Where has my brain been this month? See that picture above? That's about it. I've been in Gatlinburg, TN--at least in my imagination.
For the first time, I participated in Camp Nanowrimo instead of the regular version in November. What does that mean? It means I got to set my own word count goals (though I still set mine for 60,000 or more), and it means I could work on a project I'd already started.
I chose to work on a book I'm calling Maid in Love. I started it a few years back and had about 10,000 words done before this month. And how did I do?

While I've participated in regular Nanowrimo several times (at least twelve or thirteen, I think), I've never gotten around to doing Camp Nanowrimo. It's an event they run in July where you set your own personal word goal and tackle it during the summer months, when things maybe aren't quite as busy as November, when the regular one occurs. It's a bit more laid back. You don't even have to aim for 50,000 words like normal. It's whatever you want to accomplish.
And for one reason or another, it's never worked out for me. But I'm changing things up this year.

I finished writing my Christmas novella that's not due until May (it comes out in late September). And I meant to write the third book in my roadtrip romance series this Feb/Mar. But my muse evidently has other plans.
When I participated in Nanowrimo last November, several others participated, too, and we encouraged each other as we tried to get in our word counts. However, November is a hard month, and several fell short of where they wanted to be. So, someone suggested we try again in February.
You know I'm always up for a challenge. Or at least, always challenging myself. And since I'd been thinking of trying to write around then anyway, I jumped on board.

This year was different. I set out with a plan and a hope, and I finished my Nanowrimo story by the 21st--the earliest I've ever "Won" Nanowrimo. My personal goal was 60,000 words (normal Nanowrimo goals are 50,000, but I'm an overachiever), and I ended at 58,118. Not my personal best, but not the worst, either. Especially since I know my story will grow and evolve during edits over the next year or two.
​So, what's next?

When I started thinking about doing Nanowrimo this year, I hesitated. My calendar was already so full and busy, adding one more thing seemed like a bad idea. That being said, I pushed on and decided to go ahead and at least attempt it. After all, even if I didn't "win" this year like I had so many times before, at least I'd have more words typed up than I started with.
Little did I know that my fingers would fly over the keyboard, pounding out several thousand words a day and putting me almost a week ahead. Yet, that's what happened. I am squeezing in writing time in the afternoons I'm home and the evenings when the afternoons are full. Some days I'm doing both. And I'm averaging over 2000 words an hours, guys. I'm shocking myself.
​At the time of my writing this post, I'm sitting at 39,090 words, 14,085 ahead of where a typical Nanowrimo author should be right now. That's basically over a week ahead of schedule.

Ready or not, here it is. Sunday begins what is called National Novel Writing Month, or Nanowrimo for short. I've participated and won at least nine years (I missed a few the years my children were born, for some reason). I had a few years early on when I didn't quite make it 50,000, the goal of the month. But the last few years, I've surpassed 75,000 words. It's a huge accomplishment.
And, it must be working, because of those nine Nanowrimo stories, three have been published, and two more will be next year! Wow!