I don’t know what was going on yesterday, but I slept. I mean slept, slept, slept and then slept some more. I got up around 7:30 and got some stuff done. Maurice immediately had an emergency at work in the morning, so he couldn’t even take time off to drive to work. Before he could get in the shower, he had to jump on the computer and worked with clients throughout the day. Normally, I like it when he works from home because we get to spend at least a tiny bit of time together and enjoy lunch together. Not yesterday. I think his only break was to have a protein bar for lunch. I’m not sure if he was able finish things yesterday, but there’s no panic this morning.

Not long after getting up, I got a few things done around the house. For my podcast, I have Justene do a book recommendation before the interview. It’s about 5 – 10 minutes. How much time I give her depends on the length of the interview. We normally record this early in the week, but our schedules weren’t matching up.

Yesterday morning we couldn’t get together because I needed a nap. We agreed to do it around 2:30 pm. After lunch, I told her I needed to nap again and would wake up as soon as I could. She suggested maybe we need to tell people we couldn’t do her segment because of technical difficulties. Since we started she’s only missed one episode and that was because we did have technical difficulties. I insisted we’d do it right after my nap. I slept much longer than I expected, but we were able to get her segment recorded. What did I do after our recording session? I took another nap. What did I do after dinner? I officially went to be for the night. I woke up at 7:30 am. I have no idea why I was so exhausted. I didn’t feel depressed, but maybe I was more than I thought. My belief is I haven’t had enough rest lately and my body said OH HELL NO! You’re sleeping, baby.

NaNoWriMo

Going against my norm, I’ve decided to participate in NaNoWriMo this year. What’s NaNoWriMo? It’s National Novel Writing Month.

The goal is to write a novel of 50,000 words in one month (November)

It started in 1999 with 21 participants in the San Francisco Bay area. In 2000 a website was created and 140 people participated. The year after that 5,000 people participated. Each year it continued to grow. Last year there were 455,000 participants. Needless to say, it’s become quite popular.

There’s no way I can write a novel in only 50,000 words, but that’s okay. The goal is to reach that number in a month. If you have to keep going to finish that is AOK. Just get your first 50,000 done.

I’ll spare all the details, but there’s an international website where you log your goal (not everyone has to do the 50,000 word goal or go the entire month) and then you log your progress each day. In the past, there have been local writer’s events, meeting at Denny’s, coffee houses, etc. that start at midnight the first day. Throughout the month there are events called Write-In’s where participants get together and write non-stop with a timer going, plus there’s a little socializing too. Because of the pandemic that has all gone virtual this year. Not sure how that will work out, but I’m going through with it anyway.

The 1st is a Sunday, so I’ll be starting a day late with a final day of Monday, November 30. To reach my goal I’ll have to write 1,742 words a day. Because I don’t plan to write most weekends, that sets my goal at 2,500 words a day. A bit more challenging, but doable. This is especially doable since you are not expected to edit. Just get the words out and edit when you’re done. This is also different for me, but I think it will be good.

I am breaking the rules. You’re not supposed to use a work in progress. It’s supposed to be a brand new novel. I have no shame. There’s so many changes to be made, I’ll start at the beginning and it will speed up the earlier days.

Anyway, I’m setting up writing buddies and will be able to track each other’s successes online and cheer each other on.

An additional motive will be posting my daily success here too. I’m both nervous and excited right now.

Podcasting Blues

I broke my promise to get my podcast finished soon after the interview and all editing and promo materials done within a couple of days. My last interview was last Sunday and I won’t be wrapping things up until this afternoon/early evening.

I’m normally booked with guests about 5 months in advance. Right now, I only have shows setup until December 22nd, which is our Year End Review of the best of 2020. I was seriously considering making that my final episode. I had in my mind it was too much work and was taking too much of my writing time. I also felt I didn’t have the energy and motivation to get new guests on the show.

When I started, I allowed guests to book themselves online, but I got stricter on who I’ll have on and now select the guests by invitation only, though many email me with requests. In the past year I only had one guest back out because she was nervous. Fortunately, I had someone anxious to take her spot.

Anyway, I talked with Maurice and a couple of friends and they convinced me to keep going. I love doing the interviews. I’ve become friends with some great authors as a result, and many have personally helped me hone my skills. The difficult parts are booking new guests and editing the show…the reality is that doesn’t take much of my time. With the depression I was dealing with, it made me put things off so it seemed more difficult.

Final decision: Gay Mystery Podcast will stay on the air. New episodes released every Tuesday and available wherever you listen to podcasts.

Health and Fitness

I think I mentioned earlier in the week that I haven’t been eating meals, but have been snacking throughout the day. Those snacks have been healthy, but apparently I’ve had them more often than I thought. I’ve gained two pounds.

Yesterday, I went back to my normal meal plan and feel better already.

I’ve also been skipping exercise. I was doing great at getting up early, walking 4 – 6 miles and then working out with weights. That program has died.

I did wake up early this morning and tried to get moving to walk, but it was too damn cold. Now, many of you will laugh that I considered 65 degrees to be cold, but it is for me. I used to love colder whether, but then I lived for around 3 years in Phoenix and 2 years in Las Vegas. I adapted and learned to love the heat. Normally, when people move to a new place they adapt to whatever, but that never happened to me since. I’ve lived in California for 15 – 20 years now and still haven’t lost my love for hot weather. So when you ask me if 65 is to cold, I will tell you yes.

I need to get in the mindset that I can walk in sweatpants and not shorts. That’s a foreign concept to me, but one I’ll need to get used to if I’m going to get back at it. I’ve lost 90 lbs and still have a bit to go to reach my goal. I’m not going to allow that not to happen. Hell, I may even take a walk midday. I try not to because there are so many people out who panic when someone is walking by because of covid. I may just do it anyway.

My Day

With NaNoWriMo coming up, I’m giving myself a break. Not that I won’t do anything with writing. I’ve got to keep up the small amount of momentum I’ve had going. But, not feeling as stressed about getting the words out, I’m going to take the time to go over my outline, change some things that I’ve had better ideas about, and fix some holes where I had no idea what I was going to do. I’ll also needed a better list of clues and red herrings. I don’t have enough.

Now, I’m a big time outliner. Not everyone is. By the time I’m done with a novel it may not look anything like what the outline looked like, but I need that outline to get started. In the past, after outlining, I’ve dropped characters, added characters, dropped scenes, added scenes. Hell, in one novel I knew exactly who the killer was. Well, I was wrong. By the time I finished it was someone else. Many people who don’t outline say they don’t because it’s too confining. I understand where they’re coming from. But, I need that outline, but allow myself as much flexibility as I need. It works for me.

I just finished off a protein drink. It’s now time for a small bowl of blueberries and then I’m off and running.

Enjoy your weekend