NaNoWriMo? Pftttttbbbbbbbbbb! The weather turned dark and stormy (as it is wont to do in Seattle in the winter), and I came down with a bad case of the knitting bug. As I rock the baby to sleep, I browse cute baby patterns on Ravelry. As I nurse, I browse cute mama patterns on Ravelry.

Yes, yes, I’m still writing. I’m just in the brainstorm/plotting section of my new project. NaNo is a little too early for me.

And I’ve been READING. WOOT! Steampunk. It’s where it’s at. I hate that phrase. I recommend LEVIATHAN by Scott Westerfield and BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE by Annette Curtis Klause. The latter is not Steampunk and is nothing like the disappointing movie loosely based on it–thank you writing gods. It predates the YA craze, and has the rich prose and kick ass heroines that I’d like to see more of in today’s Bella-centric tomes.

What’s on your needles?

Welcome to the start of National Novel Writing Month. For those of us crazy to embark on this mad writing adventure, we have thirty days to write 50,000 words. Can we do it? Best case senario, I have two hours to write while the baby naps in the afternoon, and three hours after she goes to bed.

“But Ciara,” you say,”you’re exhausted. Isn’t your baby still waking up every 2-3 hours during the night? You should be sleeping when your baby goes to bed!”

Believe me, I’ve tried. But I’ve decided to make the best of my body’s inability to fall asleep before midnight no matter how tired I am. I am going to write!

“But Ciara,” you say, “how can you possibly be coherent after not sleeping for seven months?”

Coherent? I said I was doing NaNoWriMo, not writing brilliant prose. The beauty of NaNo is that one is saved from the expectation of churning out some beautiful work of art. Nano is time for writing whatever thoughts tumble from your madly typing fingers. 50,000 words is not a novel, but it can be a great jumping off point for writing a rough draft. Last night I wrote 1,900 words (more than the 1,667 word minimum!). I’m using this time to get my ideas down on paper. In December my writing muscle will be back in shape, and I’ll start wrestling my ideas into something resembling a novel.

In case you are curious, this year I’m writing a Young Adult Steampunk Romance.

So. Who’s with me?