NaNoWriMo? Count me in!

I mentioned in the last post that I've decided to do NaNoWriMo again. For those of you that don't know, it stands for National Novel Writing Month, and means writing a novel, or at least 50,000 words towards a new one, is completed during the month of November.

I did it last year, won (which means I wrote at least 50,000 words towards a new novel) and can't resist having another go, even though I don't really have enough time to write half that many words.

But I'm going into it a little differently this year. Well, a lot differently I suppose. I'm going to be a rebel. Which means I don't plan to write 50,000 words towards a new novel. Instead, I plan to write 50,000 words towards anything. Short stories, articles, poems and I'll probably even count my blog posts, as I expect I'll be that desperate. (I'd consider adding the to-do and shopping lists, but that seems a bit dramatic/ridiculous.)

I really don't think I'm going to win this year. But that's okay. Since I've been back from the big trip, my writing habits have been awful and I expect NaNoWriMo to pull me back in line. Let's face it, if I can write 25,000 words towards new stories etc, that would be excellent, even 10,000 new words would be great. So there's nothing to lose. Except a little sanity and a lot of sleep.

If you plan to sign up and give it a go yourself, I even have a tip to share.

Start strong!

The buzz of participating is huge and if you stay on top of the word count early, it could be enough to pull you through, especially on those days you really can't be bothered. I imagine if you're not up on your word count in the early days when there's so much online chatter and everyone else seems to be, it would seem impossible to catch up. So, schedule in some writing time next Monday and Tuesday and as your excitement levels will be high then, instead of aiming to write the daily 1,667 words required, go for two thousand, three thousand, maybe even four so you can breathe a little easy the next few days.

If you have a tip for me on how I might manage that myself when we're having a fifth birthday party in our house on the 2nd, well, that would be very welcome.

Thoughts for the week

My mind is in a strange place at the moment. I'm not sure I could write a coherent piece if I tried, so I thought I'd go with a kind of list. It might give you an idea of where I'm at.

* I am really sick of sweeping the bathroom floor.

* On Tuesday, I sat at my 'writing space' for the first time since I got back. I wrote more than 1000 words and it felt fantastic.

* I looked at the poems I wrote while I was away or soon after I got home, and they aren't as bad as I originally thought, especially after a few tweaks.

* Derek Motion wrote a review of my poetry collection, First taste, at Literary Minded. It is awesome I don't know what to say. Except, go read it and buy the book.

* I'm planning to launch the above-mentioned book on Sunday November 28th. Not sure where yet, though I think it'll be called a Going Away Launch Party.

* I've decided to do NaNoWriMo again (more on this in a later post). Well, sort of. I'm going to be a rebel and write (hopefully) 50,000 words that aren't going to form a novel.

* I am pleased that my hardline approach of closing the door and ignoring my 2 year-old's tantrums seems to be working already. I guess he's not as similar to his older brother as I thought.

* My 8 year-old is starting to see how ridiculous someone who's having a tantrum looks and might start to modify his own behaviour. (I realise I'm being mighty hopeful a I say this and assure you I am not holding my breath for any actual change.)

* I realise my daughter might think all boys act like two year-olds when they don't get what they want.

* I am the feature poet this Saturday at Stopping all Stations in Nunawading. I plan to read from my book as well as to share some new stuff.

* I love it when my computer automatically shuts down when I'm in the middle of something, like typing this blog post (this is actually not true).

* The steamed banana pudding I made on Monday was so delicious I plan to make another one tomorrow.

* I am looking forward to driving around Brisbane's southern suburbs on Monday looking at the houses on our (long) shortlist. It feels weird to think that I will probably visit the house we'll move into next year.

* I really hope we don't have a huntsman inside on Saturday for our Open Inspection.

* page seventeen issue 8 is almost ready to go to the printer.

Time for a change

I got caught up again. Obviously.

I could blame it on school holidays, and partly at least, that might be true.

