Already NaNoWriMo Fried? Give NaNoWriDe a Try.

Based on the wisdom of those great sages the Brothers Gallo who spent a good chunk of the 80’s famously promising to, sell no wine before its time, National Novel Writing Decade is the alternative to that revered November pastime beloved by you hares who can whip out 50,000 words in a mere month. NaNoWriDe (pronounced Nanoride), which you’ve never heard of before because I just invented it, is for we the turtles of the writing world.

The rules are simple:

1.     There’s no need to sign up until I create an actual website, which may be a while since I’m currently working on two projects, one of which is due to my editor a good six months sooner than I’ll likely be ready to turn it in.

2.    There’s no need to get nervous and procrastinate because you’ll have an entire decade, starting January 1, 2013 and ending December 31, 2023 to get your manuscript done. If my own experience during the last NaNoWriDe (which I won since I was the only participant) is of any benefit, you’ll likely have time to get multiple manuscripts written, polished and even sold.

3.    Find other NaNoWriDe participants in your area for support and form a longstanding critique group. They’re easy to spot due to their meager, if heavily thought out and painstakingly edited, word counts. If you’re not sure you’ve found a kindred spirit, drop the phrase brick by brick and see if their eyes light up.

4.    If you finish a novel in the assigned time, congratulate yourself by cleaning the house and catching up on all those TV shows and films you missed and that your friends, the hares, seem to somehow able to fit in while meeting their friends for lunch, raising their super-children, getting to the gym and putting out those astonishing daily word counts.

5.    Above all accept the fact that even though the rest of the writing world may be able to whip out a complete novel in a month, you’ll get to the finish line and accomplish miracles of your own.

      A little skeptical?  Believe me, I was too. After ten years and four completed manuscripts, I was convinced it was way past time to give up on the frustrations of being a slow-plodding, ultra-detail oriented, forever pre-published author and say, get a job as a stripper at a nursing home (since I’d aged out on working at a regular joint). Then lightning finally struck. Twice. First, I got a three-book deal for my Mrs. Frugalicious mystery series, starting with ETERNALLY 21, which debuts in June 2013. Then, my standalone suburban satire/pregnancy whodunit, THE BIG BANG sold.  In fact, as you are reading this, I’m likely nursing a long-overdue hangover, having spent last night celebrating November 15^th, my book release party.  

Right smack in the middle of NaNoWriMo. 

I’m giving away a copy of THE BIG BANG. If you’re a kindred spirit take a day or three and post a comment telling me why you too qualify as a founding member of NaNoWriDe. One of these days, one of you will find a signed book in your mailbox.

Here’s a description:

At Melody Mountain Ranch, the local residents are too busy with home shopping parties, Fundamentalism-Light, and each other’s business to notice their superficially well-constructed houses are literally rotting beneath them. Secret affairs, teen witchcraft, and a power-hungry homeowner’s board have their personal lives deconstructing even faster.

On Wonderland Valley Way, interior decorator Hope Jordan is desperate for a baby. As Hope struggles, her neighbors Will Pierce-Cohn, a stay-at-home dad and community activist, Frank Griffin, a minister-cum-homeowner’s board president, and Tim Trautman, a soon-to-be father of five, jockey for her attentions.

When Hope inadvertently eats hash-laced brownies at the playground ribbon-cutting gala/Memorial Weekend poolside potluck, she falls into the arms of one of her three wanna-be paramours. When she discovers she’s pregnant and tries to piece together what happened, with whom, and what to do about it, the homes on her cul-de-sac begin to crack and sink. Hope and her neighbors appear to be stuck in a hell of their own making.

Linda Joffe Hull is a native of St. Louis, Missouri, but currently resides in Denver, Colorado with her husband and children. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. When she’s not schlepping the kids to a variety of activities, Linda is plodding along on her next novels. Visit her online at www.LindaJoffeHull.com