NaNoWriMo 2014, Day 30

Well, I did it! I won NaNoWriMo!!! *blows horns, throws confetti*  My final word count for the month is 51125!!  I'm so excited. This win means more to me than any of my other wins, because it was the hardest. It was so hard to write while moving, caring for a toddler and hosting thanksgiving. I have to give a lot of credit to my husband. He stepped up and helped out a lot this month. Without his help, I would never have been able to make it to any write ins, where I did the bulk of my writing. I haven't reached the coveted "The End" of my novel yet, but I'm really close. I hope to get there this week. I'll remember to blog about that when I get there. Here is the last excerpt for NaNo.  But stay tuned, I'm planning to edit and publish this bad boy, so I'll be here, posting more about that when I get there!

She sat and watched Mickey walk back to the open fire he was stoking with the metal poker. He shoved the metal poker into the fire and waited for a second. She looked over to the table where he had traded teh baseball bat for the poker. The bat was still lying there. Keeping her eyes on his back the whole time, she tip toed over to where the bat lay. She picked it up as quietly as she could and continued on her journey to where Mickey still had his back to her.

She tiptoed over to behind him, as she got closer she glanced over at Patrick who had lifted his head and was staring at her. He was shaking his head at her. He was mouthing the word ‘no’ at her, his eyes wide with fear. She ignored him and turned back to Mickey Fitzgerald’s turned back. It was the only way for them to get out of there. She ahd to try. She had to do it for their safety. She brought the bat back and swung it with everything she had. The bat made contact with his back and he stumbled and fell to the ground with a curse. Evelyn turned around and ran to where Patrick was hanging, knowing she didn’t have much time. She dragged a chair over to him, climbing on it, she began to undo the ropes holding him to the rafters.

NaNoWriMo 2014, Day 22

Went to a write in from 10-3 today. Ended up writing 8415 words! Not as much as I would have liked, but still, that was a lot!  Brought my word count total to 39275! I'm finally ahead on word count! Now to stay that way! I would love to see a win before Thanksgiving.  Before Wednesday, ideally since my sister comes into town then.  Since I wrote so much, I'm giving TWO excerpts today, and you can tell the difference between scenes, because I made them different colors!

“Bloody hell, this is the stupidest hting I have ever seen,” James exclaimed.

“It is not,” Evelyn said. “It’s awesome.”

“But, everything that’s happening isn’t even possible. This would never happen in real life.”

“That’s because it’s not real life,” Evelyn answered.

“But why aren’t they questioning everything that’s going on? I mean it’s a little suspicious that they just walk down into a basement and there’s all these weird trinkets lying around.”

“James, shut up. You would think that you’ve never watched a movie before in your life,” Patrick said.

James huffed. “Of course I’ve seen a bloody movie before, but I just can’t stand these movies that are full of bloody idiots. I mean, why can’t horror movies have some intelligent people for once? The characters never use their brains, at all. And these people don’t even understand that they’re walking into a trap.”

“You understand that this movie is a parody right? That the filmmakers are making fun of the horror genre?” Evelyn said from her place on the couch where she was leaning against Patrick.

“I don’t fucking care. If you’re going to parody something, at least add an element that they’re all missing. And every movie in the genre is missing the smart person.”

“Just shut your yap and watch the movie,” Patrick said, turning his attention back to the film on the television.

James narrowed his eyes and also turned his attention back to the film.

Evelyn shook her head. “What’s to stop The Fitzgeralds from killing all of you the second you step into their, whatever you call their location, their hideout?”

“Their lair,” James said. “I like to think that they have an evil lair where they do all of their evil planning.”

Patrick and Evelyn looked at him, and shook their heads slightly.

“What?” James said. “Mickey Fitzgerald is like an evil super villain. He has to have a lair. I’m sticking with lair and ignoring your judgemental looks.”

NaNoWriMo 2014, Day 19

I'm almost caught up!! Wrote 3405 words today bringing my total to 30436, only about 1k behind! Which means that tomorrow I'll be completely caught up!!  I have a huge write in on Saturday. I'm really hoping to be close to winning by then. Let's see if I can write about 10k between now and then, and then I definitely think I'll get close to winning while at the write in!  Here's the excerpt:

Evelyn groaned, hiding her face in his chest as her cheeks flamed, “Oh my god, kill me now,” she whined.

