NaNo Meanderings

I mentioned that I bought a raffle ticket in Skagway from a couple of firemen.  The drawing was Friday (Sept 21).  I haven’t received a phone call; guess that means I didn’t win anything.  Well, I donated to a good cause:  Alaska Firefighters. 

It’s officially Fall.  October is just around the corner.  That means it’s time to start thinking about National Novel Writing Month .  That’s what November is FOR, after all.  Right? 
(Edit:  the new icons have arrived!)

I don’t do much planning; I wing my NaNoNovels.  I do like to have an idea of the world I’ll be writing in, some characters fleshed out and an opening conflict.  An ending is nice, too.  I expect my characters to take over the story before I reach 10,000 words; they usually do.  I really need that this year.  My fiction mind is still on vacation after the big edit of Rising Tide. 

So far I have no ideas for a novel.  I’m considering doing 50K of short stories.  If all the stories are linked somehow - same characters, same location(s), or some other way - it would qualify.  I tried that in 2009.  It was ... interesting (in that sarcastic, not-really-sure-what-it-was sense).   I ended up with one partial short story, a bunch of scenes for the previous year’s novel that wasn’t finished (still isn’t), and a novella of a biography for a character that stepped in and took over.  Telepathy was a common thread in all three so it qualified under the NaNo rules. 

I’d really rather not repeat that. 

I have over a month to come up with something.  Maybe I'll hear back from my Beta Readers and, based on their input, do the next version of Rising Tide.  Maybe I'll use one line of song lyrics as the opening for each short story (an idea I'm toying with).  Maybe something totally unexpected will occur to me before October 31.

For sure I will do something.  If you enjoy writing, have considered writing a novel "some day," come try NaNoWriMo.  It's a great way to stretch your writer self and meet many nice folks doing the same. 

Alaska Cruise, Part Six - Tracy Arm and back to San Francisco

We headed south.  Around 6 AM the morning after leaving Skagway we arrived at the entrance to Tracy Arm.  (Earlier in the season they go to Glacier Bay, but by September it has too much ice in the water.)  I bundled up (heavy sweatshirt, one of my winter scarves, rain jacket and gloves) and spent about four hours on deck.

It was around 50°F (10°C) and breezy.  I didn’t feel cold, but the ship was prepared for those who did.  (Edit:  click on the pictures to biggify.)

Alaska Cruise, Part Five - Skagway

Our final port in Alaska was Skagway, a gold rush town and jumping-off point for the Yukon.  We tied up at the Mining Pier and were met by busses to take us to the various excursions.  It was a beautiful sunny day, but chilly.

The predicted high was 54°F (12°C).  (Edit:  click on the pictures to biggify.)

Alaska Cruise, Part Four - Juneau

On day six we reached Juneau, the state capital.  (Edit:  click on the pictures to biggify.)

An Intermission ...

I went back to work yesterday, and have to make more of an effort to get myself off Pacific Time and back to Central Time!  Instead of a travel installment, here's a little video clip that made me laugh:

woooooooo-yeah-s**t-dads-awake

(It's not from You Tube so blogger won't post it as a video.  Rats.)

Thank you, Daughter and her friend O, for the link.

Hopefully I'll get the next Alaska installment up Saturday evening after work.

Alaska Cruise, Part Three - Ketchikan

On Day 5 we arrived at our first Alaskan port, Ketchikan.  (Edit:  click on the pictures to biggify.)

Alaska Cruise, Part Two - Victoria

Our first port was Victoria, the capital of British Columbia.  Labor Day is a Canadian holiday as well as American, and they were having a wooden boat festival.   We arrived just as they were starting the boat parade.  (Edit:  click on the pictures to biggify.)

Alaska Cruise, Part One

I returned from my vacation Monday evening - a ten day cruise to Alaska.  This trip had a number of firsts for me:  first commercial cruise, first time in San Francisco, Vancouver, and Alaska.  I enjoyed it tremendously.  Took hundreds of photos.  Not all of them are worth sharing, of course, and you’d be bored bored bored, so I’ve selected a few to post here. 

I sailed on the Sea Princess out of San Francisco. 

In Remembrance

For the world, 9/11/01 was a tragic day. 

For my family, 9/11/11 was a day of great sadness. 

We'll always remember.