Happy NaNoWriMo!

Tip of the Day: Visit the Kid-Lit Cares: Superstorm Sandy Relief Effort and bid on a critique by an author, a phone call with an editor or agent, and more.

Happy NaNoWriMo to those who celebrate! :-)

If you're new to NaNoWriMo it stands for National Novel Writing Month and all of those who participate attempt to write a 50,000-word novel in the month of November. Sounds fun, right? Check out their main Web site to get more of the details here.

I've personally never participated in NaNoWriMo but I cheer from the stands for those who do. It looks like a lot of fun and one day when I don't have 4 munchkins at home running me from place to place and always wanting to be fed, I might give it a try. If you're going to give it a try, here are some helpful links:

Follow NaNoWriMo on twitter.

Like NaNoWriMo on Facebook.

30 NaNoWriMo Tips (and really, these are great for any writer, any time).

25 Things You Should Know About NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo Tips from Veterans

And because there is a YouTube video for everything, The NaNoWriMo song.

Good luck!

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Are you stalling?

Tip of the Day: Not a good idea to fall asleep holding your Nook. Your neck will not thank you in the morning.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I'm considering doing NaNoWriMo again. This is probably the last thing I should be doing, because I really need to be finishing up revisions on a book and subbing another book.

However, my writing has definitely taken a backseat in my life lately and I feel completely out of practice. Every time I sit down to work on revisions I feel lost and don't have a clue where to start.

My mind is telling me that if I force myself to work on another project and just sit and write and write and write, I should regain some of my writing skills and it will translate over to my other projects.

But I don't know if that's the truth or if I'm just being lured away by other projects, because I don't want to spend the tough time on the one I'm finishing.

The lure of the shiny, new project can be hard to resist!

Hmmm...it is a dilemma.

While I normally don't recommend moving onto a new project until you are ready, I really think in this case it will help.

Because just as a mind in motion wants to stay in motion, I'm guessing a writer writing wants to stay writing.

So let's hear it, have any of you switched projects and found it's helped with the initial book you were working on?

Success stories would be nice to hear.

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

A Season for Writing

Tip of the Day: there's tons of cute fall and Halloween decorating ideas on Pinterest!

Fall...

It's one of my most favorite times of the year. 
 

Whether it's because of the beautiful scenery outside with the changing of the leaves...

the fact that there's an entire day in October where it's perfectly acceptable to pretend to be someone else and dress in costume..

it marks the season I was born in...

Or merely because it's the start of a fun, new TV season :) 

Whatever it is, there is something special about fall to me, and for that reason it's become one of my favorite seasons to write about and the season that seems to motivate me to write the most. The amount of free time I have seems to perfectly align with the work that needs done and the writing flows more than any other time of the year. I've also lucked out that NaNoWriMo happens to take place in late fall, so it's always great motivation to keep writing even when I don't officially participate.

For these reason, I'm not only very excited it's fall, but I'm also considering doing NaNoWriMo officially for the first time in three years.

Anyone else participating?

Does anyone else feel like their best writing times revolve around a certain season?

--Emily, Miss Querylicious