Sunday, November 29, 2009

Who, me?


Honestly. What a month this has been! I don't know whether to adjust my tiara as I hobble to the podium in my strappy heels or wonder where the flower wreath came from around my sweaty neck as I stand, sides heaving, in the winners circle. I'm a NaNoWriMo winner! And, completely unattached to NaNo, Sarah has given me a scrappy award. How timely is that? (pls take a scroll down)

I never thought writing 50,000 words of a new novel in 30 days was a sane proposition. I entered National Novel Writing Month a few days before it began, mostly because so many other people were excited about it and I thought I should find out why.

What I found out is going to be the subject of another post. I want to let the dust settle before I mouth off. But my gut feeling is I learned some important stuff about the writing process.

And I love my new novel, Sea Daughters, begun Nov. 1. The idea had been brewing a long time and the walls of my writing room are covered with pictures of girls riding seahorses, turtles swimming, fish navigating kelp beds. There are piles of collected sea shells around me and a pink jellyfish in a glass paperweight (huh? It was a gift and it's pretty, especially in sunlight).

And there were signs everywhere all month. The best was me finding an old, plain seashell, worn by time in the dirt of a mountain trail many miles from the sea. I decided that meant I'd chosen the right story. And besides, the characters have been talking up a mammoth wave of words.

My Honest Scrap award comes from the hilarious Sarah With a Chance. If you don't read her blog you are missing out on great fun. The award also comes with rules. I'm supposed to tell 10 honest things about myself and pass it on to 10 bloggers. First Honest Thing: I am contrary about rules. So I propose to tell five things and choose an unknown number of bloggers (which is terribly difficult when there are so many people whose blogs I haunt). I leave the rules open for them, too. They can go 10 plus 10. Or five and five. Or they could divide again and go for 2.5. Can you tell half an honest thing?

2: (see 1 above) I am a Buffy fan forever, my personal BFF. How can I not be? Here's a quote after Buffy accidentally almost stakes Cordelia, who yells, "What is your childhood trauma!" So for all of us with childhood traumas, there is laughter in the dark.
3: I have a lifelong attraction and fear of the ocean. I can't stand to be far from the sea for very long, but I almost drowned as a small child before I learned to swim. Sometimes when I even look at photos of giant waves my heart races, and yet my NaNo novel takes place mostly in the sea.
4: I have a passion for art and love museums and galleries. I'm not an artist but I take photographs and have also created lost-wax jewelry, watercolors, collages and one stained glass piece.
5: I am not organized. I live in chaos but tend to get a lot of things done and on time. I may bend rules but I meet deadlines.


I herby pass this award to these scrappy bloggers:
Andrea Cremer
Karen Denise
Linda Kage
Wendy Prior
Karen Amanda Hooper
Corey Schwartz


And one last BIG ol' shout out. Thank you so much to the new followers and people who have commented on this blog while I have been splashing around this month. I really appreciate seeing you here--Liza, Victoria, Shannon, Stephanie, Angela, Julie, Tamika, Teri, Mary, Barb. *waves* *waves more*

33 comments:

Kristi Faith said...

Congratulations! I can't wait to read everyone's posts about nano. Your novel sounds fascinating, my whole house is themed from the beach. It's a love affair. :0)

Donna said...

Hah! I've been tracking you on the NaNoWriMo barometer. What a vicarious thrill to watch you cross the finish line ahead of schedule. Yay for Tricia! Yay for Sea Daughters. I want to read it!

Unknown said...

You did it!

Fantastic!

Proud I am....

Anonymous said...

Yay Tricia! I've been watching every day to see if you finished! Well done! And thank you so much for the award :D I'm positively (and honestly) chuffed!

I've always been scared stiff of the ocean, yet I live less than a block from it and I'm gradually becoming addicted. There's nothing like falling asleep listening to waves crashing - until you start thinking about Tsunami's anyway!

Lisa Schroeder said...

Wow - a huge congratulations!!! May sailor's hat is off to you!! :)

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Kristi: Congrats to you, too! I love that your house is beach themed. Sounds great.

Donna: Thanks for cheering me on, and you will be one of the first to glimpse Sea Daughters, I promise.

Suzanne: I'm a wreck, but a happy one. Thanks!

Wendy: I LOVE to listen to waves at night. I really do adore the sea. I just don't wanna be in giant waves. By the way, everybody, big kudos to Wendy, who finished early and way over word count--she is a writing machine.

Lisa: I really like the image of your sailor hat. Thanks!

Tabitha Bird said...

Congrats Tricia. And well done getting that word count!

* said...

Congrats on two counts: Nano winner & Scrappy blog award winner!!

That you found a seashell, however plain, on a mountain trail was definitely A Sign. Amazing.