I could blame it on getting page seventeen Issue 8 ready, and partly, that might also be true.

But the real blame lies in all the house cleaning I've been doing. It's not just some spring clean. More of a get-the-house-ready-to-sell clean. I've been washing walls, painting walls, dusting, scrubbing floors, pulling out weeds, donating stuff to the local op-shop, filling a skip and probably a heap more that doesn't come to mind right now. And while I am exhausted (and wish someone could take in the kids until the house is sold) it seems to be worth it.

The house went on the market last week, and the photos came out superb. Even if the agent, who'd been here the day before the photographer came, said 'It came up great, did you stay up all night?' like it had been that bad beforehand.

Since it went online, we've had at least one private inspection every day, except Sunday. And the woman that came yesterday liked it enough to tell the agent before she'd left that she wanted a second inspection, with her husband. So, fingers crossed we might have an offer by the end of the week, and I'll no longer have to hide kitchen things away, make the kids' beds twice a day or vacuum and sweep the floors so bloody often! Especially good if there's an offer before Saturday's Open Inspection, so someone might feel compelled to put in a quick, higher, offer.

Where do we plan to go once we've sold?

Brisbane.

I'm home

It turns out blogging while on a camping holiday is too hard. For me anyway.

But I'm back!

Physically anyway. It's going to take me some time to get back into the swing of things, especially given this lovely spring weather feels sooo cold after my northern winter.

I plan to hide out to some extent until Issue 8 of page seventeen is ready to go to the proofreaders/printer.

But while you wait for my next post, here's a little something from the trip.

Holiday photo dump

It has become apparent that I am not so good at updating the blog while away, especially when it comes to posting photos, but...

Bryden made an online album today, not that the pics are in a sensible order, but that doesn't matter. There are a couple of funny ones too, one of Hamish with aliens in Wycliffe Well and another of Dylan that Bryden has titled 'aquatic children' taken at Townville's Reef HQ Aquarium.

Anyway, they should give you an idea of some of the fun we've been having. Though I should point out that the water park in Townsville (there's a photo of me with Hamish) was so excellent we went there three times!

We're currently in Bowen, where we'll get a new set of tyres if we realise Friday is Friday at the right time, and then in Airlie Beach on Monday, we're booked to get a new windscreen. Meanwhile, tomorrow is scheduled for strawberry picking and more time at the beach, or the excellent pool at the caravan park we're staying in.

Here's the link to the photos. Enjoy.
http://picasaweb.google.com/113571606117068384308/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCOPn2s68tJOZ3wE&feat=email#

... and sea turtles say...

One of the best things about being away is seeing how the kids respond to different things. Before we left, all animals barked, according to Dylan, yet he now understands that some might baaa and has learnt new words like 'cow' 'sheep' 'bird and 'fish'.

He is also quite fond of the many walks we've been on, and has even climbed up one of Australia's deepest gorges, Porcupine Gorge (though insisted Daddy carry him down).

But the last couple of days have proved to offer some of his better entertainment. Yesterday we went to Townsville's water park on The Strand and he had a great time. It took him a little while to get into it, but once he was completely wet, there was no stopping him. Especially on the slide, which was my fave. He'd come spiralling down and at the bottom, he'd fly off, float in the air a second and then thump onto the (rubber) ground. He'd be straight back up to the top and by the end wasn't bothered at all when he happened to get caught under various dumps or sprays of water. A while later, we even passed a couple who told us they'd had the most entretaining half hour just watching him play.

Today, we went to the aquarium and while he was rather amusing watching the fish, squealing with delight and running about, I was most impressed when, during a short presentation about sea turtles, he drowned out the guide's voice as he enthusiastically pointed at the screen and proceeded to bark.

One cold morning

After setting off with just this

we drove past lots of this

and finally, got to wake and dress early enough to have this taken during sunrise last Wednesday, before the ice melted off the windscreen and we changed into shorts and t-shirts.