The Hobbit

I read The Hobbit almost 15 years ago.

I wasn't into the whole fantasy thing but I discovered the book underneath my desk in one of the classrooms I had History or Ancient Greek or Literature in and decided to give it a try.

I want to be very clear: I didn't steal the book, I borrowed it.

Anyway, I started reading during intermission and kept reading until there were no more pages to turn. That's when I realised that fantasy might actually be one of the genres I wasn't totally opposed to. My favourite book back then was Anne Frank's Diary and Tolkien's world of hobbits, dwarfs, magicians and elves was a nice alternative to the horrid reality of the human species (not that Tolkien's reality was any less cruel, but at least I knew it wasn't real, so that helped with the nightmares).

The big 3-0

I recently turned 30. 

Contrary to popular belief:

1. I didn't turn to stone at the stroke of midnight

2. I didn't feel the significance of my instantly acquired wisdom suddenly weigh on my shoulders

3. I didn't cry myself to sleep longing for my youth back

Instead, I found myself looking forward to this birthday more than any other birthday in my life so far.  

How to get over the post-NaNo blues

Ever since NaNo ended, I feel depressed.

The feeling resembles the kind of dull numbness after an amazing party that had you dancing in the backdrop of the perfect blue sea of the Mediterranean, while watching the sun rise (memories of Galea come rushing back for those of you who were there and danced to "Sunglasses at Night" with me :)). 

Right now my mood resembles the aftermath of that party. I feel tired, empty, exhausted and highly unmotivated to do anything productive. Up until yesterday I hadn't written a single word, or read anything apart from Facebook messages and posts. 

I want to get back that exciting feeling that kept me going during NaNo. So, I devised a plan, to avoid getting sucked into a hole of watching senseless YouTube videos, while painting my toe-nails and thinking about all the goodies I will be eating over the holidays (I give myself an almost free-pass that time of year).

And the winner is....

28 days, 1 breakdown, 50 cups of coffee, 97 pages and 50,210 words later, I did it!
The first draft is done!

I have to say I started NaNo with the best of intentions but the worst of expectations.

I am not very well known for my ability to finish things. Starting them has never been an issue on the other hand. I am a master of starting, talking, planning, analysing (I can even simulate pretty accurate near-writing experiences) but I had never so far attempted anything as big as actually completing a novel. Because let's face it: It's crazy, right?

Ithaca

I have been thinking a lot about the story I'm writing, the story I want to write, the kind of writer I want to be instead of the the one I am right now (which is all over the place).

For the past 26 days I have been writing and reading and keeping notes.

I try to educate myself as far as the publishing world is concerned and the possibilities for new writers as myself, who are trying to break-through.

I have been reading book reviews by people I one day hope will be reading my books, researching other authors (both YA and not), adding new books to my Amazon wishlist for when Christmas is around the corner and I will treat myself to some new stories (I am especially eager to read "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green).

At the same time I have gone through the five stages of the NaNo experience. These are the following:

When the going gets tough...

First of all, I would like to apologize for my last post: It was self-indulgent and served no purpose whatsoever, other than to boast my ego, so...sorry.

This week has not been very good writing-wise. Sure, I have achieved the word counts I wanted to reach (I just finished typing the 37,350th word and am at page 70 of the manuscript) by sheer power of persistance. The puffy, pink cloud of the initial enthusiasm has become increasingly thin though, and my belief in what I have written so far has disappeared faster than you can say "NaNo".

NaNoWriMo update – Day 16

So, I may not have had time to shrink my pictures in order to upload them and make this blog even more awesome than it already is, BUT I have had a major epiphany. Well, it's more like a realisation. And it is this: At the rate I'm going, I will have managed to finish the first draft of what I hope will become my first book, BEFORE my 30th birthday, which is kind of a milestone for me, so I'm totes excited about that.

