Last Day of November

Five Things



1- Well, it's the end of November, the end of National Novel Writing Month. My Novel "Saving the Triple S Ranch" was completed with room to spare. The winner's party will be Sunday at Callaghan's in Mira Mesa.



2- I edited my blogger page- hope you all like the new look.



3- I included a photo. Yesterday I went hiking down at Sycamore Canyon and came across two deer and two wild turkey's. The deer moved out first, but Mr. and Mrs. Turkey stayed around for the photo.



4- It's been C-O-L-D here! Cold as in nearly freezing cold. We've had low temperatures in the 30's. The furnace guy will come out tomorrow morning to fix the clanging noise coming from the furnace. We've been using our little 'heat dishes' but they only heat one room at a time. Brrrrrr. He can't get here too soon.



5- Looks like the Christmas lights go up tomorrow, while I'm waiting for furnace guy to show up. Hope it doesn't turn out like the photo! Looking forward to December!

Write Like a CHAMPION today... breaking the 50K barrier and becoming a winner!

Cue up the Rocky Music... I did it. I completed a 50,000 word novel in one month (actually 27 days). Tada.

Things I learned while writing this literary piece of work:

1- I can do it. It was tough being disciplined ebough to actually sit down and write, on average, 1,667 words per day for an entire month.

2- preparation is the key. Even though I thought I had plotted out my story with enough scenes- it wasn't so. I spent an hour in the middle of the month redefining and adding scenes and plot lines to lengthen and improve my novel.

3- My writing actually improved the more I wrote. and so did my typing. I really do need to learnvto touch type. That one skill will make this much easier the next time around.

4- You don't need to edit your work critically while you are writing it. A rough draft should be justthat... rough.

5- I will use an outliner program the next time I write anything this long again. 'Papel' is a program that a fellow author turned me on to and I only wish I had it to use before I started this project.

6- Next time I will make character cards so that I can keep first names, physical characteristics, and scenes straight in my mind and on the paper. THis is one area I was unprepared to deal with and it became tricky near the end when I was tying up the loose ends. I resisted the urge to go back and check on the exact facts. I can do that in the re-write pfase of this.

7- I fell into this trap last year and avoided it and told everyone else to avoid it ... EDITING. I was compelled to go back and editr vthe story avout 1/3 the way in (same as last year) but I refused to fall for that trick this year. Instead I forged ahead and decided I would deal with the imperfections later. BUT once I started to use the alphasmart word processor, I indulged myself (and ny internal critic) by re-reading, correcting and adding to the story after I had uploaded it to my computer and MS Word.

8- and that's it! If I can write a novel in 30 days or less... than so can you.

9- crack open the champagne... it's time to celebrate.

Getting Very Close to 50K- 92% completed

I am sitting at 46,091 words... just 3,909 words asway from the finish line. The crowd began to chant... Go, Poway, Go, Slugger, it's your birth day...!

My things:
1- I turned the furnace on for the first tmie this winter and "ccccccccchhhh" is the sound coming from it. It still makes heat but the noise sounds almost like an alarm bell going off. Furnace man is due out on Friday.

2- Everyone made it back safely after Thanksgiving. Long lines and rides abounded for our family travellers. It also netted the missus a $300 voucher (and anb expensive airport lunch) for being bumped.

3- Chargers win again! They squeaked out a win vs the hated Radiers 21-14. Any win against the Raiders tastes GREAT!

4- We put up the white christmas tree and blinking lights at the top of the steps and junior slept underneath the tree last night. I think he lives to sleep there when we get near Christmas.

5- It's the Yin Yang College Football championship game. Poway Cup Three has begun. The score is Mich St 7 USC 7 at 3:33 in the first quarter. If you like sports simulations and haven't tried Action PC Football yet, here is the link. The baseball and football games are second to none.

http://www.dksports.com/

Caio

43,755 official count

chugging along... making progress. only 6,245 words to go. That's nearly 88% completed. Well--- that's quite an improvement over last year--- and to think I only finished a little over 25,000 words last time.

Back on PIM --- 41867

That's right ladies and germs... I'm 84% completed. The story will be reaching a climax soon. Once that happens the writing will take off and I'll be a NaNoWriMo winner!





Five things:





1- Chargers play tomorrow... It's Raider Week!











