Day 1 of NaNoWriMo 09

So far so good. Today was the first day of NaNoWriMo and I racked up 3,510 words. I’m a little over a day ahead of schedule. With one weekend trip and unknown Thanksgiving plans ahead, getting as far ahead on word count as I can right now is going to be key.

In case you’re wondering, I’ve decided on a tiered system of backups to make sure I don’t lose this book if the new hard drive fails. I’m writing my novel on Word and saving it in a file on my desktop. Once it’s saved there, I upload it into Scrivener and put it into a file by chapter (not for backup purposes, but to make it easier to edit later). Then, I email the file to myself from my yahoo account into my google account. And, I’ll also be putting the entire desktop word document file onto my backup hard drive once a week. Flying by the seat of my pants was fun while it lasted, but for the foreseeable future I am going to be one of those nutso-super-backed-up people. (I draw the line at printing anything out, though.)

One question that’s been hard for me to answer -- Am I rewriting the immortality book? Yes and no. I decided to use some advice from Carolyn See’s book to create a better version of my novel. Basically, I made one list of everything I love to read, and another list of everything I hate to read. Now, I’m adding all the things on my love list to my novel and dropping the topics I hate. This is actually harder than you’d think. Those hateful things have a way of making themselves sound necessary. Such as children, victims, and descriptions of houses. blah.

One thing I realized when I was making my lists was that I was a lot more excited about the first chapters I wrote a year ago, even though they had less literary merit than the latest ones, because those chapters centered on the elements I'm excited to read about. There was mystery, intrigue, excitement, and a lot less brooding. It’s just so much fun to write about the handsomest man and woman in the world alone on an island with a bunch of deranged mutants and a mad scientist. I mean, come on! I’d love to believe that farther into the process I can edit it into a smart commentary on interpersonal relationships in the modern world or something, but for sanity’s sake I think I owe it to myself to just write the pulpy first draft that I want it to be. (And also apparently write the phrase “gave the appearance of” twelve times on every page, because I am completely o.o.c.)

Anyway, I won’t be posting much on the blog in the coming weeks (why start now, right?). I don’t want to waste my writing energies on posts that aren’t required by my employer or the NaNoWriMo rulebook. So have a nice early November and I’ll talk to you around Black Friday.

Nanowrimo goals change

One week until Nanowrimo and everything has changed. Remember that part of my last post about how if my computer crashed I would lose everything? Well that happened. And in the middle of my first back-up! Thursday night I took my laptop to the Genius Bar and they confirmed that not only was the hard drive dead, but nothing had been transferred to the back up hard drive before it died.

Sigh.

So after hours of soul searching I’ve decided to devote Nanowrimo this year to writing a rough draft of the story I’ve been working on for the last 13 months. I’m afraid that if I spend the next month thinking about a different story, I’ll lose all the ideas I have for the immortality book, and won’t ever come back to it. I’ve just done too much work to let that happen.

Is it crazy to sign up for a month of compulsively working on a project I’m already burnt out on? Am I completely nuts to think a draft written in a month will be anywhere near satisfying after I spent a year carefully crafting the lost work I did on this book? And, am I putting myself at serious risk of failing Nanowrimo by taking this on? Probably, probably, and certainly, but at least it’ll be a good challenge.

Countdown to Nanowrimo

Just 11 days left until November, and the official start of Nanowrimo. Last year I fudged the rules by working on a novel I already had in progress, and aiming for just 30,000 words by month end. This year I am only too happy to set my W.I.P. aside and focus on something completely different for a month.

A quick update on the Work in Progress: I’ve been working on my immortality book for 13 months now, and am seeing the characters and plot lines coming together. The shape of the book has changed a lot, and what I used to envision as the first half or third of the book is now more than enough to cover the entire novel. The climax is still the same – boy becomes immortal! – but I’ve done a lot of work on characterization and world building, so I have a better idea now of what the tone of the book should be.

I’ve also been doing a lot of research. No one would mistake me for a scientist, but I certainly have a better grasp on the basic principles of genome mapping, dna manipulation, and where “aging” happens. All science and no play makes Kayleigh’s project a dull book, so in addition to banging my head into every information wall I can find, I’ve also done a lot of fun reading, including Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, some recent issues of Tin House, and Carolyn See’s Making a Literary Life. Now I’m finally reading Frankenstein, which falls somewhere between research and fun reading.

