Tag Archives: NaNoWriMo

holidays, inspiration, National Novel Writing Month, Uncategorized, writing

Past NaNoWriMo Day 2, holiday events

December 2, 2023 Author Emma Palova Leave a comment

Not a big writing day today, mainly because I had to catch up on social media posts with all the upcoming holiday events. I made the NaNoWriMo winners’ circle for the second year since it started in 2022. Check out the winners above.

Holiday podcasts

Don’t miss out on these holiday podcasts on your favorite podcasting app or on https://emmapalova123.podbean.com

Dec. 8 Author Cassie Veselovsky

Dec. 13 or 14 Books & Spirits special at The Book Nook & Java Shop in Montague

Dec. 22 Author Kenneth Harmon

Tasting events of Moravian Sons Distillery spirits

I will make this Czech eggnog for the upcoming holiday tastings of Moravian Sons Distillery with our apple spirit. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to experience Czech culture at its best. Our next tastings are on Dec. 7 at @Bricks at Campau Corner from 4 to 6 p.m., Dec. 8 at @HomeRun Liquor Beer & Wine, and Dec. 16 at The Book Nook & Java Shop in Montague from 3 to 7 p.m. Books & Spirits. Happy Holidays.

#moraviansonsdistillery #authoremmapalova

We will have real Czech eggnog made with our @Moravian Sons Distillery apple spirit. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to experience Czech culture at its best.

Home

Feature photo courtesy of @Tres Bohemmes.

books, National Novel Writing Month

NaNoWriMo Day 28 Victory

November 28, 2023 Author Emma Palova Leave a comment

I logged in 2,000 words on a sunny but freezing November morning for a total of 50, 495 words which put me into the victory lane of the NaNoWriMo 50k-word challenge.

As always I have trouble summarizing how I did it.

1-writing every day

2- breaking daily writing quota of 1,667 words into 2 sessions

3- physical activity between the two

4- pushing through the dead ends

5- I donated $25 as helper extraordinaire to NaNoWriMo during the first weekend.

6- I stayed committed to writing even on challenging days like book selling events, and on Thanksgiving.

7- I blogged about my daily writing progress.

8 – I ate a lot of trail mixes to sustain my energy.

9- During low points I blamed it on the weather and changed directions or settings.

10- The first draft is important because it exists.

11- You can edit the first draft, but you can’t edit a blank page.

12- I stayed in contact with writing buddy Verra West as we cheered each other on.

13- I read one of the pep talks.

14- I found out about a local NaNoWriMo write-in at Bettie’s Pages.

15- It’s never too late to join the challenge.

16- I used the advice from the special episode of For the Love of Books podcast.

17- Keep it up or keep pushing through.

18- I had to pass a birthday party.

I will write more about how to get it done as the whole process sinks in.

Uncategorized

NaNoWriMo Day 17, CTL begins

November 17, 2023 Author Emma Palova Leave a comment

I am writing this at the Lowell Area Historical Museum during Christmas Through Lowell. It’s been a great day that started early in the morning when I logged in 1,015 words in the NaNoWriMo challenge.

I wasn’t feeling good from the get go as I woke up with a huge headache.

It rained in the morning but then the sun came out and attracted visitors to the museum and downtown in droves.

We had a steady stream of visitors until dinner time.

I took pictures for The Lowell Ledger at the museum and The Old Theatre. Visit all the stops on the CTL tour through Sunday, Nov. 19

Uncategorized

NaNoWriMo Day 1

November 1, 2023 Author Emma Palova Leave a comment

A freezin g 24F morning followed a snowy Halloween. But the view of my garden in the morning was beautiful . The remaining fall colors mixed with the white of the frost on the ground and shrubs.

“The hardest thing is to start,” said author Vera West in the special episode about NaNoWriMo. “Just like going to the gym or anything else.”

My stomach fluttered with anxiety from the unknown of the 50-k word challenge even though I had been preparing for my project, but not enough.

“It’s never enough,” I say about anything.

But the tips and advice from yesterday’s podcast stayed with me, “I have to keep on moving one foot in front of the other, right? I have to keep on writing.”

I logged in 1803 words as I sighed with relief.

book podcasts, Indie authors, writing

NaNoWriMo special panel advises to keep on writing

October 31, 2023 emmapalova Leave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-gv9mu-14e78fe

Are you up to the 50k-word marathon challenge that starts on Nov.1 aka NaNoWriMo?

The NaNoWriMo special panelists suggest just keep on writing without any interruptions even if you hit the proverbial wall. Make November your writing month.

“This is my writing month,” author Jean Davis said.

Davis will be participating in the 18th year of the challenge.

That sentence resonated with all the panelists because as Jane Smiley said,

“Every first draft is perfect because all the first draft has to do is exist. It’s perfect in its existence. The only way it could be imperfect would be to NOT exist.”

Don’t be too hard on yourself. Don’t punish yourself, and have fun. Enjoy the camaraderie.

The panelists are authors- Vera West, Emma Palova, Jean Davis, John Winkelman, Andrew Smith, and Ed Bentley.

Listen in for a chance to win some free E books, and mainly to win the challenge.

Sound editing and effects by Douglas Kelly of Evolve Solutions, LLC.

Sponsored by Doc Chavent, Emma Palova, Ed Bentley, John Winkelman, and Andrew Smith.

book podcasts, Indie authors, writing

Author S. W. Raine pens The Elemental’s Guardian

July 21, 2023 emmapalova Leave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-my6ay-14601e5

Canadian-born author S. W. Raine has written The Elemental’s Guardian, which is the first book in The Elementals Trilogy, during NaNoWriMo.

