Summer naps, NaNoWriMo, and writing

Summer has descended on all of us, in some areas with a vengeance (take the northeast and northwest this past week...100+). When the heat and especially the humidity soar, I personally find myself drawn to napping under cool sheets in 65 degree air conditioning. This sounds the most appealing when I've hit a snag in output as I work on the second installment of my Shay O'Hanlon mystery series. However, I guess I better leave the napping to my apparently exhausted cat, Hooch.

So I've written three books. All have been done during NaNoWriMo, better known as National Novel Writing Month, where you attempt to pound out at least 50,000 words of a novel during the month of November. My first to-be-published book, the Bingo Barge Murder, was my third go. The next book in the Shay O'Hanlon series is due to Midnight Ink March 1st, so I thought I would try a JulyWriMo and try to get the first draft done by the end of August. Hmm. I guess I should actually call it JulAugWriMo. Anyway, it would give me plenty of time to revise and rip and rewrite before the due date.

I hadn't thought about it, but there's only one main distraction in November: Thanksgiving. And while usually a big "I ate too much" stomachache is the worst of that, July is proving to boast many more diversions. The fact it's in the middle of summer is the most obvious. Then there's the 4th of July, which can go for at least four days if you plan it right. And the 'I have to weed the patio plants and the cracks in the sidewalk' chore. Those darn weeds just keep popping back up! Household projects like roofing, installing new counters, and trying to decide what kind of new appliances we MUST have add another sort of exciting dimension to preoccupation.

However, between these, indulgences, shall we call them, I am pumping out words. I just need to increase the output by a few hundred a day and all will be fine. I'm a writer now, and I better act like one. Right after a little snooze on the deck in the shade.

Jessie Chandler
Author of the Bingo Barge Murder
Shay O'Hanlon Mystery Series
www.jessiechandler.com