NaNoWriMo 2011: Finish Line

I’m a winner baby. 

Back soon. xo

NaNoWriMo 2011: Bits and Pieces of Inspiration

I’m more than 10,000 words behind the word count goal for NaNoWriMo right now, so, of course, I’m writing a blog post instead. Steven Johnson says “chance favors the connected mind,” so here are a few of the bits and pieces that have come together serendipitously to bloom into my novel idea this year. 

Christina Rossetti’s poem, “The Goblin Market”, a sensuous poem about two sisters tempted by the fruits of those dirty goblin men. “Who knows upon what soil they fed / Their hungry thirsty roots?” “‘For there is no friend like a sister / In calm or stormy weather; / To cheer one on the tedious way, / To fetch one if one goes astray, / To lift one if one totters down, / To strengthen whilst one stands.’”

Carl Zimmer’s Radiolab podcast about science writing, grief, evolution, and horrible diseases in South Sudan. “That is true, and it has been for millions of years.” Listen to this funny and inspiring story to find out what “that” is.  

A prescription drug shortage, targeted by President Obama recently. What if the drug you needed was out-of-print, hoarded, or artificially inflated in price? 

Hanuman Welch’s “Adonis and the Bone Marrow” from Story Collider. We will go to amazing (and occasionally funny) lengths to protect the people we love. 

Fear Factory’s Flickr, which is a brilliant opportunity to catalogue different ways in which people respond to danger.

What’s in your NaNo recipe this year?  

NaNoWriMo 2011: Day 4

National Novel Writing Month commenced on November 1st with me conspicuously unprepared and distracted by other things. On Tuesday night, I finally settled on an idea: 

A soccer mom turns to the black-market drug trade to save her dying sister’s life.

I’ve snowflaked my way to a ten page outline of fifty-five scenes and almost 4,000 words. I’m behind on word count but way ahead on structure. I actually know how this story is going to end, which is refreshing. But I am stuck for names. My main characters were named through assistance from friends on Facebook.

The soccer mom is Julia Camille (Don’t-Call-Me-JC) Monroe (nee Parker). Her dying sister is Catherine Jean (Please-call-me-CJ) Parker. CJ’s boyfriend is Justin Gonzales. Here are some characters that still need names:

• Julia’s Husband (first name)
• Julia’s two kids
• Julia’s close friend/neighbor
• CJ’s Boss and at least two co-workers
• Three doctors
• At least three Nurses
• A career vendor at an indoor flea market, hippie-flavored
• Four professional drug dealers, possibly gang-affiliated
• An intimidating businessman
• A college friend of Julia’s who used to work on pharmaceutical sales
• A hospital billing clerk 

Hit me in the comments if you have any inspiring monikers.