Join me for NaNoWriMo!
Monday October 19, 2020 | By Hieronymus Hawkes | Writer's life | Leave Comments
Once again I will start National Novel Writing Month. I say start because I haven't "won" since 2010. So it's my tenth anniversary! I missed the last two years but I am giving it the ol' college try again this year. It will be good to get back into a daily writing practice and if you are so inclined you can join me and be my one of my writing buddies!
Here is my NaNoWriMo page: Kardaen
Here is their official announcement on Twitter
If you don't know what NaNoWriMo is I'll briefly explain. It is an annual writing challenge to "write a 50,000 word novel" in one month. The timer starts at midnight of Halloween and goes until midnight of November 30th. In order to stay on pace you have to write 1667 words a day. It can be a daunting task. I know the year I "won" it took almost every free moment I had, and my wife was not happy at me. At all. I vowed I wouldn't do that to her again, and I didn't. And it really is about writing every day. 50k words is not really a novel either. That would qualify as a novella. The year I "won" I felt like I had written half a novel. it could be a series of short stories. Or essays. The entire point, again, is to write every day. Nobody is coming to your house to make sure you are following the "rules." Jut have fun with it and write what you can. If it's only a 100 words a day, then that is still 3000 words by the end of the month. And that is 3000 words more than you had before you started.
I use it to springboard a new story usually. Sometimes I take an old story out and try to add to it. I haven't hit the 50k mark in a decade but this might be the year. If not that's okay, too.
I hope you join me and good luck!
Read More#Pitmad
Thursday March 5, 2020 | By Hieronymus Hawkes | Blogging | Leave Comments
I recently finished a complete overhaul of my latest manuscript, after getting some great feedback. The story has changed drastically, so have a lot of the characters.
I noticed that PitMad was coming up so I decided to brush off the pitch and see if I got any bites. The event is sponsored by Pitchwars.org
Cole's life is in disarray after his memory is stripped in a brutal attack that destroys his neurochip. Now the centerpiece of a government cover-up, he must expose the truth behind hundreds of mysterious deaths before they shut him up for good. #PITMAD #A #S #SPF #SF
A brutal attack destroys Cole's neurochip, strips his memory, and leaves his life in shambles. Now the centerpiece of a government cover-up, and unable to trust anyone, he must expose the truth behind hundreds of deaths before they shut him up for good. #PITMAD #A #S #SPF #SF
A brutal attack destroys Cole's neurochip, strips his memory, and leaves his life in shambles. Deep state treachery and a manhunt make exposing the truth a daunting task. Blake Crouch's Recursion meets William Gibson's Zero History. #PITMAD #A #S #SPF #SF
Impedance
Saturday February 22, 2020 | By Hieronymus Hawkes | Uncategorized | Leave Comments
[caption id="attachment_1771" align="alignright" width="384"] Sheila Sund[/caption]
Funny how easy it is to not do something. The longer you keep from doing it the more impedance builds up. It might be working out, or keeping up a blog, or writing a piece of fiction. Or maybe you put off making a call to a close relative and then it started to become a thing because you had gone so long without calling.
Last summer, I had managed to run a streak of almost four months where I posted five days a week. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it up forever. But what surprised me was how sudden it happened and how easy it was to not post anything. I had a run of bad luck physically. Multiple doctor visits for different things. Pneumonia really knocked me on my butt. But even before that I had stopped blogging when I herniated myself. It wasn't like I had to exercise in order to blog, but the two became linked somehow. Then I ended up going to Oklahoma to work for several weeks and after I returned I got sick.
But the only way to confront this kind of impedance is head on. You pick up the phone and call and try not to make a big deal about how long it's been. You get out your workout clothes and start back slow and easy. You post something to your blog and make a new commitment to doing it regularly. Maybe not five days a week.
Fortunately, the impedance didn't effect my writing too much. I finished my last editing pass a few days ago and sent out the piece to a friend of mine for a beta read. It feels finished. I want to be done with it and move on to the next project.
Finishing that project has brought me to a new starting line. I'm healthy again. I'm going to start exercising regularly next week and I've started working on my next project.
Part of this reboot comes with some changes. If you have been following me you may have noticed a name change, both for me and for the web address. I decided on using a pen name and I bought a new domain name for the blog. I had been doing some ancestry research and discovered I had three grandfathers with the name Hieronymus. Hawkes is another family surname and I like the alliteration. I have a new Facebook page and a new Twitter persona. I've been on Twitter for almost twelve years, so starting over is a bit daunting.
My new project is a piece that I started while I was working on my MFA, just for a palette cleanser in between edits. It was something that was as close to universally liked as anything I had written before. I only have about 7000 words, but the ideas are solid and the thing has some real potential. I debated throwing it all out and starting over. I'm actually still debating that, but I did some work on the opening chapter and I may keep it.
I am toying with the idea of cutting some of it out and creating a short story out of it as a teaser for the novel. I would have to cut it down by about half to get where I would need for the word count. It would be a good exercise.
Throwback Thursday – It’s much easier to edit someone else’s work!
Thursday August 15, 2019 | By Hieronymus Hawkes | Throwback Thursday | Leave Comments
This from Feb 18, 2011. Stacy has published several books now. She has done very well. We haven't worked together since I started my Master's program. I was simply too busy to work on other stuff, but we have kept in contact. I'm very proud of her and a little bit jealous. I need to get busy and knock out a few more novels! Natalie Whipple has written a lot of books as well and her blog is still going.
