Tag: NaNoWriMo

“Strangers We’ve Become” – The final countdown to publishing in 28 days

A holiday in Berlin

…

Most people think the life of a ‘problem solver’ is simply staying in the best hotels, and virtually going on an expensive all-expenses paid holiday, with a little work on the side.

They’d be wrong.

No first-class hotels, no living in the lap of luxury, just a hard slog, sometimes without result, sometimes ending up in a hospital, or in detention in a country where you really don’t want to be in detention.

And definitely no sightseeing.

So, in his place, we will take in the sights, like:

The Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie, Tiergarten and Hitler’s Bunker

Just to name a few.

Of course, there is the Stasi records office where our main character spends time researching various people.

Then, there are the beer halls, like then Hofbräuhaus München Berlin, and Alexanderplatz, accessible via the U-Bahn, and a station that was partially closed off during the division of Berlin, up until 1990.

But, after a week David is getting restless, and it’s time to go home.  Fortunately, or otherwise, Susan is coming to join him as she has decided it’s time for them to present him to the world at large, and back into her life.

But as always there’s a problem lurking, and maybe even an unexpected visit from …

NANOWRIMO November 2023 – Day 8

“Opposites Attract”

…

Something’s not right.

…

You know how it is when you’re working away, an idea comes to you, but the problem is, it cannot come out of nowhere.

There has to be a previous reference to it so that when the reader gets to that point in the story, they can say, oh, yes, I read about that two chapters back, and that was what it was about…

So, back I go, in my time machine and re-write history.

Just to be clear, I didn’t write myself out of existence, which I often wonder in these shows on TV where you can go back, that they do not alter their own timelines.

Of course, I keep forgetting when we watch these shows we’re supposed to suspend belief for the hour.  If we could do that in reality, how many of us would make the same mistake, or create a whole new timeline?

…

Today’s words:  1,579, for a total of 14,837.

“Strangers We’ve Become” – The final countdown to publishing in 28 days

A holiday in Berlin

…

Most people think the life of a ‘problem solver’ is simply staying in the best hotels, and virtually going on an expensive all-expenses paid holiday, with a little work on the side.

They’d be wrong.

No first-class hotels, no living in the lap of luxury, just a hard slog, sometimes without result, sometimes ending up in a hospital, or in detention in a country where you really don’t want to be in detention.

And definitely no sightseeing.

So, in his place, we will take in the sights, like:

The Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie, Tiergarten and Hitler’s Bunker

Just to name a few.

Of course, there is the Stasi records office where our main character spends time researching various people.

Then, there are the beer halls, like then Hofbräuhaus München Berlin, and Alexanderplatz, accessible via the U-Bahn, and a station that was partially closed off during the division of Berlin, up until 1990.

But, after a week David is getting restless, and it’s time to go home.  Fortunately, or otherwise, Susan is coming to join him as she has decided it’s time for them to present him to the world at large, and back into her life.

But as always there’s a problem lurking, and maybe even an unexpected visit from …

“Strangers We’ve Become” – The final countdown to publishing in 29 days

People change.

It’s a fact of life that over time people change.  Yes, they do keep some of their original characteristics, but a lot of people sometimes wake up, forty years later, and wonder who it is that they are in bed with.

It hasn’t happened to me yet, but the person I married has changed.

We all do.

External influences like workplaces, friends, enemies, attitudes, and even children, all have an influence on who we become.  I personally have no idea where the 18-year-old version of me has gone, not that I remember much of him.

So it goes for our hero, David.  He has an inkling of who Susan is or was, but so much has changed for her.  Her mother is dead, she had been held captive by a madman, drugged and tortured, it would have to affect anyone.

But, then, there are different nuances, so un Susan-like.  Little changes he knows she might not partake in, and it is these that start him wondering, what if…

Firstly, she cuts short a planned reunion away in Italy, time for them to reconnect.  Yes, she is now head of the family business, yes, she is hanging out with new men in her life, and no, it seems he does not fit into her corporate persona.

Then there is the first assassination attempt.

On him.

And so the rollercoaster ride begins…

NANOWRIMO November 2023 – Day 7

“Opposites Attract”

…

Walking in another person’s shoes

…

Going to volunteer at a charity is not the place to be wearing shoes that are more expensive than the daily food budget.  This is the task our boy is given, to take her with him as another volunteer.

Of course, how to break that news to a girl whose old clothes are probably more expensive than his car.

He goes to pick her up and there he discovers just what the work staff think of him.  Not the sort of people they expect at Daddy’s company.  Emily comes to his rescue.

Then there is convincing her he was not going to be able to take her in $5,000 Gucci dresses and Prada shoes.  They were going to Walmart, a different type of shopping spree.

Of course, that’s not without its problems, the staff are members of the school she used to go to and people she tormented and treated badly.  People seem to have long memories.

If only life was simpler.

That hurdle negotiated, more by luck than good fortune, they move to the next.

Our boy takes her home to his place, and when you live in a castle, literally, well…

I’ll say no more.

…

Today’s words:  2,239, for a total of, 13,258.

“Strangers We’ve Become” – The final countdown to publishing in 29 days

People change.

It’s a fact of life that over time people change.  Yes, they do keep some of their original characteristics, but a lot of people sometimes wake up, forty years later, and wonder who it is that they are in bed with.

It hasn’t happened to me yet, but the person I married has changed.

We all do.

External influences like workplaces, friends, enemies, attitudes, and even children, all have an influence on who we become.  I personally have no idea where the 18-year-old version of me has gone, not that I remember much of him.

