Grids

Maybe all those parallel lines of text are finally getting to me this week?

Out and about for short trips with my camera, in between the rampages of wind and gale, I was drawn to the horizontals and verticals of grid like patterns.

Nano currently at 47226

Last line - "His words were like a force of Nature running wild in him."

Skyscapes

Nearly every walk I've had this week has involved running for cover. No point in taking an umbrella, except perhaps to use as a sail to fly home by.

But it has felt so good to be out in such dramas and to see the sky scape transform in front of you, as if someone has started to scrub dark pools from the surface of a watercolour painting.

Na no currently at 40,338.

Last sentence - He stared at the drawings until it was time to go to work. They held a more fascinating world for him than the real one.

redletterday

I had fun putting together a mock-up of a book cover for my Nano project which now has a title - redletterday

You can take a look at my Nano page here. Don't miss your chance to read a synopsis and an extract never before seen in real life or anywhere else except there.

In case you have a Romantic image of me burning the midnight oil every night, it's my usual habit of working an hour here and there among the other stuff that is getting me through. The reality is - a living still needs to be earned and broccoli needs to weeded especially when it has rained as much as it has this week.

Here's my last sentence from today's words -

"He could see it behind his closed eyes, felt a hint of orange warmth on a face that wanted him to be set into the breeze, walking bracken deep on the deer track meanders of an endless moor."

And the word count stands at - 32045.

And I'm very happy!

Elsewhere

I have a tiny piece up on A handful of stones today.

You can read it here.

Thanks to Fiona for posting it,

Evolving

Go on! Click.

Found on Crosby beach when I was up there visiting my family at the end of last month, I can't tell you how much I wanted to bring this beach find home with me. No such luck. It was unbelievably heavy and wider in every direction than the span of my arms.

The more I look at it, the more there is to see. Somehow, the elements have helped this piece of ordinary board evolve into something beautiful.

I'm hoping that's about to happen in my Nanowrimo project this week, as it is all starting to feel a bit chaotic. And while the free writer in me is having a wild ball, I know I want some of the threads to start singing together in better harmony.

At 22308 - last line - "The rails grind and scream a call of belly flute guttural, a throat swipe, a breath gash, a red hot spit of air speed bright."

14,000 and rising

It's been a normal week in many ways.

I've done my music practising, rediscovered a gorgeous piece I had long forgotten about, made soup, done the washing, bought groceries, done a normal week's work, had a great playing session with some music buddies, been out for a beer, finished reading a novel and started reading another, had long blustery walks in the Autumn greys of the beach.

But my lovely writing notebooks are missing me since I started my Nanowrimo project. As I predicted last week, the big challenge for me is sitting at a desk, indoors.

However, before you get used to the picture of my enforced word bashing, my words are on the go, big time and my characters are starting to do their own thing. It feels like a wild place to be and I love it.

Often, playing an instrument, I've looked down mid piece and watched my own hands playing as if they know exactly what to do without any intervention from me. This week, I've discovered they like playing on the computer keyboard like that as well.

Today, the word count rose above 14,000. That calls for a glass of something tonight, I think.

Ps. As requested by Gordon, here's the last line I wrote on my Nano pages earlier today.

"I have lost who I once was."

Another place

In the beech blur

and mist whisper

I tried to lose

the sounds

of my own steps.

In another place

I always find myself

at home.

Swaying in the forge

of high speed track

lost in iPod heaven

I began my wordrush.

A little later than I expected,

my Nanowrimo adventure has begun!