Nano nano

Nov6

Yesterday was a bit slow for me; I couldn’t get into it at all.

First Line: “Oh, that wasn’t me. But thank you again, sir.”

Last Line: A glance over the curve of the roof showed people flooding out of the building below in much the same fluid patterns.

Words yesterday: 1679
Bringing the total to 15,279

Average of 3055.8 words/day.

At that rate, I will finish on Nov. 17th.

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Looking for Recipes

Nov5

Including:
* Butternut Squash
* Applesauce
* Whole apples

What’s your favorite one? We have an apple cake we like a lot, which I can’t find at the moment online, sigh, and this butternut soup recipe, which we make all the time.

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Nanowrimo – First and Last Lines

Nov5

First Line of Yesterday: …be instructed upon today. This way.” She flapped her hands at the three of them, and, obediently, then went.

Last line: “And clever of you, to think of the stables.”

3,145 words
Bringing the total to 13,600 words

Average: 3400/day

At this rate, I will still finish on the 15th (except I have a skip day on the 10th) (double-except this might be the 9th, because there’s a write-in on the 10th)

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/595741.html. You can comment here or there.

(no subject)

Nov4

First Line: And that was that. Both parent claimed another hug, and then they were gone, back to the carriage, back to Amenet, back home

Last Line: “Well, then. There will be enough time for that later. For now, this way. Into your class groups. There is still more to do, more to discover, more to [and then I spilled my tea.]

3,256 words written
Bringing me to a total of 10,455 words

An average of 3485 words/day
At this rate, I will finish on Nov. 15

I will get the Alpha filter set up today!

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My-Hobbies-Ran-Into-Each-Other-And-I-Blew-My-Gas-Money-Budget Emergency Fundraiser

Nov4

So, it went like this:

I’m doing NanoWrimo (I think you’ve noticed 😉

While I live in the Ithaca region, the ML (Municipal Liaison, like a regional coordinator & cheerleader) of NY: Elsewhere (i.e., everywhere not covered by a region or without an ML of their own) lives in my attic (long story.)

We do Live-Action Roleplaying twice a month in Elmira (about 30 miles away).

So when I saw that Elmira’s region was without an ML, I said to said atticker, “Hey, we should go to write-ins in Elmira before game.”

Great idea, right, combine two hobbies?

Cue last night, where we got up, had waffles, made pie for game, wrote some words, did some other stuff, packed the car, and went off to the write-in.

Leaving – as I would discover only hours later – my costume for the Live-action game at home.

Not just for any live-action event, but for the fancy dress ball of the year.

Which led to me driving an extra 60 miles, back and forth from Elmira to home.

/Facepalm/

(I might note: I live in New York, where gas prices are among the highest in the country. Sigh).

Which leads to me, in the middle of nano, offering $2- $3- and $5-commissions for microfic.

Any topic!

Even blowing up Addergoole (though I won’t make that canon, probably).

Maybe even the story of Cynara meeting her mother that I wrote out loud on the way to game.

Maybe even when Junie finds out what she really is.

Anything.

I will take a total of 10 commissions, and write one/day after my nano wordcount is done for the next 10 days, in the order sent to me.

Gas Money Words
150 words $2.00 USD
250 words $3.00 USD
450 words $5.00 USD

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Nano !

Nov3

First line of yesterday: “Incentives?” Kinyozhanya leaned forward. “What sort of incentives?”
Last line of last night: “I will.” She bowed to her parents. “I will see you at the end of the year.”

3,078 words written
bringing me to 7,199

Average words/day: 3,599 and a half
At this rate, I will finish on November 16th

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/594802.html. You can comment here or there.

Annnd we’re off… Day one of NanoWriMo Complete!

Nov2

First Line:
All of the legendary Empress Edaledalende Academy of Higher Learning at Ileltedez was stretched out in front of Tairiekie.

Last Line: “…And then you have to hold it. There are incentives the longer you stay at the top.”

4,121 words.
an average of 4,121 words/day <.<
at this rate, I will finish on November 13th.
(no, not really, but it’s fun to say)

If you have an interest in being on an Alpha (like beta but rawer) filter, please let me know!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/594512.html. You can comment here or there.

Worldbuilding SFWA Style: Reiassan

Oct31

From this link, from the sfwa.org
I. The World
B. Not Earth at All

  • How does this world differ physically from earth? Is it the same size (same density, same gravity), same ratio of land/water, same atmosphere, etc.? Does it have more than one sun or moon? Rings? Are there spectacular constellations/comets, etc. visible at night or by day?
 