2-USC won again --- could it be a USC- Ohio State battle for the NC?

3- I'll be the cab driver tomorrow. Airport at 7 a.m. and train station at 9 a.m.


4- It was a good food day today ... home made chicekn enchilada's and tasty guacamole.


5- I fixed the gushing sprinkler (from a previous post) this morning. Hope it works!

Nearly 40K

I passed out from too much fun yesterday- but managed to get my word count up to 39,654 before hitting the sheets. (that's slightly behind pace- I should be at 40,000)

It's been a great weekend having evryone home for the holidays. We put up the Christmas tree yesterday and decorated it with all the ornaments. So far the cats haven't been trying to climb it- yet.

We had some good home cooking this weekend. Turkey soup yesterday and homemade chicken enchiladas today.

Our neighboor Tim stopped by last hgiht at 1o:30 to let us know we had a geyser in the front yard. One of our sprinklers is broken. I think that geyser is at least as reliable as "Old Faithful" until we get it fixed (later today).

Happy Thanksgiving from Sunny So Cal (38,511)

Happy THanksgiving to anyone reading this blog.

Five Things:

1- NaNoWriMo. I'm ahead of pace but intend to get a chapter written today. Total is 38,511 (77%)

2- Lions play (err get beat) on national TV today.

3- We've got a great meal planned. Mr. Turkey weighed in at a buff 20 pounds and is now on his way to being dinner.

4- I found three golf balls on my walk this morning.

5- I had my best nights sleep in weeks!

37,893 words 76% complete !

NEWSFLASH: Hitting his stride Powayslugger is coming into the back stretch running strong and writing fast and hard. Weaving an intricate plot using the finest nouns, verbs and adjectives, that money can buy. This 1977 RCHS grad is making a bid to be the first in his family to win at NaNoWriMo. Sitting at a healthy 76% of his novel completed, he enters the last eight days in rare form and 1,226 words ahead of PIM. Stay tuned for the stirring climax to this magnificent literary acheivement.

Over the hump at 35,453

They say that if you can hit 35,000 in NanoWriMo you can make it the rest of the way. Well I hit 35K today... right on PIM. Yipeee! Looking good.

I'm not Jimmy the Greek

Don't use me to pick your football winners for you. I was only 2 of 6 in picks this week. (Heck- I even picked the Lions to win!)

Here's my five things:

1- I'm 65% of the way there in NaNoWriMo.... 32,592 words and counting. It was a good day at Cosmo's Coffee Shop in La Mesa. Big thanks to all those encouraging words from you guys, Kip, Bettina, etc.

Click the link to see my stats:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/simpleinfo.php?uid=84440

2- Well MSU is going to get a new coach and as of today we have no idea who it might be.

3- Gooooooo Chargers! What a great win. Any win over the Broncos is big and beating them at in Denver is bigger, but beating them in Denver after trailing by 17 points is H-U-G-E!

4- I just dusted off the Christmas tree box and put it up today. That way when everyone is home for Thanksgiving they can have the fun of decorating it. Now to bring the stuff down from the attic...ugh.

5- My Alphasmart word processor is up and running. This low tech machine is really cool. At less than 2 pounds it runs on two AA batteries. It easily uploads to my computer (any word processor program- MS Word, Word Perfect, Notepad). It is so easy to carry around that it is almost a no brainer. This is making it super easy- no excuses for not only NanoWriMo, but taking it almost anywhere to write. IDEA: I'm thinknig of putting together an e-book (PDF style) on neck and back health for dentists.

Bonus- Lions are #1. It looks my Detroit Lions are making a very strong push to win the #1 draft choice this year... by losing to the hapless, spineless and clueless Arizona Cardinals.

NaNoWriMo is at 30,212 words (60% complete)

enuf said...it was a good day.

29,393... oh baby baby!

Cruising along now. I'm in the fast lane with a few additional plot lines and a head of steam pushing me along. I watched the U-M loss to OSU. Those two big boys are #1 and #2 in the country. Don't let the talking heads on ESPN tell you any different.


RIP Bo Schembechler. You and Woody created that great rivalry. It was a hell of a ten year war.


Enough for now- back to work, back to work, work-work, work-work....

A Big Fat Zero

Too much busy work yesterday yielded zero NaNo words... zero! This is about the time last year when I started slippimg. Help!