So it goes for our hero, David.  He has an inkling of who Susan is or was, but so much has changed for her.  Her mother is dead, she had been held captive by a madman, drugged and tortured, it would have to affect anyone.

But, then, there are different nuances, so un Susan-like.  Little changes he knows she might not partake in, and it is these that start him wondering, what if…

Firstly, she cuts short a planned reunion away in Italy, time for them to reconnect.  Yes, she is now head of the family business, yes, she is hanging out with new men in her life, and no, it seems he does not fit into her corporate persona.

Then there is the first assassination attempt.

On him.

And so the rollercoaster ride begins…

NANOWRIMO November 2023 – Day 6

“Opposites Attract”

…

A night meeting

…

Who can sleep when you’re stressing over whether the girl of your dreams is or isn’t the girl of your dreams?  Yes, it can be that confusing.

It’s obvious the father doesn’t think it’s over, yet.

And when he gets the call, in the dead of night, it’s a ridiculous question to ask him if he’s still awake, especially when he answers the phone.

Yes, the heart does flutter at the sound of her voice.

And a meeting, in the middle of the night. At the diner.  A diner that was once a den of iniquity and now just an empty reminder of what the city was before it was bypassed with the new interstate.

Looking for the chauffeur he figures she hasn’t arrived.  He doesn’t believe she drove herself.

Does that come under the category, you learn new things every day?

He finds her already there, nursing coffee, and looking like an unmade bed.  In other words, she is definitely the most beautiful girl he has ever met.

And the kiss tells him this thing is far from over.

Perhaps it’s worth it when he tells her she will be coming with him, and learning the ropes.

…

Today’s words:  1,518, for a total of, 11,019.

“Betrayal” – the penultimate final draft – Day 36

I’m sure I’ve been down this road more than once, and with the same novel, but whereas the last edit, which was probably the second or third, finished up in the pile, then forgotten.

I’m doing an active update to all my works in progress, and sending them to the editor, after going through the manuscript once again, with a view to publishing.  Hopefully, before the year is out.

…

There is something bittersweet about writing those fateful last two words on your manuscript, ‘The End’.

That’s because it’s not.  Oh, no.  It’s just the beginning.

However daunting the next phase of the writing process is, it’s a huge sigh of relief to finally finish the NaNoWriMo project for this year.

The ending only changed a dozen times, the most recent version yesterday, when finally in possession of all the facts, we make discoveries that we really wished we hadn’t.

Certainly, the story lives up to the tentative book title ‘Betrayed’ though I’m not sure if I might use ‘Betrayal’ instead.  But a decision on that is a long way off.

Now it’s time to finish editing the manuscript, at the moment running to over 80,000 words, and stop tinkering. The line has been drawn in the sand.

Having parked two or three other projects so I could concentrate on this, now I can go back and continue with my episodic stories, and, at last, find myself able to progress at least one.

But, let me say this, it’s a hell of a way to write a novel in a short space of time.

Now it’s off to the editor for the last round of changes, if any, and hopefully, it can be published this year.

Hopefully.

NANOWRIMO November 2023 – Day 5

“Opposites Attract”

…

A rather odd request

…

How many people have been in limbo, wondering whether the last conversation was actually the last conversation?

Relationships that are in the early stages are always on a knife edge.

The boy knows that it’s possible this relationship has a use-by date, that while the father seems to think his daughter is benefitting from them being together, it might just be possible to spend some time with the girl of his dreams.

What will happen when reality sets in?

It seems the father of the girl is impressed with the boy and asks to meet him, but once again the PA is sent to fetch him.  Since it is her father our boy makes an exception.

Wondering what he wants…

It seems she wants to start a proper charity foundation and run it.  Of course, being so young she cannot start at the top, so she has to learn the ropes, so to speak. And he knows the boy does charity work.

We all know what that means, taking the once spoilt brat to a place where people would judge her for what she was, not entirely because she’s from a rich family, but more because of the fact she was, and maybe still is a brat?

A challenge?  Indeed.

…

Today’s words:  1,288, for a total of, 9,501.

“Betrayal” – the penultimate final draft – Day 36

I’m sure I’ve been down this road more than once, and with the same novel, but whereas the last edit, which was probably the second or third, finished up in the pile, then forgotten.

I’m doing an active update to all my works in progress, and sending them to the editor, after going through the manuscript once again, with a view to publishing.  Hopefully, before the year is out.

…

There is something bittersweet about writing those fateful last two words on your manuscript, ‘The End’.

That’s because it’s not.  Oh, no.  It’s just the beginning.

However daunting the next phase of the writing process is, it’s a huge sigh of relief to finally finish the NaNoWriMo project for this year.

The ending only changed a dozen times, the most recent version yesterday, when finally in possession of all the facts, we make discoveries that we really wished we hadn’t.

Certainly, the story lives up to the tentative book title ‘Betrayed’ though I’m not sure if I might use ‘Betrayal’ instead.  But a decision on that is a long way off.

Now it’s time to finish editing the manuscript, at the moment running to over 80,000 words, and stop tinkering. The line has been drawn in the sand.

Having parked two or three other projects so I could concentrate on this, now I can go back and continue with my episodic stories, and, at last, find myself able to progress at least one.

But, let me say this, it’s a hell of a way to write a novel in a short space of time.

Now it’s off to the editor for the last round of changes, if any, and hopefully, it can be published this year.

Hopefully.