Read a Scene From My New Novel In This Month's Newsletter

 This month's newsletter is out, and with it an excerpt from my newest NaNoWriMo novel, Christmas On Mist Creek! You can find it here:

 https://mailchi.mp/44770eabb377/a-free-read-from-nanowrimo?e=2b1e842057

  (By the way, if you sign up for the newsletter your e-mail address will NOT be sold or given to anyone else.)

I've completed the rough draft, and also won NaNoWriMo by going past the 50,000 word goal and hitting 59,296 words. The novel itself is actually about 56,500 words: The extra is the word count from other writing I did during the month, including writing a blog and the newsletter itself.

How long it will take to edit and polish the work, I don't know. I already saw some spots in the scene I posted that I'd like to change, including an opening that's a bit too stereotypical romance novel. But hey--that's what editing is for.

Remember, every time you sign up for a newsletter, Benjamin Franklin's ghost gets another beer. Ben loved beer--that's why he hung around Sam Adams.

(Also, don't forget: Buy books for Christmas!)

 Find ours:

http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

NaNoWriMo Winner!

 Yes, I've won National Novel Writing Month! 50,000 words of a novel over, in my case, 25 days.

What's my reward? Well, bragging rights. Also, I get a novel out of it, and that's no small thing. 99% of all people who attempt to write a novel agree it's horribly difficult to get it finished. The other 1% are friggin' freaks of nature.

This is the fourth time I finished a novel rough draft in thirty days or fewer, so by now I'm pretty sure I can do it. This one was different in couple of ways, though:

First, it's, it's a sequel to a novel that hasn't been published yet, Fire On Mist Creek. The original one, also a romantic comedy, remains in the hands of a very big publisher of romance novels. Unfortunately, after asking for the full manuscript, the editor has had it so long the odds of them buying it are vanishingly slim.

The other unusual thing is that this story is my first novel set during a holiday, specifically Christmas, which you probably figured from the title. Christmas novels are popular among romance readers; on the other hand, I assume their popularity is limited to a certain time of the year.

 I shot for a 60,000 word manuscript, but it looks like the story will end up at barely 55,000. That's okay for some romance publishers, but by most standards falls short for a novel. That's something I'll worry about later, when I have the whole thing finished.

So, how do I celebrate? By starting the editing process, of course. One mistake NaNoWriMo participants often make is to immediately start shipping their book around to agents and editors. Unless you're a savant, 50,000 words in 30 days leaves you with a rough draft ... very rough. Mine needs editing. I'll make four or five passes at least, before it's ready. That's the job.

I'll probably polish up the first scene and put it in the newsletter, so people will have an idea of what to expect. When will the whole thing come out? Well ... some Christmas yet to come. That, also, is the job.

 

(But don't forget our other books are available as gifts THIS Christmas!)

http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

 

 

Even Losers Can Win With NaNoWriMo

You won't hear much from me in November, although my regular blogs will continue with stuff already written and saved. Why? I've decided to once again compete in National Novel Writing Month, with the intention of losing.

It's a throwback to my high school days in Physical Education class, something I excelled in losing ... in. I did become adept at finding hiding places around the gym. Under the bleachers was always popular with us nerd types.

National Novel Writing Month, shortened to NaNoWriMo to save typing fingers, has its own official website. My account is here: https://nanowrimo.org/participants/mark-r-hunter. Guess I'd better update it. The idea is to write an entire novel--or at least, 50,000 words of it--in one short month, which happens to be November. Why November?

Why not?

It's not the best month, what with American holidays and all. I would have picked January. What else is there to do in January? Go outside? Ha.

A bigger question: Why do it at all?

Some writers start that Great American Novel, but never finish. Maybe they peter out because they don't manage their time well, or get sidetracked. Maybe they're the type who edit so obsessively they never finish that first chapter, page, or, in extreme cases, sentence. They go over it again and again, and in the end ... don't end.

But the first draft is allowed to suck. Nobody else has to see it, ever. NaNoWriMo is designed to be that butt kick that forces writers to forge through and finish their first draft. They don't have time to edit: To make fifty thousand words in thirty days they have to write almost 1,700 words a day! Go to it, get that first draft done, and edit later.

My own writing habit is to sit down and go over what I wrote last time, to get me back into the groove, and I do usually edit then. Just the same, I've won NaNoWriMo three times: With Summer Jobs Are Murder (formerly Red Is For Ick, and don't I regret that), Fire On Mist Creek, and The Source Emerald. Since then all three of those novels have been edited, polished, and are trapped in submission hell.

(No, I don't think my NaNo projects are cursed.)

So, I'll stick to the habits that worked with me in the past. As a result, I'll consider myself lucky to get 40,000 words done, but I know from experience that once I get that far, I'll be able to power though and finish--maybe in January. And honestly, any writer who takes their shot, works hard, and emerges with something to show for it, wins NaNoWriMo no matter how many words they get in..

What's my new book about? It's a holiday-themed romantic comedy: Christmas on Mist Creek.

Yes, that's right: I'm writing a sequel to a book that hasn't even been published yet.



 Find our books at:

http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

 

Sometimes you have to write wherever you can.

 

Remember, every time you pass on a book, a typesetter loses his case. Don’t cause all-caps.