Category: Review

NaNoWriMo – Day 20

This is where the true mettle of a writer is found, down there in the trenches, getting it done.

I feel like I’m surrounded on all fronts by the enemy and t’s going to require an extraordinary feat to save the day.

The trouble is I’m nearing exhaustion.

I can feel the tiredness, the strain, but above all else the desire to finish.

Can the mere feat of writing ever take on being heroic?

No. I guess not.

I signed up for the full 30 days. No pulling out now, no matter how much the tie is trying to pull me in another direction.

It’s pen to paper and be damned!

For the statisticians, todays word count is 2,727 words for a running total of 49,220.

It’s agonisingly close, and, hopefully sometime tomorrow I’ll cross that invisible line in the sand.

It’s just a pity the book will not be finished.

NaNoWriMo – Day 19

Nearly two thirds of the way through the month. Id only I was two thirds of the way through this story.

I am a lot further than I thought I would be at this time, but there’s more work to be done.

This morning I started working on a section further along, before I;d finished a part further back, which can be fun, but I had an idea that was worth teasing out, because in the end it solved a minor block I’d reached, and then will lead to another part further on it the book.

Notes made in the various parts of the outline, it is now back to work.

It’s very early in the morning here in the underside of the world, and I’ working on a short piece before I go to bed, and tease the story out in my sleep.

Sometimes I forget what it was sometimes, when I wake up, I have to get pen to paper quickly, before that all important first cup of coffee!

For the statisticians, only 2,490 words today for a running total of 46,493.

NaNoWriMo – Day 18

Today I managed to get through a part of the story, that, not two days before, I wasn’t sure how I was going to do it.

Perhaps, after writing the chapters before had something to do with it, because they were part of a vision that I wasn’t sure of.

A week ago those chapters were simple dot points in an outline.

Today, they represent about 30 pages in the book.

Still, no time to be self congratulatory. There’s far too much to be done, and so little time to get it done.

Todays report is brief.

For the statisticians, todays word count is 3,045, for a total of 44,003.

Searching for locations: Vancouver, Canada

Staying at Hampton Inn and Suites downtown, whatever that means because it looks like we are in the middle of nowhere.

But, judging by the crowd in the breakfast room, it’s a popular hotel.  Of course, it is Sunday morning so this could be the weekend escape people.
Two things I remember about staying in Hampton Inns is firstly the waffles and whipped butter.  It’s been five years but nothing has changed, they are as delicious as ever.  The other, its where I discovered vanilla flavored milk for coffee, and it, too, is addictive.

They also used to have flat burgers that were made out of sausage meat which was delicious, but on the first day, they were not on the menu.
Nevertheless, it was still a very yummy breakfast.

After some research into where we might find this pixmi unicorn, it appears that it is available at a ‘toys are us’ store in one of the suburbs of Vancouver.  So, resuming the quest, we took a taxi to West Broadway, the street the store is located.

A quick search of the store finds where the toys we’re looking for are, after asking one of the sales staff, and we find there are at least a dozen of them.  Apparently, they are not as popular in Canada as the might be in America.  Cheaper too, because the exchange rate for Canadian dollars is much better than for American dollars.  Still, 70 dollars for a stuffed toy is a lot of money.
We also get some slime, stuff that our middle granddaughter seems to like playing with.

After shopping we set off down WestBroadway, the way we had come, looking for a taxi to return us to the hotel.  There’s no question of walking back to the hotel.

A few hours later we walk to the observation tower, which was not very far from the hotel,

a place where we could get a 360-degree view of the city of Vancouver although it was very difficult to see any of the old buildings because they were hidden by the newer buildings, nor could we see the distant mountains because of the haze.

After leaving the tower we walked down Water Street to see the steam clock and the old world charm of a cobbled street and old buildings

We stopped at the Spaghetti Factory Italian restaurant for dinner and is so popular that we have to wait, 10 minutes to start with.  It doesn’t take all that long to order and have the food delivered to the table.  Inside the restaurant, there is an actual cable car but we didn’t get to sit in it.

I have steak, rare, mushrooms, and spaghetti with marinara sauce.  No, marinara doesn’t mean seafood sauce but a very tasty tomato-based sauce.  The steak was absolutely delicious and extremely tender which made it more difficult to cut with a steak knife.

The write up for the marinara sauce is, ‘it tastes so fresh because it is made directly from vine-ripened tomatoes, not from concentrate, packed within 6 hours of harvest.  We combine them with fresh, high-quality ingredients such as caramelised onions, roasted garlic and extra virgin olive oil’.

Oh, and did I mention they have a streetcar right there in the middle of the restaurant

I’m definitely going to try and make this when we get home.

After dinner, we return to the observation tower,  the ticket allowing us to go back more than once, and see the sights at night time.  I can’t say it was all that spectacular.

Another day has gone, we are heading home tomorrow.

NaNoWriMo – Day 17

There is a host of details to be dealt with when a funeral occurs.

I’ve been lucky, usually I just have to turn up, seat in the back stalls, remember the person who has died, express my grief, and then go to the wake where we can remember all the good things about the person, and his or her transgressions are forgotten.

It’s different when it’s one of your family.

But, given the differences between my father and myself, which has resulted in a five year standoff, the first words spoken between us today were hostile. I asked if he needed help, and I was told where to go.

Yes, weddings and funerals bring out the best in us all.

With that, I decided my story needed me more than an ungrateful father, so I put it out of my mind and moved on.

