It was a cold and rainy Monday here in the Pacific Northwest. Another day without a write in and I’m feeling the withdrawal. There is something to really be said for the group camaraderie and the bursts of inspirations I get from having other toiling authors right there in the thick of it with me. Thankfully tomorrow is a meet up day. Two hours of writing delight with my fellow nanowrimos. I need that extra bit of brilliance I find when I am word warring with good friends. I am behind. Not far behind but just a pinch.

On the other hand, I did do good work today. On Mondays I volunteer in the library where my son goes to school. Today I told the librarian all about Nano. Can you believe she hadn’t heard of it? And her a librarian. I am sure the books are considering holding it against her. It is only her second year on the job, so maybe we can cut her a little slack.

Time spent writing: 45 minutes.

Time spent waxing poetic about nano: 45 minutes

Words written: 1059 I’ll spare you the words spoken count.

Cumulative total: 3758 or 7.5%

Line that doesn’t need editing:

I heard muffled laughter from throughout the room. Well really, if you had a large pile of stones in the country and a lot of family that descended for the holidays, you put on plays to fight off boredom while inevitably snowed in.

Greetings and Salutations. Today I spent very little time writing. I spent the day with my family. We played at least ten rounds of ticket to ride. I got whipped by my five year old several times. That kid is scarey smart. We watched Scooby Doo and the Wrestlemania mystery. My son is now a Wrestlemania fan so I have that to look forward to.

When he finally went to bed I sat down to write.

Time Spent: 45 Minutes

Words : 832

Cumulative Total: 2699 or 5.4%

Phrase that doesn’t suck: uttered by an old school friend (Lila O’Rourke) when they meet for coffee

“Oh darling, it’s dreadful. I simply go from party to party trying not to be married off by my mother and yet desperately heart broken when the bachelor of the day doesn’t seem interested in little old me.”

Happy November First dear readers. I have been very nano busy already. Last night was the first minute write in. We had a little venue trouble but were finally able to all meet up, someone of us in costume. I did indeed dress as Lady Margaret Leighton, Molly to her friends. Since I eschew photos that do not involve a distraction from my likeness, ie a cute five year old, preferably my own, I will simply have to describe my costume.

From head to toe:

-hair loose and curly with a small section in a side sweep complete with crochet flower

-Very pale and heavily powdered face

-red lipstick, even though let me just say, every red lipstick goes orange on me

-cream colored jumper, grey two inches below my knee a line skirt

-seamed stockings

-peep toe, sling back heels

I had an appropriate black boxy shoulder, nipped in waist, 3 button coat and black gloves.

We had a lot of fun laughing on the people watching on hand in our location. Good writing was done as well as the very second it became November 1st.

Today we all met up at the Black Dog in Snoqualmie. I actually won the first word sprint of the day with 401 words in 12 minutes. Yeah Me!!!

Total writing time today: two hours and 20 minutes.

Total word count: 1876

Best phrase:  I swallowed hard. How to tell my mother this was not at all what I meant. It was impossible. Brigadier General Wingate always said we could do the impossible in a day but miracles took a bit longer. This needed a miracle.

Happy Halloween! My husband is currently out trick or treating with our five year old. I’m using these few moments of peace to research for nano, what else? My costume for tonight’s First Minute Party is ready for me to get all gussied up and slither into it. I’m going as my main character. As chance would have it, I didn’t have to buy a thing for my costume. I never thought of myself as a 40s girl but apparently I am. It’s not perfect but close enough for my taste. I will post a pic and a tidbit or two about the party after it happens in four hours, 42 minutes. Yeeep!

Continuing with cool stuff out of my research….

When Penicillin was first used in military hospitals the nurses has to administer it by using a special mask to gently blow the fine powder directly into the wound. One QA remembered how stunned she had been one day blowing the Penicillin powder in a wound, leaning in very close to the soldier’s body, when she saw something move. It took a beat before she realized it was his lung expanding and deflating as the man drew breath.

WILD!

Greetings and the count down is on. 5 days to the first minute write in where Nano for the Sno region will be on for 30 days of excitement, pressure, and too much coffee. Ok no coffee for me but I am sure others will drink so I can live vicariously.

I have been spending good portions of my recovery time researching for Nano and I wanted to share a few tidbits with you.

The Ceramic was torpedoed at night off the West Coast of Africa. She carried both civilians fleeing the Blitz and soldiers on their way to war. The ship sunk rapidly and the U-boat responsible for their destruction circled the life boats looking for the captain. When the Germans were unable to locate the Captain the grabbed a random officer out of the water, Eric Munday. He survived interrogation and several years as a POW before returning home to find he was the only one who survived the Ceramic. All others perished. In recent years he was gone to Germany for reunions with the men from the U-Boat that effectively rescued him when they took him on board for interrogation.

The Ornsay was sunk off the West Coast of Africa by German U-boat at night. Two launches and 12 life boats made it away from the ship. The Captain ordered them to convoy together. During the first night after ship wreck, the Captains launch and the seven life boats he was tugging disappeared. The other launch continued tugging five life boats until her motor gave out. Four of the lifeboats decided they would be better off without the launch and cut themselves free. 74 men and one Queen Alexandra’s nurse decided their best course of action was to row on to land, 500 miles away. The QA organized the rations into a meals that would last them the estimated 21 days to land. She organized them into rowing shifts, one hour on, two hours off, working from 6AM to 10PM. Knowing the sun was the biggest danger, she organized a work party responsible for pouring a bucket of sea water over every man every half hour of day light. She conducted health exams every day deciding who was fit to work and who was not. She attended to all wounds physical and emotional. Men on the verge of breakdown were sent to her for a chat and a hug. In the course of 12 days they rowed 380 miles before being picked up by a Royal Navy ship. Not only were they on track to make land much faster than estimated, not a single life was lost in the two boats tended by the QA. All others from the Ornsay were lost at sea.

I am also taking a poll for the name of our fearless heroine.

Vote now:
Margaret “Molly” Leighton
Lila O’Rourke
Frances “Frankie” Marple