Despite the progress, I’ve been feeling pretty burned out lately. All my documents and notes have become unwieldy, and going back through the early chapters when my characters had completely different names and backgrounds is utterly demoralizing. I must’ve written 20 “first chapters” and none of them are going to be the real one. I think it’ll be good to have a month off to regain some perspective, and also some time when I’m not reading about the free radicals that are building up in my cells, busting up my mitochondria and making me look old (not pleasant).

So, as November 1 and a sweet vacation from sci-fi approach, I’m gearing up for a month when the only thing that matters is word count, and nobody gets that glazed look in their eyes when I start chatting about telomerase (because I will not be discussing telomerase, of course). I will be a lean, mean, word typing machine and by November 30 I will have a complete story – beginning, middle and end!

Here are a few of the preparations I’ve made in advance of Nanowrimo:

1. First, I downloaded Scrivener to organize my book. Scrivener is a great little program that’s very intuitive. It organizes chapters, notes, and even source documents, and makes rearranging novel section or getting word counts effortless. During Nanowrimo, they’re offering a free trial subscription that goes now through December, and then 50% off the cost of the application to nano winners. After that, I
2. Bought a backup hard drive. Finally. What made the decision for me was seeing my old novels neatly organized in Scrivener and realizing I would lose ALL OF IT if my computer crashed. Luckily I found a great deal on MacMall for the one I’ve had my heart set on. Thus secured, I
3. Reread No Plot, No Problem. A great pep talk and excellent refresher on the nanowrimo rules. Now all that’s left is
4. Stocking up on easy-to-prepare foods and candies. I’m also going to need a sizable chunk of money for ordering Pizzas and Chinese food. Yes my diet will suffer, but there's no gain without pain right? But wait, I'd also love to
5. Get some more nanowrimo buddies. If you’re reading this and by some miracle your name is not Julia or Ryan, you can get in on the novel writing action at nanowrimo.org. My user name is Kayleigh and I’d love to have some more people to race to the finish line. See you there!

Science Fact

Today’s a big day for me. A book I’ve had my eye on for a few months is finally coming out in paperback; Microcosm: E. Coli and the New Science of Life. In truth, I have a “to read” pile two feet high, so I shouldn’t be buying any more books for a while, but I’m sure I’ll scoop it up in the next two weeks.

As I’ve probably mentioned here before, I’ve been reading a lot of science lately. My current writing project is a science-fiction novel, and I’m trying to keep it as realistic as possible. It’s set in the very near future and addresses issues of genetic engineering and artificial intelligence. While I don’t necessarily expect everything in my book to come true, it’s important to me that anything in the book could happen, so it won’t require too much suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader.

Now, my educational background is not very heavy on science. I can remember high school biology nearly bringing me to tears with concepts like Eukaryotic cells and the Kreb Cycle. And the curriculum at my college (COM) was so light on the sciences that it was affectionately known around the University as the “College of Optional Math”. (At the time I was feeling smug for being clever enough to choose a major light on memorization, but now I wish I’d challenged myself more when my brain cells were young and absorbent.)

So, all this is to say that I require a certain level of accessibility in science texts. When the greek symbols and tiny letters show up, my eyes cross and the book (or magazine) goes back on the shelf. At the same time, I’m skeptical of the popular-science self-help genre that spends the first 30 pages relating hard science about the brain and body, but then throws it all out the window in the rest of the book explaining how we can meditate or concentrate away what ails us. (Michael Paul Mason’s “Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath” includes an excellent take-down of this phenomenon in Malcom Gladwell’s books) The search for an informative science book can be daunting given these limits, the short shelf-life of “current” science, and especially with the average bookstore’s protracted science section (the downtown Boston Borders' alphabetized science section is the worst - astronomy mixed in with evolution, mixed in with chemistry, mixed in with archeology)

But, in spite of the challenges, I’ve been lucky to discover a few sources that consistently inspire and inform. Here are four off the top of my head:

WNYC’s Radiolab - while I think they focus a little too much on style over substance, Radiolab does a great job of raising interesting questions and pointing listeners in the direction of experts in a variety of scientific fields. They use innovative sound manipulation and music to make science fun and welcoming to the general audience.

