Over the past year or so, this blog, and the response from my fabulous readers, has reminded me just how much I enjoy writing. It made me start thinking (again) about something that probably crosses every writers’ mind: writing a book.

And, since I’m turning 40 in just a few shorts months, I decided it was high time to take the plunge. Why not be able to say I wrote a book before 40, right?

So, I’m writing a novel!

nanowrimo downloadSpecifically, I’ll be writing a 50,000 word first draft of a novel by November 30th. Yup, that’s right, I’m doing NaNoWriMo–National Novel Writing Month–along with over 300,000 other folks around the world. (There are excellent writing resources at their site, by the by, even if you don’t jump in with all us crazies.)

I’ve been mulling over the plot and characters for a few months now, and I have to say, I’m pretty excited about it. The story is basically a girl (or whatever you call a female in her late 20s) and her best friend who go on an around-the-world trip. The way they decide which countries to visit is a little unusual, but I’m glad that they are visiting some of the places I’ve been to in real life. It means that I get to travel vicariously with them. Woo-hoo!

So far, I’ve managed to crank out the first two chapters, and they flowed pretty easily, probably thanks to all that mulling in September and October. (Funny, mulling in the fall usually means something else…) I don’t know if I’ll face writer’s block later on, but for now, I’m very happy to see these characters take shape.

I’ve already had a few of you say you are interested in reading the book once it’s done. I do intend to publish it as an e-book, and I’ll need some eager readers to help review it. If that sounds like something you’d like to do, please stay tuned!

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