A Little Help from my Friends...

If you’ve been following along for a bit, you may recall that every November I participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month-- https://nanowrimo.org).  While I like the catchy name, I’ve always thought it a bit of a misnomer.  NaNo is far less about writing the great American novel and much more about staying in the discipline of writing every day. 1,666 words a day to be exact (think four typed pages in 12 pt,. font) if you want to win the 50,000 words in 30 day challenge.  

This year the challenge was incredibly hard for me and there were days when the goal of 1,666 words felt more like 1,666,000.  I seriously thought about quitting twice and two more times I stopped working on story lines I know like the back of my hand and started new stories because I couldn’t quiet all the voices competing for attention on the page.  In the end my 50k was comprised of the completion of one story, the addition of plot and character development to two other works in progress, and the start of yet another brand new piece.   

I have little doubt I would have taken my toys and decided to play another day if it weren’t for the tenacity of a certain soul I’ve come to love like a sister.  Denisea Kampe is the most amazing writing partner on the planet. She’s the calm to my crazy and although she does this supernatural telepathy thing all year long, she was particularly on point last month, reading my mind at every turn.  A day failed to pass that she wasn’t checking on me—“How’s it going over there?”  Or reminding me to take care of myself—“Cheese Puffs aren’t an acceptable three squares.”  Breathing wisdom through the cracks—“Just walk away for an hour and leave some ink in the well.” Making me laugh—“Look what my crazy characters just did.” Listening to me complain about whatever was going wrong that day—“Is the back door done yet?” 

Denisea kicked NaNo butt this year nearly two weeks ahead of me and then she did the most amazing thing… She doubled back and loved on me just enough to drag me over the finish line as well.  Here’s to us, soul sister.  And to our amazing book boys.