NaNoWriMo 2021

It's that time of year again when writers around the world try to kick their monthly word count goals into high gear for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). As someone who has reached 50,000 words in the month of November three times before, my goals have been more modest in recent years. Now I approach NaNoWriMo like someone who joins a gym in January: to reach short-term goals if I can, but also to develop better habits that will hopefully last beyond the month. 

Last year, I used NaNoWriMo to add about 20,000 words to my YA zombie apocalypse novel, Hopeless. This year, I'm working on its sequel, and I hope to emulate the writing schedule that led to the publication of Hopeless in June. To reach that goal, I'd ideally finish 40,000 words by the end of November. I've written about 20,000 so far, which means my NaNoWriMo goal this year is another 20,000 words.

Since I wrote 20,000 words last November, I'm cautiously optimistic that I'll be able to reach the goal again this year. As always, I'll report on how I did at the end of NaNoWriMo. Wish me luck!

Hopeless is on sale for Halloween

The title pretty much explains it all. From now until Halloween, my YA zombie novel, Hopeless, will be on sale for 99 cents! Buy it here, or if you're a member of the Kindle Unlimited program, you can read it for free!

Description:

The zombie apocalypse happened faster than anyone could’ve imagined. 

On what she believes is a normal Friday night, seventeen-year-old Sara goes to bed believing that she’ll see her parents and her brother the next morning. Instead, she wakes up to a new world where zombies are taking over. Worse yet, she is alone. The rest of her family isn’t home from their outings the night before, and she can’t contact them. 

Slowly, Sara learns how dire the zombie situation is. With only herself to rely on, she must figure out what’s happening and how to survive. But more than anything, she hopes she’ll be reunited with her family again. Even if she has to risk her own life to make it happen. 

A 2021 writing update

 

First of all, thank you to everyone who supported my latest release, Hopeless! I hope you enjoyed reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I'm currently working on the first draft of the sequel to Hopeless, which is still untitled. (I have a few options in mind, but I haven't decided which one I like best and may not until after the first draft is completed.) Last year, I started writing Hopeless in June and completed the first draft in December. January through May of 2021 consisted of revisions, editing, and everything else involved in putting a book together for a June 2021 release.

I liked the 12-month cycle that I went through to publish Hopeless, and my intention is to follow the same schedule as much as possible for the sequel. A couple of weeks after the release of Hopeless, I began writing the second book. I've only finished about 10,000 words, which isn't as far along as I'd like, but I have nearly four months remaining until the end of the year. Last year's word count got a boost from NaNoWriMo, and I anticipate using November to help me catch up this year as well.

If I'm able to replicate this schedule for the sequel, I'll continue sticking with it for subsequent books in the After Z-Day series, assuming the books are all roughly the same length as Hopeless was. But first things first. I want to reach 25,000 words by the end of October, add another 15,000 to 20,000 during NaNiWriMo, and complete the first draft by December 31. Let's see how I do against these shorter term goals.

Walking: Good for your body and good for your writing

Thanks to the pandemic, I couldn't go to the gym from March to November last year, so I had to find other ways to exercise. I bought some dumbbells and elastic bands to work out at home, but I also discovered an easy exercise that helped my body and my writing: walking. 

Before the pandemic, I walked mainly to get from point A to point B, e.g., from my house to the train station, from the train station to my work office. Since we started sheltering in place, the only places I needed to go was from the bedroom to the bathroom or from the living room to the kitchen. I also didn't have a treadmill or exercise bike at home, which meant I lacked any cardio exercise. One day, soon after the pandemic started, I decided to walk around my neighborhood. Then I did that the next day, taking a different route. Before I knew it, I had built a daily routine of walking for 30 to 40 minutes.

Not only has all the walking helped me keep my weight in check (an accomplishment in itself since I've been staying at home and snacking throughout the day), but it also helped rejuvenate my creativity. The ideas I got on my walks helped me finish Hopeless, which I might not have done as quickly otherwise.