I had a soldier to be injured in a fight, a leader to push the group on, despite setbacks, and the search for a needle in a haystack, literally, on the cards.

Cue horses, actors – action!

And by mid afternoon, I was almost there, but the requisite words for the day were written.

Just as well. My elder brother called, and yes, the negotiations continue. He at least was interested in what I said, and no, I don’t think I was going to be his proxy at the funeral. Not unless someone tells me where it is.

For the statisticians, 2,840 words today for a running total of 40,958.

NaNoWriMo – Day 16

It was a slow start to the day, and when I had planned for an hour of so of writing, that went out the window when I got a call that my mother have been taken to hospital, and was unlikely to survive the morning.

We have been expecting this for about a year, and the time had finally come. I will write more on this later, but suffice to say, I did not get back from the hospital until after 11 am.

Yes, she died at 8:30 in the morning from complications brought on by dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Perhaps it was lucky that I had some excess words from the day before, and these combined with the few I did today, as you can imagine, he heart just wasn’t in it, I managed to get 2,736 words for the day, and a total of 38,118 so far.

I’m not sure how things will go tomorrow.

Searching for locations: Vancouver

It’s always a given that whatever city you stay in unless it’s overnight, you go on a tour and see the sights.

Even when you’re staying a short distance from the city, you make the effort to catch a train or bus, then get on the hop on hop off tour. There’s always one in just about every city you visit.

Vancouver was no exception.

Except…

We arrived in the rain, went to sleep while the rain came down, woke up to the rain, and a heavy dose of jet lag or perhaps it was more that we had spent 24 and a half hours traveling from Brisbane to Vancouver via Shanghai.

But…

We had an excellent view out the window of our room looking towards a shopping mall, and an excellent view of the steadily falling rain. I felt sorry watching the construction workers on the building site that was the main vista we had to look at.

It could have been worse. Endless mountains with snow on them.

What to do? Venture out in the rain and go on the tour, or pop over to the shopping mall and pick up a few boxing day bargains, no, sorry, boxing week bargains.

We have had some interesting experiences going on the hop on hop off tours in open-top busses in winter and rain. And the last time was not a pleasant experience, even though we learned a valuable lesson, not to stand in front of cannons and yell ‘fire’. Apparently, that’s how Admiral Nelson lost his arm.

Again, but…

The shopping mall won.

We’d wait and see if the weather improved. Hang on, isn’t Vancouver near Seattle and doesn’t it rain the 300 days of the year?

Not holding my breath.

I feel sorry for the construction workers again. Still raining, still cold, and still no reason to get out of bed.

Day 2 in Vancouver turned out to be the same as day 1.

Hang on, there’s a development.

We’re on the 16th floor and up at those lofty heights, we can see not only the rain but intermingled with it a few flakes of snow.

Whilst we procrastinate about what were going to do, the snowflakes increase into small flurries.

Yep, we’re off to the mall again and go for a walk in the snow.

On the way back we drop into the Boston Pizza, which has a sports bar and there you can sit, drink, eat, and watch the ice hockey, or whatever sort is going at the time.

Today it’s a junior ice hockey tournament, but Canada was not playing. Just the same, a long cold beer and ice hockey?

I can now cross that off the bucket list.

Day 3, we’re going on a great rail journey, well, we are going to get the train to the city and collect the rental car, on the booking form, supposedly a Jeep Grand Cherokee or similar.

Of course, ‘or similar’ are the words to be feared here because in truth the rental company can throw anything at you, so long as it matches the brief, three people and three large suitcases.

And, you guessed it…

The ‘or similar’ got us a Fort Flex.

Not quite the same in name or prestige.

Oh, well… When in Vancouver!

NaNoWriMo – Day 15

Half way!

I managed to get this far, and I still have energy in the store.

But, ideas are coming along while I’m writing the parts that need to be written, and it’s a constant battle to keep focussed on the writing, and scribble on those pesky post-it notes those ideas I want to keep.

The other problem, finding a pen that writes.

Don’t you find that as a writer, who uses pen and paper as well as a word processor, can never find a pen that writes when you need one.

Frustrating, and time consuming, and sometimes an idea is lost.

Enough of being sidetracked. For the statisticians, 2,271 words for the day, down on my usual totals (blame the dry pens) for a grand total so far of 35,382 words.

Searching for locations: Lake Louise, Canada

The Fairmont at Lake Louise, in Canada, is noted for its ice castle in winter.  This has been created by the ice sculptor, Lee Ross since 2007, using about 150 blocks of ice, each weighing roughly 300 pounds.

When I first saw it, from a distance, looked like it was made out of plastic  It’s not.  Venturing out into the very, very cold, a close inspection showed it was made of ice.
And, it’s not likely to melt in a hurry given the temperature when I went down to look at it was hovering around minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
And that was the warmest part of the day.

NaNoWriMo – Day 14

It’s nearly half way through and I don’t feel as though I’m going to make it.

The writing is fine, it’s just three chapters a day seems a lot, and the latest project of the total word count, if I continue in the current manner, will be about 90,000 words.

I might have to start editing at the same time I’m writing, to keep it down to a manageable total.

Another new idea came to me, but this time it was before I was writing the piece, rather than later and have to go back.

Still, there’s time if I don’t begin to panic.

Or get writers’ block.

For the statisticians, todays word count is 2,801, for a grand total of 33,111 words so far.