Carl Zimmer - (as mentioned above) is prolific and terrific. Check out his site: http://www.carlzimmer.com/ . It’s worth viewing for the collection of science-themed tattoos, alone. While Zimmer’s articles can sometimes be a little dense for someone (me) not familiar with whatever topic he’s discussing, they’re worth taking an extra swig of coffee and applying yourself. They’re written with a playful excitement that makes formerly boring subjects interesting, and you never for a moment doubt that every word is backed up with cold hard facts and a deep understanding of the forces at work.

Michael Paul Mason – as far as I know he only has one book out, but it’s a gem. “Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath” explains the brain through the stories of people who’ve experienced its limitations. This book is equal parts informative and emotionally intense.

Ray Kurzweil - you didn’t think I’d leave him out, did you? I read the entire “Age of Spiritual Machines” with my jaw on the floor. What Kurzweil lacks in beautiful sentences he more than makes up for in audacity. By the end of the book you’ll not only believe your body will be replaced by a machine, you might even be looking forward to it! (ok, maybe not, but you might accept it at least)

(Pointedly absent from my list: Matt Ridley, Douglas Hofstadter, Oliver Sacks. Enough said.)

Of course I'm always looking for more "True Science" to read, so if you know of a good book on DNA, genetics, or neurology then please clue me in! I still have a long way to go on this novel, and haven't discovered a way to create immortality, yet.

Date Night at Myers & Chang

Who knows where my food obsessions come from? I get a craving and I must have that food Weekly! Daily! Hourly! Until I’ve had enough. This week it’s the food Joann Chang makes.

It started on Saturday with Flour in the Fort Point area. Greg and I were downtown for the Tall Ships. Our original plan was to find a nice seafood or Italian place to walk in to, but when we reached the waterfront we discovered 2 million people ahead of us in line.

Luckily, we’re savvy locals and I knew that Flour – the studio 54 of downtown lunch spots that I'd never had the time to visit during the workweek -- was around … here …. somewhere…

Success! The inviting café was open, fully stocked, and empty on a weekend afternoon! Our lunch – hearty, inventive sandwiches with chunky kitchen-sink style cookies for dessert – was so delicious it instantly sparked my foodie synapses firing. Not even halfway through my sandwiches I was already figuring out when I could come back. And, of course, when I could get to Myers and Chang.

How did I make it through Sunday? Who knows! But here we are at Monday night, and I’ve got my M&C leftovers

In the boxes :
- Red curry cauliflower
- Lemony Shrimp dumplings*
- Thai ginger chicken salad
- Tofu steak w/ buckwheat noodles
- Brown rice
- Green tea*
- Bittersweet coffee cake, Vietnamese coffee sauce*
- Lemon-ginger mousse coupe, homemade fortune cookie*


*ok, these ones are in my belly.

We feasted like emperors! Myers & Chang offers date night Sunday – Tuesday. $40/ couple, with 5 or so different combinations of foods around a theme. (We chose “healthy date”) The food was heavenly. I couldn’t stop closing my eyes while I was eating – drifting off into the flavors. Every ingredient’s flavor came through. Each dish had its own architecture of tastes. lemony, gingery, noodley, thingsI'veneverhadbefore-y... I can’t remember the last time I’ve enjoyed a meal this much. Believe the hype - this restaurant is wonderful.

After dinner we walked back to the bus, and passed Flour on the way. We stopped in to pick a few more snacks for the fridge -- more of those amazing chocolate-oatmeal-pecan cookies, and a few other treats. Hopefully these stores will get us through the rest of the week. I hear Myers & Chang does dim sum on the weekends.

Change to Comments

Apparently I offended someone with my post on tax-day freebies. Sorry Anonymous!

I decided to remove the post, which means the comment went with it. Also, I've decided to enable comment moderation, so know that if you comment about free cinnabon giveaways your comment will not be approved. Wouldn't want to offend my anonymous reader!

Recommendation: Brattle Realty

Have I told you lately that I love my landlord?

Yesterday Greg and I came home to find a note on our door that service had been done in the apartment during the day. Apparently our shower head was spraying water onto the wall and it was leaking into the apartment below ours. (I had noticed it was getting a bit erratic) The management company came to check it out, and when they found the source of the problem they replaced it with a brand spanking new shower head. And it’s a good one! I’m continually impressed by the speed with which they respond to complaints and the high quality of the workmanship and fixtures they use. It’s especially impressive considering the number of properties they oversee.

If you are thinking of renting around Arlington, consider a property managed by Brattle Realty. They are the Boston area’s best.