NaNoWriMo: An Exercise in Endurance. . . and Insanity

At this very moment, there are a few hundred thousand (I'm guessing. There is nothing scientific in that number.) are sitting on our beds, in our living rooms, at a cool steel table in a local greasy spoon and writing our hearts out. For the month of November has been dubbed the month of crazy, or National Novel Writing Month. It's a time when so many of us attempt to get 50,000 words on paper.

It may not be coherent or logical and in some cases, is a serious of multiple stories. But the point is to sit your butt down and to get your fingers on those keys.
I've only made it once. When I did, I was elated and couldn't stop talking about it. It was similar to the feeling that runners get when they finish a marathon - I would imagine, since I've only been on binge eating marathons before. :-)

For the next 15 days (we should have about 25,000 words on paper so far - I only have 15,000), I will scramble for my life to catch up, by any means necessary. I may miss the Twilight opening, I may not clean my house for several more days, but I vow to kick NaNoWriMo's ass once more this month.

Wish me luck! And it's perfectly fine to call me a crazy ass for taking a fool's mission! And to all you other NaNo-ers

In case you want to know more, take a look at their site or review on Twitter with hashtag #NaNoWriMo!

 Oh, and I have a short story coming out this month! A SoulMate for Christmas is an anthology featuring 5 (including me) wonderful authors from Soul Mate Publishing.

Stay tuned for the buy link and our Blog Tour to celebrate the release. I'm excited and I hope you are too.

"...You" Titles

I'm not sure about you guys, but I have been loaded down this month of October with '...You" titles. It's really all a little bit odd, if you think about it. Makes me almost want to do a Google search of all the NYT Bestsellers that have had something-something You as a title.

Titles don't routinely attract me to a particular novel, and I've never courted a book based on name alone. Oh no, my approach is a little more scientific than that (involves a Ouija board and cauldron). Except for this month. Having just finished 'Reflected In You' by Sylvia Day, I think I was on the hunt for something similar and found "Down To You" by M. Leighton.

This post isn't meant to discuss whether these books were good or bad (although both get a thumbs up from me), but more what's in a title. Lately, it seems that we authors play a little game by questioning what is something distinctive about a very popular book and we play that up in our own work. Not necessarily the theme of the story or the characters, but something more cosmetic - the opulent rich shit of the male lead shown on the cover (cuff links, Mardi Gras masks, titanium key chains, etc), or a really hot guy's chest - and play it up. I'm willing to bet that there are times when titles are designed to be similar in order to attract the readers attention. I know, some of you publishing-marketing type folks are saying "DUH!". Forgive me, but I'm a little slower than some folks, especially after two days of intense editing and an all out, near cold-turkey coffee avoidance (down from 3 cups to 1 cup a day).

So, let's play a game. I'll take old titles (the more classic the better), add "To You", "In You", or "On You" to the title and you let me know if that makes you want to read it more, and in the event that you have read it, whether the 'new' title makes you want to read it again?

Let's begin, shall we?

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
New Title: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings In You

To Kill A Mockingbird
New Title: To Kill A Mockingbird On You

Dracula
New Title: Dracula In You (I personally want to read that one!)

The Grapes of Wrath
New Title: The Grapes of Wrath To You

Beowulf
New Title: Beowulf On You

Kind of makes you think, doesn't it? Oh, if only these books were written in these modern days of technology (and happened to be romantic fiction).

Until next time,  read a good You book!