My article on this cool annual event (National Novel Writing Month) is published in the Nov/Dec 2009 issue of Writers' Journal.
I highly recommend taking this challenge. It is a great way to jump start an idea and to throw any thoughts of procrastination to the wind. Forget about it and just start writing. You'll be writing your novel at break neck speed (that's 50k words in 30 days) and you won't have to worry about editing. Sounds impossible, but it's not. Come January 2010 I'll be trying to make sense of what I've done in November, and no doubt, still working on my first novel from 2008. NaNo is messy, but it's fun. It's also liberating and a great way to get a novel started, and hopefully finished too. The rewrite is another matter. Many authors taking part in this world wide event have gone on to have their books published. That's encouraging.
Below is a synopsis and excerpt from the novel I'm currently writing called The Stonegates. I also did a book cover for it too, which are all on my web page on the NaNo site. This novel is the back story to the one I did last year entitled, Time Rider. Don't ask. I think I needed to know more about the back story before concluding Time Rider and rewriting it as the novels span five generations. Note: Please ignore the verbiage as the excerpt has not been edited.

 

 

My story starts in England in 1932.  My main Character Sadie is forced from her home at the age of twenty and voyages to Boston with a spinster aunt.  She eventually makes it to Maine, alone and pregnant.  She finds work for a well to do family, the Stonegates of West Carrington.  They are the founding owners of the Stonegate Mill (textile mill).  Working as a social secretary (where Sadie practices her calligraphy) she is asked to move into the mansion. After a short period Sadie and William Stonegate Jr. fall in love and elope.  The family is not happy.  And Charlotte, a close family friend, who had hopes of marrying William, feels betrayed.  She does her best to undermine the marriage as Sadie tries to adapt to her new life at William’s side.  Sadie ties to fit in, but feels she is not accepted into the social circle.  And after her son Ernie is born, of which there is much speculation, Sadie soon learns she has contracted tuberculosis. In her weakened condition she finds it hard to fight Charlotte, who has learned Sadie’s secret. Many things unfold and Sadie is shipped off to the sanatorium for a lengthy period, and Charlotte does her best to win William back. 
But her plans ultimately fail, until one night four years later at William’s surprise birthday party out on the south lawn at the edge of the property near the river, everything changes. An opportunity arises and Charlotte may or may not be responsible, as there is another, a friend of William’s named Alfred Donovan, who may have played a part in the tragic event of that night.  Charlotte is certainly guilty of something, but it will take another 73 years for the truth to unravel about how and why Sadie’s body was discovered slumped in a rowboat.  

 

 

