NaNoWriMo Notations 2023
IN THIS ISSUE: All things NaNo – a game, resources, and success stories!
Newsletter Send Date: Friday, October 27, 2023
Hey Dragonlings!
It’s time for NaNoWriMo! Let’s talk about it.
For those who don’t know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, which is an international writing challenge where participants spend 30 days in November writing a 50,000-word novel.
In the past, I’ve been a bit of a rebel, when I’ve participated at all. This year is no exception. I decided in September (yes, that long ago) that I wanted to work on Hunter’s Betrayal for NaNoWriMo. It’s time for me to return to this world and finish these novels.
Hunter’s Betrayal is the first book in the Shifters & Mages series. The series has a long history, starting back in NaNoWriMo of 2009 when I wrote what was originally supposed to be a stand alone novella about a young teen who turns into a fox. Now that novella is book 2 in a 4-book series.
For the past month, I’ve been doing something I haven’t done in a looong time: prepping for a new(ish) novel. I originally wrote the first draft of Hunter’s Betrayal as a novella and my editor told me I had enough material to turn it into a novel. Funny how history repeats itself because that’s what happened with the original novella that’s now book 2 back in 2009.
I’m as ready as I’ll ever be for this rewrite of the first novel, and I’m looking forward to writing ALL THE WORDS!!!
Are you doing NaNoWriMo? What will you be working on? Are you planning on being a NaNo rebel like me? Feel free to add me as a writing buddy if you’d like.
NaNoWriMo
If you’ve dabbled in writing productivity or prompts or pretty much anything indie author related you’ve heard *someone* brag about their fave writing tools. We all have our preferences (and let’s be honest – price points) and most importantly, what we actually NEED help with while we’re learning our craft.
I put some thought into my previous NaNoWriMo Notations, and I realized depending on where I was in the process I was using different tools. For example I don’t use timers so much in editing, but when I’m working on my word count it helps me to use writing sprints.
No matter where I am though, I found I use some more than others. Here is a list of my favorite tools I keep coming back to…
Some tools I highly recommend for NaNoWriMo.
The tools you’ll need really completely depend on where you are in your story AND in your process, so don’t limit yourself.
I have some resources on my site that can help you too! The Resources page is a list of all kinds of things I find helpful as a writer. Check them out, and let me know if you like them!
Also, just a quick note – I’m going to talking about writing craft A LOT next year, mostly on my social media. I have some NaNoWriMo facts and figures on deck for the month of November, so follow me on my social media so we can chat about the NaNo stuff!
🐉Dragonling Archives🐉
As a subscriber perk, I’m building a resource library piece by piece for other budding authors looking for a little direction. I’ve been learning my writing craft for a while now, and since I’m confident I know which way to point the pen, I’m experimenting with my writing craft – and passing my knowledge on to you!
(Side Note: You can expect some interesting (translate ‘useful’) content coming in 2024.) For the time being, it’s November NaNoWriMo and the December Regroup taking up pretty much everyone’s time 😅.
Productivity can be… well a real downer when you’re not where you want to be. It’s always helpful to add a little refresh where you can. SO this year I have something really fun to share with you all!
I created a game we can all play!!!!
Clouds & Dragons is an easy play productivity game where you help the Dragonling get back to the Dragon Den by hopping clouds and catching a productive ride from some high-flying helpers. But watch out for rain clouds! You can play with a group, or by yourself!
I plan on playing this game with my guests on my YouTube Productivity Writing Live Streams in November! You can see my schedule on my channel and join me (and guests) for our NaNoWriMo productivity streams.
I hope you enjoy this gift, and I hope to see you in the YT comments!
Fiction Flings
In light of all this NaNoWriMo talk, my fiction fling book rec’s this month are in honor of NaNoWriMo success stories!
Both of these authors completed a draft during NaNoWriMo and went on to bring the stories all the way to publication!
SERIES: A Magical Romantic Comedy (with a Body Count) SERIES #: 1
Warning: This novel contains excessive humor, a fire-breathing unicorn on a mission of destruction, magic, romance, and bodies. Proceed with caution.
Catering to the magical is a tough gig on a good day, but Bailey has few other options. Spiking drinks with pixie dust keeps the locals happy and beats cleaning up the world’s nastiest magical substances. She could live without serving Police Chief Samuel Quinn most days of the week, especially after destroying his marriage.
But when she’s targeted with a cell phone bomb containing gorgon dust capable of transforming her home into a stone tomb, she’s tossed head first into a mess with her sexiest enemy. Add in his ex-wife angling for revenge, and Bailey must use every trick up her sleeve to survive.
The last thing she needs is to fall in love with Manhattan’s Most Wanted Bachelor. Saving Manhattan will be tough enough.
BLURB:
We all start as strangers. Why does that make me so nervous?
Note: Familiar Strangers was originally published as a part of the megabook, Hawthorn Academy: Year One.
