NaNoWriMo is close at hand!

Yes, yes, yes. It's getting close to that time of year.

No, not football, although that definitely is one of the highlights of the fall. It's almost NaNoWriMo time! Yeahhhhh!

National Novel Writing Month begins on November 1st, and will once again test the endurance and perseverance of everyone who chooses to not only begin, but finish the journey. 30 days, 50,000 words. Can you make it?

For me, this year will be all about finishing Deception, which I started in last year's NaNo contest. For those of you who are keeping up with things, Descent was the first novel I wrote during NaNo (2005), and it was released in November 2006. Deception, the follow-up/continuation of EC:Descent, was started last year, but my lack of focus has prolonged its completion. Unfortunately, I will not make the fall 2007 deadline I had set for myself in releasing the second book.

If you're interested in signing up and writing, check out the link under the 'Links' section on the right. It's easy to do, and it will give you something to focus on other than cold winter nights, leftover turkey, and another Lions loss.

Damn Lions.

Anyway...

I'm happy to share some information I received from Amazon and Outskirts Press. At one point in the spring, my book actually reached #29 on the Sci-Fi bestseller list (which I have no idea how to look at). Pretty cool stuff, although to be fair, the way Amazon researches and posts listings is convoluted and tough to accurately gauge a book's success by. Basically, they take a snapshot at different points in the day. So, at one point in the spring, there was a time period of four or eight hours where I had a spike in sales (thanks Grandma Lottie!) which skewed the projected average sales numbers that Amazon uses. Ha ha ha! Ok, quick everyone - buy a copy at 12:01 on September 1st so I can shoot up to #1!!! Just kidding.

Oh, for those of you that care, I have written a bit more. Not exceptionally great writing (but I'm not sure I can put ANY of EC in that category anyway), but some snippets might actually make the final cut. Also, EC:Descent should be listed by the website Sci-tinuum soon (see the link on the right). If you search Google, there are several links to overseas websites, as well as Pipl and Sci-Fi Fan (which has already listed Deception as the next book in the series).

Other random thoughts to share:
- I'll be 33 1/3 in December; only another 66 2/3 until my 100 birthday! Now taking reservations for the 100th b-day bash. (at this rate, 100 will be the new 50, right?)

- Hemingway's 'Garden of Eden' rocks. Just finished it two weeks ago. If you haven't read it, check it out. It's the last book released posthumously (mid 80's I believe). Pretty contemporary story lines. What a contrast between his characters in this book compared to earlier works like 'For Whom The Bells Toll' and 'Farewell to Arms'.

-Digging my new iPod. Jenny (my wife) bought me one for my birthday. Very cool stuff. It's a blue Nano (huh, is there a connection there?). I've already uploaded my entire Pearl Jam collection and the rest of my legal songs.

-Pearl Jam bootlegs. Did anyone see the YouTube video of them playing at Lollapalooza in Chicago? (or better yet, see them live??) They are just awesome. Enough said. And I'm STILL loving the PJ concert bootleg of the May 2006 show that Jenny and I went to in Grand Rapids.

-What's up with the Tigers? Geesh! Come on, don't let the Twinkies catch you. I'll never hear the end of it, especially now that I'm living in Minneapolis! GO TIGERS!

-Bryan - nice draft Monday. How is it that we ALWAYS seem to pick back-to-back, no matter what year? It's a conspiracy I say.....

My next post will most likely be some rough draft snippets from the new book. Comments are welcome! Always looking for some feedback on how to write a scene better...

Later!