Recognitions

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Recognitions

Joan McNulty Pulver

Welcome to Recognitions, a column designed to celebrate the writing successes of Writers' Village University members!

First I would like to apologize to my readers for the absence of this column. It wasn’t intentional but brought about by illness. I am glad I was able to regain my strength to acknowledge these wonderful writers.

Nikki Leigh completed 51,000 words on her latest non-fiction book during the month of November while participating in National Novel Writers Month (NaNoWriMo). The project is under contract to Atlantic Publishing. The first 50,000 words are currently with the publisher and should be on sale by spring 2006. The title is 365 Business Management Mistakes to Avoid and there will be a link on Nikki's website when it is available for sale. Published under her given name, Shri Henkel, it will be quite a feather in her cap and should help gain visibility for her Business and Marketing Consulting business.

At this point, her 2002 and 2003 fiction novels from NaNoWriMo are under contract. The 2002 project, Stormy View, will be released in March 2006, and Widow’s Walk, from 2003, in the summer or fall of 2006. Feel free to visit Nikki's website for more information at www.nikkileigh.com. Nikki hopes to find time to finish her 2004 NaNo novel in the near future.

Maria Narkis, who writes under the pseudonym Marianne Arkins, lives in New Hampshire with her husband, daughter, dog, cat and a serious overpopulation of wild birds determined to eat her out of house, home and birdseed. In her spare time she writes romance with a less serious edge and, most recently, had a short story published in the online magazine Wax Romantic. She is a first time NaNoWriMo winner, and hopes to have that novel polished and submitted by the middle of 2006. Read what she's been writing at her weblog: http://www.reading-writing.blogspot.com When asked about her NaNoWriMo experience this year, she replied:

This October, I got Chris Baty's book, No Plot, No Problem, and was inspired to participate in NaNoWriMo the following month. November 1st, I woke early and popped out a few thousand words, certain that this would be the quickest and easiest novel I'd ever written. Week One flew by and I was on a roll.

Week Two brought writer's block. I fought through it—having a set goal and deadline works wonders with your determination. I used dares posted in the NaNo Forum: Random Wikpedia pages, Guinness Book of World Records, Dictionary.com's Words of the Day. It worked and added some interesting texture to my story!

I regained lost ground in Week Three. I watched as fellow WVUer's word counts turned green and then purple with their 50,000 word validation and I was determined to join them. They inspired me. In the end, I made the goal with three days to spare. Incredible. 50,138 words in 27 days. I am still energized by the experience and can't wait to do it again next year!

The three biggest lessons I learned.

1. I work best under a tight deadline.
2. I respond well to prompts and "dares" as inspiration.
3. I will never, ever ask for feedback on a first draft again. It blocks me.

This was Sharon Walker’s third year on the NaNoWriMo train. She said the feeling, when the purple bar is shown with the word winner was wonderful. “The one thing I’d do different is that I’d put the words in one document and not put it all into individual chapters until after NaNoWriMo. I realize it is for the experience. That work can be done later. I found it interesting, same as previous years, the dreams I’d have. Will I do it again? Probably.”

Sharon Walker is a lifetime member of WVU. She titled this year's NaNoWriMo, “Searching for Susan.” She loves caring for her granddaughter who will start kindergarten next year, but is already a great reader, who delights in reading out loud and being read to.

Ruby Osburn a.k.a. Flame, is a member of Writers' Village University and SCBWI, a professional organization for writers and illustrators of children's literature. She heads up the Julia Cameron study group at WVU. Ruby works as the Marketing Director for ePress-Online Publishing, a division of Writopia. In her free time, she is the Vice-President of the National Concierge Association. She resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband and four cats. Ruby completed NaNoWriMo with over 100,000 words. “It was a whirlwind experience of uninhibited writing and I can’t wait to do it again next year.”

Maryellen Brady-Kropp completed her second year of NaNoWriMo this year. She lives in the woods of the Pacific Northwest with her husband. She recently placed second in a Canadian magazine, Tickled by Thunder, fiction contest. Maryellen is a member in Word Slingers and Middle Earth writing groups at WVU. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found in her rose garden or behind the camera.

P. June Diehl, author of The Magic & the Mundane: A Guide to the Writer’s Journey is working on a second book for writers and at the same time is finalizing her first novel, Murder in D Minor, an alternative earth murder mystery. June works as a writing teacher and coach and can be reached at: http://www.iwriteforyou.org and pjune@yahoo.com.

During NaNoWriMo she worked on a fantasy tentatively titled Logan’s Lament. She had originally thought of doing a SF novel, but the last week in October decided to tackle a fantasy. June had ideas for characters and two parallel plotlines. While writing the NaNoWriMo draft, she also developed two addition parallel plots.

“My plan was to write as much as possible the first couple of weeks, as I had unexpected out-of-country company in November and several weekends I was out of town. This paid off by the end of the month.

“I loved being able to encourage other writers, and watching their word counts grow. I made new friends and the month was one big adventure. What fun I had! I can’t wait for NaNo 2006.”

Last year, NaNoWriMo taught Donna Sundblad the reality of completing a first draft of a novel in one month. She hoped to participate this year, but other editing responsibilities claimed a good bit of her time. She set the NaNo goal, but it held a low priority. By the halfway point, she chalked up 10,000 words, while she completed most of the other jobs clamoring for her time. On November 21, she reached 15,201. As impossible as it seemed, she decided to push. Donna admits, 50,000 words appeared out of reach, but “The Seventh Gate” flourished in her mind. She set a mental goal of 5,000 words a day, 2,000 before work, 1,000 at lunch and 2,000 after work. In an ideal world, it could work. Many of her friends within her writing network expressed confidence that she could do it.

This steep goal offered a marginal cushion at the end of the month. She’d fallen in love with her characters. The plot thickened as her imagination stirred. Her laptop went everywhere with her. Donna carried a notebook so that when she couldn’t bring her laptop, she could capture 250 words here and there. It worked. She tallied 750 words waiting at the dentist office. On November 29, she had 48,313 words. Barring a catastrophe, she would make it. The morning of the 30th she crossed the finish line with 51,014 words. Her trophy—The Seventh Gate. A story worth refining.

The one experience A.J. Smith had during NaNo November that made the whole torturous challenge worthwhile was the feeling of being in the "ZONE." Best described as resembling the sensation runners get once they make it past the "wall" and elation sets in, there is a comparable feeling of invincibility that comes from having written a sufficient number of words without interruption. Having discussed it with fellow NaNoers, A.J. found out that the phenomenon has been studied at length. It is made possible by a strenuous effort lasting no less than thirty minutes. At the end of this period, the subject becomes Dostoevsky: words flow as easily as the Neva, and despite the quantities of vodka needed to keep up the pace, the feeling of producing a masterpiece equal or superior to "The Idiot" sets in.

Of course there's a catch. It doesn't last forever. But next November is only eleven months away.

Congratulations, Nikki, Maria, Sharon, Maryellen, June, Donna, AJ and any other WVU member who completed National Novel Writing Month and didn’t let me know. We wish you continued success in all of your writing endeavors and thank you for sharing your information with us.

We look forward to reading about your writing accomplishments in this column. If you or someone you know received recognition for writing, please send the information to recognitions@wvu.org. Let us know!

About the Author
Joan McNulty Pulver, mother of five and grandmother of five, works as an Administrative Secretary for the State of Florida but considers her writing and editing to be her vocation. She is a columnist for T-Zero: The Writer’s E-Zine, a course developer and facilitator at Writers’ Village University and the Personnel Coordinator/Editor for ePress-online. Joan has had two short stories published and is currently working on a non-fiction book and a fantasy novel.