I can’t imagine life without Mom, Dad, Bubbe or my friends in Salem. And that’s what I’ll be living at Hawthorn Academy, the campus between worlds. But Hawthorn Academy’s the place to be if I want to join the family business as a veterinarian for magic critters.
It’s magi only at my new school, so I’m going without my besties. The only person I’ll know there is my snarky big brother. At least I’ve already bonded with a familiar. But my dragonet means I’m destined for above average power levels.
The last thing I want to do is scare people off. You only get one chance at first impressions, after all. But will I make friends or enemies?
“I spent more than a couple of late nights reading through these stories to find out what was going to happen to my new friends!” – Michael Anderle, Best-Selling Author of The Kurtherian Gambit
This series is for fans of Harry Potter, Jaymin Eve, and all academy books.
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S.D. Hegyes Newsletter
A monthly newsletter with Day-In-The-life commentary, author resources, cool new writing tools and tips, as well as a little writing humor thrown in. An all around good read from a good friend.
I hope you enjoyed this issue Dragonlings!
Writing books is about so much more than making your characters have really bad days. There’s soooo much learning and experimenting that goes into the craft. I genuinely believe it’s a life long journey.
In my own writing journey I have the had the good fortune to get to reflect back on some things. Good stuff and bad stuff, it happens. One thing I am really excited about (so excited in fact I have scheduled my entire 2024 writing calendar around it) is that Dec 2024 is the 10 year anniversary of my first traditionally published book 😶. It feels like so much longer it amazes me how vividly I remember it. Anyways, in celebration of my own milestone, I’m re-releasing the book (as part of the quartet it grew into) in the fourth quarter of 2024!
You may have heard me mention it on one of my livestreams, and possibly a social media caption. Either way, I’m going to be sharing some insights and *brace yourself* TEASERS here in my newsletter. And these are real teasers too – I’m not even going to mention them in the blog post versions of this newsletter so keep them peepers peeled! 👀
In the meantime, I have one last thing for you…
🎉READER EXCLUSIVE ALERT!🎉
The story of Jesse St. George continues!
I have for you my friends and subscribers the latest chapter of my growing heroine the dragon slayer which is available to ONLY MY SUBSCRIBERS! I know it’s fun to actually *read* some fun stuff from time to time too, so I hope you enjoy!
💡Please note this is an unedited chapter of Jessie Saint George, Teenage Dragon Slayer (Title subject to change), an urban fantasy, and may contain typos. Please be aware some parts of the story may change between now and publication as well.
Chapter 2
Jessie jerked open the front door to her home, panting for air as she slammed it shut behind her and ran toward the stairs.
“I’m here!” she called out as she ran. “I’m late, I know, but I’m here!” She grabbed the banister and vaulted the steps two at a time.
All that time in cheerleading, even if she hadn’t been able to participate in a lot of the competitions and games, had proven an asset.
“That you, Jessie?” she heard her mother call from the kitchen.
“Yes. I’m late. Getting dressed now.” Jessie didn’t wait for a reply as she continued up the stairs.
She hadn’t meant to be late, but she’d gotten stuck in traffic coming from the campus to the house. She knew it was because she was on a time limit.
It was just her luck that the one day she shouldn’t be late was the one day everything that could go wrong would. If she hadn’t been expected, not only would she have been on time, she would have been earlier than she normally was.
“You’re sister’s here,” her mother called up.
“I’ll see if she can come help you in a moment.” Jessie mentally chided herself.
Of course Bobbie was there. She’d seen her sister’s squad car in the drive, even if it hadn’t clicked that’s what she’d seen until her mother said something.
Bobbie Saint George had joined the force as soon as she’d turned twenty-one and could apply to the academy. She’d wanted to follow in their dad’s footsteps all her life, and she’d made it.
Jessie didn’t know how far back the tradition went, but everyone she knew in her family had been an officer since it became a publicly-funded organization in 1838.
Back then, the Saint George family had lived in Boston. She wasn’t certain why they’d moved, and she doubted anyone else could remember either.
Her family was proud of their police officer tradition. Being on the force helped them slay dragons with the fewest repercussions after all.
Like Bobbie, everyone expected her to be a police officer. And to fight dragons. Before her dad passed, she’d been looking forward to both.
Since he’d died, she didn’t know what she wanted. Part of her still wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and be a slayer, as he’d been, but since his death her heart had warred with the idea of wanting a more peaceful life, free of dragon slaying altogether.
The thought of dragon slaying made her pause at the top of the landing. On the wall hung two stained glass images. One for her father. One for her sister.
Both commemorating their first successful dragon hunts. Her mother hadn’t ever been a dragon slayer, and so there was no stained glass image for her.
One day, there might be one for her.
She sucked in a harsh breath as she stared at her father’s with reverent awe. The brilliant colors shone in the light, creating a rainbow hue of reds and oranges and yellows, all forming the head of a red dragon.
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