So, I’m having dinner with family friends a few nights ago, discussing the book with a couple that read (and loved) it, when out of nowhere it’s suggested that I speak at their next Rotary club meeting. Two days later. At seven in the morning.

“Absolutely,” I said, no knowing what Rotary was all about, or why in the world they would want me as a speaker.

With no time to write something up, I let a few ideas percolate over the next two days and decided to speak extemporaneously. What I ended up talking about was the challenge of replicating success, or “The Sequel Curse.” I tried to tie that into business and community service, explaining the difficulty we all have keeping our focus, repeating our past accomplishments, and finding the magic sauce that powers us forward.

By all accounts, it went really well. Lots of handshakes and congrats afterward (and a neat “Guest Speaker” pen). The first thing they do every meeting is ask for anyone to supply some inspiration for the rest, and during this meeting, nobody had anything. I worked that into my talk by suggesting that it’s inspiration that gives rise to dedication. If we don’t keep ourselves inspired by what we’re doing, we will either stop doing it well, or stop doing it at all.

After a fifteen minute talk I asked for questions, and there were quite a few (we ran over time without anyone complaining, another good sign). Some of the questions were about book writing, some were about elements of my talk. The interaction at the end seemed to suggest things went very well.

So, that was my morning. Now I’m at another (unscheduled) signing. Wish me luck!

Two signings in the last two days (and two more over the next two). Seventeen books signed and sold, and some very interesting people bumped into.

There was the lady that showed up today with a pad of paper covered in sticky notes. She was running errands for the elderly lady she cares for, and one of the stops was to come and pick up a signed copy of this science fiction book the Pueblo Chieftan mentioned in yesterday’s paper. She’s a retired physics teacher and an avid reader. I hope she’s already curled up with the book and digging Molly’s adventures.

Another interesting character I bumped into today was James C. Humes. The author of ~40 books on history, our presidents, Churchill, politics, and himself, James has written words that will outlive us all. As in humanity. You see, one of James’s claims to fame is having written the plaque left on the Moon to commemorate Apollo 11’s landing. Barring a very unlucky shot from a meteorite, those words will live on a tad longer than this post.

Then there were the young readers. A family with two kids (Brandi and Jacob) picked up a copy, and I could already see some potential fights over who gets to read when. Twelve or thirteenish, these are the kind of readers I hope will love Molly’s story. When they start carrying the book around at school, and bragging about this awesome adventure they are in the middle of (and nobody else has heard of), hopefully my cachet will rise with their coolness.

I went into these two signings with low expectations, hoping for 4-7 books from each (and already steeling myself for getting blanked). I tripled my best hopes, had a great time, met some wonderful people, and feel energized for doing more. Can’t ask for more than that!

I won NaNoWriMo!

It feels good to come in first place. Especially when you get to share that honor with a few hundred thousand other people. Nothing like a massive tie to build ego and camaraderie.

All “winning” means is that I completed a 50K word novel in the month of November. But it doesn’t mean I’m through. Now it’s back to word one and the first of several edits. Then I hand it off to a few beta readers who don’t know me well enough to protect my feelings, and we find out if it’s something worth pursuing any further.

If nothing else, I’ve partaken in a very cool tradition of literary abandon; and it’s something I believe I’d enjoy doing again.

Yesterday I hit the 25,000 mark, which means I’m half way to “winning” NaNoWriMo. What does “winning” entail? Just getting to the 50,000 mark before November 30th. I should be there by the end of week two (if not sooner), which leaves me plenty of time to give the manuscript a full edit before the end of the month.

The cool think about that is the opportunity to have the manuscript printed for free. That’s right, every “winning” writer gets a free proof copy of their manuscript printed and shipped out by CreateSpace, who is a major sponsor for NaNoWriMo. And you can imagine why. For many people, this will be the first book they complete after many aborted attempts. CreateSpace probably makes a tidy sum catering to these excited writers that want to share the fruits of their manic labors with friends and family. The number of listings on Amazon (the Kindle store, especially) will probably swell by six figures on December second.

HALF WAY HOME, the story I’m writing, won’t be in a near-publishable condition by the end of the month, but I’m definitely going to take advantage of CreateSpace’s generosity. I’ve read accounts from people that participated last year, when CS made the same offer, and they confirm that this is a no-strings-attached dealio.

If anybody wants to read a science fiction story about fifteen-year-old colonists tearing each other apart on a planet teetering between “viability” and “unviability,” with a main character that might have sexual identity issues, I’ll be happy to pass around my lone copy.

2,600 words so far. The average daily output needs to be 1,666.67 to reach that 50,000 milestone by the end of the month. My target is going to be 3,000/day, just in case my signing events and travel time knock me out of commission every now and then.

So, what am I writing about, you might ask. I didn’t decide until this morning. I kept bouncing back and forth between a non science fiction book I’ve been dying to get out, and one I just dreamt up a month ago. I settled on the latter, as I’m not sure I could do the research needed to give the former its propers.

So, the book is entitled “Half Way Home.” I’m sure the title has been used several times already, but unless you pepper your manuscript with neologisms like “Parsona” and “Fyde,” you’re guaranteed to be copying something that’s already been done.

The book tells the story of a colony settlement on a distant planet. Told from the perspective of the colony’s psychologist, it is going to be (I hope) a very different look at the trials and tribulations of human expansion. Not a story of things that go right, or things that go wrong, but something in-between.

In keeping with the communal nature of NaNoWriMo, I’m going to try and update you guys with how things are going, but more than that, I’m going to give you samples of my writing. Unedited and unapologetic, it will give you an idea of the rough stone out of which I chisel the final work. Look for something very soon.

Oh, and here’s my profile. If you’re participating, please add me as a buddy.