Everything changed the day he ran into her with his jet thousands of feet in the sky.

Freelance pilot Ferenc Janos’s life is turned upside down when Olivia Gillies, a woman who can control air and travel through lightning, tells him he’s the guardian of the air elemental. Around the same time as her sudden arrival, masked figures have been appearing around the city with the ability to summon and control strange creatures. Their target? The homeless girl who happened to steal his wallet.

Listen in for the details of the book giveaway.

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger

Authors events, National Novel Writing Month, Uncategorized

NaNoWriMo Days 20 & 21, total of 39,585 words

November 21, 2022 emmapalova Leave a comment

I had to combine the totals for the two NaNoWriMo writing days, since Day 20 on Sunday, Nov. 20 wasn’t a writing day at all. More like research and staying in touch with my writing project, a sequel to The Lost Town based in Singapore, MI during a major selling event, Christmas through Lowell.

For the third day in a row, I was stationed inside the Lowell Area Historical Museum, Industry & Retail Room with the Cutter Factory sleigh, selling books with six other vendors. Although we had a ball and enjoyed good sales it was exhausting.

I had a clear view of the Strand Theater’s playbill from who knows when that actually inspired me. Check out the feature photo.

By now, we know each other’s sales pitches by heart.

“Are you readers?” I ask. “Do you like to read?”

“No, I don’t have the time,” was the overwhelming response.

“My earrings are two for 10,” Ashley Thompson said.

And so on.

“I have postcards from Lowell,” Bruce Doll said.

“Would you like to buy a candle?” the candle kid said.

NaNoWriMo Day 21

I logged in a total of 1,600 words trying to get back into the swing of things. You would not believe what a two-day break from writing does. It puts you out of touch with your own story, and with the characters, you have created. It takes forever to get back into the zone of the book.

To be continued..

author events, National Novel Writing Month, Uncategorized

NaNoWriMo 2022 Day 16

November 16, 2022 emmapalova Leave a comment

Christmas through Lowell this weekend

I will be at the Lowell Area Historical Museum, station k, 325 W. Main St. from Friday afternoon through Sunday, Nov. 20 with my books from the Shifting Sands series.

NaNoWriMo continues

The adventure to find the lost city of Singapore continues with an average daily log-in of 2,000 words. I find that it is optimal to keep up the pace of the story, and not lose the storyline.

Any extremes above or below that count, are just that, extremes that will catch up with you. We discussed this in yesterday’s Halfway NaNoWriMo Breaking Point Podcast with authors Jean Davis and Vera West. Check it out.

The word build-up of 3,000 words tends to dwindle away if you slack off the next day. Trying to make up for the required 1,667-word daily login is almost impossible. It’s a big chunk of text.

Here is the Halfway NaNoWriMo episode

author events, book marketing, book signing, Christmas through Lowell

NaNoWriMo 2022 Day 13 & 14

November 14, 2022 emmapalova Leave a comment

Rough Seas

Total words logged in 31, 165 on Monday, Nov. 14.

No, smooth sailing through these two days filled with focused writing. After I got over the halfway hump on Friday and Saturday, the ride on the NaNo 50k word roller coaster got bumpier.

It must have coincided with the drop in temperatures in West Michigan as we chilled down, and the skies got cloudy. Our driveways are now lined with stakes with snow in the forecast.

So I introduced the Tower of Breese into the story about the search for a lost town. That helped to further establish the enemy. However, I got stuck again on Monday morning and added another layer to one of the protagonists deepening the conflict.

What’s the next step? The protagonist has several options and doesn’t know which road to take. I should map it out for him on the beat sheet plotting method.

Christmas through Lowell 2022

Setting records this year the tour has 61 locations and I am on one of them, station k on the CTL tour map aka Lowell Area Historical Museum in downtown Lowell located at 325 W. Main Street.

In my other role as a reporter for The Lowell Ledger, I wrote like crazy on a Sunday afternoon about the upcoming Christmas through Lowell tour this weekend, Nov. 18 through Nov. 20.

Christmas through Lowell, Nov. 18 through Nov. 20

In my role as the Director of Operations for Moravian Sons Distillery, I am going to our first meeting of the Michigan Craft Distillers Association at DeVos Hall in Grand Rapids. I am psyched. There will be a bunch of other distillery newcomers.

Home

In another role yet as the producer and host of For the Love of Books Podcast, we will bring you insights in the special episode “Breaking Point” about getting halfway through NaNoWriMo.

I can’t wait for authors Jean Davis and Vera West to share their insights because you can still jump on the NaNo ride.

National Novel Writing Month, Uncategorized

NaNoWriMo Day 10

November 10, 2022 emmapalova Leave a comment

Likely the last 70-degree day this season, so I got right on it writing in two sessions: in the early morning session, I took a walking break to the Franciscans, then I wrote more for a total of 2,426 in the late morning session. I had to wrap it up after the second break at the Arrowhead Golf Course. My brain refused to function anymore. I stuffed myself with a nut mix and chocolates.

I drove back home through the orchards that always calm me down.

The story is on its way to the first big surprise nearing the top of the first climb on the roller coaster plotting method.

The word total since the challenge started on Nov. 1 is 22,570 words. I wish I could have written more, but the body and the mind are smarter than I am and stopped me.

Today, we’re stilling peaches from Mason Apple Orchards in Belding. Thank you, my friend, Lynn. This is the third stilling run of the season.

To be continued…