Patrick laughed. “It’s okay, love. I’m sure he won’t say anything too embarrassing.”

“That’s it, I’m never leaving this room. You guys are on your own. Come and get me when it’s time for my plane to leave in three weeks.”

“What?” Patrick said, sobering up. “You’ve booked a plane?”

Evelyn moved back and looked at him. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I told you sometime in that week you were refusing to talk. My program rescheduled me for the middle of July. I fly to Athens from here in just about three weeks.”

“Oh,” Patrick said.

“Hey,” Evelyn said. “You knew that I would have to leave eventually.”

“Yeah, I know,” Patrick said, flatly. “I’ve just never really thought about you actually leaving.”

“Well, I don’t leave for almost a month, Patrick. Let’s make the most of the time we do have together. As…companions.”

“Yes, companions,” Patrick said, absentmindedly.

“For the record, I’m starting to wish I didn’t have to go,” she said quietly.

Patrick wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him until her head was in the crook of his neck. “I wish you didn’t have to leave, too.”

NaNoWriMo 2014, Day 18

Well, I fell way behind again, but I went from being 8k behind to 3k behind today alone. I found my timer, and I've started running my own sprints. Surprising how well the timer helps me write! I wrote 4138 words today, bringing me to 27031. If I have another day like today, I'll be almost caught up tomorrow. If I do it again the next day, I'll be caught up. I just need to keep up the pace. And I'm totally motivated to. I'm going to win this year, and I'm going to do it gloriously!  Here is an excerpt. Warning, it may be a little spoilery, which is hard to avoid at this point, since I've been really advancing the plot.

James walked out of the room and returned to his computer. Patrick watched him walk away before sliding to the ground, pressing his fists to his eyes. First his mother, then Harry, and now Evelyn. Was he destined to lose everyone he cared about to Mickey Fitzgerald? He could feel his chest tightening. It was becoming harder to breathe. Gasping for breath, Patrick looked around the room, his eyes landing on his lamp. He stood up, stalking to the lamp on the side table by his bed. He picked it up, ripping the cord from the wall, and threw it against the wall. It made a very satisfying crash into the wall. He felt slightly better, so he looked around again for something to throw, picking up the nearest object and throwing it against the wall. And another, and another, and another, until he curled up in a ball on the floor and wept for the first time since his mother’s funeral.

NaNoWriMo 2014, Day 15

Halfway through the month, and I'm still a little behind, but thank goodness for my awesome writing group, I wrote 6077 words today!! I'm now at 22678.  Only about 2400 behind. If I have a good day tomorrow, I can start getting caught up. I just need to focus on writing, and not on other things, like unpacking. Unpacking is for losers. LOL Here is an excerpt that I can share from what I wrote, it's getting hard, because I don't want to share anything too spoilery:

Evelyn eyed the small spot on the bed next to him. They would have to be awfully close together in order to sit both fit there. They had spent a lot of time in close quarters lately, and Evelyn really wanted to sit down and analyze how she felt about that, but she didn’t have time. She decided for once to just enjoy what was going on. If a hot guy wanted to flirt with her, then she was just going to go along with it. She could over analyze every little thing after her life was no longer in danger.

She walked over and sat down on his right side, as she situated herself, she realized that they were indeed really close together. Their legs were touching, and then to make matters even more intimate, Patrick moved his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to him.

“Do you mind?” he asked quietly, whispering in her ear. “I’ve been finding your presence very comforting lately, and I’ve come to enjoy having you close like this.”

Evelyn shook her head and whispered back, “I don’t mind.”

“Oy,” James called out. “Best mate still in the room, please don’t forget that.”

NaNoWriMo 2014, Day 12

First day writing by the seat of my pants, and I'm doing pretty good so far! I managed to write 1371 words in my limited time, and those were hard to write, but I know where I want to go with the next little bit, so the words should come out easier. I'm at a total of 16275 words. Which is still behind, but I'm not worried, I have Ames on Saturday to catch up!  Here's my excerpt. It's the only part I could use that wouldn't spoil what I've been working on!