I'll need to get to 30,000 today from my present count of 26,673 the new math says that is 3,327 for today''s effort.

Five things...

I'll comment on before I start writing on my novel today.

1- U-M coach Bo Schembechler died- he was 77. No one will ever confuse me with a Michigan fan. In fact I hate the Wolverines and only in the direst of circumstances will rout for them. That said, Bo was a man among men. Honest, hard working and loyal. THose words describe him and are the highest praise a man can earn.

2- I finally got all the Halloween stuff up into the attic. Watch out if you go up there- the skeletons didn't go into boxes they got hung up.

3- Prez Bush is in Vietnam. Amazingnthat our president is now sitting in a conference in our one-time enemies capital. Thank President Clniton for breaking down that barrier.

4- Anyone out there who has a good joke please leave it as a comment. I need some new material.

5- Gotta love these weekends football matchups. My picks:

1- Michigan rides an emotional wave to upset Ohio State.

2- San Diego beats Denver by two touchdowns.

3- Arizona gets beat by the Lions.

4- Penn St. pounds Mich St. to send JLS away as the loser he proved to be.

5- Cal upsets USC.

6- UCLA gets beat by Arizona State

NaNoing at 26,673 words...

... and still more plot to go! I went into this year's novel with more plot line and it has paid off. I'm over halfway done and I'm still going strong. A big thanks to my writing buddies that are pulling me along.

So far the write in was very helpful and I expect to attend another this coming Sunday!

NaNo (24,050 @ 7:57 p.m.)

Cruising down the road to 50,000 words.

Top Five Highlights for today:

1- hitting 25,000 words (sometime tonight)
2- Our daughter Erin saying she "aced" all three of her mid-term exams @ UCLA.
3- Getting the last of the Halloween stuff boxed and up the stairs.
4- Buying a 20# honeysuckle turkey (for $0.39/pound) for Thanksgiving.
5- Finding a fresh and fruity Beaujolais wine for Thanksgiving dinner.

------ Bonus: In my Yin Yang 3 Football League (Action PC Football) the 1973 USC Trojans (8-1) will play the 1974 MSU Spartans (9-0) in the championship game for the Poway Cup.

Two thumbs down for:

1- O.J. Simpson's new book.... what a #$%^@& scumbag! That's all the effort I'll waste on that worthless hunk of protoplasm.
2- Not joining the Kyoto Protocol... again. C'mon guys it's the air we breathe...!
3- Trevor Hoffman not winning the Cy Young Award. The guy deserved it not a 16 game winner for a 4th place, 12 games behindf the winners pitcher.

Early Tuesday (Nano 21,715- and ahead of pace)

It's getting cold here in San Diego. The mornings have been crisp- but turn into beautiful 7o degree afternoons. Eat your heart of you frozen east coasters!

Top ten things for me to do today:

1- Get to 23,334 words today for NaNoWriMo (2h)
2- Check out the price of turkeys (5 min)
3- Call SWA and check on UMs for mini-me. (10 m)
4- Get a haircut (1 h)
5- Go on a hike after dropping the kids off at school (1h)
6- get the last of the halloweenie stuff into the attic. (1h)
7- pull down the christmas tree (10 m)
8- get the yard cut and trimmed (2 h)
9- drink a glass of red wine (30 m)
10- take a nap (45 m)

Sounds like a busy day.... that means No More Internet!

Sunny Sunday (NaNo @ 19,717)

Just a quick photo from K.B.F. in Bueno Park, CA. As an aside my novel is at 19,717 words. and needs to be at 25,000 in three days... oiy. I will make it.... bahhhhaaaaa.

Top scores from college. Ohio St wins, U-Mich wins, Spartans pounded (again), UCLAS triumphs, Navy on top, Irish and USC both win.

After almost a month of being out of the Navy I can say... I love it !

I walked on the golf course today and loved it. What a great morning.

Well, I've managed to waste some more time and kept myself from Na-No-ing. No more procrastination.... off to the novel!

So long for now.

Went to Knott's NaNo Slips

Mini-Me and Me enjoyed going to Knott's Berry Farm and riding the X-celerator and the Ghostrider. Went with two of Mini's pals and had a great time. Powered by cheese chili fries and coca-cola, we conquered all the rides (except the drop and curse) and left happy and tired at 10:30 p.m. They rode the Silver Bullett three times!