The reason walking helps my creativity is because (1) it's solitary and (2) it requires little mental effort. I can let my mind wander as I walk, and unlike running on a treadmill or working out with weights, I don't have to think about the exercise itself. Have you ever found that ideas come to you in the shower? I believe it's for the same two reasons, but walking has the added advantage that you're getting exercise too!

If you're looking for an easy activity that's good for your body and your writing, try walking!

 

How I read 100 books in a year

I call myself an avid reader and writer, but truthfully, I spend a lot more time reading than writing. Last year, I read over 100 books, and I'm on pace to read over 100 books again this year. When I tell people how many books I read, they are often amazed. That may be because the average American adult reads 12 books a year. They ask me how I'm able to read so many books, and I tell them it's because I just love reading. While that's a simplistic answer, there are some things I do that help improve the number of books I read. 

1. Spend a lot of time reading - This may sound obvious, but spending time reading means not spending time doing other things, like going out to parties or watching TV. Fortunately, I'm not the party-going type. I do watch some TV, but I limit the amount of time spent in front of the screen. My main source of entertainment is (no surprise) reading.
2. Read multiple books at once - Most of the time, I have two or three books that I'm in the middle of reading. Reading more than one book at a time helps me because if I get to a slow section in one book or just want something different, I can switch to another book. I also advise reading books that aren't too similar. Not only does it give you a break from what you're reading, but it's less confusing to switch books. Earlier this year, I read two high fantasy books at the same time and had a lot of difficulty remembering which characters belonged to which book!
3. Log the books read - If you're the type who's motivated by seeing the counter increment on the number of book you've read, this is a good strategy to keep you going. I record my books read on Goodreads, and I like seeing how I'm progressing against the yearly goal I set for myself in January.
   
4. Create reading challenges - Since 2015, I've participated in the annual Goodreads reading challenges. Before that, however, I set up my own reading challenges and continue to do so. For example, some of my favorites that I've documented on this blog include the Authors A to Z challenge and the Reading Outside the Box challenge. This year, I embarked on the Goodreads Choice Awards challenge.
   

If you want to read more books, try out some of these strategies. If there are others that you employ to help you read more books, please share in the comments. Happy reading!

Release announcement: Hopeless

I'm proud to announce the release of my latest novel, Hopeless! If you're a fan of zombie apocalypse stories (with a PG-13 rating), this book is for you.

Hopeless is currently available on Amazon. If you're a member of the Kindle Unlimited program, you can read it for free!

Description:

The zombie apocalypse happened faster than anyone could’ve imagined. 

On what she believes is a normal Friday night, seventeen-year-old Sara goes to bed believing that she’ll see her parents and her brother the next morning. Instead, she wakes up to a new world where zombies are taking over. Worse yet, she is alone. The rest of her family isn’t home from their outings the night before, and she can’t contact them. 

Slowly, Sara learns how dire the zombie situation is. With only herself to rely on, she must figure out what’s happening and how to survive. But more than anything, she hopes she’ll be reunited with her family again. Even if she has to risk her own life to make it happen. 

Returning to normal?

It's been a difficult past fourteen months for everyone, no matter where you live. Who knew back in March 2020 that the specter of COVID would still loom large in May 2021? Fortunately, I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the pandemic situation is under control more so than in many other parts of the world. With the initial rush over, vaccines are becoming easier to get, and our state continues to take precautions that make me feel safe.

I still haven't dined inside a restaurant or gone to a movie theater since before the pandemic, but there are definitely signs that we're slowly returning to normal. A couple of months ago, my gym reopened, for example. However, nothing has been a bigger sign of hope for me than our local public library opening again. 

The library isn't offering all of the programs it used to yet, but that doesn't matter. I'm finally able to walk among shelves of books again! You don't know how much I've missed that. I was also glad to return the books that I had checked out before the pandemic, books that I've hung onto for over a year! Who would've thought I'd be able to keep library books for so long without a late fee? :-)

I'm looking forward to resuming other activities I enjoyed before the pandemic, but the library was a big step forward.

May the COVID situation where you live improve as well. Stay safe!