Through the door Evelyn found herself in a waiting room. There were non descript chairs lining the walls, a counter, and several potted plants. She looked around, and she couldn’t see James, the woman or Patrick anywhere. She looked toward the doorway to the right, and surmised that they probably went that way, but the hallway was dark, and she really didn’t want to go exploring. She had enough adventure for the night. James would come out and find her and explain what was going on. Wouldn’t he?

NaNoWriMo 2014, Day 11

Wow, today I had a lot of inspiration, and I can feel my writing juices flowing again. Didn't have much time to write, but I did write 1531 words today, bringing my total to 14904. I'm only about 3400 words behind, which isn't that bad. That's easy to catch up on, especially with an all day write in coming up this weekend. Today's writing brought me to the end of my detailed chapter by chapter outline! I have a general outline of where I plan on taking the plot, but I no longer have specifics, so I'm now letting the characters speak to me. I don't have a lot of my 1500 words that I can share, because, spoilers, but here is what I can share:

The man stopped in front of them.

“Patrick, my dear boy,” he said, with a smile. “It has been too long.”

Patrick returned his smile. “Harry, it’s good to see you.”

The two men closed the gap between them, and embraced.

“I wish we could have gotten together under better circumstances,” Harry said, as they pulled apart.

“Yes, but I do thank you for taking the time to meet with us. I had no idea who else to call.”

“Nonsense. You know I would do anything for you, my boy,” Harry said. He turned toward Evelyn and James, and smiled. “James, it’s good to see you, as well.” He extended his hand, which James accepted. “And you, my dear, I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure.”

Before Evelyn could respond, Patrick spoke up, “This is my client, and she wishes to stay anonymous, if you don’t mind.”

Harry’s hand dropped back to his side. “I don’t mind at all. It’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Miss.”

Evelyn opened her mouth to speak, but was, again, interrupted by Patrick.

“She’s happy to meet you, too,” he said. “We didn’t think you were going to make it. We were just about to leave.”

NaNoWriMo 2014, Day 10

We moved into our new house over the weekend, and my word count suffered for it. :( I went from being super ahead, to being super behind. In the last THREE days, I have written 1274 words, bringing my total to 13373. I'm going to work really hard this week to keep breaking 1300 words, and then Saturday I'm writing all day in Ames, so hopefully I'll catch up, and get ahead!  Here's an excerpt of what i wrote in the last 3 days:

Patrick looked at the sleeping girl on his shoulder, and then looked up at James, who just shrugged.

“I told you, she was tired,” James said.

Patrick sighed, and looked down at her again. He almost shook her awake, but decided he wouldn’t be that cruel. She was only here because he had insisted she needed to be here. If he hadn’t, she would be back at the flat, sleeping soundly in his bed. He shifted his arm, trying not to wake her, until it was around her shoulders, he scooted his body a couple inches to the left until their sides were touching. He pulled her toward him until her head rested in the crook of his neck, and she relaxed again. He looked up to see James looking at him, eyebrows raised.

NaNoWriMo 2014, Day 7

Managed to write 1644 words today even though we spent it prepping our furniture to get moved tomorrow. This brought my word count to 12099  words. Only slightly ahead, but I'm not worried. We move into our new house tomorrow, so I'm not sure I'll get many words written, but I'm going to try. Here's tonight's excerpt:

“So I’m just supposed to be in the dark about everything? Then why am I even coming tonight? Wouldn’t that defeat your purpose of keeping me in the dark?”

“A little, but I can’t risk leaving you alone in the flat. What if the building is being watched? If you’re with us, we at least have a chance to prevent anyone from taking you. Leaving you behind would just leave you vulnerable,” Patrick explained.

“I’m not some damsel in distress, you know,” Evelyn shouted. “I can take care of myself.”

“No, you can’t,” Patrick said. “Not against these people. Trust me, I would feel much better if you were to never leave my sight.”

Evelyn growled in frustration. “And here we are, back at being an ass. That didn’t take long.”

“If caring about whether or not you live or die makes me an arse, then I’m the biggest arse in Great Britain, and proud of it.”

“You’re infuriating,” Evelyn shouted.

