Just under four weeks until Novel November, my readers. I’ll be participating again, which means I need to get “You Are My Water, My World” out the door before then, or at least into final processes.
As many of my readers know, I wrote in the National Novel Writing Month project for a couple of years in the 2000s. NaNoWriMo has closed down after some rough years for the organization, but the effort and inspiration and communities are going forward.
Read my thoughts and some ways to get involved in “Is it novel season yet?” This includes an update I found as I wrote this post. Kinda meta, huh? And drop me a note in the comments or on Lara X Lust’s Discord or on X (no relation, I presume), if you’re writing for Novel November. Let’s cheer each other on!
Image not entirely related, yet, but I’d welcome you to try out NightCafe with my referral link. It’s fun, and can be free if you’re patient. Create a free image a day while you build up your free credits.
I wrapped up September with 18,110 words written, and some editing and beta reader reviews on pre-existing work. I had set a goal for 35,000 to match August but it didn’t happen.
I worked a few days on “10k Sprint for PWA” as discussed last month, almost hitting 15k total. There were three new stories started, one of which falls into a background story I might build on for November.
This month already, there’s a harem of divorcees that help our lead deal with a dead marriage, with his wife’s permission, but it gets interesting in a way I didn’t see coming. I’m going to be auditing my shorts and drafts to see what I can release over the coming months, as I’ve had a few pieces *almost* ready to share for months now. There are almost 50 fragments/shorts in my project file, some in the hundreds of words and some well into the thousands.
My friend Brandon Cooksman finally published “Vera: A Casual Encounter,” which he’d been working on for well over a year. It’s a brisk read that I enjoyed, and you might too. But as Brandon says, don’t try their special dessert idea in real life.
Top reads this past month:
- Marisa: A Springtime Escape – spicy Latina Marisa entices Darien into a whirlwind Southern California weekend date
- Easter Miracle: A Mendocino Series epilogue – Renee gives birth in this follow-on to the Mendocino series
- The Road Home – Ray gives Donna some space, but her daughter April reels him back in.
But there’s one more thing…
One piece that’s been ready since about Easter should be available in November. “Christmas Charm,” the final epilogue to Mendocino, will probably wrap the tale of Brian, Renee, and Tracey that began my return to writing in December 2023. The Easter miracle complicates Christmas celebrations a bit, but the gift Tracey has for Brian is an even greater change for them.
The accidental prequel, three volumes of the main story, and the Easter epilogue are all available free with your Kindle Unlimited subscription, or for normal Amazon Kindle purchase.
Check out everything I have published on Amazon, and get ready for a couple of new shorts and a novel soon.
Marklin Foster 