November Newsies Newsletter, and NaNoWriMo

I spent most of this month trying to mentally compose a profound essay. I was not successful, and this newsletter will be newsie but not at all profound. Apparently, creativity is hampered by multi-tasking!

First, NaNoWriMo. For those of you who aren’t writers, or who are writers but have decided (wisely) to sidestep the insanity, NaNoWriMo stands for NationalNovelWritingMonth. It is a challenge designed to a)bring together a community of writers, b) challenge them to write 50K words of a novel between November 1 and 30, and c) earn funds for NaNoWriMo’s educational programs.

I am by nature a “pantser”, which means I do a very rough outline and initial research before I start my first draft, and then create and research as I go. This style doesn’t cooperate well with deadlines or word count goals, but the NaNoWriMo challenge is motivating me to write daily and to avoid self-censure of my first draft. I am writing a Historical Romance set in the 19th century in France, Egypt, and New York, based on the lives and romance of Auguste Frédéric Bartholdi—the creator of the Statue of Liberty—and his wife, Jeanne Emelie.

In addition, I finished my final read through and revision of Echoes, my historical fiction novel set in the Gilded Age of Chicago and New York, based on the life of Paul Tietjens, composer of the musical score for the original 1902 Broadway musical of The Wizard of Oz. It is now in the hands of my very capable editor.

Finally, not to be forgotten, my historical fiction novel Hatfield, to be released in May 2024. I received the gorgeous cover and will be thrilled to show you that in February. I also made final edits to the manuscript (thank you to the last minute catch’s by my beta readers!), and submitted it to my publisher, Acorn Publishing.Their fantastic proofreader proofed it, and I accepted all her changes without hesitation. (She caught my error of confusing “parlay” with “parley”, converted straight quotation marks to curved, and gently reminded me that squirrels don’t hibernate.)

My daughter wants my fourth novel to be “completely made up.” So if you stick with me, you may see a detective thriller (my favorite genre to read) or fantasy (my favorite genre before I turned 30). We’ll see.

Wishing you a fabulous Thanksgiving or, if you don’t live in the US or Canada or don’t celebrate it for some other reason, I wish you a lovely autumn with good food and time with family and friends.