Ow.
Yep, that's pretty much been my mental and physical reaction to this month so far. Between helping my mom through the continuing recovery from her surgery the first half of the month (she's pretty well back to normal now), being right in the middle of the most stressful and demanding part of the black belt testing process, and a ton of other events and obligations, this year was probably not a good one to also decide to do a half NaNo.
But... I'm really liking the way my novel's coming along so far, and without that goal to push myself toward I knew I would've probably would've given in to exhaustion and just not worked on it at all this month. So. I've been writing. And so far it's still coming along. My current word count's at -
20048 / 25000 (80.19%)
Still on track to finish at this point, much to my own surprise!
Karate is also going well. Between particularly intense workouts and getting punched in the head multiple times (not hard enough for a concussion... definitely hard enough to snap my head back and leave me with a stiff neck for days) soreness is pretty much a way of life at the moment.
I also found out, belatedly (my brother knew, but didn't realize I hadn't heard) that one part of the screening tests was a trick question, test-of-your-character sort of scenario. You're given a couple of options as if they really don't care either way which you do, but in fact your choice is actually a rather major factor in their assessment of you. Not being aware beforehand, I chose correctly by pure accident (or Divine intervention, more like), rather than some kind of determination to challenge myself and push my limits. I didn't think I could manage the easier option without flailing and/or falling over at that point, while I was pretty sure I could do the harder one technically correctly, even if my execution wasn't awesomely impressive. XD
So - Eric and I just got word that we both passed our final screening, and will be allowed to go down to the Cities for the final exam on December 7th! Which means a lot of intense preparation yet, and I've got to fit in the required number of sparring sessions before then (which will be... tight), but I think we both have a really good chance of passing the final exam. \o/ But in the meantime... ow. Also, tired.
I've also been re-reading Queen of Attolia and King of Attolia during car rides and at night to unwind, and they are not only making me very happy but doing an excellent job of reminding me exactly why I wanted to write in the first place. What a wonderful reward it would be if someday someone laid in bed reading one of my books, desperately trying to smother gleeful giggles for fear of disturbing family members...
And that's basically a summary of my life lately.
Now I need to go and write a little more, because I'm behind on my word count for the day.
But... I'm really liking the way my novel's coming along so far, and without that goal to push myself toward I knew I would've probably would've given in to exhaustion and just not worked on it at all this month. So. I've been writing. And so far it's still coming along. My current word count's at -
20048 / 25000 (80.19%)
Still on track to finish at this point, much to my own surprise!
Karate is also going well. Between particularly intense workouts and getting punched in the head multiple times (not hard enough for a concussion... definitely hard enough to snap my head back and leave me with a stiff neck for days) soreness is pretty much a way of life at the moment.
I also found out, belatedly (my brother knew, but didn't realize I hadn't heard) that one part of the screening tests was a trick question, test-of-your-character sort of scenario. You're given a couple of options as if they really don't care either way which you do, but in fact your choice is actually a rather major factor in their assessment of you. Not being aware beforehand, I chose correctly by pure accident (or Divine intervention, more like), rather than some kind of determination to challenge myself and push my limits. I didn't think I could manage the easier option without flailing and/or falling over at that point, while I was pretty sure I could do the harder one technically correctly, even if my execution wasn't awesomely impressive. XD
So - Eric and I just got word that we both passed our final screening, and will be allowed to go down to the Cities for the final exam on December 7th! Which means a lot of intense preparation yet, and I've got to fit in the required number of sparring sessions before then (which will be... tight), but I think we both have a really good chance of passing the final exam. \o/ But in the meantime... ow. Also, tired.
I've also been re-reading Queen of Attolia and King of Attolia during car rides and at night to unwind, and they are not only making me very happy but doing an excellent job of reminding me exactly why I wanted to write in the first place. What a wonderful reward it would be if someday someone laid in bed reading one of my books, desperately trying to smother gleeful giggles for fear of disturbing family members...
And that's basically a summary of my life lately.
Now I need to go and write a little more, because I'm behind on my word count for the day.