{"id":1514,"date":"2011-11-22T18:17:42","date_gmt":"2011-11-23T01:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dresan.com\/blog\/?p=1514"},"modified":"2017-04-08T20:50:56","modified_gmt":"2017-04-09T03:50:56","slug":"viiiiictory-for-the-paper-tiger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/22\/viiiiictory-for-the-paper-tiger\/","title":{"rendered":"Viiiiictory for the Paper Tiger"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Once again I’ve completed National Novel Writing Month. This year, I finished 8 days early. Or, put another way, THIS is what happens if you turn off the Internet during Nano:<\/p>\n

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I’ve had a number of interruptions in Nano in the past and this year was no exception. I know I can finish 38,000 words in 10 days<\/a> and I was initially trying to push to finish at twice the rate, or perhaps finish two books. Well, that didn’t happen because of the Galaxy Nexus launch<\/a> and you can see that in my progress here:<\/p>\n

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That chasm was the Galaxy Nexus launch (and a few other things tossed in there). But I made it through that, and ultimately succeeded today, sitting in a Starbucks at Santana Row here in San Jose (actually pictured is Michael’s Gelato in Palo Alto because the pic from Santana Row hasn’t uploaded).<\/p>\n

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Normally I survive Nano by taking the whole of Thanksgiving week off for a nine day writing intensive. But this time, I’ve finished early. I still have more to write on HEX CODE, of course, but I now have the luxury of leaning back and thinking through a few twists to the plot, with 50,000 words under my belt making the story solid. So … I can actually take this vacation … as a vacation<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So without further ado I present a snippet of the story that was written today … raw Nano, unfiltered except for a little reformatting and removing some author’s notes.<\/p>\n

\nWhen I found out that Ben was human, or more accurately that elf meant human with special sauce, blabbermouth old me just had to go tell Mom. Then blabbermouth old me had to make up a story of how I found out, which involved a clever lie about school.<\/p>\n

Not so clever. That just called Mom\u2019s attention to the fact that she now had two underage wards in need of schooling. Getting me into the Clairmont Academy was a pain in the ass, but now they all love us, so getting Ben in was as simple as selecting a school uniform.<\/p>\n

And boy, does he look hot in it. Hot hot hot. The points to his ears and the green in his skin and the red in the sweater, it\u2019s like Christmas, and that poofy green helmet makes him look like a school uniform tree\u2014when girls aren\u2019t comin up to tousle it.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re all lookin\u2019 at him. I was sure he had a glamour, but now I\u2019m thinkin it made him look scary. Now he just looks like a boy, a hot boy with funky green hair the girls can\u2019t resist. A passing one does it again and darts off, and I feels for him! He winces, but he clearly likes it.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, Cinnamon,\u201d Surrey says, setting her tray down, \u201cwill you\u2014oh, hello.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHello,\u201d Ben says, and there would be a dotted line in the air between their elfin eyes. Surrey\u2019s too frozen to sit down, so Ben stands up, takes her hand, and kisses it with a flourish. \u201cGreetings from the halls of Appalachia, oh princess of Scandinavia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, siddown,\u201d I says, and Ben sits down with a plop. He glares at me, but I ignores him. \u201cBen, this is Surrey Eddington, one of my best friends. Surrey Eddington, this is Benjamin Damon.\u201d My smile grows mean. \u201cHe\u2019s my house elf.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI swear, Cinnamon Frost,\u201d Ben growls, \u201cby the gleaming halls of elfland\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the power of Greyskull,\u201d Megan says, sitting down next to the still-smitten Surrey. \u201cOh, hey, what are you?\u201d she says, and Ben near jumps out of his seat\u2014then plops back down again as Megan scratches her head and says, \u201cWait \u2026 I\u2019m doing it again, aren\u2019t I?\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Next up I plan on … chilling out, having a nice dinner, and joining my writing group for the evening to review my outstanding projects. First up is probably finishing the edit of STRANDED for my beta readers … and then finishing Dakota Frost 3, LIQUID FIRE.<\/p>\n

Or perhaps I’ll just chill out and clean up my library for Thanksgiving, and thank God I have it. Good luck in Nano, all!<\/p>\n

-the Centaur<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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