Baring Myself

So, here goes - I'm quite nervous about this, but also feel rather liberated in a sense...

Book is found on Amazon.com

Yup! That's me!

Nervous - I wrote this in 32 days. Really. I should NOT be publishing it now, but I swore I would give G.W. a copy of my book, and I told Steve that, obviously, he would receive a copy. And I promised my sister. And I really didn't put much thought in to the whole "binding for myself vs binding for sale" side of the book.

Are there things I want to correct? Well, duh - isn't that what writing is?
Are there things I really like? Yes. And that usually means those are the parts that should go.
Are there things I would do differently? Yes. But I have an idea for this year's NaNo book, so it's worth it, right? If nothing else, I have this to show for my hard work.

Liberated - I wrote this in 32 days!! REALLY! The month of November, and two days after the school year ended to tie up loose ends. There is something truly freeing in the idea that I just went with it and did not allow myself time to worry. Sure, it's creeping up now, but the bound book is already here. So, c'est la vie!

What makes me happy?

• I really do feel I tied up loose ends. I can't stand books and movies where you're wondering about ______... I went in trying to ensure that didn't happen, and that nothing was resolved with any sort of deus ex machina.
• One of the days where I was finishing the storyline, I was also playing along with OED on Twitter's forgotten adjective game. I kept a running list of words that I liked, and deliberately inserted every one of these in the book.
• The best part about the above bullet point? A few who have already read the book haven't been able to necessarily see where I inserted these words. That makes me very happy. I hope it was smooth enough not to really cause a halt in the reading process.
• I really love my cover, except I wish I could change the size of the font for my name. But the picture is mine, as well. I took that picture in a local park. A fascinating specimen. It is a small vein of a living creature eeking out an existence in a shell of bark, but all the branches still bloom. Amazing. G.W. calls it "The Organ Tree" because you can see "all its guts."

So, here goes - baring myself for all to see, and sharing it here. I took steps to allow myself to really let go and write. I still fell into the trap of "what ifs," but it is a learning process, and I refuse to let the doubters, the judgers, the pessimists, etc. get the best of me. This year's NaNo book will hopefully help me reach even further into the abyss that is me, and we'll see what we shall see.

If you're up for a challenge, join me on NaNo - I'll take any writing buddies I can, as it really helps when you're competing with more than just yourself to complete the novel. And you never know what you may be able to accomplish.