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Image shows two spinning tops, a flat blue spinner and a white, black, and white spinner on a table with some maple helicopter seeds.

A childhood toy as a talisman

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Image shows two spinning tops, a flat blue spinner and a white, black, and white spinner on a table with some maple helicopter seeds.

Friend and fellow author Valerie Biel runs a fun series on her blog called Strange But True, in which she asks authors to share the ways their research has taught them something new, encouraged a new hobby, or inspired them to travel.

I wrote how my need for a character to have a quiet, introspective moment led to her pulling out of her pocket a spinning top. As the typed words escaped my fingertips, I was surprised at the triggered memory. I loved loved loved spinning tops as a kid. The toy’s hypnotic spin was the perfect way to slow this character down, if only for a moment.

To celebrate the completion of the final manuscript, I bought a spinning top, the first I’ve ever bought, I think. It’s the red, white, and black one in the photo above. It that turns pink and purple when spinning, which is just wild. That flat blue baby sitting next to it is my childhood top, from my earliest memories. Now, as an ode to the simple joys in life, I think I’ll start a small but meaningful collection. Feel free to send tops my way. 🙂

If you’d like see the top in action (and the amazement of my cat Deco), watch the video HERE,

Enjoy!

NaNoWriMo mojo!

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Logo for NaNoWriMo, showing an aqua blue with a shield showing writing utensils, topped with Viking horns, beside the words "National Novel Writing Month"

Well, wowee zowee and SHAZAM! I am AMAZED. Wanna know why? Because NaNoWriMo works, baby! It really, really works! I did it this year for the first time ever, and I am thrilled with the results.

In case you don’t know already, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, and it’s basically an impetus to get writers crackin’. The idea is to hunker down in November with a goal of putting 50-thousand words toward a new novel. The non-profit org that runs it has all sorts of tools and methods to help writers achieve that goal. But many writers come up with their own rules/methods to meet their liking.

For example, I didn’t start a new novel. I used the movement to work on an existing project that has been laaaaaanguishing. Oy, this project is a whole other story for another day. *hides face in shame* To be clear, I didn’t finish the novel nor reach the 50k word-count goal. An event mid-month killed my progress for, like, a week. But that’s not what matters. What matters is that I GOT BACK INTO THE WRITING HABIT.

***RING THE BELLS! CUE THE CHORUS! GATHER THE PEOPLES! IT’S A PARTY IN HERE!****

The habit of writing creates the urge to write. Now, nine days into December, I’m still writing, and I’m nearly done with the novel. Importantly, it’s a far better story thanks in part to thinking about and actively working on it so intensely for so long. I’m really happy with it so far. What more could I ask for from an artificial deadline?

I’ll tell you what else. Community.

My good friend and fellow author Valerie Biel mentioned to me ahead of November that she was doing NaNoWriMo with another friend, author Mary Behan, and I told her I was going to do it as well. We joined forces. In this pact, we had accountability, camaraderie, and a sounding board. Keep reading because you’ll want to know what we did that worked out so great.

Photo shows author Valerie Biel and her book titled Circle of Nine Beltany. Valerie is white, blonde, and has her hair pulled back into a low ponytail.

Valerie Biel

Photo shows author Mary Behan and her book titled A Measured Thread. Mary is white, has short white hair, and wears round, brown glasses.

Mary Behan

Valerie, who is an organizational goddess and also provides author services (check out her website), set up our communications: a shared calendar where we could enter our daily word count (accountability); weekly Zooms to discuss progress and whatever else (camaraderie); and a Facebook chat group to share spur-of-the-moment thoughts and gripes (a sounding board). This kept us in constant communication but never demandingly so. Perfection. Copy this method.

And one of the odd things we talked about? We all noticed during this month-long immersion into creativity that our nighttime dreams became more frequent and vivid, and we could better remember them in the morning. Isn’t that fascinating?

I’m so grateful to these ladies for providing encouragement then and still. And, hey, I’m thankful we decided to turn a totally-not-real deadline into a real one for ourselves. It really worked to get us out of our malaise. I hope you’ll try it someday if you too need the kick to get crackin’.