“You’re impossible,” Patrick shouted back.

“Oh my god, just fuck already!” James shouted.

That shut the two bickering adults up, as they turned in shock at what James had said. 

NaNoWriMo 2014, Day 6

Took today off of writing. Kinda tired and not really feeling very motivated. Going to try and get some words out of me tomorrow. Since I didn't write anything today, no excerpt. :)

NaNoWriMo 2014, Day 5

A slow writing day today. I really need to stop wasting nap time with internet surfing and write. I'm not worried about meeting my word goals, I'm planning on spending a whole day at a write in on the 15th, and I know I can probably easily crank out 10k, which will really make up for days like today where I eek out 614 words. But that brings my total up to 10455, which still puts me ahead on word count, so that's good. I probably would have kept going, but the second half of the chapter I'm working on is very heavy on plot development, and I want to me more awake to do that.  Here is a small snippet of the small snippet I wrote today.

“Great. So, what do we need to do to prepare for tonight?”

Patrick visibly relaxed when James changed the subject. “We need to get Evelyn something appropriate to wear, first I think,” he said, gesturing toward the girl who had been previously ignored during their spat.

James looked over at Evelyn, giving her body a once over. “I don’t see anything wrong with what she is wearing right now.”

Evelyn stood up from the couch, placing her hands on her hips. “Well, I’m voting with Patrick that I need new clothes, so it looks like you’re outvoted.”

“You would think a bloke would get a little more thanks for going out of his way and finding you a perfectly good wardrobe for your stay in London, but I guess being a gentleman is a thankless job these days,” James said, dramatically.

“These clothes are two sizes too small.”

“Her clothes are obscenely tight.”

Patrick and Evelyn spoke over one another.

James held his hands up in defeat. “Alright, alright, I can get the hint. We’ll go out and get you some new clothes. Maybe on the way back take Evie to get some fish and chips at the place you love. And then come back here and talk strategy. How does that sound?”

NaNoWriMo 2014, Day 4

Well, we bought a house today, and I still managed to crank out 1641 words for the day, bringing me to 9841 words total. I wanted to hit 10k tonight, but I'm just too tired. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to write during nap time, and bedtime, and crank out even more words and get way ahead.  Here's tonight's excerpt:

Harry got really quiet, for a really long time. Patrick almost thought that he had lost the call before he spoke up again. “What about The Fitzgeralds?”

“I can’t tell you, right now, I will tell you when we meet in person,” Patrick said. “But I will tell you, that this could change everything.”

“Uh, huh. Well, Patrick, my boy, I will meet with you and try and help you as much as I can. How about we meet later tonight. Say, around eleven? And we meet somewhere public, that way we know that the walls won’t have ears.”

“Um, okay,” Patrick said, confused. “Where is it that you want to meet?”

“How about **insert public place in London here**?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Patrick agreed. “We’ll meet you there around eleven.”

“We?” Harry asked. “Who else is coming with you? I was under the impression that it would be just the two of us.”

“Nah, I have some people who need to be there,” Patrick replied.

“Who?” Harry asked, his voice sounding a little harsher, but Patrick just shrugged it off.

“James **He needs a last name**, you remember him when we were all MPs, yeah? He’s my partner. And my client, Ev—” he broke off when James began slashing his hand next to his throat. “And my client will even be there.”

“Okay, well, I guess those people are okay to be around. I’ll see you at **still need a place** at eleven.”

NaNoWriMo 2014, Day 3

Feeling a bit sluggish with the writing today, so I only wrote 683 words, bringing my total to 8200. Still ahead of the game. Going to try and kick butt again tomorrow!  Here's a tiny excerpt:

He waited until she was zipping her bag back up and depositing it on the ground before throwing the shirts back at her, nailing her right in the head.

Evelyn sprung back up and began glaring daggars at him. He had to admire the way her nose scrunched up so nicely when she narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips in frustration. He just wanted to lean over and—

“So,” he said, a little louder than he intended. “If you’re done in here, we should go out and find James. I just thought of a solution that will get us on the path to getting you wherever it is you want to go. Whether it’s on to Greece or just on your way back to the States.”

