A certain someone in my life has been ragging on me for celebrating Christmas too early. It’s possible I sent out my Christmas cards before December even hit, but what can I say? I’m a planner.
Let me pump the brakes on December and Christmas for right now and rewind to November. You might recall from my last post that November is National Novel Writing Month where writers from all over the world challenge themselves to write an entire novel in one month.
For years I’ve been slaying NaNoWriMo, always hitting my word count targets. But last year I only made it about a quarter of the way through before stopping. It was a little embarrassing. I’d always completed NaNoWriMo! But I guess that was par for the course for 2020…
So, this year I was feeling some extra pressure to get those words on the page. I’m happy to report that I finished this year and made some nice progress on my rough draft of the next Camilla book.
Truth be told, I did have a little bit of a secret weapon…
Last year when I was knee deep in drafting The Dark Ruler, I listened to a podcast where the guest shared about his awesome experience with voice writing. This really intrigued me, especially as a person who struggles with carpel tunnel. Anybody else? But it seemed like there was a learning curve and I didn’t want to go down that road while I was in the middle writing a book.
So, when I started rough drafting the next Camilla book at the beginning of November, I thought I’d give this voice writing method a try. I even dug out this super old little recording device that I bought in college as a broadcasting major. (Can’t believe I still had that thing) I went on a walk and I began to speak my book.
It was EXTREMELY awkward at first. I kept furtively glancing over my shoulder to see if anyone in my neighborhood could hear me. I took a lot of massive pauses and even sneezed once or twice into the microphone.
Eventually though, I did get the hang of it, and the words began to flow. I was able to get wayyyyyy more words on the page by voice writing than I ever was able to by typing. If you’ve ever met me in person, you know I can be a talker, so I suppose this was a good fit.
I also have a 30-40 min one way commute several days a week and I found that I was able to “write” while driving which is something that Hemingway could have never dreamed of.
Now, don’t get me wrong, my voice writing is NOT beautiful, perfect, poetry. It’s quite rough in fact, but all first drafts are terrible so that’s okay.
The next Camilla book is the convergence of a lot of elements that I’ve hinted at in previous books so I’ve also been able to voice a lot of my thoughts and notes on plot points, character motivations etc.
To sum up, voice writing has been a huge win for me and it was a big help in getting me to the 50,000 word pinnacle of NaNoWriMo.
November was more than just NaNoWriMo, it was also Thanksgiving here in America and the start of the “the holidays”. I ended up getting a free turkey this year through a series of events that I won’t bore you with, but when I brought this frozen turkey home I realized that even though I’m a pretty seasoned cook, I had never actually ever roasted a whole turkey!
I hopped on google and slogged through article after article about how to roast the BEST turkey. I didn’t really need the best turkey, just a good turkey. I wasn’t too nervous either because I didn’t need to roast the turkey for actual Thanksgiving day. It was just for my husband and I. (and yes, we were eating leftover turkey for millennia)
Basically the information I distilled from all of these articles was to slather that turkey in softened butter. This, my friends, I did with great joy. How could it not taste good being slathered in butter? Sadly though it made my turkey skin ALMOST burn. I said almost! Despite some crispiness, it still tasted good.
Enough turkey talk. Believe it or not, Christmas is right around the corner and my salesman dad would be disappointed if I didn’t plug my Christmas book bundle again! I’ve got a few more book bundles left that include all four of the currently released Camilla books. I’ve gingerly wrapped them in vintage ribbon and given them all adorable gift tags. They make great gifts for others or yourself (I won’t judge)!
I’m selling them for $40 plus shipping and taking payment via PayPal or Venmo. Feel free to hit reply to this email and let me know if you’d like to get your hands on one of the last bundles!
I love doing Christmas-y things and have truly enjoyed putting together these book bundles!
One more thing before I let you go. Now that I’m working on the next Camilla book, make sure you read book #1 in the series, The Sacrifice of One. It’s FREE by clicking HERE.
I can’t believe I won’t be making another post until NEXT YEAR! Crazy! I wish each of you a blessed Christmas and holiday season, and I will talk to you in 2022!
Emily
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