A quick update on my NaNoWriMo 2016. I think this is the first NaNo that I've been able to stay more or less right on schedule, so hooray!...BUT Thanksgiving is right around the corner and that can definitely put a hitch in any NaNo giddyup. So take this as a friendly nudge (it's also a reminder to myself) to load up on your words before you load up on stuffing seconds. It'll help you enjoy the holiday without guilt or worry...at least with regards to NaNo. ;)

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just Keep Writing, Just Keep Writing; Writing, Writing, Writing...

Okay, so my blog is late today, but to be fair, I'm on NaNoWriMo time for the rest of November. Things are going well so far (knock wood). I only had one day that I couldn't write (election day), but I'd done 2x my word count to make up for it the previous day.

But this blog isn't about NaNoWriMo.

I just wanted to post a few more brief tips gleaned from GenCon 2016:

1. BIC = Butt in Chair (a repeat, I know, but it was mentioned a lot)
2. If you want to make it easier to pick up where you left off writing, stop writing in the middle of a scene or stop writing at a cliff hanger. It'll make you excited to get back and finish it.
3. The 3/4ths Rule: Many authors get 3/4ths of the way done with their novel, decide that it's crap and stop writing. Ignore this and keep writing.
4. It if often less stressful to stop beating yourself up or feeling guilty over not writing and JUST WRITE!
5. Find out what writing style works for you and then do that a lot.
6. Chronological outlines may help keep your novel on track and consistent.
7. Three book series are easiest to sell.
8. Remember that books can have sequels AND prequels.
9. Your first few books will probably lose money, so may not want to start with a super long book as your first offering.
10. Remember, you are not competing with James Patterson and Stephen King with your first novel.

For my first offering of tips, please see my previous post, Promised Gems.

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just Keep Writing, Just Keep Writing; Writing, Writing, Writing...

So, this installment of Awesome Author Interview is with author Rob Favre. I met Rob...well, I have to be honest here, I met him at my not-yet-then-in-laws farm one snowy Christmas Eve more than ten years ago now. He is my brother-in-law and has a fantastic sense of humor and wild imagination that he's transcribed into his first novel, A Long, Long Trip on the Hope/Freedom. I couldn't stop reading it when he allowed me to view his first draft (though maybe that was because there weren't any chapters yet). ;) Without further rambling on my part, allow me to introduce Rob Favre.

1. What do you wish that people would ask you about your writing?
 
Why aren’t there any aliens/superheroes/vampires in your book? (answer) Okay, first of all, you don’t really know that. There could be an incident in the sequel where someone gets bitten by a radioactive goat. But, assuming that this does end up being just a book about regular humans, that’s the challenge I gave myself when I started the project – could I make an imaginative story that didn’t rely on the supernatural to make things interesting? You can argue about whether I succeeded in the “interesting and imaginative” part, of course. But that’s part of what led to the story being set where it is – I have a main character who appears to be magical to everyone around him, just by doing things that anyone reading the story would find completely normal. The character and the readers have a shared frame of reference, and everyone else in the story has a very different one.
 
2. Which of your characters would you most like to meet and why?
 
I’m probably supposed to say Tom, the main character, but honestly, he’s a little bit of a smartass. As I worked on the book, I was surprised at the affinity I felt for Rick, Tom’s best friend. He goes on a bit of a parallel journey to the main story as he learns how much of what he’s been brought up to believe isn’t actually true at all, or is partly true but much more complicated than he ever realized. He has to struggle to come to terms with that, and I feel like that’s something we all have to go through at some point. Plus, I would love to learn more about what his day to day life is like on the ship. It would make it much easier to write about if I didn’t have to think of everything myself.
 
3. What is the longest game of Axis and Allies you've ever played?
 
I don’t know that I’ve ever been involved in a game that lasted longer than a couple of weekends, which I guess isn’t that interesting. But I can tell you a story about the shortest game I ever played. Back in high school, I joined a game with some guys I knew who played each other all the time. I had never played with them, but I figured hey, Axis and Allies, I know how this works. I played Russia, which of course meant I went first, and I did my normal turn 1 push into German territory and fortified my lines. Everyone else sort gave each other sideways glances, like they weren’t sure if they should say anything or not. They kept quiet, and when the German player took his turn, I discovered what it was that they hadn’t told me: they had a house rule that turns in their game worked like Risk, where you could attack over and over with the same army until you decided to stop. Needless to say, the German army punched through my lines and proceeded to romp through the rest of my basically undefended territory. I didn’t end up playing with those guys again.

Bio bits:
Rob lives with wife and two children in Charleston, SC, where he works as a UX designer at a software company. He attended the University of Michigan - twice. He thinks pina coladas are gross and walking in the rain is a great way to get pneumonia. He recently published his first book, A Long, Long Trip on the Hope/Freedom, on Amazon Kindle. He blogs from time to time at www.rob-favre.com.

Keep Writing and Edit On.
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness!
We're Making Better Words, All of Them, Better Words.
I Write to Burn Off the Crazy.
A Good Day Writing is a Day Writing.
It Puts the Words on the Page or it Gets the Hose Again.
Just Keep Writing, Just Keep Writing; Writing, Writing, Writing...