National Novel Writers Month

I have always loved reading and writing. Perhaps because of this I have always felt that one day I too would write a book of my own. I am not claiming that it would be the next great novel or have all the hype that Twilight, 50 Shades of Grey or The Hunger Games series have but I would be ok with that. So this year to force myself to take the plunge and fulfill my dream (hopefully without stopping 10 chapters in as I have previously), I registered for NaNo.

NaNo (aka: NaNoWriMo) is short for National Novel Writers Month. It’s for anyone who wants to write. The goal is to write 50,00 words, which is the average for most novels these days, during the month of November. There are groups all over the world that meet throughout the month to share ideas, encourage, and help each other with their work.

On November 1, they will unlock the novel-excerpt and word-count area of a member’s author profile and members will be available to start using those areas. This allows users to  post word count, view personal stats, and share bits and pieces of your work-in-progress with friends and fans.  Its free to register and you can do so before or after the start of November.

 My thought is that even if I don't succeed bug I try, and I mean really try and not half-ass it then that is good enough for me. No excuses, get to thinking and to typing. I look forward to getting to work and hopefully hearing from some of you people out there that are also going to be writing. Wish me luck.


Below are just a few highlights of the website to whet your appetite. I hope that after reading them that those of you out there that feel inclined to write, just like I do, will go visit the site yourselves and perhaps give it a go.


From the NaNo Website:

Tips to Get You From 0 to 50K
Before you head off to train those typing fingers, we wanted to offer a few bits of advice. You’ll find many great tips in the forums, and we’ll be sending pep talks directly to your NaNoMail (your on-site inbox) during November. But for now, here’s a quick overview of the three-and-a-half things we wish we had known for our first NaNoWriMo:

1) It’s okay to not know what you’re doing. Really. You’ve read a lot of novels, so you’re completely up to the challenge of writing one. If you feel more comfortable outlining your story ahead of time, do it! But it’s also fine to just wing it. Write every day, and a book-worthy story will appear, even if you’re not sure what that story might be right now.

2) Do not edit as you go. Editing is for December and beyond. Think of November as an experiment in pure output. Even if it’s hard at first, leave ugly prose and poorly written passages on the page to be cleaned up later. Your inner editor will be very grumpy about this, but your inner editor is a nitpicky jerk who foolishly believes that it is possible to write a brilliant first draft if you write it slowly enough. It isn’t. Every book you’ve ever loved started out as a beautifully flawed first draft. In November, embrace imperfection and see where it takes you.

3) Tell everyone you know that you’re writing a novel in November. This will pay big dividends in Week Two, when the only thing keeping you from quitting is the fear of looking pathetic in front of all the people who’ve had to hear about your novel for the past month. Seriously. Email them now about your awesome new book. The looming specter of personal humiliation is a very reliable muse.

3.5) There will be times you’ll want to quit during November. This is okay. Everyone who wins NaNoWriMo wanted to quit at some point in November. Stick it out. See it through. Week Two can be hard. Week Three is much better. Week Four will make you want to yodel.

And we’re talking the good kind of yodeling here.

Did You Know…

• They have partnered with libraries and independent bookstores around the world who welcome our participants into their branches and stores every November as part of a community building initiative called Come Write In. Visit the Come Write In pages under NaNo Near You to find the closest novel-loving partner in your neighborhood!
• NaNoWriMo offers a kid-and teen-focused version of the month-long noveling challenge called the Young Writers Program. Over 2,000 classrooms and 50,000 young writers participate annually! Learn more at ywp.nanowrimo.org.

Father of the Year

So today is my husband's birthday thus I find it appropriate to post today's blog as the title and subject are fun, crazy and child related just like my husband's life has become.

I saw these pictures on Yahoo the other day while seeing if there was any news. I think these are hilarious and so I wanted to share a few as well as the link. Since my own husband hates getting his picture taken I can say he will never do anything like this but its funny anyways.

To see more pictures follow the link. http://shine.yahoo.com/photos/world-best-father-photographer-pokes-slideshow/

According to Yahoo:
Dave Engledow tells Shine that the first picture he snapped in his "World's Best Father" series featuring his daughter, Alice Bee, was supposed to be a single shot. "When Alice was about eight weeks old, I wanted to portray what I felt like at the time: a clueless, sleep-deprived dad." He posted the image on Facebook and received such a positive response he decided to create a series of images that parodied the distracted narcissism that characterizes some parents today. "I wanted to appeal to my friends who are parents, but also make something funny for people without kids who are sick of seeing baby photos." He combines multiple images and uses digital retouching to create the humorously perilous scenarios.

He now has more than 50 images, all of which feature a kitschy "Worlds Best Father" mug--something he says he bought "on a whim." A couple of weeks ago, he launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to self-publish a calendar of the best pictures. He says he would love to create as many as possible with his daughter, who is now 21 months old. "I have ideas for shots when she is a teenager, but I've always said I don't want to be one of those fathers who pushes my kid do something she doesn't want to," he pauses. "Except for eating vegetables."

Engledow's wife, Jen, is a lieutenant colonel in the Army. Until three months ago, when she was deployed to Seoul, she helped set up every shot and made sure Alice was safe and happy. Her assignment won't be done until June. Now friends pitch in, and dad and mom work on the images together over the Internet. Engledow acknowledges his life is pretty busy these days (we caught up with him while he was driving to his day job), and he only has time to do photography on the weekends.





Happy birthday, honey!





My Bday Boy



Wedding (cake) makes me cry...

The cake without the topper

So before I started at my current job I was a cake decorator for some local store chains for about three years. I love baking and decorating cakes, cupcakes and such but I needed something that could give me more time with my family and had better financial gain than I was able to make then I was at the time.

In my small community there was no room for me to improve or use my baking and decorating skills elsewhere that would pay me any better. (I am self taught using books, video, observation and lots of practice). If I could go back and do things differently I would consider going to pastry school and perhaps I would not be in the small community that I am from, but that was not the choice I made several years ago and at this time that is not an option.

With the topper...before accident

In any case I still do cake work on the side. I make wedding, birthday and any other types of cakes for friends, family or anyone who wants one.

Picture the groom sent :(

This weekend I had the good fortune to make a wedding cake for a lovely couple. After transporting it to the reception site, setting it up and placing the topper  on the cake I had the chance to talk to the groom. Since he liked the cake and seemed happy I left.

A little while later he texts me a picture. He went to show the cake to his mom and realized there was a problem. Due to its weight and the fact that cake is a bit spongey the cake topper did not want to stay in place and it fell, causing some damage on the way down.

Since it was in town and only a few minutes away I could go back and fix it. I had once been called "Cake Doctor" because I generally able to fix the problems  leaving very little trace that there had been a problem in the first place.  I carried my large toolbox in and assessed the damage.

It was the back of the cake so for the most part it would not be seen by guests or in pictures, that was a relief.  I smoothed out the icing, adding and removing as needed, redid the boarder in the affected spots,  and added a bit more of the red decoration to help cover the patched areas.

Given the time constraints, the tools I had on me and the amount of damage I feel that it was a successful "surgery."

After fixing it.
 I swear its not leaning I just can't take a straight picture.

I am sure that this incident will be a funny little story that the couple tells about their wedding day and I am glad that I was able to work with them. I know that every wedding has some hitch or problem, but if you have someone who is willing to fix the problem a lot of times the guests and even the bridal party might never know that the problem existed in the first place.

So let me just say I love cakes and decorating but after a long day of trying to make something perfect and having an accident (even a small one with an easy fix) occur I sometimes just want to cry.  Luckily this was not one of those days. :)