The End

It was a dark and stormy . . . day.

I woke to an ache behind my left eye, gray clouds outside and the painful memory of the Phillies NOT winning the World Series last night.

I had to take our son to the bus. I had to walk the pooch. But I did not have to write.

So instead, I enjoyed my two favorite drugs (at the same time):

1. Music
2. Exercise

After a kick-butt workout at the gym, I came home and affixed butt glue to my derriere. Then I revised and wrote for four hours.

During that time, something amazing happened -- the kind of something that occurs only when one shows up, applies butt glue and puts in the sweat equity. The amazing thing that happened was this: THE END of my novel came to me. The whole thing -- dialogue and all. I could hardly write it down fast enough. And then a few threads that will lead to that ending showed up, too.

At THE END of the four hours, I looked outside and guess what? The sun had come out.

Today's word count: 1,511
Total word count: 11,152 (It's over 20% complete!)
Goal: 50,000 words
Days remaining: 25


TRIVIA TIME:

Today's Trivia Question: How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Oh no, that's not it.

The real question is: Which vegetable was the first to be canned?

Answer to Yesterday's Trivia Question: Fear of public speaking or stage fright is called glossophobia.

Out to Lunch?

Woman cannot live by books alone. Sometimes, she needs to eat actual food. And sometimes she needs to eat that food in a giant room with balloons and music and hundreds of other literacy-loving people.

Today, I took a break from scribbling to attend the National Family Literacy Day Celebration Luncheon with my fabulous, fun friend, Riley Roam. We sat next to a woman who has been a teacher and principal longer than I've been alive.

We were treated to a ballet based on Eric Carle's book, From Head to Toe.

Then a woman came to the podium and reminded me -- reminded everyone in the room -- the transformative power of words, of books, of reading. She said she was from Mexico and is the single mother of a seven-year-old boy. She said she chose to join a program offered at her son's school -- Parent Power. There, this woman studied hard and learned English. Then, she worked a little harder and got her G.E.D. Now, because of her efforts and choices and a scholarship, she is heading off to college.

I nearly cried right into my mixed greens salad.

This woman was a great reminder of how important language is, of how words have the power to transform lives.

I came home after the luncheon and got right back to work (after an itty bitty nap).


Hooray to those who work hard to increase literacy . . . and for those who are following, here are today's numbers:

Today's word count: 3,303
Total word count: 9,641
Goal: 50,000 words
Days remaining: 26

TRIVIA TIME:

Today's Trivia Question: There are many types of phobias. Fear of public speaking or stage fright ranks among the most common. In fact, some people are more afraid of public speaking than they are of death. What is the technical name of a person who is afraid of public speaking or stage fright?

Answer to Yesterday's Trivia Question: There are 516,000 bacteria per square inch in the human armpit. (This gross factoid appears in my next book, How to Survive Middle School. If that doesn't make you want to pre-order it, I can't imagine what will?!)

Rebel Without a Clue

I'm not saying I'm a rebel or a rule-breaker, but when National Novel Writing Month gurus suggested charging ahead with one's novel and not stopping to go back and edit, I choked on my own saliva.

50,000 words in a month? Sure.
Not going back to revise until I finished the whole thing? No flippin' way!

That's not how I roll. As I learn more about my characters, I go back and make necessary changes. Otherwise, I might as well be writing a grocery list.

With that in mind, I spent much of today revising the pages I've written so far. Characters made themselves known. Conflict arose on the very first page. Funny dialogue needed to be written. Was I to turn my back on all that? Of course not. Through those revisions, my main character's voice broke through loud and clear today. And I'm lovin' this nervous, nerdy, hula-hooping trivia geek.

Of course the revision and research this morning meant that it took me a solid five hours to get my paltry word count.

And it seems I'm not the only rebel in our house.

Last night, our teenage son was asked to step out of his friend's car by local police. Our son was polite to the officer, but confused about the reason for the stop. The officer mentioned a broken taillight, but nothing else.

Within minutes, our theater geek son, who spends many Saturday mornings feeding the hungry, was frisked. His crime? Um, being a teenager with long hair. If I had a broken taillight, would I have been frisked by a nice young police officer? Unfortunately, probably not. But what I'm getting at here is this -- stay with me, people -- wouldn't justice be better served if this officer, instead of frisking my innocent son and his buddy, were using that time to find the creep who tried to break into a home on our street yesterday?

I'm just sayin' . . .

And as promised . . .

Here is today's trivia question. The answer will be revealed in tomorrow's post. In honor of my trivia-loving main character, I will include a new trivia question daily. Make a guess. Tell your friends to make a guess. And tune in tomorrow to see who's right.

Trivia Question 1: On what part of the human body will you find 516,000 bacteria per square inch?

