Yep. Missed a day. Sorry about that. But have a look at this:

I finished the marathon! Yay!

Well, I feel like I finished a marathon, anyway. I wrote 50,000 words of a novel (notice I did NOT say I wrote a 50,000 word novel) in 27 days. DUCKS IN A ROW now has 50,000 words and an outline of the rest, and I’m tired of it, so I’m putting it on the backburner. Plus, I’m eager to get to work on the edits of WINTER SOLSTICE so I can get it back to my editor.

I’ve been wondering why I finished this year. The last time I finished NaNoWriMo was 2005. I’ve tried several times since then, and though I have completed novels, it’s never been during the month of November. I think I know why. My writing has a sort of rhythm to it when it’s going well. It’s truly something I feel, like if I stop for a minute and feel the beating of my heart, the air going in and out of my lungs. At the beginning of November, I was ready to write. I wanted to create.

Now I’m ready to perfect. This month I’ll work on editing and rewriting. When I’m done with WINTER SOLSTICE, I’ll get started on ALWAYS FAITHFUL. Oh, and I’m going to run a 5K on January 1st. This is a big deal to me since I haven’t run anywhere or anything since I was a teenager. So I go from a virtual marathon to a literal run.

And of course, December 22 is a big day for me! I’m giving away that Kindle. My friend Andrew sent me this picture in an attempt to tip the scales in his favor:

Just kidding, Andrew. I know you’re not trying to get an unfair advantage, plus it’s a great example of the enormity of print books in our lives. Remember, to enter my Kindle giveaway, you only have to leave a comment on my blog or email me at michellegflye@gmail.com. And I’ll go ahead and tell you guys, I’m very protective of my computer. Because I know Andrew, I had no qualms about opening an attachment from him, but if you send me an email with an attachment and I don’t know you very well, I may not open it and post it on my blog. Sorry about that, but it’s the kind of person I am.

And of course I can’t let the post end without reminding you of my plans to donate all royalties from the sale of my book SECRETS OF THE LOTUS during November and December to the National Wildlife Federation’s Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund. If you want to know a little more about my book before you buy it, you can find the publisher’s blurb on any of these links, plus, on my Home Page you’ll find blurbs from three positive reviewers and my good friend Ellen Meister, who was kind enough to read and offer her (also positive) opinion about the book. Check out SECRETS OF THE LOTUS:

Lyrical Press
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Books on Board
Mobipocket
Fictionwise