. . . And I’m not talking Halloween (which, by the way, I have not one, but TWO costumes for; on Saturday, I’m heading to a party with my pal Liz Maverick, and will be dressed as Bea Arthur‘s Maude, which only takes me making my hair gray somehow, since I already have the loud ’70s clothing. Then on Sunday, my son is a samurai, so I’m borrowing a Japanese geisha type top from Liz and will be making myself even whiter than usual in a vague attempt to match him).

No. I am admitting that, for the first time, I’ve signed on to participate in NaNoWriMo, the month-long write 50K words in 30 days event. Why? Why would I do such a thing? Peer pressure. And not even pressure; my friend Kwana said she was gonna, and why didn’t I? Not really pressure so much as a simple question.

So I joined up. And am hoping not to disgrace myself and fail utterly at the task. I already know I won’t write fifty thousand words, but I am hoping the competition will get me to the keyboard rather than waving my hand and saying, ‘why bother?’

I am competitive, in an odd way, and if I know other people are suffering with their word counts it’ll make me feel better (very sschadenfreude-y of me, but I admit my faults).

Plus a newly-made friend (at RWA, but she lives here in Park Slope) told me there are NaNoWriMo write-ins in my neighborhood, so maybe I can go hang out with other sufferers at some point. Whee!

Are you good with deadlines? Do you like the pressure? Do you hate them? How do you force yourself to get things done on time?

Megan

Happy Friday, all!

This week–heck, this month–has been a tough one; apparently, my usually good health has decided to go on a bender, so I’ve been sick more often than not. Which means my writing has suffered, since my aching head makes me more likely to write literary fiction than romance, and nobody wants to see my characters moaning around on the page, least of all me.

BUT today I almost feel better. Almost, and I hope to write more on a project I blithely thought would be finished by three weeks ago. Ha! I will write later today, I vow.

Meanwhile, however, comes the news that Peter Jackson has begun casting The Hobbit, and has announced that Richard Armitage and Aidan Turner have been cast–as dwarves.

Let’s take that in a moment, shall we?

On the one hand, being cast in such a high-profile film has got to have amazing results for the two actors, both of whom are talented, not to mention smokin’ hot.

On the other hand, they’re playing dwarves.

But a Tolkein fangirl assures me that Richard’s role (I feel as though I can call him Richard by now) is a meaty one, not just a comic effect part. I didn’t inquire about Aidan’s part, I was too bowled over by the Armitage news in the first place.

I am certain Tolkein fans are frantically scrambling to figure out who the heck these two are (and Martin Freeman, who’s been cast in the all-important role of Bilbo Baggins). I come at it from the other side, being a fan of the actors, not the series (sacrilege, I know; I love the LOTR movies, not the books so much). I bet Tolkein fans are dissecting the particulars with as much fervor as Austen fans when a new version of P&P was announced–‘who is this Matthew MacFadyen character anyway?

(Freeman debuts over here this Sunday as Dr. Watson in the latest version of Sherlock Holmes. I’ve been told it’s an amazing interpretation, so hopefully you have access to BBC America and can see it yourself. My DVR is already set to tape).

Where am I going with any of this? Nowhere! What else is new? But before you leave, a few questions:

What book do you hope will never be brought to the big or little screen because it can’t possibly meet your expectations? What book do you hope would be made? What roles could you see Armitage, Turner or Freeman in next? Will it bum you out when the rest of the world discovers how delicious Armitage is?

Megan

Hello Risky Folks!

It’s been a week of recovery, following the Yukky Unnamed Ennui/Illness. I’ve been editing my Regency-set historical, the one with the opium-addicted marquess and the illegitimate vicar’s daughter. It’s got an new title–Her Wicked Desire–and a few new scenes. My Champion Agent will be sending it out when I’ve finished the revision.

I know these characters so well that editing their story is really kind of easy–I know what they should say, often opposed to what I originally wrote. I thought I’d share some of their conversation. In this scene, they’re at an inn, eating dinner. They don’t know much about each other except that they think they can help the other in some way. She doesn’t know yet about his addiction.

She rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward, an interested look in her eyes.

“Your mother—where is she?”

“Dead.” Chew, swallow, chew.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Your father too, of course.”

He nodded in agreement. “Dead.” Stab another bite of food onto the fork.

“Oh.”

“And before you ask, my brother’s dead, too. You already know about my wife.”

“Oh.” She uttered the word in a soft voice.

He couldn’t bear her sympathetic expression. He dropped the fork onto the plate, where it clattered on the ceramic, pushed himself away from the table and strode back to the bed.

“I’m sorry for your pain.” Her quiet words sent skittering prickles of irritation across his skin. He lay down against the quilt, resting his feet just off the edge of the bed.

“Don’t apologize. That’s all anyone’s ever done.”

“Well,” she asked with humor edging her voice, “what else would you expect? People feel sorry for other people, they express sympathy. What is wrong with that?”

Alasdair flung his arm over his eyes. “Nothing. Of course, nothing. People utter platitudes that mean absolutely nothing because it’s what’s expected. I never apologize.”

“I’ve noticed,” she replied. Now she was definitely amused.

He removed his arm and glared at her. “Are you trying to aggravate me now?”

“If I were, is it working?”

He put his arm back. “No.”

“Then I’m not.”

What I like about these two is that they are both difficult in different ways. He, of course, is an arrogant aristocrat; she is a managing woman whose life has been thrown into chaos. That they’re together is purely chance, but of course, eventually, they fall in love.

That, and two separate freelance projects, plus the continual integration of the Boy into middle school has kept me well-occupied. I’ve barely had time to notice the cooler weather and fall vegetables!

Hope everyone’s Friday is going well; does anyone have something they’re looking forward to? What’s the last book you read? What’s your favorite fall veggie?

Megan

Oh, yeesh! In between being sick and the ridiculously moist weather over here on the East Coast, I totally forgot today was MY DAY (to post, that is).

My news is no news: I’ve been reading the same book for nigh on three weeks now, which is likely the longest it’s taken me to read something since diving back into romance. It’s not a romance, and is dense and full of world-building stuff, so I haven’t been able to zip through it.

It’s Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan, a super-cool SF-type book about people who transmit their souls into new bodies, or “sleeves,” thus theoretically enabling people to live forever. Let me just say, I would not want to live forever. And not just because I would run out of books to read! I just think life would get less and less meaningful.

But I also haven’t been reading that much because I’ve been editing; my agent is interested in submitting a work that was okay, but not perfect. The revision I am doing now takes it closer to better, I hope, and we’ll see what happens with it. In fact, I am going to print out Carolyn’s post from earlier this week and use it as a general guideline to figure my revising out. Not that she hasn’t told me the same info in person, but my brain can’t seem to retain more than a few essential nuggets of information, such as the last king of Albania (Zog) and that my husband likes spread collars on his shirts, not button-down.

On Monday, Janet will be appearing at Lady Jane’s Salon, a monthly event here in New York City to read from her new release(s). Yay! Looking forward to seeing writer friends, since all I’ve seen lately is my wan face in the mirror.

I usually love autumn, and fall, but so far it’s been a bumpy road, what with middle school and illness and such. I am, however, looking forward to fall veggies, wearing sweaters and lots and lots of hot tea; what are you looking forward to?