Today's word count: 1,947
Total word count: 6,338
Goal: 50,000 words
Days remaining: 27

Distractions

Today's writing was interrupted by a few, ahem, distractions. Here they are in order of importance:

1. A doctor's appointment. (Never fear. All is well.)
2. The need to do some research. (Oh, thank you, Wikipedia!)
3. An attempted home break-in ON MY STREET! (That's right. Police cars abounded when I returned home from my doctor's appointment. But it was the police helicopter flying overhead again and again that freaked me out. I don't know all the details yet, but I don't think they caught the perp. And I'm super grateful that I have a loud, barky dog. who would give up her life to protect me. Isn't that right, Lady? "Yawn." But seriously, did I mention THERE WAS AN ATTEMPTED HOME BREAK-IN ON MY STREET?)

Since I haven't yet been deputized to fight crime, I decided the best way to handle the situation was to make sure our doors were locked and, well, write. So that's what I did. And every so often, I stopped to say, "Good dog, Lady! Look fierce!"


Today's word count: 1,851
Total word count: 4,391
Goal: 50,000 words
Days remaining: 28

Tune in tomorrow for a fun trivia game . . .

Bad Friend. Good Writer.

On your mark.
Get set.
GO!!!

Today begins National Novel Writing Month!

I've signed up to complete a 50,000 word novel by November 30th. Think I can do it? Tune in each day to find out.

In order to write today's pages, I canceled on a very good friend. I'd signed up weeks ago to do a volunteer stint with her at our kids' school this afternoon. All afternoon. I realized I had to choose between honoring my commitment with my friend or honoring my commitment to this novel. So I picked up the phone yesterday and cancelled.

Sorry, H.T.

Today's Numbers: 2,540 words
29 days left

Write a Novel in a Month? Sure. Why Not?

I am hereby announcing my intention to complete a novel in a month. Just me and a couple hundred thousand other people at National Novel Writing Month.

Here are the rules:

1. I can't start writing until November 1st and must stop by midnight November 30th.
2. A novel, for their purposes, consists of 175 pages.

That means about 6 pages a day, but I know I'll have a couple days when I can't write -- like my nephew's bar mitzvah mid-month -- so I'm going to aim for at least 7 pages a day.

I'm going to blog about the experience every day. Why? Because the fear of public humiliation is a great motivator.

Please drop in daily to check on my progress, cheer me on or make fun of me, if it's warranted.

And if you're feeling brave and have always wanted to write a novel -- JOIN ME!

Can't wait to begin the writing adventure tomorrow, but for now . . . I'm grabbing a bucket of lollipops and heading outside to enjoy a spooky night filled with trick-or-treaters.

Happy Halloween!!!

What Makes a Book a Best-Seller?

While a big promotion budget helps, it does NOT guarantee a best-seller.

Creating a compelling character who faces obstacles and grows as a result is essential, but doesn't mean you'll rise to the top. Excellent books sink without a trace all the time.

Working your tush off by speaking at schools, conferences, book festivals, etc. will mean more books sold, but probably won't be enough to rocket you to best-seller status.

So, what's a writer to do?

Write the best damn book you can. That means digging deep, facing emotional truths, paying attention to structure, revising till it hurts and then revising some more. Do all those things and more. If you do all those things, you may be fortunate enough to have your book published. If so, celebrate. You've come a long way, baby. Then? Let it go.

That's right. It's not up to you anymore. Sure, you'd better be out there promoting and letting people know your book exists. Write articles. Get on the blog-o-sphere. Do interviews.

But the ultimate success of your book is in your reader's hands now.

What makes a best-seller? This: The moment your reader puts your book down, s/he is compelled to tell someone else to pick it up. When this happens, your book will gain traction organically. And if it happens often enough, you may just find yourself sitting pretty on a best-seller list.

Which books have you read that you felt compelled to share?

Here are three children's books and three adult books that compelled me to tell someone else to pick them up the moment I put them down . . .

Children's Books:

1) A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban
2) Rules by Cynthia Lord
3) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Adult Books:

1) Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
2) The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan
3) The Help by Katheryn Stockett

I found out about these books through reviews in magazines, on blogs, with a YouTube video sent by a friend via e-mail, on the shelf of a favorite indie bookstore, via an article written for Writer's Digest Magazine. I felt compelled to pass these books on because I was riveted by the stories, utterly emotionally involved. I laughed or cried or shook my head in wonder and wanted to share those feelings with friends.

What are your top three books? What drew you to them in the first place? And why were you compelled to pass them on?

New Title and Book Cover Revealed . . .

How many authors have both a singing hamster and a photo of a toilet on their book's cover?* Even J.K. Rowling doesn't have that claim to fame.

I was delighted when my editor sent my new book's cover design.

Here it is: (The photo of the toilet is on an inside flap, but trust me, it's there).




Recently, my editor told me the powers that be wanted a shorter title for the book. We ended up with HOW TO SURVIVE MIDDLE SCHOOL.

That change, of course, required a new cover. Here it is:




Which cover/title do you prefer?


* No hamsters were harmed in the making of either cover. (No toilet seats, apparently, were harmed either.)