Sadie coughed and leaned over the railing looking out onto the water.  The moon was nearly full and a brilliant moonbeam shot down right in the middle of the river, near the dock.  It glistened like tinsel on a Christmas tree.  This was all the solace she needed, the end to a perfect night.  What she didn’t realize was that Charlotte had been watching her from afar for the last hour or so and found her alone on the gazebo.  Charlotte’s approach up the few stairs and sound of her harsh voice, which could be chilling at times, made Sadie jump.
“There you are,” Charlotte said in a flat tone.  “I have been trying to speak with you all night, but you were avoiding me, as usual.”
“I wasn’t avoiding you,” Sadie said, perturbed.  “I was busy playing host.”
“So I’ve noticed.” Charlotte said in an accusing tone.  “One guest in particular seems to have caught your attention.”  Charlotte came up beside Sadie.  Sadie continued to lean on the railing, looking out at the river.  It was calming.  
Sadie pulled her satin wrap around her, trying to ward off not only the chill from the late night, but from the coolness that had suddenly formed on her right side like a ghost.  Sadie continued to ignore Charlotte, at least not to look at her.  She knew enough not to egg Charlotte on, not to give into her aspersions, her sick little games, and innuendos.  But it was extremely difficult, if not painfully impossible sometimes to hold her tongue.  Finally, Sadie turned and looked at her.  Charlotte’s hair had been done up in a neat twist, her makeup was just so, her red, full lips freshly painted.  She wore a white fur around her bare shoulders, barely covering her satin or chiffon low cut gown.  She wore fashionable gloves from her fingertips to her elbows.  And, she was drenched in fine jewels. Diamond earrings in the shape of a flower adorned her thick earlobes and a long, matching diamond necklace rested on her bosom, drawing one’s attention to her cleavage.  She breathed deeply, eyeing Sadie with anticipation, waiting for an answer.  Sadie looked her up and down then met her glare.  “And are you not trying to do the same?” Sadie said smugly.  “Are you not trying to capture William’s attention?  Or perhaps any male will do.”  Sadie accused.  She turned back, not wanting to meet Charlotte’s cold dark eyes. Sadie glanced out at the river again.  
“Oh, you think you’re so smart,” Charlotte chided. “William has nothing to do with what I’m getting at so don’t turn this around on me.  I’m talking about Alfred Donovan.  Honestly, the way he looks at you, or rather salivates when he sees you, is so obvious…”
“I’ve done nothing to encourage his bullish behavior,” Sadie said angrily.  “Not that it’s any of your business Charlotte, but I think Alfred had a bit too much to drink tonight, like many others tonight.”
“He always has too much to drink,” Charlotte replied stiffly.  “Perhaps it gives him the courage he lacks otherwise.  Quite frankly, the booze gives him balls,” she said crudely.  “But I would not say you do nothing to encourage him.  I think it’s…”
“Frankly, what you think Charlotte,” Sadie spewed, turning to face her.  “Is none of my concern.”
“Oh, but it should be.  Or at least it should be Williams.”  She snarled.  “I believe he has a right to know what his…”
“William knows what Alfred is like, for your information.  And he knows Alfred’s advances are unwanted. William knows me.  He trusts me.  And he knows Alfred’s reputation as a womanizer.  Once Alfred sees that I want nothing to do with him, he’ll move on.  Perhaps, to you Charlotte,” Sadie said with just the right edge to her voice. 
“Oh Sadie,” Charlotte snarled.  She moved to the other side of the gazebo.  “I’m afraid you don’t know your husband as well as you think you do.  He is just as gullible as any man.  William will believe whatever people suggest to him.  He will believe what he sees, or rather, what he thinks he sees. Once the seed has been planted, his imagination will fuel its growth.  In other words Sadie, there is always a seed of doubt when it comes to trusting one’s spouse.”
Sadie spun on her heels, facing her once again.  “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that William saw Alfred and you dancing tonight.  He saw the two of you talking in whispers over by the shrubs, away from the crowd.  He saw the way Alfred looked at you tonight. And I’m sure he saw the way you looked at him.”
“That’s enough!”  Sadie shouted, holding up her hand as if to halt the ugly onslaught of words from coming at her like a freight train barreling down in her path.  “You have said enough.  There was nothing wrong with what we did.  Dancing is not a crime.  And it doesn’t matter how he looked at me, because I know I did not return the sentiment.  Not that it’s any of your concern.  William and I have already discussed the issue, not that it should matter to you.  It is none of your business Charlotte.  And I refuse to speak of it further with you.  Now, if you can’t hold a normal dignified conversation, I suggest you leave.  Isn’t it time you go home now anyway.” Sadie said, feeling her face flush. Her face was getting redder by the moment.  The anger was rising in her like a tide and she couldn’t stop herself.“God Charlotte, I am so tired of your wicked games.  And your sick little remarks.  When will you ever get it through that thick head of yours that William chose me, not you.  It is high time you give up trying to put me in a bad light.  Can’t you see it’s not working?  It hasn’t worked.  So go away.  Move on.  Leave it alone.  Leave me alone.  Better yet, leave poor William alone.  For all our sakes Charlotte, find another man to pursue, preferably, one who is single.”
“Well,” Charlotte spewed, unable to contain her anger and frustration. “Looks like you give as good as you can get.  But I’m warning you Sadie, one of these days William will see you for who you really are.  You’re nothing but a lonely shop keeper’s daughter from England who came over here pregnant and looking for a husband.  A girl who lied about her past and tried to carve out a future by ingratiating herself into society.  A world in which you do not belong.   William may know your past now but he still …”
“No thanks to you,” Sadie yelled.  “Yes, he knows me.  He knows who I am and where I came from.  And you know what?  He loves me anyway.  And that is something you’ll just have to learn to live with, Charlotte.  Now please go.  We are done here.”  Sadie came up for air then added one more comment.  One she had been dying to say for a long long time.  “It’s after midnight and I’m sure the broom you rode in on is waiting patiently to whisk you away, back to your evil castle where you belong. So please, fly the hell away.”
Charlotte glared at Sadie, her mouth dropping in surprise.  She took a step forward and brought her arm up, her hand open as if she was about to slap her, but she hesitated.  Sadie bit her lower lip and quickly scrambled down the steps away from the gazebo before Charlotte could act on her rage.  She walked with purpose, though she didn’t know where she was going. She kept walking, leaving Charlotte to breathe in the dust she had just spun in her face as though her words had turned like wheels in the dirt.  Sadie walked towards the river, mad as hell, and surprised that she had erupted in such a manner.  She had been holding it in for far too long, and although she had made a few points here and there over the years, she knew nothing she had said even came close to stinging Charlotte like her words did tonight. Sadie fumed, but by the time she reached the path to the river through the shrubs, she felt a tremendous relief too.  A burden had been lifted.  She felt free.  
She stood for a long while just staring out at the river, finally able to breathe easier.  It was getting colder and she pulled the wrap around her tighter. She wondered what time it was and thought she ought to be heading back.  One more deep breath, she thought, one more moment gazing out at the river and the moonbeam that cast its brilliant light on the shimmering water.  She took it all in as if to savor the freedom of the moment, the crisp air.  Then, Sadie turned, calm now and full of herself.  She was tired. She would tell William tomorrow about her relapse.  Right now all she wanted to do was go kiss Ernie goodnight and turn in.  It would all wait until tomorrow.  Sadie turned to go and heard a rustling from the shrubs.  “Who’s there?” She called out as the clouds gathered overhead, darkening the dock.