I think I may actually be able to pull this off. It’s gonna be close, but I may just be able to do it. Maybe if I also do author’s notes for the short singles I have yet to publish, hmm. That could pad things out.

Looking ahead, I’m going to revise and clean up all these stories before submitting them, probably at a rate of 1-2 per month. If I can use these nanowrimo stories to get into the habit of writing 1-2 short stories per month, that would be fantastic.

Thanksgiving went really well for us this year, but it’s late, and it seems that Mrs. Vasicek fell asleep while putting the baby down. Better sign off and go see to that.

#GiveThanks Day Seven

(87) I’m grateful for my pilgrim ancestors who came to this country seeking to build a more godly community, and gave us a heritage of self-government and self-sufficiency.

(88) I’m grateful that my pilgrim ancestors actually survived, which was not at all a foregone conclusion, or even likely.

(89) I’m grateful for the native Americans like Squanto who welcomed the pilgrims and helped them to make it through that first winter, when everything was so precarious.

(90) I’m grateful that the tradition of Thanksgiving was established in our American culture, and that we have a holiday where we remember the pilgrims and the contributions that they made to our culture and history.

(91) I’m grateful for turkey and cranberry sauce. It’s a wonderful combination of flavors, and I always forget how good it is until Thanksgiving rolls around.

(92) I’m grateful for Thanksgiving leftovers and how delicious they are!

(93) I’m grateful for the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving with family this year, and that Utah wasn’t nearly as Draconian with the lockdowns as some places.

(94) I’m grateful for all of the people who are defying the lockdowns to practice their religion and celebrate the holidays. At this point in the pandemic, given all that we now know about the virus and how to treat it, I consider it an important act of civil disobedience against would-be tyrants who care less about our health and safety and more about power and control.

(95) I’m grateful for the unexpected growth in book sales that I’m currently experiencing, and the fact that my sales have more or less held steady through this difficult time.

(96) I’m grateful for how much I’ve grown as a writer in just the last few years.

(97) I’m grateful for every short story sale that I’ve made, including the ones to the token paying markets.

(98) I’m grateful for all of the readers who follow my newsletter and reach out to me via email from time to time. I wish I could respond in a timely manner to all of them!

(99) I’m grateful for all of the readers who take the time to post a rating or a review. It really does help other readers to find and enjoy my books.

(100) Finally, I’m grateful to be alive in what is, without a doubt, the best time in history to be a reader or a writer!

NaNoWriMo 2020 Day Twenty-Five

  • Words written: 1,823
  • Total words written: 36,863
  • Stories written: 6
  • Total words behind: 4,804

We’re coming into the home stretch, and I’ve still got over 13,000 words left. It’s going to be a close one. At this point, if it weren’t for these character interviews, I would be able to keep up.

Today was a tough day, partly because our baby kept waking up all night, and partly because of family obligations that kept us busy and made it difficult to write. But family comes first, and we had a good time and made some positive memories.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, but I think I’ll still be able to make significant progress on my word count. Dinner is at 4pm, and we aren’t cooking it, so hopefully the baby sleeps well, Mrs. Vasicek and I sleep well, and Mrs. Vasicek and the baby have a pleasant, restful morning while I have a productive one. Here’s hoping for the best.

#GiveThanks Day Six

(73) I’m grateful that my only food allergy is chicken meat, and that I can still handle Turkey just fine.

(74) I’m grateful for books like The Fourth Turning and The Next Hundred Years, which really help to open my eyes to what’s coming, and prepare.

(75) I’m grateful for our renters and the blessing that we are in each others’ lives.

(76) I’m grateful for my ancestors who made the Mormon Pioneer Trek so that their descendants could grow up in Zion.

(77) I’m grateful for my ancestors who emmigrated to the United States, so that I could grow up in this great nation and understand the meaning of freedom.

(78) I’m grateful for my ancestors who fought for this country so that I could still have those freedoms enshrined in our Constitution.

(79) I’m grateful for all of the sacrifices that my ancestors made, especially my grandfather, to make sure that their children and grandchildren could have better lives than they did.

(80) I’m grateful for the opportunity that I have to pass on those blessings to a new generation, and to be another link in the chain.

(81) I’m grateful that the masks are finally coming off now, that the enemies of this country are revealing themselves for who they really are, and that tens of millions of Americans have just woken up and been red-pilled, as painful as that may be.

(82) I’m grateful that Winston Churchill was right about America: that you can always trust us to do the right thing, after we’ve done everything else.

(83) I’m grateful that my own red-pill experience happened from 2016-2017, so that I’ve already been mentally prepared to deal with the things that are happening now.

(84) I’m grateful for the fact that I live in a country where making ourselves ungovernable is a part of our cultural heritage.

(85) I’m grateful to be alive and able to have an impact in such a pivotal time in history.

(86) I’m grateful that I live in a red state that is very well positioned to ride out the coming collapse.