The world is slightly smaller than Earth (just a few miles in diameter),  and a similar density and gravity, and is generally earthlike. 
 
It has two moons, one large and one small.  It also has brilliantly stars in a sky full of light.  
 
  • Are there non-human inhabitants of this planet (elves, dwarves, aliens)? If so, how numerous? How openly present? What areas do they occupy?
 
Nope, there are only humans. 
 
  • How are the continents laid out? If there is more than one moon/sun, how does this affect winds, tides, and weather generally?
 
Reiassan and (Homeland) are both in the Northern/Eastern Hemispheres. Reiassan is to the west of (Homeland) continent by about ¼ of the world; there is another large land mass on the Western hemisphere, and several smaller land masses in the southern hemisphere.
 
Reiassan is a continent about the size of South America; Homeland is a mass equivalent to Eurasia in size, as is the Western continent. 
 
  • How much land is there, and how much of it is habitable?
 
There’s approximately  50,000,000 square miles (129,499,000 sq. km).  About 35% of this is habitable (neither mountain nor desert).
 
  • Is the axial tilt and orbit the same — i.e., does the world have the same seasons and same length of year as Earth?
 
Seasons are similar to Earth’s, although they count them differently in Reiassan; they consider the rainy season, the warm season, and the cold season.

II. Physical and Historical Features
A. General
  • In which geographical areas will the story take place? How much ground will the story cover? What are the most striking features of landscape, climate, animals, etc. in this area? How will these features affect travel time, communication, etc.?
 
Both extant stories take place on the continent of Reiassan, a sort of comma-shaped continent the size (approx.) of South America.
 
Reiassan is a continent wrinkled and gouged by glacial activity; it looks like a wrinkled napkin.  This makes travel difficult and sometimes prohibitive.
 
Agriculture tends towards crops which can be grown on slopes – more root crops and less grain crops, for one.  There are fewer trees and much of what exist are scrublike and twisted; buildings are mostly stone-created, with wood being rare and generally used for accent, not for construction. 
 
The tip of the continent, the part that was formerly Bitrani, is warmer and flatter, although it has a great deal of swampland.  Trees similar to the mangrove are prevalent here, and rice is one of their main crops. 
 
The seas on either side of the continent are very good for fishing. 
 
Into Lanamer crosses most of the continent, heading from near the Bitrani city of Onikanin, less than 1/3 of the tail up from the Southern tip of Reiassan, up to the Calenyena city of Lanamer, at the point where the dot of the comma reaches the tail. 
 
Edally Academy takes place primarily in Edally Academy at Ileltedez, a coastal city South of Lanamer. 
 
  • If there are non-human inhabitants, are there any areas they particularly claim as their own (e.g., dwarves traditionally live underground, usually in mountains)?
 
Still no non-humans. 
 

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Apples!

Oct31

It’s October (still); that means there have been things I’ve been doing other that writing.

I’ve been raking leaves and cutting deadwood out of trees.

I’ve been sneaking in that last bit of painting when the rain stops.

I’ve been picking things out of my garden, peeling, cutting, cooking.

I’ve been picking apples.

I’ve been picking apples.

I’ve been picking apples.

We had, when we moved in, one super-productive apple tree that had been overgrown, so made a lot of tiny tart apples.

Over the last two years (last year was a horrid apple season in this corner of the world; we got a warm bunch of days in March, followed by a cold snap and a day of 6″ of snow), T has been trimming the tree, getting into proper apple shape. At the end of this year, it really looks properly like an orchard tree.

But then, when he was cleaning out the hedgerow (he’s been cutting grapevines out of everything for two years now; they choke out anything they touch), he looked up.

And realized that those green round leaves… were apples.

We’d known we had one apple tree in the hedgerow.

(note: this is what Wikipedia thinks a hedgerow is. Around here, it’s a lot more haphazard. Think of ten feet wide, length of your property long of planted trees allowed to go wild, underbrush, thorns, and trouble. But it slows the wind right down!)

And that apple tree turned out to be two, hung with so many small apples that it looks like an interior designer’s idea of “apple fronds” or something.

But it turns out we have FOUR.

We gave a 55-gallon barrel of apples to a friend for cider. We’ve been giving away copy-paper boxes of apples to anyone we can get to take them.

And we’ve been cutting, coring, cooking down, saucing, and canning apples.

And canning apples.

and canning apples.

Send help?

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