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Time to Write a Novel??

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In just a few days, November will be here. To be that means NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)!! It is the one month of the year where I, and many many others, try to write 50,000 words in just one month. Some of us are successful; some of us are not and that is ok. This is my sixth year doing NaNoWriMo. I am not going to stress out if I don’t make the word count, because my goal is just to regain my creative juices and write on a schedule.

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Planning is usually my downfall. I want to be a planner so I try and try each year to write what I had planned for NaNoWriMo, but it just doesn’t work out. My characters do as they damn please. So this year, I am not going to plan. I am going to write and let the characters run with it.  We will see. I am hopeful and excited to see what comes of it.

It has been hard to stay on a writing schedule lately. I have been letting my personal life interfere. Dealing with my mother’s Alzheimer’s has seemed to take over my thoughts and feelings. Perhaps writing can be a form of therapy for me instead of something I put off because I am just not in the mood to write? Maybe NaNoWriMo can help me get out of this funk?

I am looking forward to having a goal to work towards, talking with fellow writers about their imagination, and making time for myself to just write.

Good luck to everyone!!

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Book Launch Party

THE BOOK LAUNCH PARTY IS ON!!!!

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I tend to write in different genres. I love writing all things horror, short stories with surprise endings, but I also LOVE writing young adult and children’s books. I wish I could write lovely romantic stories, but it just doesn’t call my name.

My latest book, The Girl Who Saw Words, is about a girl who has Synesthesia. If you aren’t familiar with that term, it simply means when two or more senses are sort of combined. There are many types of Synesthesia and I never knew I was a synesthete until I was thirty years old. No one tells you on a daily basis (or really ever) how they experience the world. I experience Ticker Tape Synesthesia where I “see” the words I say and the words I hear. If too many people are talking at the same time, there are too many words for me to read and I cannot understand what is being said. If I go to a busy restaurant that is too loud, again I cannot hear. I don’t tell people the long story of what synesthesia is..I just simply say I have “old lady ears.” They nod their heads in understanding. No need to explain more. Some people love to hear about the truth; others don’t trust anything that sounds abnormal. However, to me, not seeing words sounds abnormal. How do other people understand the words that people say if you cannot see them?

My point is that I used to NEVER tell anyone. Then I had my son. I realized that if he saw the world I do, I wouldn’t want him to be ashamed. I would want him to be proud of it. My children’s book was born. I needed for him, and for everyone, to feel proud of who they are..no matter how different they may or may not be.

On that note…let me say there are MANY cool things happening this week!!

  1. Book Launch Party with SCBWI! Join me in this book celebration!! I am beyond excited about this!!
  2. An Amazon Giveaway just started!! It won’t last long so enter for your chance to win a copy of The Girl Who Saw Words!
  3. I am getting ready for NaNoWriMo! Want to be my writing buddy as I try (yet again) to write a complete novel during the month of November? Find me on the NaNoWriMo site:  jwtaylor1

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Writing When Not at the Day Job

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I struggle with finding the time to write. There are some months that I am proud of what I am accomplished. However, there are also months where I am overwhelmed with writing IEPs and exhausted from teaching and/or meetings at work. It is hard as hell to have four jobs. I said four, I know. Technically, there is just the day job of teaching. I count writing, because that is what I ultimately want to do in life full time. Where are the other two jobs coming from? Continue reading → Writing When Not at the Day Job