IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR

I know you started singing that Christmas tune as soon as you read the title. Yes, it is the most wonderful time of the year.

It's the time of the year when all good little boys and girls are making their list and checking it twice. It is also the time of the year that retailers are hoping that people will come and spend their hard earned money at their store.

Did you know that it is also the time of the year that small businesses hope to make up profits to keep their stores open for another year?

On the Saturday after thanksgiving, it is 'small business' shopping day. That means that all of us should support the small business. That also means small publishing companies. How many of you would take the chance and shop a small business or small publisher for some great gift ideas?

I did and I found some GREAT bargains! Most small publishers offer their newest releases around this time of year. Think of the authors that you will support by buying from a small publisher. Penguin, Random House, Kensington; they all don't have to worry as much about profits because they will have the loyal fan based. Smaller presses rely on us to support their authors and hope that in the process, you find a new author and become a fan.

If you have small business that you support, why not share their name here. If you are an owner of small publishing company, why not leave a comment so all of my loyal followers can find you and possibly find a new author to support.

Happy Shopping!

IN THE BEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END...

Today while many of us have Veteran's Day off, I am spending my long weekend in Las Vegas. I couldn't let this moment pass without blogging. Oh, don't worry, these adventures will be a blog post later this month, with pictures. I wanted to talk a little bit about what is going on this month.

November is National Novel Writing Month, better known as Nanowrimo. If you don’t know what this is, it is the month of November dedicated to writers all over the hemisphere.

It challenges them to write a novel in 30 days.  Their website, http://nanowrimo.org gives you plenty of encouragement, tools, forums, blogs and contacts. They even have a place to find other Nano’ers near you to keep you motivated.

I have never participated because I have three books in progress but I do track my progress because I use this month to push me to finish up projects. Most of my projects end in November because I use the same concept.

For thirty days, I plop myself in my small office (pictured to right) and have my glass of wine beside me, my Ipod playing and I type until my hands get tired. Thirty days to finish up my novel is a great incentive. Now, this concept isn't for everyone but isn't the purpose of Nano Wrimo to encourage the author in us to get moving to finish our works in progress.

If you don’t finish your novel by November 30^th,  don’t fret. Go over what you have done. You never know you may be  closer to finish than you think.

There is one rule that all authors should practice:  don’t edit your writing while you are writing.

That is the biggest reason we authors never finish. You need to write and write and write until your words don’t come. Then you begin the process of editing and rewriting. This is when you will find those things that don’t need to be in there but you will also find things that need to be added.

Use this National Novel Writing Month as your tool to finish up your novel.

Are you participating in Nanowrimo? Or are you using this as a tool to move you along in your writing?