NaNoWriMo 2020 Day Twenty-Four

  • Words written: 2,414
  • Total words written: 35,041
  • Stories written: 6
  • Total words behind: 4,959

Today I brought the truck into the shop to get an oil change and renew the registration, and it took more time than I thought it would. Spent most of that time up at the BYU Library catching up on back issues of Locus Magazine. It was rather tedious, and I didn’t get to writing until after I was back and the baby was asleep. Still, the character interviews are turning out to be a good way to catch up on my word count. Tomorrow looks to be another busy day, so I’ll probably do another one after we get back from Christmas tree hunting.

#GiveThanks Day Five

(61) I’m grateful for my truck and the mileage I’ve gotten out of it.

(62) I’m grateful for our Toyota Camry and the diligent service that the previous owners put in it, for it to run so well.

(63) Believe it or not, I’m actually grateful for the fact that our baby always gets up before 6am. On a good day, it allows me to get an early start to the day, and on a bad day, we just sleep in with her for a couple more hours.

(64) I’m grateful for all the baby clothes that our neighbors gave us.

(65) I’m grateful for all the board and picture books that my parents and friends gave us.

(66) I’m grateful that we have everything we need to take care of our baby’s needs.

(67) I’m grateful for the fact that I have a wife and a baby, and that my life doesn’t just revolve around me anymore.

(68) I’m grateful that I was able to grow up in an era of peacetime, between the end of the Cold War and the era of endless wars in which we now live.

(69) I’m grateful that our leaders, including President Trump, have made such incredible progress toward peace in the Middle East in just the last year.

(70) I’m grateful that I was able to read the Book of Mormon in another language (Arabic) for the first time this year.

(71) I’m grateful that I was able to see Jerusalem and spend a significant amount of time in the Holy Land while studying Arabic in college.

(72) I’m grateful for all the ways in which my experiences with Middle Eastern cultures and history have enriched my writing.

NaNoWriMo 2020 Day Twenty-Three

  • Words written: 1,774
  • Total words written: 32,627
  • Stories written: 6
  • Total words behind: 5,706

Not a very productive day today, and it doesn’t look like tomorrow will be much better. If I were a Democrat, I would keep up my lackluster pace until November 30th and suddenly declare that I “found” another 15,000 totally legitimate words that aren’t suspicious or fraudulent in any way. If I were a Republican, on December 1st that I actually won nanowrimo in a landslide, but was cheated out of it by the word counting algorithm of my software. Since I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican, I will just keep trudging along as best I can and make the best of a less-than-optimal situation.

I thought that my current story would be the last one I write for this challenge, but I think I’ll be able to finish it in the next couple of thousand words. After that, I’m not sure what I’ll do. Maybe pull out a trunked story idea and see if I can turn it into something good, or maybe try the Mythulu cards again. Or maybe I’ll try to play catch up early and do a few stream-of-consciousness interviews of the characters in my current WIP. Maybe that’s a good way to boost my word count for tomorrow.

Either way, without enough sleep, there’s no way I’m going to finish this thing. Goodnight.

#GiveThanks Day Four

(45) I’m grateful for Jordan Peterson and his courage to speak the truth as he sees it, even in the face of incredible opposition.

(46) I’m grateful for the “intellectual dark web” and how they show that there are still intelligent people who can discuss important issues with those with whom they disagree.

(47) I’m grateful for the voices in the alternative media that push back against the gaslighting of the mainstream media.

(48) On a less political note, I’m grateful for Mike Duncan and his History of Rome podcast, which taught me far more about the Romans and their impact on our world than my college education ever did.

(49) I’m also grateful for Mike Duncan’s Revolutions podcast, which has done the same thing for the history of our modern era.

(50) I’m grateful for Dan Carlin and his numerous podcasts, especially Hardcore History.

(51) I’m grateful for the Writing Excuses podcast, which was very influential in how I developed my writing craft back when I was just getting started.

(52) I’m grateful for the Six Figure Authors podcast and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing podcast, and the excellent marketing and publishing ideas that they give me.

(53) I’m grateful for the Sell More Books Show and how it helps me to stay up to date with what’s happening in indie publishing.

(54) I’m grateful for the Mythulu cards that my wife got me for my birthday, and how they’ve helped me this nanowrimo to come up with some great story ideas.

(55) I’m grateful for Kris Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith, and the influence they were in helping me to decide to self publish back in 2011.

(56) I’m grateful for Life, the Universe, and Everything, and how that conference was and continues to be critical in shaping my writing career.

(57) I’m grateful for the writing group that I was fortunate enough to marry into, and the good advice and feedback that I receive from it.

(58) I’m grateful for Quark, BYU’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Club, and for how it provided me with a community of like-minded geeks and aspiring writers in college.

(59) I’m grateful for Leading Edge and the opportunity that I had to read for their slushpile, back when I was still learning my craft.

(60) I’m grateful for all of the other science fiction conventions I’ve been able to attend over the years, including Worldcon, World Fantasy, FanX, CONduit, and others.