AtoZ Blog Challenge: N is for NANOWRIMO

April and July presents the opportunity for anyone who wishes to write a novel to 'practice' for the main event in November each year.

CampNaNoWriMo as the events in April and July are known, differ slightly from NaNoWriMo in that you can set your own target with a minimum of 10,000 words. It might sound like a lot but if you break it down into a daily target, it is an easier target. How difficult can it be to write 10,000/30 = 333.3 words (okay, make it 334) every day for 30 days?

The benefit is that you get into the habit of writing, you can plan to write everyday and if you get ahead of your target (which is always recommended) there is less pressure when the dreaded deadline looms.

And these events are fun. There are local groups and online groups and the best thing of all is the support given by everyone taking part.

Not a novel writer? Why not write a collection of short stories? I have found that a Plan B, the short stories, is an excellent way of writing for this challenge. You never know what ideas might crop up that could be explored in a novel.

My work schedule is especially nightmarish this year, but the one thing that I add to my calender on January1^st, is NaNoWriMo - and Camp is the best preparation there is.

AtoZ Blog Challenge: M is for MY LIFE STORY

I bought a book a while back, with the title on the cover, My Life Story. No, it is not a novel or a self-help book, it is a blank journal that you can use to write...my life story.

It has enough pages for 100 years of your life and the manufacturer of the book states that if you have filled this one up, they will give you a new one for free. Ha, I don't know how many people live past a hundred years, but it is a nice sentiment I suppose.

I bought mine when I was in my forties already, so there is a lot of my life that still needs to be penned down. The hard part is what do I include and what is way too boring to even mention. And the most important question: when am I going to find the time to write the details of the years before I bought it?

To alleviate some of this problem, I decided to stick to my adult life. My childhood was fairly normal, and happy. Where I recall a particularly happy or memorable event, I could always pen that. Wasting pages of paper just to say that I passed this grade or read that book, would really be dull anyway. Not that I can remember every single book I have ever read in my life.

I even bought special lightweight sketchbook for a drawing or two for this book, since it has a blank page for every year for a photo. I don't have many photographs of myself, being a bit camera shy and all that. The drawings will also serve a double purpose to alleviate the urge to create - for the artist in me.

Have you considered writing your life story, even if it is only for your own family?

AtoZ Blog Challenge: L is for LETTUCE

This underrated vegetable deserves more attention than the afterthought slash limp leaf

decorating the corner of our dinner plates. It is a low fat and low cholesterol food, containing essential vitamins and minerals our bodies need.

A few years' ago I had read an article that said lettuce contains a trace amount of arsenic. My friends used to joke that I am probably the only person alive that will die of natural arsenic poisoning, because I do love my lettuce. Fortunately, I doubt that I will ever eat so much of it that it would pose any risk to my health. I like other foods way too much to ever live on lettuce alone.

In the meantime I have done a little more research and found out that the levels of arsenic in lettuce is about the same as for any other vegetable. The levels in the vegetable depends on the levels found in the soil where it is farmed. It is not unique to lettuce.

Since arsenic can be harmful, soil levels are monitored where necessary.

So here is to many more years of BLT samies!

Please tell me I am not only one that thinks that lettuce is more than rabbit food!

 

AtoZ Blog Challenge: K is for KRYANE

Image from Pinterest

Also taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo during April, I am working on finishing the first draft of my third novel in the Nations of Peace Series, Michael's Mystery. It is also the second Grandmaster story of the series.

Michael is sent to investigate a series of serial murders that took place in KEEPER OFTHE DRAGON SWORD. His bosses, the Lords of the High Council, sent him to Kryane to find out what motivated these horrifying murders and to help bring the responsible person to justice.

Unlike Xa'an - the planet where GERA'S GIFT and KEEPER OF THE DRAGON SWORD took place, Kryane is mostly a desert.

The planet is divided into four continents: Kyrja (the largest), Ananla, Prochi and Lirtyni (the smallest). The four continents are surrounded by two oceans, both of them very cold and only supporting a limited number of species of sea creatures. The ice caps are frozen solid and the prevailing winds make them uninhabitable to mammalian life forms.

During his investigation Michael finds himself trapped with Andesine in a sandstorm and he learns that life in a desert environment is more challenging than he realised. The inhabitants of the village of Amer guard their water supply jealously. The villagers also grow their own food, but to enable them to do that they have to work in greenhouses that can also be hazardous to them because of the heat.

