On the eve of National Novel Writing Month; affectionately known as NaNoWriMo, I have so many thoughts buzzing around in my head. High on my list is wondering if I have enough research to help me with my word count; legitimately. I can’t stand the thought of using empty fluff just to reach my quota of words. I would get impatient with that, distracted, and probably just drop the project since to me it wouldn’t amount to anything worthwhile. The genre this book fits into is Inspirational Historic Fiction. So I’ve looked up a history timeline spanning more than the time in which my story takes place. I’ve researched the lay of the land of Ireland, weather year round, native plant life, and castle materials and plans.  I’ve surfed through names of castles, churches, towns, and ships. My book probably won’t contain all of these things, and will probably contain some things I will think of along the way as the story unfolds and reveals itself to me. Any knowledge I can have “stuck back” in my mind can be available when I need it; hopefully.

I have collected chocolate, as I’ve been told it is great for creativity. There is a wide variety of teas in the cabinet, and of course we have coffee. Supper is fixed for tomorrow night, but just in case that runs out, I’m cooking a pot of chili tomorrow morning. There is Scuppernong Bread thawing, and I’m baking Banana Nut Bread in the morning. I have several sweet potatoes, so I’ll slice them, spray and toss them on an oiled baking tray so that we can have Sweet Potato Chips for a healthy snack. I have to say I don’t think those will last long, but that’s OK. Things will be easier if I have food cooked ahead of time, and I have foods that are easy to cook quickly, but not full of junk. There is a case of bottled water to grab quickly whether my daughter and I are writing here at home, or meeting some writer friends for a write-in somewhere.

My laptop battery is staying full most of the time so I can grab it and go if I need to. My notes are printed out so I can have them to look at right when I need to instead of scrolling up and down to find information. I am a self-proclaimed hard copy book person. Even though I love digital books, I just really feel the need and love to flip those pages. Thus, my notes are definitely printed. My roller bag is packed with these notes, chocolate, a fiber bar (with chocolate), hand sanitizer, and ready to roll when I write away from home. All I need to do is slip my laptop and power cord in, and I am on my way.

I don’t know if I will finish the 50,000 words by November 30 at midnight, but I’ve thought about it and prayed about it I am OK with that. While doing my very best, I know that as long as I stay focused on holding my writing up to God and following His lead, I will finish what I am supposed to when I am supposed to. I feel like through prayer He has given me the “go-ahead,” and even lead me to it. Even with all the frenzy that can happen, I think I have a plan in place that God approves of with allowance to alter the plan if He shows me I need to. This is a new adventure to me to write a novel completely from scratch. My attempt last year was to rewrite my Inspirational Non-Fiction as Inspirational Fiction, and God did show me that was not His plan for that book. This book has a “working title” of The Old Sailor; meaning that title is also subject to change. We’ll just see what adventure God takes us through in this process this time.

Have a blessed weekend everyone!