NaNoWriMo 2014, Day 2

Day 2 saw me getting together with my fellow members of the Central Iowa Author's group, and let me tell you, there's nothing like writing with other people in order to get your creative juices flowing. Coming into NaNo I had a very clear idea of where my novel was going, and I had detailed outlines of the next several chapters. Today my characters took over, and we have deviated from that detailed outline. They decided that they didn't want to be rushed, so we're slowly making our way to my first major twist, and it's a lot of fun. I've been working with these characters since my first NaNo in 2010, and I've come to REALLY know them over the last 3 years as I've researched and outlined and planned out this novel. I'm really excited, and I feel like these characters are my friends, and I just love it when they start to come to life on my page and just seem to start writing their own action.

Today was VERY productive. I wrote 3186 words at the write in and then came home and wrote another 924 words tonight, bringing my daily total to 4000 words, which puts me at 7517 words total for NaNo so far!! I'm off to a great start! Here's an excerpt from what I wrote today:

Silverware scraped against plate and soft music filled in the background of the **Insert name of Cafe in Lambeth**. Patrick looked on as Evelyn sipped her cup of coffee and as they awaited the arrival of their food. She kept looking up at him over the rim of her comically large coffee mug and narrowing her eyes at him. He hid his smile behind his own coffee mug. It wouldn’t do to have her see his amusement at her suspicion.

She hadn’t said one word to him since their confrontation in the middle of the sidewalk. She just quietly followed him to the cafe, and then only spoke to give the waitress her order, before falling silent again and observing him. She didn’t trust him. And he didn’t blame her. What the fuck was he thinking saying all of those things to James this morning? He didn’t really mean them. Did he? He paused when he realized that, yes, maybe he meant those things just a little bit. And that realization scared the shit out of him.

What had happened to him in the last year? When did he become this utter bastard that Evelyn met yesterday? There was a time when he would have seen a girl like Evelyn and turned on the charm, began flirting with her. Gaining her trust, and getting her to think that her actions were her own idea rather than his. If you had asked him a year ago if he would call a girl he had just met a slag and tell his best mate that he didn’t care if she ended up collateral damage, and he would laugh in your face and tell you to fuck off.

NaNoWriMo 2014 Day 1

Another November, another NaNo!  Keeping this short and sweet, since it's way past my bedtime. Hit 3517 words on Day 1. That's pretty good for me! I wrote for 3 hours today! Going to head to a write in for a couple hours tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to increase my word count exponentially there. My CIA crew are usually really good at getting my word count to record heights!  Here is a small excerpt from what I wrote today.

“We’re going to protect her, right? That’s our job, that’s why Peter sent her here rather than keep her at his fortress where the fucking head was sent. Right?”

“Well, we need a way to lure the Fitzgeralds out into the open and become vulnerable so we can get our loyal MP to arrest them, yeah? And they want the bag and the girl, yeah? So…”

“We’re not using that girl as bait, Patrick! Jesus Christ. What’s going on with you? I know this case is personal, but my best mate would never suggest using an innocent girl to lure out crazed criminals into the open.”

“Oi! There is nothing wrong with me. This is the best chance we have to lure these murdering fucks out into the open!” Patrick shouted.

“Yes, there is something deeply wrong with you. Look, I’m upset about what happened to your mum, too, but that doesn’t mean we need to sacrifice an innocent woman to get your vengeance! Think about what you’re saying, mate!” James implored.

“I don’t fucking care what we have to sacrifice along the way, just as long as at the end of the day, Mickey Fitzgerald is sitting behind bars, paying for all of the crimes he has committed. She is nothing to me. Who cares if she’s collateral damage?” Patrick shouted, gesturing at his bedroom door.

James opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the slamming of a door. The two men whipped around to see Evelyn, disheveled from sleep standing in the room, tears in her eyes.

“Collateral damage?” she managed to whisper through her tears.

“Evelyn, I—” Patrick said, guilt starting to eat away at him.

She shook her head. “Don’t. I heard everything. These walls aren’t exactly soundproof, just so you know.” She closed her eyes and tried to will away the tears, but was quickly failing. “I need some air,” she gasped out, swinging open the door and running out into the hallway, leaving two shocked men behind staring after her.