Thursday, October 31, 2013

NaNoWriMo - National November Writing Month

I'd originally planned to work on book two of my MIGHTY MIKE series in November, just not officially participate in NaNoWriMo. But the excitement has gotten the best of me. Heck, NaNo is how MIGHTY MIKE AND THE INTERSTELLAR CANDY DISPENSER got its start 2 years ago. I didn't "win" because of life and all, but I wrote 20k and then finished up this past February when a critique buddy challenged me to get it done.

I've been editing since March and now its time to start writing again. So, heck yeah, I've signed up, I'm going to post my word count, attempt to post on this blog a little more often, all while enjoying gorgeous fall weather and training two client horses. Sure, there's time to write in there!

Anyone else have NaNo or any writing challenge planned?

Friday, October 11, 2013

What has technology done to my brain?

Over this past week, I've had the opportunity to spend a couple days driving. One was a ten hour trip to pick up my mom (who lives with us) from visiting my sister. The other was transporting a mule from near my home to a ranch near Aspen, CO. The second trip was a nail-biter as my rig is 38 feet long and the limit over Independence Pass is 35 feet. But it was a much shorter route and with a storm moving in (!!) I didn't figure many other people would be on that narrow, twisty road. Not the point of this story, but it was gorgeous with the bright yellow and orange aspen and a dusting of snow. I returned home the long - smart - way.

Anyhow, on the first trip, I planned to meet my mom and sister at a restaurant in Grand Junction, CO, a city I do not know and has roads twisting and angling all over. Yes, I'm a small town girl.

Another backwards thing about me? I do not own, or want to own, a smart phone. I love my flip phone. The batteries stay charged for a week, I can quickly dial when driving, and carry it when riding my horses on long trail rides alone. Normally, for long trips, hubby is along and he can GPS as needed with his phone. So I wrote my directions from MapQuest out on a pink sticky note and stuck it to the dash.

When I get into town, I glance at the post-it for the first road name and then drive blindly along --- wait for it --- expecting that dang pink piece of paper to tell me when to turn. After a bit of panic, having no idea whether I'd missed my first turn or not, I started laughing. I don't even own a smart phone or a mapping system, but I'd gotten so used to hubby's that I didn't think I needed to pay attention. God help me (and other drivers) if I have to find something in a real city like Denver. Yeah, quit laughing, I know you all live in real, real cities and would NEVER go without a mapping system. I like my pink post-it, it worked. Eventually.