When the actual thing is going to be ready for all you fellows to read is totally irrelevant. I aim at a 2013 release but that will be determined by other factors as well. So please be patient with me. I will keep you updated though. So that's that.

I found a great blog I need to share with you guys. It's called Evil Editor and it is nothing short of entertaining AND educational. I suggest going to the first posts to get a feel for the blog first and then have a look at some of the "face-lifts". Here is the link: Evil Editor

Me ... again

So, I did some soul-searching and decided to update a few things about my blog.

1. Appearence

Let's face it. This blog is not a beauty-pageant winner. It's not even close. It watches the contestans from way back in the audience, then looks at its leg-warmers, mini-skirt and baggy sweater and hungs its head in shame.

It's not that there aren't great templates to choose from. There are. To be honest, though, I would really like to personalize it. Until now, I haven't taken the time to see how I can make it better (I hate buttons and they hate me) but I am willing to experiment since I have some spare time on my hands (brought to you by a very recent tonsillectomy!).
 
As soon as I find a way to shrink my pictures from one million ultra-mega-dragon-bytes to just the few thousand Blogger allows, I will get to uploading fotos I took with my very own camera, to make your entire reading experience much more .... well, me!

Until then, I will just use a simple template for the sake of all our nerves.

Being creative

Being creative is a way to endure the tragedy of being both human and divine.

NaNoWriMo update - Day 12

So, it's time for an update I'm told.

Wordwise I am on top of the world, Felix Baumgartner style. I wrote almost 3,000 words today and plan to write more tommorow (21,000 or 39 pages in total so far.)

As far as the quality of what I write is concerned, yeah.... that's more like being in a Jules Verne story: 20,000 leagues under the sea, I'm waving at a freaky fish with bad mouth hygiene and a lamp thingy hanging from the top of his head as I am writing this. 

I have come to terms with this though. You can't be both prolific and write quality prose, right? Who cares if Dostoyevski wrote Crime and Punishment AND The Gambler in one year, right? Right? 

NaNoWriMo – Day 7

Ok...so I've made it through the first week of NaNoWriMo without signs of exhaustion, depression or the feeling of utter despair in sight of everything I cannot accomplish. Instead I've managed to write 10,019 words of what I am hoping will become my first book so far and I have to say: I feel pretty damn good!

The NaNoWriMo experiment

This year I'll do it! I'll actually attempt to write more than 10,000 words in a month, even if most of it is shit. Because in November, quantity kicks quality's ass!

If you're the world's biggest procrastinator and prefer looking for kitten mittens online (even if you don't own a cat) instead of writing, this is your chance to prove to yourself that you are not a total waste of carbon. Try this with me, and fail miserably at it (or not)! It will be fun :)

Why I will never go to another Jack White concert ever again

Do you like music? I LOVE IT! I would go as far as placing music in my list of top ten things I can't live without (others would have to include mostly people in my life as well as some aspects of technology and goooooood food).

Music is like watching films with your eyes wide open, it's feeling what you didn't even know was in you, it's dreaming when fully awake, it's letting go, it's the entirety of the range of human emotions translated into melodies and verses. It is beauty and inspiration and comfort and I freaking LOVE it!

I've always felt the same about music, even though the object of my affection has changed from time to time. Growing up I have gone from listening to ... wait for it ...

You are not alone

Writing is a very lonely venture.

It might be fun to make up different stories and invent characters to populate galaxies far, far away, but when someone spends day after day in front of a PC or a piece of paper, avoiding anything that might mess with their "juju"(be it music, the latest episode of your favourite TV show, or a loved one stripteasing down to an elephant-shaped G-string - photos upon request) the tormented writer may suddenly find himself/herself in desperate need for some companion other than that of people living in aforementioned made-up galaxy.

2012

Some people believe the world will end in 2012.
I can only imagine how much it would suck to be one of them.

But just in case the Mayas didn't run out of space to count the years on, these are the things I would really like to get done before the world ends (in random order):