Looking forward to reading more about your insights gained from NaNo!

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Tabitha: Thanks. It's quite wonderful to have made it.

Terresa: I was SO awed when I found that shell. It really felt right. Thanks so much.

V. S said...

Congrats on being a Nano winner!

Bish Denham said...

Congratulations on finishing your novel! Yippee! Yahoo!. Now we let them steep and marinate for a while. When we come back to them later we'll know if the spices we used were the right ones/right amount.

Liza said...

Congrats on your award, and yea on NaNo!! I LOVE the idea of your novel, being a sea addict myself. I'm glad to have found you and look forward to a lot of wonderful reading.

storyqueen said...

Congratulations! It sounds like such a fun book to write (and read!)

I am very happy for you.

Shelley

Linda Kage said...

Congrats on your award. And on Sea Daughters. Hope I get to read it someday! I have a feeling the story will have a lot to do with the ocean because of your confession number 3.

And I was so surprised to see my name on the pass-along award. Thank you, I'm honored. I'll see what I can do about my 10 honest things.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Thanks Victoria!

Bish: Thanks and congrats to you, too! I'll marinate after I finish. It's a YA and probably should be about 75K so I've got a third or more to go. I'm hoping to do about 1K a day through the end of the year.

Liza: Another sea lover, yay! Glad to have you here.

Shelley: I am really having fun with it. I can only hope it's as good as I think it is.

Linda: Yes, it's very ocean-centric this story. I hope you get to read it, too! And a big shout-out to everyone that Linda just sold her second book!

XiXi said...

Awww, yay for finishing NaNo!

I don't really know exactly what your novel is about, but I love the sea and I love the title. It sounds really cool. :-)

Angela Ackerman said...

Grats on making the 50K. I didn't make it, but I did complete a novel so that's a win in my eyes!

Tess said...

That's really is wonderful. And, even more impressive that you love the work so much. Can't wait to hear your report!

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Icy or Xi Xi, not sure which to call you :) Yay to you, too! I'm loving this book--we shall see where it ends up.

Angela: Completing a novel is a win in my eyes, for sure. You go!

Tess: Thanks, I do need to think about it, because it's easy to get carried away. I need to see what I really wrote in such a great outpouring.

Robyn Campbell said...

I KNEW THIS MOMENT WOULD COME!

*Applause* Tricia takes a bow. The crowd ROARS. Everyone stands to their feet. "Bravo!"

And they anxiously await the acceptance speech for not ONE but TWO awards from this little BFF OF Buffy. Uh don't worry Buf, she WON'T harass you. :)

Congrats my pal. I knew you could do it.

Abby Annis said...

Yea! Congrats on NaNo and your awards! You're awesome!!

I have issues with large bodies of water too. Love to look at them, but being in them? Not so much. :)

Pat Murkland said...

Hey congratulations to you, just stopped by to see how your writing life is going, and I see it's going mighty fine. cheers, Pat O'M

Jeannie Campbell, LMFT said...

congrats to the winners! and congrats to you for winning nano. :)

jeannie
The Character Therapist

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Robyn: *hiding behind curtain* Is it safe to come out now? I'm kinda shy, you know. Thanks, friend. :)

Abby: I really have a fear of big waves, like I know I wouldn't survive one but I can't look away. I have all kinds of ocean books and I go to the sea whenever I can. Very strange, but I'm glad you get it.

Pat! How nice to see you, and thanks for the congrats. I am working it.

Jeannie: Welcome and thanks so much!

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Congratulations X 2!!

Once for your NaNo success and once for your blogger award *insert enthusiastic clapping here*!

lisa and laura said...

CONGRATULATIONS! Awards and winning NaNo! It doesn't get much better than that!

Karen Denise said...

Tricia! Thanks for the nom! And Congrats on NaNo...I was not a success this year, but I'm doing it again next year.

And I'm with you on Buffy. Can I say, Cordelia's very next line was my all time favorite...
"Excuse me while I call everyone I know!"

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Shannon: thx x 2 ;)

LiLa: Basking here! Altho, ahem, a book contract is a tad better than that!

Karen: ur welcome! don't ya luv cordy!!

Andrea Cremer said...

Wow! Thanks Tricia. Your book sounds great!!

Natalie said...

Congratulations on NaNo and the award! I love museums too. My mom is a painter so I grew up enjoying fine art but I have absolutely no skill. Thank goodness for writing :)

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Andrea: You're quite welcome, and thank you! I've been having a good time.

Natalie: I wish I could paint better. I do like to play with art. Yes, thank goodness for writing. It is my release. (and thanks!)

kah said...

Way to go! I cant wait to read your story. Thanks so much for the award. I'll have to think of 5 interesting things to post.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Karen: You are always interesting, and I can't wait to read your story either!