On a downer note I fell behind for the first time in my nanowrimo novel: Hidden Gold. To stay on pace for Friday the goal was 16,667 but my total stands at 15,273. Go, Go, Go! (or should it be write, write, write?) Don't worry- in the words of Dickens... I gonna catch up!

Sitting on Top (NaNo... 11,912)

My Five things:

1. I'm at the top of the Heap in my Fantasy Football League. Here's the standings:

Monkeybutlers..............7-2
Miller75..........................6-3
Jax Wasted Life............5-4
Horray Beer..................5-4
Yoghurt Slingers...........5-4
IrishFan.........................4-5
Go Team........................4-5
Smokin'..........................4-5
I Will Win......................3-6
Big D...............................2-7

My team players are:

QB Huard, KC
QB Kitna, Det
QB Hasselback, Sea
WR Holt, StL
WR Bruce, StL
WR Furrey, Det
WR Horn, NO
WR Gabriel NE
RB R.Johnson, Cin
RB McGahee, Buf
RB K.Jones, Det
RB Parker, Pit
TE Gonzalez, KC

K Carney, NO

Def San Diego


2. These elections were crazy. I got called twice from Arnold (he said he'd be back) and once from Clint Eastwood (it made my day). Of course they were recordings. I voted at lunch and ran into a neighbor who was working the polls. He grew a goatee and it came in gray. Ouch!

3. NaNoWriMo. Good progress. 11,912 words and beginning chapter 13.

4. Also I joined a Walking Web site called America on the move. You can sign up for walk across america. Just keep track of your miles (or your steps) with a pedometer and it will give you a daily track of where you are on the map. Currently I am crossing the Klondike. Here's the site if you are interested:

http://aom.americaonthemove.org

5. I had a very fun day at the office.

That's it for now.

Word Count Breaks 10K (10,333)

I'm picking up steam and roaring into the second week. Election Day is tomorrow and I have to work. That will put my writing to the test. Wish me luck.

NaNo-ing (9,180 words)

That's right I'm nearly 20% completed. Click here to check my progress:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/simpleinfo.php?uid=84440

Newsflash.... My Top Five

1. Saddam Huessein is found guilty and will hang
2. Chargers win 32-25 over ther Browns
3. Lions beat Falcons 30-14
4. Election Day is Tuesday November 7th.
5. We're going to Knott's Berry Farm on Friday November 10th.

Happy NaNo to you ! (I am at 8173 words)

Well it is day five of National Novel Writer's Month. No this is not some kind of gimmick by the greeting card people like grandparents day or bosses day. For novelists or want-to-be novelists, it is the month (30 days to exact) to write a 50,000 word novel. Is it a contest? Well, yes and no. Yes because you are competing to get to the 50,000 word finish line and also no- because you are only competing with yourself.

How am I doing well click this link to see my profile and updated word count:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/simpleinfo.php?uid=84440

Take care and happy writing!

Matt

Halloween Photos

1- Who's that scarey guy... Don't
say his name three times! 2. Watch out the guy with
the crazy smile spilled
laughing gas.

3. BMO came popping out of a

garden storage in with chain

saw roaring.
4. It's showtime!
5. Gary is giving me a "hand".

Happy Halloween and Happy National Novel Writing Month!

Here's the top ten:
1- My first day of military retirement.

2- We had a great halloween at our place. Pix will be coming. Seems today isn't a good day to upload them to the blogger. (I've tried twice and failed)

3- Tigers made it to the World Series- (but lost).

4- I am dropping off my old uniforms at the "Thift Shop".

5- It's National Novel Writer's Month. I'll make my 2nd attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 day. I went to the Kick off Potluck at Scripps Ranch Library and met some wonderful writers and had a great time. I'm looking forward to this year with excitement and enthusiasm. Wish me luck with NaNoWriMo.

6- Sometihng new Cerac 3-D. Probably the coolest invention in dentistry. CAD-CAM technology to produce all porcelain crowns without a lab. And we'll be trying it out.

7. November 7th is election day.

8. My new set of business cards arrived.

9. I'm using David Allen's "Getting Things Done" philosophy with my Palm Pilot and finding it very useful. Where was this idea ten years ago when I needed it most?

10. It's just friggin' great to be alive.