Much ado about November 1

Today is the day when ...

The Celtic winter goddess Cailleach (kal-yach, koll-yak) (hag, witch, wise crone), arrives at Samhain, from the evening of October 31 thru the evening of November 1, and reigns over winter until spring arrives at Imbolc.

The start of National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo, or more simply NaNo. The entire month is devoted to writing the first draft of a novel, or at least 50,000 words. 

All Saints' Day in the Christian calendar on which all saints are celebrated, particularly those without their own special feast day. 

In Mexico, today is The Day of the Dead (Dio De Los Muertos), celebrated over two days. On November 1, the spirits of deceased children come down from heaven to reunite with their families for one day, and November 2 is reserved for honouring deceased adults.

Today is National Author’s Day, first celebrated in 1928. The best way to celebrate, in my opinion, is to buy a book!

On this day in 1896, the first bare-breasted females (Zulu tribe) appeared in the National Geographic magazine. Coincidentally, on another November 1, this time in 1914, The Bra was patented.

the Globe Theatre

The first performance of William Shakespeare’s Othello was at Whitehall Palace in London in 1604.

Now excuse me while I eat leftover Hallowe’en candy.

P.S. While researching the remarkable highlights and lowlights about this day, I discovered that apples float because over 25% of their volume is air. And now that we’re talking about apples, and because apples are in abundance this time of year (in my neck of the woods), here’s the link to the most delicious apple cake EVER.

Apple cake recipe from Smitten Kitchen

P.P.S. I used two 9x5 loaf pans – worked great.

P.P.P.S.  My holiday novella is available for pre-order! Only $1.99 for a limited time. Launch day is November 8.

A blizzard … Krista Rhodes has seen a few in her lifetime. 

Snowed in for days … once, when she was a kid. 

Trapped in a house with Dr. Dreamboat … never saw that one coming. Not only cute, he’s also funny and kind and strong and how can she resist? 

Eric Monroe has it all mapped out – drive cross-country to a new job with a brief stop to celebrate a buddy’s engagement. A giant detour with a beautiful, witty, no-nonsense woman makes the journey more fun than he ever thought possible. And bonus – he’s moving to her town.

Except she’s got something she has to do. Maybe. And he can’t ask her to change her plans. Can he?  

Pre-order now!

Luanna Stewart has been creating adventures for her imaginary friends since childhood. She spends her days writing contemporary romance, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, and historical romance. When not torturing her characters, she’s in her kitchen baking something delicious. She lives in Nova Scotia with her patient husband and five hens. 

Website ~ Bookbub ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads ~Amazon Author Page

5 Tips to Survive NANOWRIMO

November is that magical month of NANOWRIMO, National Novel Writing Month, so I figured I'd give my 5 tips for surviving NANO.

1.) Take it one word, one day at a time. 
Don't be hard on yourself. Some days you'll speed through and go over your word count for the day and other days you'll fight yourself to get even one word down. Don't be hard on yourself.

2.) Get together with others doing NANOWRIMO.
No one will understand what you're trying to do as much as other participants. This year there is Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, the NANOWRIMO website with the forums and chats, and write-ins. There is someway to socialize, get help when you're stuck or just encouragement to keep going for anyone.

3.) Be accountable.
Join a group, create a group or find some close friends that you can each send in your word counts for the day. It's great to have someone to encourage or embarrass you into getting your word counts in for the month. Groups are also good for brainstorming when you get stuck and laugh about the rest of the world outside of your little writing hole.

4.) Have caffeine.
I don't drink coffee, can't stand the taste, but yes I do need caffeine. I make sure that in November I won't run out because you never know when you're going to have one of those days that your mind just won't work without it.

5.) Tell family, friends, and work you're not available.
This is the most important I think. A lot of people outside of writers just don't understand why we would want to torture ourselves by spending 30 days using all our free time writing. This is what we do, what we want to do. You have to make it clear with family, friends, and yes even work that you can't be disturbed during whatever hours your writing.

Do you have any tips that I can add in? Tips could just be for your writing.

I Wish You A NaNo Christmas

B. A. Binns here, I'm glad to see you joining the Genreistas today.

First of all, I will admit that Halloween is my number one big holiday of the year. Once I put away my costume and say goodby to the little tricksters, things are all downhill. As a long time victim of SADS (seasonal affective disorder) I totally understand Scrooge.

That said, I will soon be laying in supplies so I can spend the winter curled up in front of the fireplace while the refrain, “let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…” comes from the radio.  I said radio on purpose, I’m not a TV person. 

I want a little music, a roaring fireplace and a good read.

It looks like the 2011 NaNoWriMo might have produced more than just a few good reads. Since I joined the thousands across the world who did the mad NaNoWriMo sprint during November. My effort included completion of the first draft of a new YA novel (Titled LEAH, after the book's heroine) There's nothing Christmasy about this story, althought I did manage to work in a little bit of Halloween. 

The manuscript I finished just before beginning NaNo - BEING GOD, included a dysfunctional family Christmas dinner. Trust me, pulling that chapter together was enough to last me for a good, long time. 

But in the spirit of the season, I took a look at some of the Christmasy things other NaNo writers created. They got into the spirit of the season, no matter what genre they chose.

Genre	Title	Synopsis
Erotic Fiction	Christmas Magic	Kaleb Kraig Kringle has a famous family and secrets to keep, so he can’t afford to get close to anyone. Lonely businessman Russell Lewis should have been just another hook-up. But after last night, dawn feels like a beginning instead of an ending.
Fantasy	S.O.S. Save Our Santa	Santa is caught in the middle of a power struggle between the North and South Poles.
Horror & Supernatural	Christmas Evil	Everything you know about Christmas is a candy cane coated falsehood. The horrifying truth includes demons scampering through the night collecting both the naughty and nice for the feast of the evil one.
Romance	A Cauley Christmas	Obituary Writer Cauley’s Christmas to-do list begins with 1. Identify the Dead Guy. She also wants to win the love of the handsome FBI Special Agent.
Satire, Humor & Parody	The Christmas we decided to kill Dad!	After years of suffering through endless Christmas dinners with Dad, the women of the family conspire to kill him.
Young Adult	Not at Mom’s for Christmas	After years of feeling like a pawn in the battle between his divorced parents, Quincy hatches a plan to spend the holiday without either parent, and winds up changing all their lives forever.

While I won't say which ones, a few of these make me hope the authors get them finished and on the shelves soon.   

MY QUESTION FOR YOU

Is anyone else out there working on a Christmas novel or short story? Share with us, so we can look forward to grabbing your story for that next great holiday read.

I'm glad for NaNo and the way it encourages people all over the world to further their dream of writing a book. For all of you who tried, CONGRATULATIONS!!

P. S.

Don't forget, Barbara Vey, Contributing Editor at Publishers Weekly, is holding her first annual Reader Appreciation Luncheon on April 10, 2012 in Wisconsin, set to occur just before the RT Booklovers convention opens in Chicago. As one of the attending authors, I invite all readers of YA Romance to join me there.   Information on the luncheon is available at a special website - http://www.barbaraveyreaders.com/