But these are people adapted to living in a desert. The fabrics and styles of their clothing suit their environment. They are prepared for sandstorms, but are not lax when it comes to cleaning up afterwards. The villagers living in Amer appreciate and support each other as their lives invariably depend on it.

Now only if Andesine was so easy to figure out. What are the secrets hiding behind those red eyes and how much does she really know about the murders?

AtoZ Blog Challenge: J is for JOURNAL

If you had browsed my blog, you would have noticed the tab, Linzé's Mischief. It is public journal where I write about things happening in my life. April aside, where I undertook to add more of me into my blog posts, the journal is just a way for me to express (read whine) myself about the stuff in my life.
I do have a private journal (not sharing that, ever!) and a writing journal. My private journal is online (I use the paid version of Penzu, with the full encryption suite) while my writers' journal is something I write by hand. I find that having at least one paper journal helps to satisfy my creative urge to write with a fountain pen, or a quill - depending where I am at the time. Quills and ink are not as mobile as a fountain pen ☻
A while back I started a group journal for my writers' group where the members each have an opportunity to write a little something about their experiences in the group and the projects that we undertake together. As group leader, I also note the names of the members, add new names and note names of members that have left the group.
A thought struck me about four weeks ago: why not write a diary for a character in one of my books? A character from a series or a bundle - to allow for some time frame of experiences.
As someone who cannot resist a stationary or book shop, I have a large collection of blank journals. I dusted one off, and started writing.
It already allowed me to "see" into the mind of the character and I get to understand her better. She is Alice, and she is the female lead in an erotica series where the stories have to be read in a specific order. And in case you are wondering, yes, some of her fantasies are part of the journal, and they are enacted in the still-to-be-published books. I haven't decided on the time frame yet, but I am not letting that stop me from exploring this new tool in my creative writing arsenal.

Do you keep any journals? I have found that even my private journal helps my creative projects. What are your experiences?

AtoZ Challenge: I is for INTERVIEW

Interviews of my fellow writers are coming up in May and June as part of our launch of the STORM anthology. They are Carmen Botman, Richard T Wheeler, Charmain Lines, Natalie Rivener, and Vanessa Wright.

If you like to ask a question I will ask each of them to answer in return - add it to the comments please. Hint: you can be as creative as you like, we are an out-of-the-box kind of group ☻

AtoZ Blog Challenge: H is for HOBBIES

Most creative people, at least the ones I know, do more than one creative activity. Writers paint or knit or take photographs. I am the same. I like to paint abstracts in acrylics, and

Cleo's Collar by Linze Brandon

have recently discovered the pleasures of oil painting. My latest canvas is 60" by 20" and was inspired by a book I bought with the lead glass window designs of Frank Lloyd Wright.

I also dabble in counted cross-stitch, where I prefer patterns of 20,000 stitches or more. Even designed my own pattern or two upon occasion.

The weirdest thing I do is to decorate my writer's journal. I keep personal journals online (with serious encryption for privacy) but let out my need to "sticker" and draw in my writing journal. I have also seemed to inspire at least two of my writers' group members to start doing the same.

My non-creative hobbies include fly-fishing. I mastered the technique in minutes, and have been known to catch a trout or two. It is not something that I get to do very often, but there was a promise made that Hubby will book us a weekend break in trout season, and then I can go indulge this need of mine to cast a line. He prefers to take photographs, but the scenery is so beautiful that I don't blame him if he spends most of his time with his camera instead of his fishing pole.

I also like archery. I don't do it competitively, only socially, if there is such a thing. I like the discipline and enjoy spending hours shooting arrows in our back yard with my compound bow. Yes, it is a weapon and the arrows I use can inflict fatal wounds, but safety is always of primary concern. So much so that I have trained my dogs to always remain within my line of sight, but not in the direction in which I am shooting the arrows.

I have shot arrows at water-filled balloons and big red apples for my husband and the resulting photographs were rather spectacular.

I am also a Manchester United football fan, but have not had much time to watch any games this season. As captain of a Superbru group of fans, The Broomstick Gang, I like to think I know my game, but so far this season, my team has not been playing up to expectation. Maybe next season?

Do you like sports? Do you have any non-creative hobbies? I like these activities for relaxation only, but have had a moment or two of inspiration for a story. Does this happen to you?